[MILAMBER]

God!! Threads like this are so fundamentally frustrating. On a person to person basis, I really like Europeans. I love their culture and I love having conversations with them. The only time I ever get into disagreements with them is when talking politics.

I know I'm not as politically educated as Europeans are because honestly as an American I don't have to look beyond our borders very often on a day to day basis. I'd like to think that I notice the big events, but because they don't seem as relavent to my immediate life I might not pay quite as much attention to them as the Europeans would. Taking all this into consideration, I honestly love and respect my country. I feel a great amount of pride in being American. As much as I might like and respect Europeans, I get extremely pissed off when I hear them talking shit about us. Fine, we might disagree on a great many political issues. That's fine! Disagreeing is one thing, disliking an entire country is another.

I wonder, do Europeans think less of me because I'm American? Speaking for myself I honestly don't have any ill will towards Europeans whatsoever. If one of you were visiting over here in California from Europe I would do my utmost to accomodate you in your stay. Hell, I'd even let you stay in my house. Because of my lack of political awareness, I don't see there being a problem between our two cultures. The only time I'm even aware that there is a problem is when I'm talking to someone here or reading posts here about how Europeans are pissed off with Americans. It's like walking into a bar expecting to drink with your buddy's and then getting clubbed in the back of the head by someone who you apparrently liked more than they liked you.

Bottom line: I like all you guys in Europe. I have no problems with any of you. I love my country. I don't necessarily agree with everything my country does, but for the most part I think it's on the right track. Unfortunately I have no direct control over what my country does. Let's not fight amongst ourselves because of things that we can't control.