Europe's Problems Summed Up

[Mikey]

Absolutely.
And I can assure everybody that all our road signs are still in miles, and we still measure things in feet and inches.

You guys still use miles, feet and inches ?

That is so cool

By watching some newer British TV shows it seems like metrics totally had taken over there

Nice to know the US isn't alone in the world

[Megospidey]

Looks like it's false. Oh well!

http://www.snopes.com/language/document/cabbage.asp

I wondered how long it would take before someone snoped it. I knew it was false, but still thought it was funny.

As a pastor, I get TONS of stuff sent to me by my parishoners. This was one of them. I snope it all. It would not be good for me to stand in the pulpit and deliver a message with blatant mis-information, would it?

I thought about adding the "snope" tag on it, but decided to see how far it would go before someone did it. Bryan...you are on the ball my man

True or not...it was funny to me. It could have been about the American governement, the Canadian government, the Mexican government, etc....and it still would have been funny because of the stereotype it perpetuates.

It was also funny because of all the American vs. European beer, chocolate, women's underwear, pie, and sporting event discussion/debates I've read on the boards. I wanted to see how our European buddies would react and respond.

[Megospidey]

I hate the way this kind of misinformation spread around the internet.

While I agree in principle, if I had thought for one second that it was something that might promote wide-spread panic or was degrading in any way to anyone, I would not have posted.

[Brazoo]

I'm really confused about how this is suppose to be a knock against Europeans even if it were true. Pythagoras and Archimedes were European. The English version of the Lord's Prayer originated in England.

I dunno - I just don't get it.

[Brazoo]

My parents send me a "snopes worthy" forward almost daily, mum sent me a speech by "Robin Williams" that was clearly not ever uttered by hm yesterday.

Oh man - if I had a nickel for every time my family sent me some nutzoid stuff like that... Was it politically charged and grammatically insane?

I love Snopes.

[MegoSteve]

True or not...it was funny to me. It could have been about the American governement, the Canadian government, the Mexican government, etc....and it still would have been funny because of the stereotype it perpetuates.

I don't particularly think stereotypes are funny, particularly those that are anti-intellectual (words are hard), run down other countries/continents (Europe! HA!) and advance a political agenda (government/regulation are bad).

I'm really confused about how this is suppose to be a knock against Europeans even if it were true. Pythagoras and Archimedes were European. The English version of the Lord's Prayer originated in England.

It's ultimately a knock against Europe because the punchline is to reinforce the idea that government regulation is bad and always overly complicated and who better to love that kind of thing than those socialist cabbage-eaters in Old Europe. It just acts to reinforce a certain belief system popularized on American AM talk radio.

[mikeoz]

^^^I had seen the cabbage figure before, so I knew it was incorrect. I still didn't read any sinister, anti-government sentiment into the initial post, however.

[wolfie]

Is the UK part of the EU ?

Sometimes it seems like they are and other times it seems like they're not.

There is not a yes or no answer to this question. If you ask most people in the uk they will say we are not part of Europe, if you ask the government they will say we are but then will turn straight round and refuse to have anything to do with anything that Europe come up with that they do not like.

It's like being a member of a club but only following the rules that you like and ignoring the rest.

Is the UK being part of Europe a good thing or a bad thing? Now that is a question and most people who answer it have no idea what they are talking about.

[Gorn Captain]

Nothing against Europe or Europeans, but I thought this was funny:


Pythagorean theorem: 24 words
Lord's prayer: 66 words
Archimedes' Principle: 67 words
Ten Commandments: 179 words
Gettysburg address: 286 words
US Declaration of Independence: 1,300 words
US Constitution with all 27 Amendments: 7,818 words


European Union regulations on the sale of cabbage: 26,911 words

This comparison is, of course, flawed.
If I were to take US documents about let's say the price of corn, I'm sure I'll readily find regulations exceeding 26,000 words.
Even this doll collecting forum contains thousands and thousands of words...

I know you meant it as a joke, but it does alienate Europeans. Europe seems to have become synonymous with a lot of bad things. We would enforce the dreaded metric system on the defenseless world, our women are hairy and we play football with...our feet! And we're all Communists/Socialists, of course.
Even Bruce Willis will only fight guys with European accents.

I might be too sensitive about it, but it really makes me feel like an outsider...

[wolfie]

I might be too sensitive about it, but it really makes me feel like an outsider...

.............and you are?

[Mikey]

Going back not too far a good portion of people from the Americas are European, yours truly included.

Just over a hundred years ago i'd be one your side (of the Atlantic)

[johnmiic]

...our women are hairy...

They are?

[torgospizza]

Even Bruce Willis will only fight guys with European accents.

The reason for that is that most Americans find many European accents--particularly posh English--to sound more intelligent than our own. You'll never see Larry the Cable Guy cast as someone attempting to take over the world. Judging him by accent alone, that guy couldn't take over a Dairy Queen.

[UnderdogDJLSW]

You'll never see Larry the Cable Guy cast as someone attempting to take over the world

Shhhh. You are revealing the plot to Die Hard 5

[mikeoz]

I know you meant it as a joke, but it does alienate Europeans. Europe seems to have become synonymous with a lot of bad things. We would enforce the dreaded metric system on the defenseless world, our women are hairy and we play football with...our feet! And we're all Communists/Socialists, of course.
Even Bruce Willis will only fight guys with European accents.

I might be too sensitive about it, but it really makes me feel like an outsider...

I think every culture has misconceptions and stereotypes about other cultures. Since both my parents are from Europe, as a kid I used to spend six weeks in the Basque Country of Spain and France bi-annually. I speak Basque, Spanish and some French, so I had a great time hanging out with my cousins and their friends. All my cousins' friends called me "Yankee." It's a derogatory name Europeans call Americans. I accepted it as a term of endearment because I knew my cousins' friends felt comfortable enough around me to give me a nickname. Plus, Yankee has a positive connotation in U.S. They also were extremely curious about American women since our gals also have a stereotypical (and I think undeserved) reputation in Europe. Being a dork, my experience with women was pretty limited, so any information I offered was made up on the spot.