WindowLicker wrote:That was my point from the start, as I said in my final paragraph above. I find most of Western Europe, and most European people, to be overrated and full of shit. "Globalization" has little to do with it; I began looking into Europe in the years before it became widespread over there, back when you were still culturally "authentic", only to find that that culture was full of corruption, arrogance, hypocrisy and cold-blooded treatment of its own descendants abroad.
Good we agree on some premises, at least. On what erudite scholarly work, or decades of direct experience, are you basing your final (and pretty harsh) statement that "most European people" are "overrated and full of shit"? You really think arrogance, hypocrisy and indifference to fellow citizens is an exclusive of Europe? Have you been living under a stone in Argentina, if you can ignore the socio-cultural wasteland that America has become? Doesn't yours sound like the same kind of judgement you are blaming on "us" uneducated, lazy and corrupted Europeans? You are what you hate - part 1.
Do you know what being an "authentic" Italian, let alone an "authentic" European means? I lived the first 25 years of my life, and then a few more, in Italy and was never able to fathom it out. You must be an absolute genius if you could work out Italy and Europe's authentic culture in such a small period of time, perhaps without even bothering to visit.
Then I think that, by "authentic" you probably mean: aligned to the kinds of stereotypes and propaganda you were fed with by the school system, the media, perhaps even your family. I don't criticise you for glamorising and falling out of love with Italy. Italy is indeed one of the most glamorised, stereotyped and - why not - overrated countries in the world. Funnily enough, mainstream Hollywood has always played a bigger part in popularising Italy and its (alleged) fairy tale qualities, than Italian and European cinema. Tough luck reality doesn't live up to the dream. It's disappointing and disappointed you in particular.
Yet, from that simple reality check to believing that all of Italy and all of Europe are one big arrogant and corrupted shithole, well, that's one of the most cretin and ignorant conclusions you could come to. With a statement like that, can you imagine how you come across to a European? As the stereotypical American: ignorant, arrogant, poorly travelled, America-centric and only looking for a cheap scapegoat to vent his problems and frustrations. You are what you hate...part 2.
WindowLicker wrote:While I am aware that English is your second language, you have no excuse for reading one thing, and then assuming another entirely. That's just poor reading comprehension and faulty logic. I said that for those who have any conservative beliefs on any one topic, or for any of us who are any manner of anticommunist, Italy and its corruption, hypocrisy and self-serving denial are a joke.
At no point did I say anything about being a so-called "neocon", about voting for any politician along those lines, or about supporting this-or-that corporate company or war-policy abroad. You inferred all of this out of nowhere, thinking all Americans to be this way by default. Big assumption on your part, and a rather stupid one at that.
Strains of conservative political thought are many, as well as mixed positions loyal neither to left nor to right.
You're correct, English is not my first language, but I think the problem is here isn't my comprehension, it's your stupid umbrella statements. And maybe a bit of an identity crisis, too, who knows. In your poor attempt at a figure of speech you state that if "any conservative" were to walk into Italy he would be absolutely disgusted by those caricatures of Marxists and radical-chic liberals. You must have gobbled up quite a lot of (outdated) McCarthyism bullcrap if you still think Italy is full of those individuals, and they all behave that way. I say "big assumption on your part, and a rather stupid one at that."
If those Marxist carcasses and daddy's boys with designer keffiyeh do exist, they aren't more numerous than the people you mention below, the xenophobe, Nazi-saluting hooligans and stormfronters that often make the news. Heaven forbid you have quite a lot of those in the US, so black kettle please be quiet, as you're just embarrassing yourself.
On one thing you are probably right, though: you do not seem to sympathise either with commies or fascists. Your stance is apolitical, and colourless. It's just plain hate borne out of rejection frustration. That, again, is your problem, not Europe's or Italy's.
WindowLicker wrote:That's exactly what I ended up doing, ironically enough- I combined my inescapable Italian ethnic descent with the high level of Spanish that I studied in school from childhood, and made my happiness in life among Argentine and Uruguayan friends.
Glad to know you're happy and in peace (although not so much, if you like to indulge in online hate showers). However, I can't help noticing that Argentina and Uruguay are hardly examples of social and political probity. Argentinians are particularly known in Latin America for being arrogant and unfriendly, as if they were superior to everybody due to their (alleged) higher contents of European ancestry. Ironically, you chose to 2 of the top 3 countries by Italian immigration for your newly found social nirvana. How is that not telling me that you wound up with them as a form of protest against "old world" Italians?
And anyway, what exactly would you have expected Italy to do with you and your heart bleeding with patriotic love? Did you bother learning la nostra lingua? Did you get a solid (science, engineering, etc.) degree which would have maximised your chance to start a career in Italy? Did you actually visit these shores, instead of professing your love (and then hate) from a distance? What it sounds like is, you got frustrated with your life in the US, perhaps you couldn't get punani because you didn't look like one of the Jersey Shore studs, you anchored all of your hopes of redemption on a bunch of outdated stereotypes about your ancestral homeland and you got burned.
None of that has anything to do with Italy and its (undeniably sorry) state, and quite a lot to do with you, your personal experiences and thought process.
WindowLicker wrote:"Bitter in life"? Hardly...just disgusted with Old Europe. Your hotheaded rant merely illustrated my point
Do you want a piece of advice. Guide your disgust where it should go. Be disgusted about evil and greedy people, arrogant people, hypocritical and lazy people
regardless of where they come from. No single country or continent has ever had a monopoly on Good or Evil, and never will: this is just more outdated US bullshit you lapped up and ended up believing in, whether out of naivety or personal convenience.
