this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2025
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[–] DankOfAmerica@reddthat.com 36 points 4 days ago (41 children)

Europeans like to pretend they're innocent, but they are the benefactors of most the damaging empires to have ever existed. They colonized nearly the entire world, extracting value from other cultures while destroying them. They pulled out once it was financially wise, keeping the wealth they extracted and leaving behind the destruction they created. They then blame everyone else for their issues while bragging about how awesome the EU is while overlooking that the EU is only possible due to the wealth they stole from everyone else. Europe likes to discuss that they had their social hardship discussing WWII, but the origin and impact of WWII there was internal to Europe. Had Europe been subject to colonization from elsewhere, it would be just as much a mess as other places. Look at the situation in former Soviet Pact countries that were practically colonized by Russia for maybe half a century. Now imagine if instead of half a century, it was hundreds of years and 5 times as brutal.

Fun fact: The term "colony" comes from Christopher Colombus' name, which is Spanish is Cristobal Colon. Even the term colonization derives from a European.

tl;dr: Europe got to where it is by destroying the rest of the world while blaming the rest of the world for their issues. Their critique of USA is merely a distraction from their own responsibility.

[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

Had my Spanish brother in law over for the holidays. He says spanish schools teach that the spaniards were trying to civilize the natives and bring them a better life. And sure, some things went wrong, but that columbus should be seen as a hero. He strongly beleives it. I was floored. I thought that stuff was pretty settled. I showed him some info on the genocide of Hispanola, and he said he'd never seen that before, but that we cant judge what happened back then by todays standrads, and that the word genocide hadnt even been invented back then, and that method of conflict was normal back then.

[–] Sagan@lemm.ee 7 points 3 days ago

There was a recent call in Barcelona to take down the Columbus statue, at least as early as 2016 (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/27/call-to-topple-christopher-columbus-statue-from-its-barcelona-perch)

I live in Barcelona, and Colombus and colonization is definitely not a popular topic: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/12/spain-leftist-columbus-day-celebrations

On the other hand, Spain can still be quite racist, football players being a good example (https://www.ft.com/content/6801c79a-6325-4a2a-9d5d-1d99b37920ab, https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20240610-fans-get-8-months-jail-for-racism-targeting-real-madrid-s-vinicius)

[–] Hadriscus@lemm.ee 10 points 3 days ago

The rest of your comment is great, but it would have taken a five-second check on https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/colony to make sure you got your etymology right (which you didn't)

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[–] morrowind@lemmy.ml 34 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

Most Europeans still have a casual sense of arrogance and superiority over the rest of the world. It's not very heavy, but it's there, even among some of the best people I know

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[–] MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world 19 points 3 days ago (42 children)

Youtube always shows off all the progressive and positive aspects of Europe. Bike lanes, relable trains. Was so jealous. Then heard that my game buddy is off to manditory milatary service.

The idea that the government can take away a year of your life, and thats normal is still a tough pill to swallow.

[–] ours@lemmy.world 12 points 3 days ago

Kind of a compromise for smaller countries that want to have a standing army. And some countries offer alternatives like civil service or paying additional taxes instead for those that don't want to serve in the military.

The US having expensive higher education driving poorer people to join the military to afford it is bleaker honestly.

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[–] angstylittlecatboy@reddthat.com 38 points 4 days ago (2 children)

It really does feel like online communities get more relentlessly xenophobic when they have more Europeans. It just seems like a lot of you can't get by without mentioning where someone's from. Like, no, someone not seeing the value in retro computing doesn't say anything about "the intelligence of the average Scot." And if you can't tell where they're from, American by default.

[–] Brunbrun6766@lemmy.world 40 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Wow that's exactly the kind of thing a Scot would complain about

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[–] kikutwo@lemmy.world 39 points 4 days ago (6 children)
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