Europe and the US: The One Way Mirror

Europeans know a lot about America, but the reverse doesn't hold. The European security approach deserves closer examination.

October 11, 2008 — CSO — If you're an American and want a good chuckle, ask a European the following three things:
1) ask them to count to five on their fingers (Europeans will start with holding out their thumb to indicate the number one whereas Americans will start with their index finger);
2) ask how they would carry a bouquet of flowers (Europeans carry them with the flowers facing down so that the water can drain downwards to the flowers; Americans carry them with the flowers facing up--don't know exactly why—probably just to show off the flowers).

Those are things Europeans do differently from Americans. The last question is something Europeans do the same as Americans and it will surprise you:
3) Ask a European what they played when they were kids and they will probably say the same thing as most American children—cowboys and Indians.

I find this surprising because why would the folklore and events of a relatively short period of American history (roughly mid- to latter part of the 19th century) in one section of the country (west of the Mississippi River) be the fodder for the imagination and entertainment of a generation of Europeans? I mean, wouldn't you expect the English to be playing at storming a French castle or the Swedes to be pretending they were Viking marauders? But no, European kids all pretty much pretend that they are herding a wagon train across the American prairie whilst keeping an eye out on the horizon for smoke signals and Indian raiding parties. In fact, Europeans know almost as much about American folk legends like Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Sitting Bull and General George Armstrong Custer as do Americans.

The reason for this strange anomaly is the predominance of American television and movies. European television broadcast all sorts of current American programs (albeit usually one season behind) and American re-runs of popular syndicated shows. American movies dominate the cineplexes here. The European cafes and discotheques, for the most part, play American music. CNN broadcasts here with much the same reporting of current events with special emphasis on the American Presidential race. Being someone that doesn't watch television, I find it shocking that Europeans actually watch and are entertained by this stuff!

The result is that Europeans know an awful lot about an awful lot of American current events and culture but Americans know very little about Europe. It's a bit like being in an observation room with a one way mirror. You can see into the next room, which is America, but the Americans in that room cannot see you.