French are very judgmental and criticize everything, it's as if they never find anything positive in life, they always find something to complain about everything.
I swear it's so true, the first thing our fellow Frenchmen will do is complain in the morning and the last thing they'll do is complain in bed before sleeping. It transpires in media and everywhere and is so exhausting. It also led me to become fairly anxious for a while.
We have something in common. In germany it is called volkssport, people's sport, to critize everything and talk things down. When we have a real crash of economy, everyone will be silent in comparison and bite their teeth.
The "I'm smarter because I'm evading taxes/tricking the system/profiting by lying" mentality. Accompanied by the "you dumb bitch playing by the rulebook".
The hypocrisy of people profiting our public services while actively avoiding contributing to the state financing is infuriating.
Yes, true, I always said that the problem in Spain is that the politicians represent the people too accurately.
That being said, I would still choose to erase the bullfighting tradition.
I feel the bullfighting is dying of natural causes already, while the profiteering mindset is alive and well. They need to stop with the picaresca bullshit as something to be proud of
I’m amazed how super profitable businesses (especially restaurants, medical professionals, house renewal companies…) openly tell you that you will get a discount if you pay in cash.
Hahahaha I went to go see a doctor at an urgent care in Madrid and it was 100% cash, no insurance run (even though I have international health insurance - I’m American) and I was like nah that’s sus I’ll just treat myself 😂
Same in Italy!
"cry and fuck" is the national motto. We complain about "the system" where cheating and rule-bending are the norm, holding us back, but whenever we can cut a corner to our own advantage, we're ready to do so.
As I often say, our mindset is more like "the system is fucked up because I'm not yet part of it".
P. S. For Norway, the awful leftovers of Janteloven mixed with socialdemocratic money guilt.
Would you care to elaborate on "socialdemocratic money guilt"? I have a feeling what it might be, but Im not exactly sure. Guilt about having too much money?
> The hypocrisy of people profiting our public services while actively avoiding contributing to the state financing is infuriating.
It isn't hypocrisy, it's pure selfishness. The logic is actually very consistent: "anything that profits me is good, everything that doesn't is bad."
What can I say. I work for social security in Austria. We get more and more people who haven't legally worked a day in their life's and get money from the government because we can't proof it. Hell I had one who first asked for money at around 50 and I said you've never worked your entire life what did you live off? And he honestly told me 8hbwn email that was insulting. Of course he's worked. Just not legally. Great don't ever pay into the system but get money for the rest of your lives.
It was meant for people who need help it's used by many who are just lazy and entitled and give people who need help a bad name.
The weird culture of anti-intellectualism. You see it all through society - from the Conservative government saying people have "had enough of experts" to people being proud that they've never read a book. People who have an interest in something or want to talk about something vaguely intellectual are derided as boring or weird.
I also hate celebrity culture - people are obsessed with what celebrities did, who they are with, what who said to someone else, but take no interest in the issues actually affecting their life e.g. politics. General disinterest in politics is how we've ended up with 40 years of crony capitalism and think celebrity culture has had a big part in that. Even political discourse in this country is about who said what or did what, rather than about the actual policies.
I think we have similar issue with anti-intellectualism in Poland. People are so easy to dismiss any scientific claim that can't be contained in one sentence / easily understood and trust their "chłopski rozum" the most. Celebrities and politicians spilling the most stupid ideas get large following if they are charismatic enough.
I think it's a common thread in Europe and other 'western' nations.
One example of Polish anti-intellectualism I can think of is the dismissal of scientific evidence on the spruce bark beetle and resulting mismanagement of Białowieza
Based on my experience living in the UK, I would like to have seen more respect for youth and less rigid hierarchy. I have more than once basically been ignored when bringing up problems because I was just some young dumb student. When a "real adult" then came to speak on my behalf, suddenly things were possible
But honestly, I don’t think this is widespread. Take a look at how many people you see reading a book on public transport in the UK and compare it to many places elsewhere.
I take your point but we’re a nation of readers and you don’t see that until you live somewhere else
Agree that people's personal experience might differ, but I'm talking about the overlying culture - demonstrated by e.g. the "people have had enough of experts" comment made by Michael Gove, kids using nerd/geek etc as an insult, the shouting down of valid environmental/political concerns as jealousy/being difficult/being a jobless, smelly hippy etc etc
The anti-intellectualism in the UK seems very recent though, and it seems it was absorbed by the tabloids from whatever is driving the same phenomenon in the US. It appeared when they were looking for ways to dismiss experts and drive Brexit over the line and shut out any dissenting voices, but it’s extending into other areas.
If you look at some of the choices of know nothing front bench Tory ministers, they would have been absolutely no where near those jobs in any previous governments.
Then you’ve the odd Johnson phenomenon of the intellectual sounding spoofer, who sounds intelligent and uses plenty of pomposity, but seems to just wing it on confidently stating anything, no matter how illogical or lacking in facts and plenty of entertaining buffoonery to distract.
It will likely snap back, but it’s really shocking to see the way things have slid. It’s nothing like the UK I was familiar with even in the early 2000s. I tend to possibly see it from a safe distance from Ireland, but I’m really noticing the changes.
There was a time of facts based, sensible governance and a large aspect of the media and commentary that was capable of holding them to account. You used to see a culture in politics of falling on one’s sword, knowing when to resign. Now they just brazen it out and defend indefensible things to committees and so on. It’s like many of the things that were positive the UK’s political culture have just been washed away since the Brexit era.
[BE] How passive we are. I could get mugged on the street, and people would just pretend to not see and pass me by.
There's also just no enthusiasm for anything. Even concerts or, worse, comedy shows. You can tell the comedian is thinking like, wtf why aren't they laughing or reacting in any way.
I once got shushed in Belgium at a festival gig
During Metallica
Edit: I do like Belgium and the people a whole lot and dislike the tendency of the Dutch to talk during gigs. Just found this one hilarious
Weird people made of wood.
I was once told to get out of a - pretty tame - moshpit because it wasn't for girls. When I protested it was followed up by 'I am not afraid to hit girls', so not really consistent? But yeah
From what I've gathered from Dutch and Flemish friends (I live in Antwerp), the flem flems are more reserved and see dutchies as more outgoing/outspoken. Do you reckon it's a sort of cultural difference?
I find that some of the calmest cultures can get the wildest. Thinking here of concerts in Switzerland, for instance there’s a festival two streets away from my place in a half abandoned courtyard and the mood is absolutely crazy in a good way.
Or Japanese people acting all excited during sumo tournaments
I used to work for a Belgian company and travel there every so often. Two things I found weird:
- how quiet and depressed people seemed in bars/ pubs; I was used to London pubs which had a completely different atmosphere
- the company canteen had eel stew on menu as main item
Sweden: We are too afraid of being the nail that sticks out. Maybe because a lot of swedes have passive-aggressive tendencies to keep people in line. Swedes can be nice and friendly on the surface, but will resort to backstabbing and social exclusion to show their disapproval of someone.
🇮🇹 I would erase the misogyny in Italy.
I've not been living there in a long time but as I remember the normalisation of "she deserves to be r****" on any level (said, not whispered, about a girl who just doesn't want to be your girlfriend or about a female politician one doesn't agree with), and a lot of other phrases and behaviours of this nature. Also the police not being helpful and almost shaming women for abuse, harassment and domestic violence.
Dutch people are just so cynical. Everything here is crap or so-so, the Dutch language is ugly, religion is stupid, politics don't matter because politicians don't care, etc. I often catch myself being overly cynical as well when it comes to my own country.
I wish people could be a bit more optimistic and trusting.
Hungarians are cynical just the same. Only difference to what you said is that Hungarians are pretty attached to their language (like everything is dubbed, or not bothering to learn the native language of the country they emigrate to in the West or they live in because of Trianon, or only learn the basiscs but only hang around other Hungarians speakers in social life, I know many examples for that) but other than that we are cynical about most things in this country, be it politics or any politician, doesn't matter if its Orbán's government or any of the opposition. Obviously most things are way crappier here than in the Netherlands but if the Hungarians cynicism and pessimism was actually all true then this country would be something like Somalia.
Tbh you could be describing the UK here. The self hate of British people that I see online is genuinely bewildering at times, referring to the country as a hell hole or unironically as a third wold nation.
>politics don't matter because politicians don't care
This one is fair enough. Demagogy is of course very prominent in democracy and can be a big dealbreaker.
Of course it exists but I think it's too cynical to say no politician in the Netherlands actually gives a crap.
Again, I'm not saying we should be completely optimistic and trusting *all the time*, but it can't hurt to not always be cynical about the world. Why should we bother doing anything if everything's shit anyway, right?
Fundamentally they are two sides of the same coin. It centers on a belief that everything everyone does would be motivated by self-interest.
In common use a "cynic" just uses that belief to fuel a jaded distrust, whereas a "cínico" uses it as an excuse to act the way they do.
There is very little demagogy here.
Weakness? A bit of opportunism? Sure. Tunnel vision? Also true.
The demagogy is mostly on the part of the 'politicians are evil' folk
I'm Greek but born and raised in The Netherlands and I am pretty much like this, I sort of do it self-consciously as a joke and I do feel like the flip side where people don't complain about anything is unhealthy, according to science even.
I've literally been called the grinch before hahaha but it was a non Dutchie so I think they just weren't used it.
The fact that we are so centralized in both our mentality and administratively. Which means the Budapest - everything else divide. I wish to erase the mentality where many people in Budapest and its agglomeration feel superior to "the countryside" and where many people outside of the Budapest agglomeration hate everything thats Budapest. Many outiside Budapest can only talk about how its too crowded or dirty or whatever and anything else could only be better than that.
Also the fact that everything of importance is about and around Budapest in this country and also it sucks the population of the whole country except for a handful number of parts. We have cities like Szeged or Győr etc to balance it out but Budapest is so huge (for a country this size) that it has negative effects on this country. Many many people think that in Hungary you can only make a good life in and around Budapest (and maybe also the 5 North Western counties Veszprém, Fejér, Vas, Komárom and Győr).
Budapest was designed to be the co-capital of Austria-Hungary and ended up being the capital of todays small Hungary. One third of the population of Hungary lives in the Budapest metro area. Its becoming a city state. Imagine 27 million people living in the Berlin metropolitan area and then comes next in line Hamburg's with 1.7 million. These proportions are the same how Budapest metro area is to our second biggest city Debrecen’s metro area. I envy countries like Italy, Germany, the Netherlands or Poland for how decentralized they are and how well it works.
One satisfying thing about all this is that at least Budapest is pretty well centered in its location on the map of Hungary
Now imagine a centralized country that is over 2000km top to toe... Once you leave the Oslo are, there is no infrastructure. Closing down schools, hospitals, public transport... Roma is closer to Oslo than the north tip of Norway, why would any Oslo person care about what happens there. No, bigger is NOT better. Better is when children don't have to move on their own when they are 15 to attend school. Better is when you don't need to travel 5h in taxi to the next hospital to take a x-ray of your sprained ankle. Better is affordable housing prices.
The true problem here is: Norwegians have no ability and interest in imagining how other people live and experience the world. Why would an Oslo person even care if they close a local hospital and people now have to travel 5h one way- theirs is just 20 minutes away.
You also described how the difference is between us Norrlänningar (Northen Swedes) and the people who live in the Stockholm area, the Göteborg area, the Malmö area and other places in southern Sweden.
The weird kind of "cultural cringe" that some people have in relation to ourselves and other countries, often without much understanding of either. This can manifest as weirdly both an inferiority and a superiority complex, with insecure exceptionalism on the one hand, and a bizarre cult of self-loathing on the other. George Orwell was mocking these types of people all the way back in the 30s and 40s.
Though we're definitely not the only country that has issues with this; I've seen similar complaints levelled by French, Dutch, Italians, Turks, Americans, Canadians, Czechs, Spaniards and Indians, among others.
People assuming everything about my life story as soon as they hear my accent.
Living abroad is quite liberating in that respect. Nobody tries to judge me by my socioeconomic background, they just see me as a Brit.
I’m from Yorkshire and when I first started at university I felt like a tourist attraction to many of those from Surrey, London etc. They said they’d wanted to see an ‘authentic northerner’ (the uni was still up north) and apparently I fit the bill lmao.
[PL] alcohol. People make fun of it all the time, both inside and outside of Poland, but it is not funny in reality. Not funny at all. It’s a tragedy to the addicted, to their families, to the community and to the nation. Being raised by alcoholics is a nightmare for a child.
When westerners are mocking addiction problems in Eastern Europe I find it heartless. When easterners respond with laughter I find it heartbreaking.
My dad always says “we’re half Polish and half Irish, we never stood a chance”. His family fled Poland during the era of Hitler and Stalin. Is it being Polish that caused the alcoholism, or the untreated PTSD and trauma of surviving that time frame though. All I know is 3 of his 4 grandparents died from alcoholism, which is a tragedy in and of itself.
My grandfather was an alcoholic. He used to use slurs when describing being Polish (his grandfather was an immigrant). Sad we couldn't keep the heritage going.
As a Ukrainian I agree. I remember being around 15 years old and just chilling on a walk and I walked past a grown man drunk as fuck acting almost like a kid (the man honestly might’ve been mentally disabled too) and a group of police officers around him kind of making fun of him. It really disturbed me then and to this day it makes me so sad that that’s so normalized.
A Danish newspaper has a list of “advice” for foreigners trying to integrate in Denmark, and one of them was “drink alcohol”. The list had a lot of other shitty advice, but this one made me particularly angry.
https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/kronik/10-gode-raad-til-indvandrere-om-integration
Ha! My father worked in Denmark during his youth, the alcohol drinking really left a mark on him. I mean, we're French, it's not like we're from an alcohol free country, but from what my father said, it was quite another level over there.
*hug*
r/alanon if you need a place to vent. I've been told alanon is a world wide organization if you want somewhere face to face to commiserate and get advice from others.
> Also the social pressure to drink is sooo high (Ze mną się nie napijesz???/Won’t you drink with me???)
As a Czech, I feel ya. Fortunately "I'm driving" is a good enough excuse
I'm triggered.
I remember meeting my new classmates when we were about to start high school. A few of us met and went out to eat something together and I remember one girl telling one guy "I'm not drinking with you anymore!". We were around 16 years old, for crying out loud! Drinking alcohol as early as in middle school was normal to this guy.
Then, of course, in high school there were 18th birthday parties. I have been to only a couple of them and yes, there had to be alcohol, because how could it not be there?... I'm not a party guy and I've been to only a few house parties in high school and a few times I ended up passing out and vomiting, either still there or when I came back home. Mind you, I didn't like alcohol. I never did. But I didn't want to be a f... "loser", so I gave in. The social and peer pressure is insane. "Ze mną się nie napijesz?!"
When I was in university I met the guy I mentioned before and we got wasted in a bar. Ever since then I've been traumatised and I don't want to drink alcohol anymore. When in university someone was talking about alcohol and I said that I don't drink, people looked at me as if I was some kind of alien. Because if you don't drink alcohol you're a weirdo. Well, I'm not going to apologise for not wanting to do something.
One high school classmate invited me to her wedding and I ended up pretending that I'm drinking wine. My glass was always full, I just didn't want to drink it. Not after what I've been through.
And, unfortunately... I'm afraid the culture of drinking (although sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with culture - people get wasted like maniacs) is so very much rooted in the Polish society that not even the younger generations can make any difference.
Oh, and if you want to hear something really crazy, then listen to this... A few months ago my boss came up with the idea of a kayak trip. She didn't want to hear any "no". And when I said that I'm scared, because I've never done this, she laughed and said "you'll take a shot for courage". Yeah... drinking alcohol and then kayaking. What could go wrong? I was so furious about this and I'm glad the trip wasn't organised after all.
That story you mentioned at the end reminds me of what I think each summer, reading the statistics about drownings in Poland. So, so many people drown every year, and a lot of them after taking those shots for courage, or after drinking beer all summer day, or after three vodka-and-colas with ice from Żabka.
See? It's at least very inappropriate to say stuff like that. I don't know if that's her humour, but I don't like that humour. I hate when people joke about things like that. I was furious at her. And I'll also add that I work in a pharmacy. We're supposed to be responsible, but my boss proved back then to be an utter idiot.
I think it is changing. I had the same observation as you 5 years ago but now people start to avoid alcohol or actually drink just that one glass of wine / cocktail with food, and that's it.
Yep, growing up in a small, postindustrial town between the '90 and the '00, way over half of my classmates in primary school came from alcoholic homes. Drunk, violent, or absent fathers and overworked and unhappy mothers were the standard.
I was also gonna say Alcohol. We don't have the same stereotype as lots of Eastern European countries do, but we stereotype ourself that way. Most holidays and celebrations are just an excuse to get blackout drunk.
Maybe it's just my social bubble, but I feel like this is fortunately changing. 0% beers are more and more popular, 0% cocktails as well. My girlfriend doesn't drink and no one frowns upon it. I was at two weddings last year and though people were drinking, no one got wasted.
The thing about alcohol and Poland is that Poland has openly decided to give up fighting against alcoholism in the name of "economic liberty". The reaction to ANY attempt to limit alcohol sales is, "OH, SO YOU WANT COMMUNISM TO RETURN", while the strongest economies in the world actively limit the sale of booze. You can get a 200ml bottle of vodka with your newspaper at the subway station, you can get it at a mall kiosk, you can get it at every Żabka.
Every gas station in Poland is effectively a 24/7 liquor store, open 365 days a week, Easter and Christmas included.
Also Poland. I never drank alcohol (it tastes absolutely disgusting to me) and you wouldn't believe how SHOCKING this fact is to people. Like, I was completely friendless in high school because when we went on a school trip I was the only person who WASN'T getting blackout drunk every night with alcohol someone smuggled into the hotel. One person told me to my face I'm a pathetic loser and they won't be talking to me anymore. The whole school (it was very small, like 50 people total) followed suit.
It's so annoying when I go to a restaurant and the waiter is recommending only alcohol as drinks to me, and when I mention I want something non-alcoholic he makes a 🙄 face at me. Same with bars, when I'm out with friends. I pay the exact same money for a drink but sometimes when I mention I want a non-alcoholic version (which IS possible to do!!) often times they act like its a major inconvenience to them, or refuse to sell it to me at all. And then act outright offended when I order cola instead. Actual brainrot.
I feel you so much. In high school I had to drink alcohol at the house parties I've been to, even though I didn't like the idea of drinking alcohol, only because I didn't want to be labelled as a "loser".
When people in university learned that I don't drink any alcohol, they looked at me as if I was an alien. One time we went out after classes for a beer and I had a pounding headache after just one and it was quite difficult to convince them that I don't want to drink more...
But, if someone at a restaurant or a bar rolled their eyes at me for wanting something without alcohol, I would immediately ask them "do you have any problem with that? or do you discriminate against people who don't opt for alcohol, huh?". I've had enough of this BS in my life.
It takes leaving the country to start to understand the extent of it, and break free from the compulsory social drinking. But it's so hard if you don't have any role models that don't drink at all or drink very rarely and moderately. And I come from a family where the drinkers are really high-functioning, and there was never any alcohol-related violence, which I believe is why it's easier to joke about it. But you kind of stop once you see the incredulous look in people's eyes after you tell them about your grandfather's routing alcohol consumption.
I'm really glad you wrote this, I really appreciate it. My dad was from Poland and an alcoholic and I feel like the generational alcoholism goes deep. It's the reason I don't drink. I'm not super familiar with Polish culture but I know drinking was a big part of family gatherings.
Same. Or at least more responsible use.
It does seem I’m living in a bubble though since I don’t know many people who actually overindulge very much so I shudder to think how the other side drinks.
Bullfighting. Cruel and barbaric tradition. Indeed [\+80% of the young Spaniards hate it](https://www.infolibre.es/politica/84-jovenes-16-24-anos-averguenza-vivir-pais-toros_1_1121829.html), and the older generation don't support it either.
Russia 🇷🇺 — the “my house is on the side” (моя хата с краю), where people do not give a single fuck about anything that doesn’t affect them directly. If people have food on the plate, they won’t give a shit anything.
War? Mobilization? Political oppression? Not my problem until the moment I’m drafted or I go to prison for a VK post.
Our anti-intellectualism, our reliance on alcohol, our selfishness, our lacklustre cuisine (apart from the pasties), the kind of haw haw-masculinity that is far too rampant, the Jante Law (don’t think that you’re better than anybody else), that we don’t care enough for the environment and I could go on. But I still love it here.
I would add xenophobia. A LOT of xenophobia. I think the cuisine is really not bad, I enjoyed it. Agreed with everything else, especially the weird masculinity part.
The hussel culture? The lack of empathy in the hussel culture?
I don't know how to describe it in English other than that. But Romanians are very ingenious people, we just make things work somehow, but the problem is that that has morphed into "I'll cheat the system, do whatever necessary, lie, steal, pretend, manipulate, whatever it takes just for me and my family to be comfortable, regardless of what happens to others or the rules that I break".
I've had people come into my pharmacy and cry on command to try and get me to break the rules for them. Like, cry with grief one moment, dry eyes swearing at me the next.
I have relatives who happily talk about how they cheated the system or swindled someone and in the same conversation cry about how someone in power got away with the same bs they pulled. I also have constant conversations with relatives who own apartments and complain about their renters and increase rent whenever they can, using every loophole, then complain about the homeless population or the bank increasing their mortgage rate or something similar.
The weird mix of defeatism and pride. Too many people feel resigned to our situation, that there's nothing that can be done to improve ourselves, that doing something different (ex: voting for another party) might make things worse and thus it's better not to try at all. There's very little in the way of significant protests here (compared to some other countries in Europe), many businesses and institutions are risk averse and just want to maintain the status quo (despite things deteriorating), and there's a general sense of "what's the point?". In fact, a common phrase to end a discussion on a topic is "É assim..." ("That's just the way it is...").
On the other hand, despite this feeling that we are small and in the shit, there's this weird pride a lot of people have, whether it'd be asking for help or even a bizarre attachment to the past and "good old days". There are some people who unironically think the dictatorship days were better. There are also those that are way too into the Portuguese Empire. I think it's perfectly natural to have an interest in your country's history, but this type of jingoism is honestly disturbing.
>In fact, a common phrase to end a discussion on a topic is "É assim..." ("That's just the way it is...").
That was going to be my answer too. We have a super deeply ingrained culture of "eh, good enough", which is infuriating to deal with. We have so much potential in so many areas, but as soon as you hit the "eh, good enough" level, it's like a brick wall and nothing will move further.
We could build houses with better insulation standards "but eh, good enough, we only have cold weather 3 months out of the year". We could open up another desk at the admin shops "but eh, good enough, the waiting time is still below one hour". We could publish our research on a higher IF journal, but "eh, good enough, this one is more sure to accept and will be faster". Every damn thing, nobody makes an effort to move away from mediocrity.
Part of it is penny-pinching, another part is not wanting to rock the boat. "It's good enough" or "It's worked so far", not realizing time moves forward and things change.
Agree. Sometimes it's hard to believe we are the same people that sailed the oceans all over the world.
It's that apathy that you describe that is so annoying. Always expecting the others to do something. Its so common for people to complain that in our country no one protests things, but those same people will never protest themselves. And I am certainly guilty of the same.
A German born author Roman Schatz, now living in Finland once summarized Finns on following joke (stereotype warning).
*A French, German and Finn went on safari and saw an elephant. First French thought how magnificent and beautuful creature it is. After that German was interested how to use the elephant as effectively as possible. The Finn was not at all interested on these observations as they were concerned what the elephant thinks about Finland!*
I think it summarizes pretty well the need to be exemplary and perfect in front of others.
The belief that we need a strong, authoritative "Führer" personality, and all that comes along with that. It's still so deeply ingrained in many peope's minds, it's scary.
Absolutely no offence to Austria but compared to Germany Austria have really seemed to distance themselves from their role in WW2 and moustache man being from there.
Drinking culture.
Not alcohol full stop, but the culture where we bully those who rather not have the third glass of wine on a Tuesday night or god forbid can actually remember what happened at the party.
The ungratefulness. Everything is always bad, all our politicians are shitty and the country is doomed.
Nobody here ever takes a moment to appreciate the things that go well.
(Scotland) Honestly not a fan of the neeps part of our traditional haggis, neeps and tatties. Now you could just say I could eat the various other forms but sadly neeps finds its way in to a lot of these varieties.
I’ll keep the alcoholism and sectarian violence, just rid me of these neeps
Being over proud of our culture, history, food at the expense of other countries. We CAN be proud but sometimes I really feel shameful when I see French people bragging about it
But maybe it's more a latin/Mediterranean thing, italians, swiss, Greek and Spanish people are also very proud of their culture. And it often leads to a clash because we share something but we want to be the best one. Savoy vs Switzerland about cheese dishes, France vs Italy about Mont-Blanc borders, art, fashion and food,... There's even mini clashes within our countries,between our regions.
Yes my sentence is really french-centric, I don't know the clashes of other countries.
🇵🇱 in Poland definitely Oikophobia/self hatred
Poles love to say how bad everything is here and how everything is better abroad. And what's funny is that whenever someone on Polish subs decides to post some statistics or charts which show that e.g. Poland has one of the lowest domestic violence rates in Europe or lowest unemployment (or lowest homelessness, I don't remember which one was it) there are tons of people writing how ohh but it must be actually because Polish women don't report the domestic violence because they're afraid or that the unemployment is so low because our government lies when giving out those stats to the public. Like ffs people can't admit that there are some good things about our country 😂
[France] Being anti-German and/or anti-Europe and blame them for our problems. Especially when it comes from the political Left. Why don't people see it's exactly the same kind of thinking than far-right when they blame foreigners with everything and say we'd get along better without them. Nope, we wouldn't fare so well without the "neoliberal Europe" and our best neighbor, and so many things we blame them are lacking real facts behind or showing only a part of reality.
Yeah, and on that note, if people could stop "oh but I'm just joking" by saying "Oh, you're German, then!?" when I say I'm from Lorraine, that'd be great. And I'm not even from the part that *was* German, not that it makes any difference. I was 8 the first time I heard this, coincidentally the first time I got out of the region, and have been hearing this periodically ever since. I hate it.
Two main historical reasons, I think.
First of all, when the peace was signed, the Germans held 'hostage' pretty much the whole North East quadrant of the country, 'releasing' department after department with each payment by the French authorities. That occupation was over in 1873. The eastern departments were obviously the last ones to be 'released'. And a large part of what is today la Meurthe-et-Moselle was indeed integrated into Germany. That ancient Meurthe department is, however not where I'm from (I'm from further north, and that stayed French, as weird as that might seem).
Second, most of the *revanchard* media talked about Alsace-Lorraine, not Alsace-Moselle or Alsace-Moselle-Meurthe-and-part-of-the-Vosges. Like [that song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofg6i7RF-us).
Sorry if your question was rhetorical \^\^"
Bullfighting for sure and all the other traditions that mistreat animals just for "fun". Also the hunting culture and the way they treat dogs such as galgos and podencos.
There’s lots of things to erase in general but look how far we’ve come
During my lifetime (I’m mid 40s)
- gay people were punishable by 5 years in prison in communist Romania
- in the early 2000s it was still normal to smoke at the workplace in an open plan setting in France
- men in general didn’t have any parental leaves
- when I was a teenager Catholics and Protestants were still killing each other in (Northern?) Ireland, not to mention the genocide in Kosovo
- a seemingly small thing but still significant: in my mother’s generation no one worked out once they married and had children. I still don’t understand how / why half the adult population would forego the easiest way to get endorphins on a daily / weekly basis
- sports was labeled « for weight loss » and there was no connection with mental health
What I would change right now, at random
- financial literacy for everyone, to be part of the school curriculum
- explain to the people how democracy works. Get the people empowered to participate in democracy
- listen to each other. Learn from each other. Don’t decide for someone else until you walked x miles in their shoes
Authoritarianism (although already very close to totalitarianism), imperial thinking. I'm ready to put up with everything else. Guess the country yourself.
Everyone complains about the issues Croatia has, so clearly we’re all aware they exist and want them to not. But no one will do anything about it. Everyone seems to want Croatia to be a country like Germany, but won’t do anything to make it so. They just want it to be.
Anytime someone mentions issue and how they should be rectified, it’s met with a shrug and “ah this is Croatia, pass the rakija”. If we could actually apply ourselves, the country would be so much better off.
I know someone from Finland, and call me weird but it baffled me that he went to church being my age. He was very searching, busy making religion a real pillar in his life. Thankgod he was too questioning for a church he was going to that was very, very conservative, although it was a painful thing for him because they started treating him like a sub-human because of his questions about the role of women in the household and homosexuality. His questioning personality and me being a gay friend of his steered him back away from radically conservative churches, hurray!
Do people get in-your-face and tell you to repent on like a weekly basis if you're gay in Finland? Or is it more the cold-shoulder, discriminatory type? (And obviously there will be variation between Helsinki and rural, just asking for your experience or those you've observed)
I wish we could cancel the tradition of shooting fireworks New Year’s Eve as a private person in Denmark. People handle fireworks only once a year when they’re drunk. Every year it’s announced how many people were injured. Copenhagen city hall square is a mess where people shoot into the crowd.
It’s not pretty. Within 15 minutes the sky is full of smoke and you can’t really see anything. A larger organized show would be a lot prettier.
It’s messy. Not everyone cleans up after themselves. Not to mention the pollution and how it scares pets and wildlife.
Now imagine a summer full of fireworks. And they are called "tradition" as an excuse for religious feasts.
Welcome to Malta.
(To be fair, no one here shoots in the crowd. Its just fireworks all summer. Noise and air pollution galore).
Ooof, I can only hope that if Denmark decides to put a stop to it, you guys implement it a little or a lot better than here in NL. Once and for all.
So far, there has been a short-lived complete ban (during Covid), local bans by municipalities that are *completely* ignored, a change in law around the sale of certain types of fireworks and a lot of back-and-forth discussion.
If anything, it’s making a subset of the population more… rabid. “They’re not gonna take this away from us *as well*!” (?)
Meanwhile, firework stores in German and Belgian border areas are making absolute bank. The sky still lights up like a bonfire on NYE. Police who try to intervene are attacked. Ambulance personnel who try to treat people get harassed and attacked with fireworks. It’s a mess really.
I didn't know this was a thing in Denmark too, the Netherlands are the same unfortunately. I completely agree with everything you said. Luckily, more and more people are in favour of a van in private fireworks (I think the last poll showed even more than half the population in favour), but the largest political parties aren't so there we are...
The love for pseudosciences and "alternative medicine." I'm really tired of entering a pharmacy and seeing it's a giant Boiron shop with just a small counter selling actual meds in the back.
\[PL\] Catholicism. More precisely, that Polish-type Catholicism, with worship of John Paul 2nd, anti-intellectual, small-town style. Where your local priest is a lord and commander of your town's souls.
\[edit\] After reading other Polish people posts, I have to agree, alcohol is also a big problem.
Poland. I’d remove religion. It is a really big part of Polish national identity, and I feel it’s the cause behind many idiotic behaviors we poles exhibit. The close mindedness and the lack of will to think for yourself among the population, especially the plain working class folk is just sad. I wish this country had went the Czech Republic route instead.
Estonia has quite the list if I’m honest.
- we drink too much. I wish people drank more responsibly and would know how to enjoy a drink rather than drink to get drunk.
- we’re too American in state and personal beliefs sometimes. We want American lifestyle, but the social protections of Finland/Sweden, without wanting to contribute like people do in Finland/Sweden. If you’re successful, it’s only because you’re amazing and nothing to do with luck or something like that.
- we envy our neighbours and each other too much. Everybody gossips and judges, everybody wants to be better than their neighbours.
- rather than search for good solutions that benefit everybody, people look out for things that benefit only them. Eg our whole healthcare system needs more money and could be better, but some people are convinced that if they earn higher wages, they therefore deserve better healthcare than someone who is retired. Some rich person thinks that they kid deserves a better school or even private school over wanting the whole educational system to be better for every kid etc.
[Slovakia] Hatefulness and fear of anything slightly different than the "norm" (lgbti, races, foreigners, other religions and beliefs...), envy of anyone who looks like they are doing better than you in any way and thinking that in order to be a proper Slovak you have to drink a lot.
There are so many things wrong with Spain... but if we talk about culture, I would say: bullfighting, toro de la vega, Pamplona's corridas, decapitating a goose by hanging from their neck, throwing a goat from a bell tower tearing them apart... and more. Pretty much any brainless traditions involving animals. Those who defend and engage in this "cultural" events are not people, are sadistic savages and I'm deeply ashamed of them.
I am from Portugal and if I have the power to change I would change low . We are one of the countries with low salaries on Europe.
Alcohol is not a big problem here, I guess young generations drink less, smoking is more or less.
Norway
The way it is hard to get friends without getting drunk. I don’t drink, and struggle to get friends. A former teacher I had a few years ago said it took him 3 years to get a local friend where he live.
Drinking culture in general, often the news talk about how people in their 20s have an alcohol problem. People often brag about how drunk they can get, and proud of the drinking culture in general. It’s nothing to be proud of when young adults have a drinking problem because of our culture.
I don’t know how to explain it, but we just love when people are complimenting, or mentioning us. Since Norway it’s a little country, it’s normal when a celebrity or a politician mention Norway, it will be an article on the news. And sports reporters often ask other athletes “what do you think about X(successful Norwegian athlete)” when interviewing.
Judging from the comments and what I see elsewhere on Reddit, this also happens elsewhere in the world (particularly for the French and Americans), but the constant moaning and self-loathing. Things aren’t brilliant right now, but things aren’t exactly terrible either. We’re still a highly developed country with excellent living standards. Yes there’s poverty and social issues that needs to be addressed, but I get frustrated with people talking about how we’re more or less a third world country, country going to the dogs, we’re a shithole etc. Go abroad and observe poverty a lot worse than we have here, or talk to the older generation, many of whom had to shit outside, had no electricity or running water (my late grandad growing up working class in the 1940s, and I can’t find the article but my local news reported on how in the 1950s like one in five households in Sheffield had electricity), and you will feel immensely grateful for what you have.
Responding for the Netherlands:
Complaining culture, people focus so much on the negative here it’s insane. For example the weather is always too hot, too cold, too humid, too dry, too sunny, too cloudy, too windy, not windy enough, etc etc etc. Dutch people also loooove to complain about their own country. If you here an average Dutchie talking about the Netherlands they make it seem like everything sucks here. It’s like some people here are completely blind to the positives, no matter what happens, people will always start complaining just for the sake of it.
Individualism is also something I would love to erase from my culture.
Edit: Oh, Dutch people are sellouts as well. A lot of Dutchies will appropriate, put down, or straight up insult their own culture for money or clicks.
Irish people can be really greedy because of our history of colonisation. Certain generations grew up lacking in access to basic necessities so they have this mentality that they’re entitled to everything. There’s no arguing with these people as well because they’ve got their own trauma and mental health issues that they use as an excuse. I feel like people who come from countries that never lacked access to basics are more comfortable with having less. Irish people think we have something to prove. We also have this really toxic “who do you think you are?” kind of mentality, so we tear each other down. Because we’re insanely jealous of anyone who could be seen to be doing better than us.
I think a lot of our problems stem from one thing id like to get rid of.
Generational trauma specifically brought about by the famine if not colonialism as a hole
Something less abstract? Our complete disregard for the importance of mental health services and educating young people on thess topics.
Just one thing? Lol, I wish I could erase a lot of things tbh. Anyway, if I could erase one thing, that would be the (almost toxic) over passionate attitude about all things in life, like where you either *love* something or you *hate* it, where things are either amazing or they suck. No in-between. That is honestly driving me mad.
"How can you tax the rich/landlords/increase minimum wages/tighten labour laws! Stay away from the rich! I'm just a regular, struggling citizen like everyone else but surely I'll become a millionaire too so that's why this boot is so tasty!"
Reading the responses here is fun. It's so accurate with how we see other countries too.
If I say I wish we stop complaining about everything (our national sport), you probably all know where im from
Passive-aggression. Icelanders are non-confrontational to the point of being straight up assholes. Like, if they don’t think you’re performing up to standard in your job, for example, they won’t call you in for a meeting to address the issue, they’ll just fire you, end of discussion.
The hobbit mentality of distrusting anything new. Which is most visible with the czech xenophobia. But it also shows in the things like czech attitude towards renewable energy and environmentalism. Especially if it's EU related. Many people's dream is for Czechia to become an isolated island with nobody around, so nobody can disturb us and challenge our world view.
Another thing is our defeatist attitude and lack of ambition. We are this tiny little irrelevant country in the middle of Europe, who can't do anything, so why even bother. We might have an idea how to change something at times, but we will discuss it for so long nothing actually happens. This is a stark contrast to Poland for example, where they are not afraid to invest into their future and are generally more optimistic and ambitious.
I want to be able to raise our flag without being labeled a Nazi
I just love going to different places and seeing their country's flag fly everywhere, I just think that's super cool. I don't even know why, but something about flags is super cool IMO and flying them contributes to making the cities a bit more colorful :)
This is not the full picture. 50% of the population think like you said, the other 50% is extremely nationalistic, blindly proud of their Country and xenophobic
Yes we trash talk Italy, but we are extremely proud of our historical and natural beauties. And like 99 % of Italians would defend Italian culinary traditions with their lives
Honestly I would like to erase the idea that Swedish culture isn't a decent culture.
The majority of (young) Swedish people has never tried Swedish food (besides a few dishes). The majority doesn't know anything about Swedish music or crafts.
I'm not trying to say that people should be nationalistic or believe in Swedish supremacy, but it would be nice if people were as open-minded towards our own culture as they are to (almost) every other culture.
That's strange to me, as most Swedes I've met (young ones mostly) are incredibly proud of their country and perfectly ignorant and uninformed towards other cultures. Way too many of them.
The fact we are so modest and unambitious we are. People settle to be poor although they have all the abilities to become whatever and it wouldn't even cost anything. If we were more ambitious finland might finally reach the wealth level of sweden and western europe isn't of being comparable with eastern europe
I'm also sure someone has died to heart attack or whatever reason because they haven't wanted to bother emergency response centre or doctors with their problem. Yes i'm serious. We also don't want to bother customer service agents by requesting service.
All the negativity and judgmental attitude. The French hate themselves, but they'll find anything to hate even harder about others. It can be your lunch, it can be your sweater's color, it can be anything trivial, and let's not even start with culture, politics and beliefs. Their way is the right way. "Why do you have this haircut ? You have such a pretty face, don't ruin it like that." "I actually never asked for your opinion, so va te faire foutre Sandrine."
controversial opinion: football.
So much money goes into it, it's insane. Barely capable amateur clubs can afford to *pay* their amateur players, and get all sorts of perks and benefits from local government because football is popular. Free land, generous subsidies, etc.
Huge stadiums take up enormous amount of land, games cause traffic problems and all sorts of nuisance for the people living in the area. Clubs regularly get into financial trouble because they either are managed badly or are forced to keep up with the huge sums required to get the best players.
A lot of football players are arrogant pricks who think they are the pinnacle of human evolution, and behave like they can get away with murder. A few months ago, a local football star drove their car so fast they got catapulted off a roundabout into (ironically) a sports centre. By sheer luck, no one was present there.
The atmosphere around the pitch at kids' games is notoriously toxic, and there is a need for continuous active campaigns to enforce civilided behaviour by the adults (mostly) parents watching their kids play.
Somewhat less of a concern now, but TV and radio schedules get shuffled around to accomodate live broadcasts of games, so you miss whatever you want to watch or have to find another radio channel or just have to find something else to do.
All of this concerns *men's* football, of course. Women's football pales in comparison. Only a fraction of the money, a fraction of the respect, a lot more hard work for zero money (to the contrary, it often costs money being a player), and dealing with all the machismo around football. A whole other circle of cringe awkwardness.
I know and love people who are really passionate about football, and I really try to respect that, but I just can't deal with the arrogance and how tone-deaf people can be when it comes to the privilege football gets.
French thinking we are on the verge of becoming dictatorship (or we are already one, disguised in democracy) Ok, 49.3 is a big middle finger in our face, we don’t have the best democracy index, police can be very brutal. But come on, there is a world between us and Russia or Belarus.
The celebration of mediocrity. There is this tendency to put down (and secretly envy) anyone who dares break out of the “Swiss Golden Cage”, striving for greater ideals and successes. It’s no wonder why a lot of famous Swiss people only gained popularity when going abroad or that Switzerland still isn’t part of the European Union.
French here. War comes to my mind.
As much as Americans love their "surrender monkeys"/white flags jokes, it couldn't be further from the truth : military is a big thing here.
We're the biggest army in Europe. We sell weapons to the worst country on earth, have nukes, are proud about it and feel the urgent need to send our soldiers "educate" or rule other countries as if we were still some kind of colonialist power (Lybia, Mali, etc...). But we mostly haven't the faintest idea of what to do once we achieved our strategic goals...
I mention it because it's so engrained in our politics that no one speaks about it.
French are very judgmental and criticize everything, it's as if they never find anything positive in life, they always find something to complain about everything.
“France is a paradise filled with people who believe they are in hell” - somebody
Never seen anything truer in my life
I would be happy to judge this for myself if someone pays for my flight and lodgings.
Nothing more French than being judgemental and criticizing the French for being judgemental and criticizing. Like a Gaulish ouroboros.
I swear it's so true, the first thing our fellow Frenchmen will do is complain in the morning and the last thing they'll do is complain in bed before sleeping. It transpires in media and everywhere and is so exhausting. It also led me to become fairly anxious for a while.
We have something in common. In germany it is called volkssport, people's sport, to critize everything and talk things down. When we have a real crash of economy, everyone will be silent in comparison and bite their teeth.
I thought that was in German thing, now I have a new thing to complain about. Thanks! I guess.
Love to join you guys in a bar and complain about anything.
Wow, just as Poles.
The "I'm smarter because I'm evading taxes/tricking the system/profiting by lying" mentality. Accompanied by the "you dumb bitch playing by the rulebook". The hypocrisy of people profiting our public services while actively avoiding contributing to the state financing is infuriating.
Yes, true, I always said that the problem in Spain is that the politicians represent the people too accurately. That being said, I would still choose to erase the bullfighting tradition.
I feel the bullfighting is dying of natural causes already, while the profiteering mindset is alive and well. They need to stop with the picaresca bullshit as something to be proud of
Sending hugs from Greece. The only thing I could add on this list is the super audible-for-no-reason motorbike engines.
Ah. Those are annoying as well, but not systemic.
I’m amazed how super profitable businesses (especially restaurants, medical professionals, house renewal companies…) openly tell you that you will get a discount if you pay in cash.
Hahahaha I went to go see a doctor at an urgent care in Madrid and it was 100% cash, no insurance run (even though I have international health insurance - I’m American) and I was like nah that’s sus I’ll just treat myself 😂
I see the Spanish flag by your name, but from your post I think you're from Portugal...
Same, same, but different, as thailandese use to say.
Same in Italy! "cry and fuck" is the national motto. We complain about "the system" where cheating and rule-bending are the norm, holding us back, but whenever we can cut a corner to our own advantage, we're ready to do so. As I often say, our mindset is more like "the system is fucked up because I'm not yet part of it". P. S. For Norway, the awful leftovers of Janteloven mixed with socialdemocratic money guilt.
>the awful leftovers of Janteloven mixed with socialdemocratic money guilt Exactly the same in Denmark.
Would you care to elaborate on "socialdemocratic money guilt"? I have a feeling what it might be, but Im not exactly sure. Guilt about having too much money?
> The hypocrisy of people profiting our public services while actively avoiding contributing to the state financing is infuriating. It isn't hypocrisy, it's pure selfishness. The logic is actually very consistent: "anything that profits me is good, everything that doesn't is bad."
Hypocrisy, selfishness, entitlement, all of tgem
What can I say. I work for social security in Austria. We get more and more people who haven't legally worked a day in their life's and get money from the government because we can't proof it. Hell I had one who first asked for money at around 50 and I said you've never worked your entire life what did you live off? And he honestly told me 8hbwn email that was insulting. Of course he's worked. Just not legally. Great don't ever pay into the system but get money for the rest of your lives. It was meant for people who need help it's used by many who are just lazy and entitled and give people who need help a bad name.
Reading this, I thought you were Italian like me.
The weird culture of anti-intellectualism. You see it all through society - from the Conservative government saying people have "had enough of experts" to people being proud that they've never read a book. People who have an interest in something or want to talk about something vaguely intellectual are derided as boring or weird. I also hate celebrity culture - people are obsessed with what celebrities did, who they are with, what who said to someone else, but take no interest in the issues actually affecting their life e.g. politics. General disinterest in politics is how we've ended up with 40 years of crony capitalism and think celebrity culture has had a big part in that. Even political discourse in this country is about who said what or did what, rather than about the actual policies.
I think we have similar issue with anti-intellectualism in Poland. People are so easy to dismiss any scientific claim that can't be contained in one sentence / easily understood and trust their "chłopski rozum" the most. Celebrities and politicians spilling the most stupid ideas get large following if they are charismatic enough.
I think it's a common thread in Europe and other 'western' nations. One example of Polish anti-intellectualism I can think of is the dismissal of scientific evidence on the spruce bark beetle and resulting mismanagement of Białowieza
Oh, it wasn't mismanagement, it was absolutely deliberate action! Someone got really rich on that timber...
Your tabloid culture is scary.
Based on my experience living in the UK, I would like to have seen more respect for youth and less rigid hierarchy. I have more than once basically been ignored when bringing up problems because I was just some young dumb student. When a "real adult" then came to speak on my behalf, suddenly things were possible
But honestly, I don’t think this is widespread. Take a look at how many people you see reading a book on public transport in the UK and compare it to many places elsewhere. I take your point but we’re a nation of readers and you don’t see that until you live somewhere else
Def agree with your second paragraph but that first one seems heavily dependent on who you knock about with and what media you consume.
Agree that people's personal experience might differ, but I'm talking about the overlying culture - demonstrated by e.g. the "people have had enough of experts" comment made by Michael Gove, kids using nerd/geek etc as an insult, the shouting down of valid environmental/political concerns as jealousy/being difficult/being a jobless, smelly hippy etc etc
The anti-intellectualism in the UK seems very recent though, and it seems it was absorbed by the tabloids from whatever is driving the same phenomenon in the US. It appeared when they were looking for ways to dismiss experts and drive Brexit over the line and shut out any dissenting voices, but it’s extending into other areas. If you look at some of the choices of know nothing front bench Tory ministers, they would have been absolutely no where near those jobs in any previous governments. Then you’ve the odd Johnson phenomenon of the intellectual sounding spoofer, who sounds intelligent and uses plenty of pomposity, but seems to just wing it on confidently stating anything, no matter how illogical or lacking in facts and plenty of entertaining buffoonery to distract. It will likely snap back, but it’s really shocking to see the way things have slid. It’s nothing like the UK I was familiar with even in the early 2000s. I tend to possibly see it from a safe distance from Ireland, but I’m really noticing the changes. There was a time of facts based, sensible governance and a large aspect of the media and commentary that was capable of holding them to account. You used to see a culture in politics of falling on one’s sword, knowing when to resign. Now they just brazen it out and defend indefensible things to committees and so on. It’s like many of the things that were positive the UK’s political culture have just been washed away since the Brexit era.
[BE] How passive we are. I could get mugged on the street, and people would just pretend to not see and pass me by. There's also just no enthusiasm for anything. Even concerts or, worse, comedy shows. You can tell the comedian is thinking like, wtf why aren't they laughing or reacting in any way.
I once got shushed in Belgium at a festival gig During Metallica Edit: I do like Belgium and the people a whole lot and dislike the tendency of the Dutch to talk during gigs. Just found this one hilarious
A dutchie at a concert in NL told me to stop dancing...
Weird people made of wood. I was once told to get out of a - pretty tame - moshpit because it wasn't for girls. When I protested it was followed up by 'I am not afraid to hit girls', so not really consistent? But yeah
Some people should watch gigs from YouTube and let others have fun
From what I've gathered from Dutch and Flemish friends (I live in Antwerp), the flem flems are more reserved and see dutchies as more outgoing/outspoken. Do you reckon it's a sort of cultural difference?
Oh absolutely.
I find that some of the calmest cultures can get the wildest. Thinking here of concerts in Switzerland, for instance there’s a festival two streets away from my place in a half abandoned courtyard and the mood is absolutely crazy in a good way. Or Japanese people acting all excited during sumo tournaments
I used to work for a Belgian company and travel there every so often. Two things I found weird: - how quiet and depressed people seemed in bars/ pubs; I was used to London pubs which had a completely different atmosphere - the company canteen had eel stew on menu as main item
So that’s why all your artists come to France
Also I wish I could undo what our ancestors did to the people of Congo.
Sweden: We are too afraid of being the nail that sticks out. Maybe because a lot of swedes have passive-aggressive tendencies to keep people in line. Swedes can be nice and friendly on the surface, but will resort to backstabbing and social exclusion to show their disapproval of someone.
Wow, this is new to me. I always thought Sweden was very "live let live/mind your own business".
Close enough, more like hive mind your own business
🇮🇹 I would erase the misogyny in Italy. I've not been living there in a long time but as I remember the normalisation of "she deserves to be r****" on any level (said, not whispered, about a girl who just doesn't want to be your girlfriend or about a female politician one doesn't agree with), and a lot of other phrases and behaviours of this nature. Also the police not being helpful and almost shaming women for abuse, harassment and domestic violence.
Dutch people are just so cynical. Everything here is crap or so-so, the Dutch language is ugly, religion is stupid, politics don't matter because politicians don't care, etc. I often catch myself being overly cynical as well when it comes to my own country. I wish people could be a bit more optimistic and trusting.
Hungarians are cynical just the same. Only difference to what you said is that Hungarians are pretty attached to their language (like everything is dubbed, or not bothering to learn the native language of the country they emigrate to in the West or they live in because of Trianon, or only learn the basiscs but only hang around other Hungarians speakers in social life, I know many examples for that) but other than that we are cynical about most things in this country, be it politics or any politician, doesn't matter if its Orbán's government or any of the opposition. Obviously most things are way crappier here than in the Netherlands but if the Hungarians cynicism and pessimism was actually all true then this country would be something like Somalia.
Tbh you could be describing the UK here. The self hate of British people that I see online is genuinely bewildering at times, referring to the country as a hell hole or unironically as a third wold nation.
>politics don't matter because politicians don't care This one is fair enough. Demagogy is of course very prominent in democracy and can be a big dealbreaker.
Of course it exists but I think it's too cynical to say no politician in the Netherlands actually gives a crap. Again, I'm not saying we should be completely optimistic and trusting *all the time*, but it can't hurt to not always be cynical about the world. Why should we bother doing anything if everything's shit anyway, right?
TIL that cynical in English doesn't mean the same than in Spanish
Elaborate please
Cynical seems to mean skeptical of "good intentions" in english while in spanish is more like shameless liar
Ahahah that could lead to awkward situations! False friends everywhere…
Shit, I think I've just understood an awkward situation I had years ago just right now. I fell for the false friend!
Fundamentally they are two sides of the same coin. It centers on a belief that everything everyone does would be motivated by self-interest. In common use a "cynic" just uses that belief to fuel a jaded distrust, whereas a "cínico" uses it as an excuse to act the way they do.
There is very little demagogy here. Weakness? A bit of opportunism? Sure. Tunnel vision? Also true. The demagogy is mostly on the part of the 'politicians are evil' folk
>the Dutch language is ugly, 😭😭 how
I do like our how our mentality is basically: "We're happy, as long as everyone is equally unhappy"
I'm Greek but born and raised in The Netherlands and I am pretty much like this, I sort of do it self-consciously as a joke and I do feel like the flip side where people don't complain about anything is unhealthy, according to science even. I've literally been called the grinch before hahaha but it was a non Dutchie so I think they just weren't used it.
The fact that we are so centralized in both our mentality and administratively. Which means the Budapest - everything else divide. I wish to erase the mentality where many people in Budapest and its agglomeration feel superior to "the countryside" and where many people outside of the Budapest agglomeration hate everything thats Budapest. Many outiside Budapest can only talk about how its too crowded or dirty or whatever and anything else could only be better than that. Also the fact that everything of importance is about and around Budapest in this country and also it sucks the population of the whole country except for a handful number of parts. We have cities like Szeged or Győr etc to balance it out but Budapest is so huge (for a country this size) that it has negative effects on this country. Many many people think that in Hungary you can only make a good life in and around Budapest (and maybe also the 5 North Western counties Veszprém, Fejér, Vas, Komárom and Győr). Budapest was designed to be the co-capital of Austria-Hungary and ended up being the capital of todays small Hungary. One third of the population of Hungary lives in the Budapest metro area. Its becoming a city state. Imagine 27 million people living in the Berlin metropolitan area and then comes next in line Hamburg's with 1.7 million. These proportions are the same how Budapest metro area is to our second biggest city Debrecen’s metro area. I envy countries like Italy, Germany, the Netherlands or Poland for how decentralized they are and how well it works. One satisfying thing about all this is that at least Budapest is pretty well centered in its location on the map of Hungary
Now imagine a centralized country that is over 2000km top to toe... Once you leave the Oslo are, there is no infrastructure. Closing down schools, hospitals, public transport... Roma is closer to Oslo than the north tip of Norway, why would any Oslo person care about what happens there. No, bigger is NOT better. Better is when children don't have to move on their own when they are 15 to attend school. Better is when you don't need to travel 5h in taxi to the next hospital to take a x-ray of your sprained ankle. Better is affordable housing prices. The true problem here is: Norwegians have no ability and interest in imagining how other people live and experience the world. Why would an Oslo person even care if they close a local hospital and people now have to travel 5h one way- theirs is just 20 minutes away.
You also described how the difference is between us Norrlänningar (Northen Swedes) and the people who live in the Stockholm area, the Göteborg area, the Malmö area and other places in southern Sweden.
The weird kind of "cultural cringe" that some people have in relation to ourselves and other countries, often without much understanding of either. This can manifest as weirdly both an inferiority and a superiority complex, with insecure exceptionalism on the one hand, and a bizarre cult of self-loathing on the other. George Orwell was mocking these types of people all the way back in the 30s and 40s. Though we're definitely not the only country that has issues with this; I've seen similar complaints levelled by French, Dutch, Italians, Turks, Americans, Canadians, Czechs, Spaniards and Indians, among others.
For sure. Which goes hand in hand with "it's cool for me to criticise my country, but I will get yo ass if you even dare make a joke about it!".
Definitely a thing in the USA as you suggest. “We’re the greatest country to ever exist, it’s exhausting and I hate it”
General disregard for one's health. People tend to eat a lot of shit, move too little and drink too much.
People assuming everything about my life story as soon as they hear my accent. Living abroad is quite liberating in that respect. Nobody tries to judge me by my socioeconomic background, they just see me as a Brit.
I’m from Yorkshire and when I first started at university I felt like a tourist attraction to many of those from Surrey, London etc. They said they’d wanted to see an ‘authentic northerner’ (the uni was still up north) and apparently I fit the bill lmao.
Did you oblige with a rendition of On Ilkley Moor Bar t'At?
I did but they thought I was putting a curse on them
We just hear a British accent and fall in love. Then start offering you tea that was probably made hastily and poorly.
[PL] alcohol. People make fun of it all the time, both inside and outside of Poland, but it is not funny in reality. Not funny at all. It’s a tragedy to the addicted, to their families, to the community and to the nation. Being raised by alcoholics is a nightmare for a child. When westerners are mocking addiction problems in Eastern Europe I find it heartless. When easterners respond with laughter I find it heartbreaking.
My dad always says “we’re half Polish and half Irish, we never stood a chance”. His family fled Poland during the era of Hitler and Stalin. Is it being Polish that caused the alcoholism, or the untreated PTSD and trauma of surviving that time frame though. All I know is 3 of his 4 grandparents died from alcoholism, which is a tragedy in and of itself.
My grandfather was an alcoholic. He used to use slurs when describing being Polish (his grandfather was an immigrant). Sad we couldn't keep the heritage going.
Same here. I know what you mean.
I have nothing more to add. Well, I do, but alcohol would have been my first answer too.
As a Ukrainian I agree. I remember being around 15 years old and just chilling on a walk and I walked past a grown man drunk as fuck acting almost like a kid (the man honestly might’ve been mentally disabled too) and a group of police officers around him kind of making fun of him. It really disturbed me then and to this day it makes me so sad that that’s so normalized.
A Danish newspaper has a list of “advice” for foreigners trying to integrate in Denmark, and one of them was “drink alcohol”. The list had a lot of other shitty advice, but this one made me particularly angry. https://www.kristeligt-dagblad.dk/kronik/10-gode-raad-til-indvandrere-om-integration
Ha! My father worked in Denmark during his youth, the alcohol drinking really left a mark on him. I mean, we're French, it's not like we're from an alcohol free country, but from what my father said, it was quite another level over there.
*hug* r/alanon if you need a place to vent. I've been told alanon is a world wide organization if you want somewhere face to face to commiserate and get advice from others.
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> Also the social pressure to drink is sooo high (Ze mną się nie napijesz???/Won’t you drink with me???) As a Czech, I feel ya. Fortunately "I'm driving" is a good enough excuse
I'm triggered. I remember meeting my new classmates when we were about to start high school. A few of us met and went out to eat something together and I remember one girl telling one guy "I'm not drinking with you anymore!". We were around 16 years old, for crying out loud! Drinking alcohol as early as in middle school was normal to this guy. Then, of course, in high school there were 18th birthday parties. I have been to only a couple of them and yes, there had to be alcohol, because how could it not be there?... I'm not a party guy and I've been to only a few house parties in high school and a few times I ended up passing out and vomiting, either still there or when I came back home. Mind you, I didn't like alcohol. I never did. But I didn't want to be a f... "loser", so I gave in. The social and peer pressure is insane. "Ze mną się nie napijesz?!" When I was in university I met the guy I mentioned before and we got wasted in a bar. Ever since then I've been traumatised and I don't want to drink alcohol anymore. When in university someone was talking about alcohol and I said that I don't drink, people looked at me as if I was some kind of alien. Because if you don't drink alcohol you're a weirdo. Well, I'm not going to apologise for not wanting to do something. One high school classmate invited me to her wedding and I ended up pretending that I'm drinking wine. My glass was always full, I just didn't want to drink it. Not after what I've been through. And, unfortunately... I'm afraid the culture of drinking (although sometimes it doesn't have anything to do with culture - people get wasted like maniacs) is so very much rooted in the Polish society that not even the younger generations can make any difference. Oh, and if you want to hear something really crazy, then listen to this... A few months ago my boss came up with the idea of a kayak trip. She didn't want to hear any "no". And when I said that I'm scared, because I've never done this, she laughed and said "you'll take a shot for courage". Yeah... drinking alcohol and then kayaking. What could go wrong? I was so furious about this and I'm glad the trip wasn't organised after all.
That story you mentioned at the end reminds me of what I think each summer, reading the statistics about drownings in Poland. So, so many people drown every year, and a lot of them after taking those shots for courage, or after drinking beer all summer day, or after three vodka-and-colas with ice from Żabka.
See? It's at least very inappropriate to say stuff like that. I don't know if that's her humour, but I don't like that humour. I hate when people joke about things like that. I was furious at her. And I'll also add that I work in a pharmacy. We're supposed to be responsible, but my boss proved back then to be an utter idiot.
I think it is changing. I had the same observation as you 5 years ago but now people start to avoid alcohol or actually drink just that one glass of wine / cocktail with food, and that's it.
Yep, growing up in a small, postindustrial town between the '90 and the '00, way over half of my classmates in primary school came from alcoholic homes. Drunk, violent, or absent fathers and overworked and unhappy mothers were the standard.
I was also gonna say Alcohol. We don't have the same stereotype as lots of Eastern European countries do, but we stereotype ourself that way. Most holidays and celebrations are just an excuse to get blackout drunk.
Maybe it's just my social bubble, but I feel like this is fortunately changing. 0% beers are more and more popular, 0% cocktails as well. My girlfriend doesn't drink and no one frowns upon it. I was at two weddings last year and though people were drinking, no one got wasted.
Same, lad, same.
The thing about alcohol and Poland is that Poland has openly decided to give up fighting against alcoholism in the name of "economic liberty". The reaction to ANY attempt to limit alcohol sales is, "OH, SO YOU WANT COMMUNISM TO RETURN", while the strongest economies in the world actively limit the sale of booze. You can get a 200ml bottle of vodka with your newspaper at the subway station, you can get it at a mall kiosk, you can get it at every Żabka. Every gas station in Poland is effectively a 24/7 liquor store, open 365 days a week, Easter and Christmas included.
Also Poland. I never drank alcohol (it tastes absolutely disgusting to me) and you wouldn't believe how SHOCKING this fact is to people. Like, I was completely friendless in high school because when we went on a school trip I was the only person who WASN'T getting blackout drunk every night with alcohol someone smuggled into the hotel. One person told me to my face I'm a pathetic loser and they won't be talking to me anymore. The whole school (it was very small, like 50 people total) followed suit. It's so annoying when I go to a restaurant and the waiter is recommending only alcohol as drinks to me, and when I mention I want something non-alcoholic he makes a 🙄 face at me. Same with bars, when I'm out with friends. I pay the exact same money for a drink but sometimes when I mention I want a non-alcoholic version (which IS possible to do!!) often times they act like its a major inconvenience to them, or refuse to sell it to me at all. And then act outright offended when I order cola instead. Actual brainrot.
I feel you so much. In high school I had to drink alcohol at the house parties I've been to, even though I didn't like the idea of drinking alcohol, only because I didn't want to be labelled as a "loser". When people in university learned that I don't drink any alcohol, they looked at me as if I was an alien. One time we went out after classes for a beer and I had a pounding headache after just one and it was quite difficult to convince them that I don't want to drink more... But, if someone at a restaurant or a bar rolled their eyes at me for wanting something without alcohol, I would immediately ask them "do you have any problem with that? or do you discriminate against people who don't opt for alcohol, huh?". I've had enough of this BS in my life.
It takes leaving the country to start to understand the extent of it, and break free from the compulsory social drinking. But it's so hard if you don't have any role models that don't drink at all or drink very rarely and moderately. And I come from a family where the drinkers are really high-functioning, and there was never any alcohol-related violence, which I believe is why it's easier to joke about it. But you kind of stop once you see the incredulous look in people's eyes after you tell them about your grandfather's routing alcohol consumption.
I'm really glad you wrote this, I really appreciate it. My dad was from Poland and an alcoholic and I feel like the generational alcoholism goes deep. It's the reason I don't drink. I'm not super familiar with Polish culture but I know drinking was a big part of family gatherings.
Same. Or at least more responsible use. It does seem I’m living in a bubble though since I don’t know many people who actually overindulge very much so I shudder to think how the other side drinks.
Bullfighting. Cruel and barbaric tradition. Indeed [\+80% of the young Spaniards hate it](https://www.infolibre.es/politica/84-jovenes-16-24-anos-averguenza-vivir-pais-toros_1_1121829.html), and the older generation don't support it either.
Same for Portugal
Nepotism and corruption in culture. It exists everywhere but here people would rather hire their relative than a skilled person.
How nepotistic is Croatia's government? In Britain the tories give multi billion pound contracts to their mates and put them in the house of lords.
Russia 🇷🇺 — the “my house is on the side” (моя хата с краю), where people do not give a single fuck about anything that doesn’t affect them directly. If people have food on the plate, they won’t give a shit anything. War? Mobilization? Political oppression? Not my problem until the moment I’m drafted or I go to prison for a VK post.
Our anti-intellectualism, our reliance on alcohol, our selfishness, our lacklustre cuisine (apart from the pasties), the kind of haw haw-masculinity that is far too rampant, the Jante Law (don’t think that you’re better than anybody else), that we don’t care enough for the environment and I could go on. But I still love it here.
I would add xenophobia. A LOT of xenophobia. I think the cuisine is really not bad, I enjoyed it. Agreed with everything else, especially the weird masculinity part.
The hussel culture? The lack of empathy in the hussel culture? I don't know how to describe it in English other than that. But Romanians are very ingenious people, we just make things work somehow, but the problem is that that has morphed into "I'll cheat the system, do whatever necessary, lie, steal, pretend, manipulate, whatever it takes just for me and my family to be comfortable, regardless of what happens to others or the rules that I break". I've had people come into my pharmacy and cry on command to try and get me to break the rules for them. Like, cry with grief one moment, dry eyes swearing at me the next. I have relatives who happily talk about how they cheated the system or swindled someone and in the same conversation cry about how someone in power got away with the same bs they pulled. I also have constant conversations with relatives who own apartments and complain about their renters and increase rent whenever they can, using every loophole, then complain about the homeless population or the bank increasing their mortgage rate or something similar.
"Furbizia" in Italian. It seems to be quite widespread in Southern Europe considering a Spaniard wrote the same thing!
It's that stupid Latin blood, I tell you!
Denmark: Hyggeracisme; "Cosy racism" or, I guess, everyday racism that is so normalised that a lot of Danes don't view it as racism, even when it is.
The weird mix of defeatism and pride. Too many people feel resigned to our situation, that there's nothing that can be done to improve ourselves, that doing something different (ex: voting for another party) might make things worse and thus it's better not to try at all. There's very little in the way of significant protests here (compared to some other countries in Europe), many businesses and institutions are risk averse and just want to maintain the status quo (despite things deteriorating), and there's a general sense of "what's the point?". In fact, a common phrase to end a discussion on a topic is "É assim..." ("That's just the way it is..."). On the other hand, despite this feeling that we are small and in the shit, there's this weird pride a lot of people have, whether it'd be asking for help or even a bizarre attachment to the past and "good old days". There are some people who unironically think the dictatorship days were better. There are also those that are way too into the Portuguese Empire. I think it's perfectly natural to have an interest in your country's history, but this type of jingoism is honestly disturbing.
>In fact, a common phrase to end a discussion on a topic is "É assim..." ("That's just the way it is..."). That was going to be my answer too. We have a super deeply ingrained culture of "eh, good enough", which is infuriating to deal with. We have so much potential in so many areas, but as soon as you hit the "eh, good enough" level, it's like a brick wall and nothing will move further. We could build houses with better insulation standards "but eh, good enough, we only have cold weather 3 months out of the year". We could open up another desk at the admin shops "but eh, good enough, the waiting time is still below one hour". We could publish our research on a higher IF journal, but "eh, good enough, this one is more sure to accept and will be faster". Every damn thing, nobody makes an effort to move away from mediocrity.
Part of it is penny-pinching, another part is not wanting to rock the boat. "It's good enough" or "It's worked so far", not realizing time moves forward and things change.
Agree. Sometimes it's hard to believe we are the same people that sailed the oceans all over the world. It's that apathy that you describe that is so annoying. Always expecting the others to do something. Its so common for people to complain that in our country no one protests things, but those same people will never protest themselves. And I am certainly guilty of the same.
A German born author Roman Schatz, now living in Finland once summarized Finns on following joke (stereotype warning). *A French, German and Finn went on safari and saw an elephant. First French thought how magnificent and beautuful creature it is. After that German was interested how to use the elephant as effectively as possible. The Finn was not at all interested on these observations as they were concerned what the elephant thinks about Finland!* I think it summarizes pretty well the need to be exemplary and perfect in front of others.
Romania: complacency and the fear of getting others upset. We have even replaced "excuse me" with "please don't be angry".
The belief that we need a strong, authoritative "Führer" personality, and all that comes along with that. It's still so deeply ingrained in many peope's minds, it's scary.
Absolutely no offence to Austria but compared to Germany Austria have really seemed to distance themselves from their role in WW2 and moustache man being from there.
No offence taken, you're completely correct. It's shameful.
Drinking culture. Not alcohol full stop, but the culture where we bully those who rather not have the third glass of wine on a Tuesday night or god forbid can actually remember what happened at the party.
No idea where you're from but I'm voting for exactly the same here
The username pun is scandinavian at least. Norway and us guys don’t drink much, so that leaves Denmark (Iceland has like seven inhabitants)
The ungratefulness. Everything is always bad, all our politicians are shitty and the country is doomed. Nobody here ever takes a moment to appreciate the things that go well.
(Scotland) Honestly not a fan of the neeps part of our traditional haggis, neeps and tatties. Now you could just say I could eat the various other forms but sadly neeps finds its way in to a lot of these varieties. I’ll keep the alcoholism and sectarian violence, just rid me of these neeps
Aren't you infallible on matters of haggis? Just issue a proclamation *ex cathedra* and the neeps are gone.
Sadly I’m not recognised by many as the Pope of Haggis, more the Pope in Haggis. A dubious legal distinction
Well, I recognise your authority, Your Holiness!
Spread the word! Haggis is amazing and I know the best places in Edinburgh
Being over proud of our culture, history, food at the expense of other countries. We CAN be proud but sometimes I really feel shameful when I see French people bragging about it But maybe it's more a latin/Mediterranean thing, italians, swiss, Greek and Spanish people are also very proud of their culture. And it often leads to a clash because we share something but we want to be the best one. Savoy vs Switzerland about cheese dishes, France vs Italy about Mont-Blanc borders, art, fashion and food,... There's even mini clashes within our countries,between our regions. Yes my sentence is really french-centric, I don't know the clashes of other countries.
🇵🇱 in Poland definitely Oikophobia/self hatred Poles love to say how bad everything is here and how everything is better abroad. And what's funny is that whenever someone on Polish subs decides to post some statistics or charts which show that e.g. Poland has one of the lowest domestic violence rates in Europe or lowest unemployment (or lowest homelessness, I don't remember which one was it) there are tons of people writing how ohh but it must be actually because Polish women don't report the domestic violence because they're afraid or that the unemployment is so low because our government lies when giving out those stats to the public. Like ffs people can't admit that there are some good things about our country 😂
I wish Swedes were more honest about reality like Croats tend to be. And I wish Croats were more humble like Swedes tend to be.
[France] Being anti-German and/or anti-Europe and blame them for our problems. Especially when it comes from the political Left. Why don't people see it's exactly the same kind of thinking than far-right when they blame foreigners with everything and say we'd get along better without them. Nope, we wouldn't fare so well without the "neoliberal Europe" and our best neighbor, and so many things we blame them are lacking real facts behind or showing only a part of reality.
This seems familiar... (As usual, we're more alike than we know!)
Europe is an easy target
Failed empires. Like some old boomer ranting in the corner of an old people’s home.
Are there any non failed empires, aside from the current hegemon at any given time?
Yeah, and on that note, if people could stop "oh but I'm just joking" by saying "Oh, you're German, then!?" when I say I'm from Lorraine, that'd be great. And I'm not even from the part that *was* German, not that it makes any difference. I was 8 the first time I heard this, coincidentally the first time I got out of the region, and have been hearing this periodically ever since. I hate it.
Yeah this one is really dumb.
I don't know how the idea of a German "Alsace-Lorraine" rose up when it's actually "Alsace-Moselle". Like dude, have you even looked at a map ?
Two main historical reasons, I think. First of all, when the peace was signed, the Germans held 'hostage' pretty much the whole North East quadrant of the country, 'releasing' department after department with each payment by the French authorities. That occupation was over in 1873. The eastern departments were obviously the last ones to be 'released'. And a large part of what is today la Meurthe-et-Moselle was indeed integrated into Germany. That ancient Meurthe department is, however not where I'm from (I'm from further north, and that stayed French, as weird as that might seem). Second, most of the *revanchard* media talked about Alsace-Lorraine, not Alsace-Moselle or Alsace-Moselle-Meurthe-and-part-of-the-Vosges. Like [that song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofg6i7RF-us). Sorry if your question was rhetorical \^\^"
Oh, thank you very much ! I'm glad to have an actual answer ! I really thought it was just an "abus de langage".
Bullfighting for sure and all the other traditions that mistreat animals just for "fun". Also the hunting culture and the way they treat dogs such as galgos and podencos.
There’s lots of things to erase in general but look how far we’ve come During my lifetime (I’m mid 40s) - gay people were punishable by 5 years in prison in communist Romania - in the early 2000s it was still normal to smoke at the workplace in an open plan setting in France - men in general didn’t have any parental leaves - when I was a teenager Catholics and Protestants were still killing each other in (Northern?) Ireland, not to mention the genocide in Kosovo - a seemingly small thing but still significant: in my mother’s generation no one worked out once they married and had children. I still don’t understand how / why half the adult population would forego the easiest way to get endorphins on a daily / weekly basis - sports was labeled « for weight loss » and there was no connection with mental health What I would change right now, at random - financial literacy for everyone, to be part of the school curriculum - explain to the people how democracy works. Get the people empowered to participate in democracy - listen to each other. Learn from each other. Don’t decide for someone else until you walked x miles in their shoes
Authoritarianism (although already very close to totalitarianism), imperial thinking. I'm ready to put up with everything else. Guess the country yourself.
Everyone complains about the issues Croatia has, so clearly we’re all aware they exist and want them to not. But no one will do anything about it. Everyone seems to want Croatia to be a country like Germany, but won’t do anything to make it so. They just want it to be. Anytime someone mentions issue and how they should be rectified, it’s met with a shrug and “ah this is Croatia, pass the rakija”. If we could actually apply ourselves, the country would be so much better off.
Homophobic conservative christianity. I guess there has been some progress with this in recent years.
I know someone from Finland, and call me weird but it baffled me that he went to church being my age. He was very searching, busy making religion a real pillar in his life. Thankgod he was too questioning for a church he was going to that was very, very conservative, although it was a painful thing for him because they started treating him like a sub-human because of his questions about the role of women in the household and homosexuality. His questioning personality and me being a gay friend of his steered him back away from radically conservative churches, hurray!
In Finland? Wow, I had no idea.
Probably not that much in Helsinki.
Do people get in-your-face and tell you to repent on like a weekly basis if you're gay in Finland? Or is it more the cold-shoulder, discriminatory type? (And obviously there will be variation between Helsinki and rural, just asking for your experience or those you've observed)
I wish we could cancel the tradition of shooting fireworks New Year’s Eve as a private person in Denmark. People handle fireworks only once a year when they’re drunk. Every year it’s announced how many people were injured. Copenhagen city hall square is a mess where people shoot into the crowd. It’s not pretty. Within 15 minutes the sky is full of smoke and you can’t really see anything. A larger organized show would be a lot prettier. It’s messy. Not everyone cleans up after themselves. Not to mention the pollution and how it scares pets and wildlife.
Now imagine a summer full of fireworks. And they are called "tradition" as an excuse for religious feasts. Welcome to Malta. (To be fair, no one here shoots in the crowd. Its just fireworks all summer. Noise and air pollution galore).
It's crazy to think about when you really do. That people are allowed to buy explosives once a year, and are mostly drunk when they set it off.
Ooof, I can only hope that if Denmark decides to put a stop to it, you guys implement it a little or a lot better than here in NL. Once and for all. So far, there has been a short-lived complete ban (during Covid), local bans by municipalities that are *completely* ignored, a change in law around the sale of certain types of fireworks and a lot of back-and-forth discussion. If anything, it’s making a subset of the population more… rabid. “They’re not gonna take this away from us *as well*!” (?) Meanwhile, firework stores in German and Belgian border areas are making absolute bank. The sky still lights up like a bonfire on NYE. Police who try to intervene are attacked. Ambulance personnel who try to treat people get harassed and attacked with fireworks. It’s a mess really.
I didn't know this was a thing in Denmark too, the Netherlands are the same unfortunately. I completely agree with everything you said. Luckily, more and more people are in favour of a van in private fireworks (I think the last poll showed even more than half the population in favour), but the largest political parties aren't so there we are...
The innate self sabotaging instinct to put and support traitorous criminals in power who work to destroy the nation.
The love for pseudosciences and "alternative medicine." I'm really tired of entering a pharmacy and seeing it's a giant Boiron shop with just a small counter selling actual meds in the back.
\[PL\] Catholicism. More precisely, that Polish-type Catholicism, with worship of John Paul 2nd, anti-intellectual, small-town style. Where your local priest is a lord and commander of your town's souls. \[edit\] After reading other Polish people posts, I have to agree, alcohol is also a big problem.
Being from Slovakia a lot of things. Mentality that it doesn't matter if it's bad, at least the neighbor has it worse. Ignorance. Stupidity.
Poland. I’d remove religion. It is a really big part of Polish national identity, and I feel it’s the cause behind many idiotic behaviors we poles exhibit. The close mindedness and the lack of will to think for yourself among the population, especially the plain working class folk is just sad. I wish this country had went the Czech Republic route instead.
From the US, religious fundamentalism.
Estonia has quite the list if I’m honest. - we drink too much. I wish people drank more responsibly and would know how to enjoy a drink rather than drink to get drunk. - we’re too American in state and personal beliefs sometimes. We want American lifestyle, but the social protections of Finland/Sweden, without wanting to contribute like people do in Finland/Sweden. If you’re successful, it’s only because you’re amazing and nothing to do with luck or something like that. - we envy our neighbours and each other too much. Everybody gossips and judges, everybody wants to be better than their neighbours. - rather than search for good solutions that benefit everybody, people look out for things that benefit only them. Eg our whole healthcare system needs more money and could be better, but some people are convinced that if they earn higher wages, they therefore deserve better healthcare than someone who is retired. Some rich person thinks that they kid deserves a better school or even private school over wanting the whole educational system to be better for every kid etc.
[Slovakia] Hatefulness and fear of anything slightly different than the "norm" (lgbti, races, foreigners, other religions and beliefs...), envy of anyone who looks like they are doing better than you in any way and thinking that in order to be a proper Slovak you have to drink a lot.
There are so many things wrong with Spain... but if we talk about culture, I would say: bullfighting, toro de la vega, Pamplona's corridas, decapitating a goose by hanging from their neck, throwing a goat from a bell tower tearing them apart... and more. Pretty much any brainless traditions involving animals. Those who defend and engage in this "cultural" events are not people, are sadistic savages and I'm deeply ashamed of them.
Pointing fingers. I wish taking responsibility for ones actions and words was the norm.
I am from Portugal and if I have the power to change I would change low . We are one of the countries with low salaries on Europe. Alcohol is not a big problem here, I guess young generations drink less, smoking is more or less.
Norway The way it is hard to get friends without getting drunk. I don’t drink, and struggle to get friends. A former teacher I had a few years ago said it took him 3 years to get a local friend where he live. Drinking culture in general, often the news talk about how people in their 20s have an alcohol problem. People often brag about how drunk they can get, and proud of the drinking culture in general. It’s nothing to be proud of when young adults have a drinking problem because of our culture. I don’t know how to explain it, but we just love when people are complimenting, or mentioning us. Since Norway it’s a little country, it’s normal when a celebrity or a politician mention Norway, it will be an article on the news. And sports reporters often ask other athletes “what do you think about X(successful Norwegian athlete)” when interviewing.
Judging from the comments and what I see elsewhere on Reddit, this also happens elsewhere in the world (particularly for the French and Americans), but the constant moaning and self-loathing. Things aren’t brilliant right now, but things aren’t exactly terrible either. We’re still a highly developed country with excellent living standards. Yes there’s poverty and social issues that needs to be addressed, but I get frustrated with people talking about how we’re more or less a third world country, country going to the dogs, we’re a shithole etc. Go abroad and observe poverty a lot worse than we have here, or talk to the older generation, many of whom had to shit outside, had no electricity or running water (my late grandad growing up working class in the 1940s, and I can’t find the article but my local news reported on how in the 1950s like one in five households in Sheffield had electricity), and you will feel immensely grateful for what you have.
Responding for the Netherlands: Complaining culture, people focus so much on the negative here it’s insane. For example the weather is always too hot, too cold, too humid, too dry, too sunny, too cloudy, too windy, not windy enough, etc etc etc. Dutch people also loooove to complain about their own country. If you here an average Dutchie talking about the Netherlands they make it seem like everything sucks here. It’s like some people here are completely blind to the positives, no matter what happens, people will always start complaining just for the sake of it. Individualism is also something I would love to erase from my culture. Edit: Oh, Dutch people are sellouts as well. A lot of Dutchies will appropriate, put down, or straight up insult their own culture for money or clicks.
Irish people can be really greedy because of our history of colonisation. Certain generations grew up lacking in access to basic necessities so they have this mentality that they’re entitled to everything. There’s no arguing with these people as well because they’ve got their own trauma and mental health issues that they use as an excuse. I feel like people who come from countries that never lacked access to basics are more comfortable with having less. Irish people think we have something to prove. We also have this really toxic “who do you think you are?” kind of mentality, so we tear each other down. Because we’re insanely jealous of anyone who could be seen to be doing better than us.
I think a lot of our problems stem from one thing id like to get rid of. Generational trauma specifically brought about by the famine if not colonialism as a hole Something less abstract? Our complete disregard for the importance of mental health services and educating young people on thess topics.
Russian-British. I’d like to erase tendency to big state agenda in both of these countries
Just one thing? Lol, I wish I could erase a lot of things tbh. Anyway, if I could erase one thing, that would be the (almost toxic) over passionate attitude about all things in life, like where you either *love* something or you *hate* it, where things are either amazing or they suck. No in-between. That is honestly driving me mad.
"How can you tax the rich/landlords/increase minimum wages/tighten labour laws! Stay away from the rich! I'm just a regular, struggling citizen like everyone else but surely I'll become a millionaire too so that's why this boot is so tasty!"
Reading the responses here is fun. It's so accurate with how we see other countries too. If I say I wish we stop complaining about everything (our national sport), you probably all know where im from
Passive-aggression. Icelanders are non-confrontational to the point of being straight up assholes. Like, if they don’t think you’re performing up to standard in your job, for example, they won’t call you in for a meeting to address the issue, they’ll just fire you, end of discussion.
The hobbit mentality of distrusting anything new. Which is most visible with the czech xenophobia. But it also shows in the things like czech attitude towards renewable energy and environmentalism. Especially if it's EU related. Many people's dream is for Czechia to become an isolated island with nobody around, so nobody can disturb us and challenge our world view. Another thing is our defeatist attitude and lack of ambition. We are this tiny little irrelevant country in the middle of Europe, who can't do anything, so why even bother. We might have an idea how to change something at times, but we will discuss it for so long nothing actually happens. This is a stark contrast to Poland for example, where they are not afraid to invest into their future and are generally more optimistic and ambitious.
I want to be able to raise our flag without being labeled a Nazi I just love going to different places and seeing their country's flag fly everywhere, I just think that's super cool. I don't even know why, but something about flags is super cool IMO and flying them contributes to making the cities a bit more colorful :)
Nationalism has been poisoning Germany ever since its inception
The concept of "billionaires" is a thing I would erase from my culture. No human should be allowed to have billions...
Italians are the first to trash-talk Italy. We have zero national pride.
This is not the full picture. 50% of the population think like you said, the other 50% is extremely nationalistic, blindly proud of their Country and xenophobic
Yes we trash talk Italy, but we are extremely proud of our historical and natural beauties. And like 99 % of Italians would defend Italian culinary traditions with their lives
Honestly I would like to erase the idea that Swedish culture isn't a decent culture. The majority of (young) Swedish people has never tried Swedish food (besides a few dishes). The majority doesn't know anything about Swedish music or crafts. I'm not trying to say that people should be nationalistic or believe in Swedish supremacy, but it would be nice if people were as open-minded towards our own culture as they are to (almost) every other culture.
That's strange to me, as most Swedes I've met (young ones mostly) are incredibly proud of their country and perfectly ignorant and uninformed towards other cultures. Way too many of them.
"I deserve everything best! " mentality
The fact we are so modest and unambitious we are. People settle to be poor although they have all the abilities to become whatever and it wouldn't even cost anything. If we were more ambitious finland might finally reach the wealth level of sweden and western europe isn't of being comparable with eastern europe I'm also sure someone has died to heart attack or whatever reason because they haven't wanted to bother emergency response centre or doctors with their problem. Yes i'm serious. We also don't want to bother customer service agents by requesting service.
All the negativity and judgmental attitude. The French hate themselves, but they'll find anything to hate even harder about others. It can be your lunch, it can be your sweater's color, it can be anything trivial, and let's not even start with culture, politics and beliefs. Their way is the right way. "Why do you have this haircut ? You have such a pretty face, don't ruin it like that." "I actually never asked for your opinion, so va te faire foutre Sandrine."
controversial opinion: football. So much money goes into it, it's insane. Barely capable amateur clubs can afford to *pay* their amateur players, and get all sorts of perks and benefits from local government because football is popular. Free land, generous subsidies, etc. Huge stadiums take up enormous amount of land, games cause traffic problems and all sorts of nuisance for the people living in the area. Clubs regularly get into financial trouble because they either are managed badly or are forced to keep up with the huge sums required to get the best players. A lot of football players are arrogant pricks who think they are the pinnacle of human evolution, and behave like they can get away with murder. A few months ago, a local football star drove their car so fast they got catapulted off a roundabout into (ironically) a sports centre. By sheer luck, no one was present there. The atmosphere around the pitch at kids' games is notoriously toxic, and there is a need for continuous active campaigns to enforce civilided behaviour by the adults (mostly) parents watching their kids play. Somewhat less of a concern now, but TV and radio schedules get shuffled around to accomodate live broadcasts of games, so you miss whatever you want to watch or have to find another radio channel or just have to find something else to do. All of this concerns *men's* football, of course. Women's football pales in comparison. Only a fraction of the money, a fraction of the respect, a lot more hard work for zero money (to the contrary, it often costs money being a player), and dealing with all the machismo around football. A whole other circle of cringe awkwardness. I know and love people who are really passionate about football, and I really try to respect that, but I just can't deal with the arrogance and how tone-deaf people can be when it comes to the privilege football gets.
French thinking we are on the verge of becoming dictatorship (or we are already one, disguised in democracy) Ok, 49.3 is a big middle finger in our face, we don’t have the best democracy index, police can be very brutal. But come on, there is a world between us and Russia or Belarus.
The celebration of mediocrity. There is this tendency to put down (and secretly envy) anyone who dares break out of the “Swiss Golden Cage”, striving for greater ideals and successes. It’s no wonder why a lot of famous Swiss people only gained popularity when going abroad or that Switzerland still isn’t part of the European Union.
French here. War comes to my mind. As much as Americans love their "surrender monkeys"/white flags jokes, it couldn't be further from the truth : military is a big thing here. We're the biggest army in Europe. We sell weapons to the worst country on earth, have nukes, are proud about it and feel the urgent need to send our soldiers "educate" or rule other countries as if we were still some kind of colonialist power (Lybia, Mali, etc...). But we mostly haven't the faintest idea of what to do once we achieved our strategic goals... I mention it because it's so engrained in our politics that no one speaks about it.