Greeks the EU's Most Fervent Anti-Americans: Poll (And the big, fat Greek horse…)

EUbusiness ^ | February 2, 2004 | Unattributed

[quidnunc]

More than any other nation in the European Union, Greeks believe that US foreign policy damages world peace and does not help fight terrorism, according to an EU-wide poll, the Greek part of which was published here Monday.

Eighty-five percent of Greeks said the United States played a negative role for world peace, against a EU-average of 53 percent, according to autumn figures of the Eurobarometer, a EU-sponsored, periodical survey across the bloc's 15 current member states.

Washington's policies also played a negative role in the struggle against terrorism, three in four Greeks said, compared with a 37-percent average across the EU.

-snip-

[God luvs America]

They are our "allies" only when they need their asses bailed out....now that America needs a helping hand they turn a blind and hateful eye.

And the comment comparing American airports to the Athens airport is humorous...check out what's happened there over the course of time.

My answer to your question why, to my mind anyway, would be it's now fashionable to hate America plus the fact is we are the only super-power in the world so we are an easy target.

My wife and I took our honeymooned in Greece back in 7/2000. I had a great time but would never go back after this.

[MarMema]

In part because we sided with the Bosnians against the Serbians, who are Orthodox Catholic like the Greeks.

Um, hi. Just Orthodox, please. Or Orthodox Christian. Thanks. :-)

But your point is true.

[MarMema]

All Orthodox cultures, of which Greece is one, are partiarchal. And having spent much time with Greeks and counting one as my best friend, yes, they can be a bit machismo.

All the Greeks I know, and I know a LOT, I am betting a lot more than you....no offense intended, are in solid Orthodox Christian marriages of longevity. But then the ones I spend time with are all through the church.

My friend Despina, who has yet to take me to Greece, says the country has changed a lot over the last ten years. But it still is largely Christian when compared to the US, for instance.

[raloxk]

Greece did delay the invasion of the Soviet Union by defeating the Italian invasion of Greece.

However, Greece in the 1970s onward had a virulently anti-american socialist priminister.

So thanks Greece for contibution to defeating fascism, but youve been reprehensible ever since.

[BlueLancer]

"No thank you to the Greeks who delayed the start of Operation Barbarossa long enough for the Germans to die in the snow outside the gates of Mosocow? No thank you for their role in the Battle of the Atlantic (one of the largest merchant marine fleets on earth-the real reason the EU wanted Greece in) and the D-Day invasion? For being the only nation to have ever defeated by force of arms a communist guerilla movement? The help Greek mercs gave the Marines in winning the war against the Barbary pirates?? ....to the shores of Tripoli, anyone?"

Oh, goody ... that's like saying we shouldn't hold French emnity for the US against them because they helped us in the Revolutionary War.

For sheer animosity to the US, I don't think that even the French can match the Greeks. If anyone deserves Sharia Law, it's the Greeks, closely followed by the French and Germans.

[maeng]

I do not spend my time each day wondering why certain people don't like us (America). Each person or persons has a right to feel anyway they want. If Greece does not like the U.S., fine. But in turn, we do not have to like them or care about the fact that they do not like us.

[LN2Campy]

Sicily and Turkey are both excellent for visiting many largely intact Greek structures. Most of "Asia Minor" was formerly Greek.

[Polybius]

The Romans believed anyone who didn't shave and bathe was a barbarian.

If you look at portraits of American Presidents, you will find beards going in and out of style in American society.

So it was with beards in Roman society.

Emperor Hadrian

[rrrod]

i repeat..wasnt greece a country or something once?

[the FLY]

Can you disprove anything that I have said about Greece and the Greeks? You cannot. Greek machismo is a bit different, It's about how many mistresses I can have while the wife's at home cooking my dinner.

If you know anything about Greece, and by your post you obviously think you do, you should know that citing any Euro report to describe Greece is ridiculous. Although I do concede Greece is probably less violent than most,I'd bet more crime goes unreported in Greece than most advanced European countries. (Also, It is more difficult to commit crime when you live at home with your parents. Taking money from them for your coffee, cigarettes, and clubbing should be considered a crime) There are many forms of crime in a society, and corruption by government officials ranks up there.

Still, you asked a question as to why these fervently Christian people, who only go to church on holidays or funerals, hate the US? I cited what I thought was the case, through many years of reflecting on the issue. Why do you think the Greeks hate the US?

[ffusco]

Thanks Poly

[the FLY]

I doubt you know a lot more Greeks than I.

The Greeks in this country (U.S.) have really held on to the church as a part of their ethnic identity.
The Greeks are good people, I am simply trying to explain why they have become rabid anti-Americans.

[the FLY]

your comments about the media are right on. Greeks pride themselves on the art of debating and dialog. When it comes to the issue of the US, there is no room for differing opinion in the Greek dialog. The US is bad, and that is that.
Why do the Greeks think like that Destro?

[MarMema]

I doubt you know a lot more Greeks than I.

I know a lot of them in this area and they go to church much, much more than just on holidays.

They also jointly (three churches) run a summer camp for children with cancer. It is cost-free and wonderful, hailed by the local medical professionals.

I worked in the kitchen as a volunteer last summer, went swimming with them each day, lived with them for a week. My daughter worked at their Greek festival. My kids went to their Orthodox summer camp. I attend church with many of them locally, on special occasions, because in this area we are extremely pan-Orthodox.

I help the women's monastery (Greek) in our state, and Greek clergy and parishioners often come to our parish for visits. Additionally there are quite a few Greeks in our (American Orthodox) parish, one is a deacon whom I consider a very close friend.

My oldest son and I just signed up for Greek language classes at one of the churches here. I grew up just outside of Greektown in Detroit and as a child spent a lot of time there.

Perhaps the Greeks you know have left the church or let it fall to the wayside in their lives, but there are many, many devout and pious Greek people in my life. And they can be difficult, that is a fact, but then again when they can be generous and loving. When our family goes to the largest Greek festival here, we always get our Loukamades free from a sweet little Ya-ya who loves us. Our parish is in the process of setting up our first summer youth camp, and the Greek women have been extremely helpful to us, not to mention giving us a ridiculously low price for camp rental.

The Greeks in this country (U.S.) have really held on to the church as a part of their ethnic identity.

That would imply that they are part of the church simply because they are Greek? Some Orthodox churches ( and not just Greek!) have extremely ethnic and nationalistic flavors, but there are many Greek people who are very devoted to God and serving Christ.

[Destro]

you should know that citing any Euro report to describe Greece is ridiculous.

Interpol? Why? If you can't back up your statements with facts then you are useless to me and to this discussion.

[duckln]

If Macedonea falls to the muslims actively working out of Kosovo and Albania, then those whining babies will be crying outta the other side of their face, and looking for us to bail them out.

Where in the hell have you been? We (NATO,Clinton) helped them out already by installing an Islamists' army in the Balkans

It's understandable, that from Greeces view point, the whole area is under assault because of a corrupted US Democratic administration and equally corrupted EU and NATO.

It's going to be up to us to 'righten' the NATO/Clinton fiasco in the Balkans.

[the FLY]

Yeah, I'm useless...you still haven't told us why Greeks hate America so much.
C'mon smart guy, tell us.

[the FLY]

Your efforts are wonderful and it's great that you have such an active community in which you have found fellowship.

You may or may not have encountered this with your community, but many Greek Orthodox Christians do not want any part of Pan-Orthodoxy.

Anyway, I was simply trying to ascertain what might spark such anti-American sentiment amongs them.

[the FLY]

And another thing...
Since you have access to all the hot Euro-reports, see if you can dig one up on the state of Greek Health care system, or of Greece's educational system, or of Greece's transportational system, or of the prevalence of Greece's Billionaires to influence the Socialists through ownership of TV channels and news outlets, or how the elites get special treatment...See how they stack up with the rest of the civilised world.
I don't have any reports but I've been in Greek hospitals, where the nurse hands the thermometer to a dying cancer patient and tells her to check it herself, and in Greek colleges and universities where the diplomas aren't worth the toilet paper you can't flush down the "modern" toilets. I've seen first hand how if you're not connected or willing to pay under the table you get treated like a dog.
So save us all the ethnocentric babble, and grow up. Greece will never be worth anything with apologists like you.

[longtermmemmory]

No there is room and pleanty of it where Greeks argue the side of the USA. You have been going to the wrong Cafe.

This Debate over the US is the same one we have to a lesser degree. National Sovereignty. It is most easy for a little countyr to feel they are being pushed around. You also forget there are still two US bases in Greece. (Not to mention a listening post or two on one of the hundreds is islands in the Aegean)

The socialists have been trying to make an issue of the conservatives birth in the USA. They have not been getting traction. If it was really an issue of being anti-american, they would not be so supportive of someone who holds US citizenship by birth, becoming prime minister.

BTW internet cafe's are really big over there. Many people are chatting and using the internet. It is also cheeper because you still pay by the minute for using a house land line. You can't spend hourse on end chatting at home because it gets expensive.