Almost gave up on Europe til I met the middle-working class....

[RadioRaheem84]

Took a trip to France, Cannes to be precise and found it to be one of the most pretentious places I've even been to. There was such a distinct difference in class that I didn't know where to fit in. As an American, the working class thought I was in the wrong neighborhood and the upper class thought so to whenever I ventured off into the wealthier tourist areas. The upper classes were so uptight that some of them could barely enjoy their meals because they kept gawking at my gf and I while eating at the nice restaurants. There truly is a class struggle in the EU that I thought was non-existent due to the many social welfare programs they have. I thought the riffs were more evident there than in the US because in the US its more about a person just having the money rather than the look and feel of a privileged one.

But man oh man, Nice, the town right next to Cannes was amazing. It was like being in a Manu Chao video with many super cool working class folks that were willing to have fun, enjoy life and were very politically active. I felt at home. The working and middle class in Europe are so cool, in the sense that they know whats going on in the world and have a vibrant culture. In the US, such a culture is admired from a distance and emulated by trendy people. You have to look at the underground to really find whats usually mainstream in Europe. Although sadly, I did notice the influence of American culture and pop among the younger generation.

What I liked was how politically active and movitated the people were and how all the tv channels consisted of pundits and talk shows on politics and current events. It was fascinating.

Anyone in here from the EU or UK? Has anyone visited the US and what do you think of the class struggle in our country and the political activism among the people?

[Black&Red]

May see it as fascinating, but for me who is from France, I don't see it that way.


Although sadly, I did notice the influence of American culture and pop among the younger generation.


As everywhere my friend, your country is imposing the shred of culture it's got on the world.


Took a trip to France, Cannes to be precise and found it to be one of the most pretentious places I've even been to.

Normal it's like searching for working class in Monaco, it's a city made for rich people only. And the rest of the mass just looks at it with blind admiration with the dream to one day become like these wankers who walk around in suits on red carpets exposing their money.


how all the tv channels consisted of pundits and talk shows on politics and current events.

Most of these shows are the reason why politics has turned into a cluster-fuck. You have people yelling at each other, when someone makes a point, no matter the side, the public applauses randomly like a bunch of zombies. When a left ring activist is invited, it is always marginalized by its right wing opponent. And they have a tendency to mix music, movies, art, literature, celebrities and other kind of stuff with politics. Most of the debates are stupid and pointless.

[RadioRaheem84]

Wow. I should have paid attention a little more to the news talk shows. You're right now that I think about it? I didn't expect the liberal-right bourgeoisie to be such a strong element in France. Rarely, did I see that Manu Chao-esque France I was expecting but in Nice. In Cannes and Monaco (although not a part of France) it was a paradise for the super rich and wannabes. I cannot believe these places are touted over culture rich places like Nice and Marsailles. I even heard one Frenchman tell me I shouldn't go to Marsailles or Nice cus they tend to be "african" whatever that means.

The other thing that sucked was that MTV had dominated the mainstream music there. All I heard was American music in Cannes. American clothes were more valuable and more chic than in the US. (Some people wore Abercrombie and Fitch like we wear Lacoste). The American influences nearly ruined the trip because it just felt like we were visiting another state. It took the migrant communities in France to really change out perspective of the place.

[eyedrop]

Anyone in here from the EU or UK? Has anyone visited the US and what do you think of the class struggle in our country and the political activism among the people? UK is a part of EU so just saying EU would suffice. (Sorry for nitpicking) When I was in the US I lived in White Plains (New York) and I didn't see much political stuff at all. I was just there as a tourist though so it is to be expected. I did manage too see some of the more tragic aspects of US society as I ended up in a going away party for a guy who were going away into prison for a long time (Drug dealing).

I always thought class consciousness were quite strong in the US towns and cities who has been hit hard by the outsourcing of industry. For example Flint, Michagan.

[NecroCommie]

EU is culturally very diverse. Only very general similarities exist, and I am sure that if you had ventured into Italy or greece for example, the experience would have differed greatly. Other quite unique cultural areas are german speaking countries, eastern europe and nordic countries. The reason you saw huge american impact is because you visited the western cultural zone. Even though other european countries show american influence too, it can be quite a bit less dramatic than in france, britain or western germany.

I speak as an experienced inter-european traveller.

EDIT: Also, cities and countryside show dramatic differences. When I was in italy I participated in the village festival with one of my italian friends. This was in a lovely mountain village, and I can say that the atmosphere was drastically different from the city. It was only in there that you really noticed the italian culture as opposed to western influences.

[Aeval]

The working and middle class in Europe are so cool, in the sense that they know whats going on in the world and have a vibrant culture. In the US, such a culture is admired from a distance and emulated by trendy people. You have to look at the underground to really find whats usually mainstream in Europe. Although sadly, I did notice the influence of American culture and pop among the younger generation.

I would just say, I think the working class in Europe, in general, don't know what's going on in the world any more so than the American working class. There's also massive differences depending on where you go in Europe; in terms of 'mainstream' culture (though I don't understand what 'mainstream' European things you think are underground American ones), how obvious the riff between the classes is, how much social welfare they have etc etc - basically what I'm saying is that the European countries are just that; separate countries, so you can't really judge the whole of Europe based on having been to somewhere in France. If instead of being in Cannes you had been in some small town in Wales, or here in Berlin then you'd probably have a totally different view on the working class in Europe.