Anti-Europeanism

{{politics}}
'''Anti-Europeanism''', or '''Europhobia''', is a term that generally refers to an irrational dislike or outright hatred of [[Europe]]an [[culture]] and [[politics]]. People who generally dislike Europe tend to lump [[Stereotype|every country and culture in the continent together]], ignoring the fact that Europe holds many different [[Country|countries]], cultures, and politics. (Why do you ''think'' the EU is [[Eurozone crisis|fighting like babies]]?)

==In the U.S.==
Europhobia is somewhat common in the [[United States]], especially among various [[nationalist]]s and [[wingnut]]s, many of whom are, ironically, white racists. [[Neoconservative]]s, for instance, may resent the fact that European countries didn't join the farce that was the [[Iraq War]] as eagerly as they wanted them to, so making out Europe and 
the [[Freedom fries|French]]
 Europeans to be "weak" is a common tactic.

Another right-wing group that despises the European culture is the [[Religious Right]], who often characterize the continent as a Godless, secular hellhole where [[Mobocracy|mobs]] run wild, [[Prostitution|promiscuity]] and [[drug]]s run rampant, and people are depressed because they haven't accepted [[YHWH|God]] into their heart. This makes little sense considering that many European countries (particularly in [[Scandinavia]]) often top the lists of happiest countries in the world.<ref>http://news.discovery.com/earth/the-happiest-countries-in-the-world-130910.htm</ref>

Religious right groups and others on the far-right often like to claim Europeans are "[[Welfare queen|lazy]]" due to having been spoiled by the [[welfare state]] or because they lack the "[[Protestant work ethic]]." These people tend to be ideologues who oppose social programs on a "[[Ethical egoism|moral]]," not pragmatic, basis, and often lament that America is being "Europeanized," which [[the United States as a Christian nation|doesn't actually mean anything]]. [[Cherry-picking]] certain incidents are common for these groups. For instance, when there were riots in France in response to [[austerity]] measures some American wingnuts saw it as an opportunity to attack all Europeans while claiming that the welfare state creates [[Cognitive dissonance|lazy, violent individuals]], yet when right-wing [[radical]]s in France rioted over gay marriage being legalized many of the same wingnuts [[Wilful ignorance|turned a blind eye to it]], ignoring that politics in France [[French Revolution|tend to be more volatile]] in general. A more blatantly ridiculous tactic of cherry-picking is using anything to go wrong in a European country as the fault of ''all'' of European culture, while ignoring anything that goes well in a European country, or ignoring anything associated with the right-wing that fails. Again, due to the variety of cultures and countries in Europe it makes little sense to characterize the area as a [[hive mind]] of secular [[socialist]]s.

Sometimes entirely unrelated things get lumped into it and are branded as somehow "bad" by wingnuts because "Europe has it" or "Europe does it". This includes but is not limited to: [[High speed rail]], [[universal health care]], [[public transit]], soccer, denser cities (as opposed to urban sprawl), a representative form of government (as opposed to [[first past the post]]), low(er) military spending, or even the ability to speak a foreign language. It is tempting to believe that on the American right, the very word "Europe" has reached [[Godwin's law|Godwin-like]] proportions and its pure mentioning somehow "proves" something to the select few [[Kool-Aid drinker]]s.

==Weak?==
Seriously, you want Europe to return to [[Social Darwinism]]? Is half a million dead Americans not enough? To say nothing of colonialism or the Holocaust.

==Dumb quotes==
{{cquote|...Western Europe has already become a secular society with secular values. If you think Western Europe is a better place than America and that it has a robust future, you should be working to remove Judeo-Christian influence from American life. On the other hand, if you look at Europe and see a continent adrift, with no identity and [[Not even wrong|no strong values]] beyond economic equality and [[Abu Ghraib|possessing]] [[Iran-Contra|little]] [[USA PATRIOT Act|capacity]] [[Guantanamo Bay|to]] [[Waterboarding|identify]] [[Henry Kissinger|evil]], let alone a will to fight it, then you need to start fighting against the secularization of America.|||[[Dennis Prager]]<ref>http://www.creators.com/opinion/dennis-prager/america-founded-to-be-free-not-secular.html</ref>}}

{{cquote|By the time of the 2012 [[Democrat]]ic convention, party delegates had already (following [[Barack Obama]]’s lead) embraced everything from unlimited taxpayer-funding of [[abortion]] to [[gay marriage]]. How does one get to these positions? Answer: by removing God. Fittingly, then, the delegates merely need to take the next evolutionary step: exclude God. It was very … European.|||Paul Kengor<ref>http://townhall.com/columnists/paulkengor/2012/09/10/god_democrats_and_the_europeanization_of_america/page/full</ref>}}

==Other uses==
Unfortunately [[racist]]s and [[white supremacist]]s may characterize [[Reality-based community|their opponents]] as "Europhobic," because "[[Anti-racist is a code word for anti-white]]," therefore "anti-racists" are somehow racist towards Europeans.

==See also==
*[[Americentrism]]
*[[Ameriphobia]]
*[[Eurocentrism]]
*[[Euroskepticism]]
*[[Tone argument]]
*[[Western medicine]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Political terms]]
[[Category:Conservative deceit]]

Categories: Political terms, Conservative deceit