Most Europeans oppose preemptive warfare, the circumvention of the U.N., and the violation
of International Law which they believe the U.S. has defied in many instances.

 

Basic Differences Between the U.S. And The European Union (EU)

European Union Vs. United States European Union United States Population (Millions) 454.56 293.03 Area (1,000 km² ) 3,893 9,631 Population Density (inhabitants per km² ) 116.8 30.4 GDP (2003 current prices US$) 11,017 11,000 GDP per capita (2003 PPS/Inhabitant) 20,800 31,987 Total Exports (2003 Billions of US$) 1,250 1,021 Total Imports (2003 Billions of US$) 1,047 1,517 Trade Surplus (Deficit) (2003 Billions of US$) 203 (-496) Exports as Share of World Exports 13.1% 13.8% Imports as Share of World Imports 14.0% 22.9% US Imports from the EU (2002-3 US$ millions) 253,029.5 US Exports to the EU (2002-3 US$ millions) 154,104.4 US Trade Deficit with the EU (2002-3 US$ millions) 98,925.1

 

 

From <http://www.worldviews.org/key_findings/transatlantic_report.htm>

 

Conceptions of American Society

1) American society is entirely ruled by money.

"No other value, whether familial, moral, religious, civic, cultural, professional, or ethical has any potency in itself. Everything in America is a commodity, regarded and used exclusively for its material value. A person is judged solely by the worth of his bank account. Every U.S. President has been in the pockets of the oil companies, the military-industrial complex, the agricultural lobby, or the financial manipulators of Wall Street. America is the "jungle" par excellence of out-of-control, "savage" capitalism, where the rich are always becoming richer and fewer, while the poor are becoming poorer and more numerous. Poverty is the dominant social reality in America. Hordes of famished indigents are everywhere, while luxurious chauffeured limousines with darkened windows glide through the urban wilderness.

Poverty and inequality like this should cause Europeans to cringe in horror, especially since (we have it on good authority) there is no safety net in America, no unemployment benefits, no retirement, no assistance for the destitute--not the slightest bit of social solidarity. In the U.S. "only the most fortunate have the right to medical care and to grow old with dignity," as one writer recently put it in Libération. University courses are reserved only for those who can pay, which partly explains the "low level of education" in the benighted USA. Europeans firmly believe these sorts of caricatures--because they are repeated every day by the elites."

2) American Culture Centers Around Violence.

"Everywhere you go, violence reigns, with uniquely high levels of delinquency and criminality and a feverish state of near-open revolt in the ghettos. This last is the inevitable result of the deep-rooted racism of American society, which sets ethnic "communities" against one another, and ethnic minorities as a whole against the oppressive white majority. And the unpardonable cowardice and venality that has prevented American leaders from banning the sale of firearms results in regular bloodbaths in which teenagers mercilessly gun down their teachers and fellow students in the classroom. Criticisms of the U.S. system of law bounce back and forth between the idea that it is paralyzed by legalism and the claim that the nation is a lawless jungle."