Over the pond in Europe, America is the butt of many jokes. These generally tend to be fat jokes and jokes about ‘stupid Americans’. Then there are the snide comments about how America as a country is too commercial and lacks history, or about how everything is too big and loud. It’s a two way street of course – Americans also have a thing or two to say about the Brits, the French and the Germans – but nevertheless it can sometimes seem as though there isn’t enough respect for the US over in Europe.

But to say that Europe is in any way ‘superior’ to America would be a huge mistake. Just as there are many things that the US could learn from Europe about subtlety and graciousness, so too could Europe stand to learn a lot from America. In fact that’s one of the best things about international relations – the ability to learn from other countries and to meet somewhere in the middle so that only the good qualities are left. Here we will look at some of the things that America does RIGHT, that Europe could stand to learn a thing or two from.

America… hell yeah!

What Europe Can Learn From the US

Tourism: Europe has a lot of tricks up its sleeve when it comes to tourism and is blessed with things like the Coliseum and Stonehenge and Auschwitz (okay ‘blessed’ is the wrong word for that last one…). All these things though are historical though and were gifted to Europe simply because it was around for long enough. To quote Limitless: ‘those powers weren’t earned’.

So how does America compete? With Disney Land. With New York. With Vega. The point is that America has built some of the most amazing modern tourist attractions on Earth and this is something that Europe really can’t compete with at the moment.

Entertainment: In fact this extends to entertainment in general, with nothing in Europe at all comparing with Hollywood. It’s not just Hollywood that is impressive though, but also the stuff to come out of it. If you visit any European country pretty much you’ll find that it’s American shows that are on TV and American music that’s on the radio. Europe can’t compete with America in terms of awareness simply because there’s so much less output. And when you do hear the local Spanish ‘pop’ songs… well the less said about them the better much of the time.

Friendliness & Enthusiasm: Many Europeans will criticise Americans for being ‘loud and obnoxious’, but at least they talk to you. Head to England and you’ll find that everyone’s too shy to look up from their feet, while in Rome or Paris they’ll look up only to tell you to get out of the way. Visit America and you’ll be greeted by strangers and make friends on nights out and it makes for a much friendlier environment and greater variety of experiences. And so what if Americans clap at the cinema? Has anyone ever stopped to think that that’s actually a nice thing??

Politics: American politics is far from perfect – which can be said of any country in the world. However what America gets right is the fact that anyone can come to power in an election, and that anyone can become a governor (as Arnie aptly proved). Most European countries use the ‘First Past the Post’ system but with complex regional elements, which means that the party with the most votes won’t necessarily come to power. Everything’s a lot more convoluted and it results in a system that fewer people take an interest in and that’s less representative of people’s wishes.

Taxes: One of the things that Europeans are most jealous of is American taxes, and there are a lot of examples of Americans paying much less for things thanks to lower taxes. Road trips are barely even an option in Europe for instance thanks to the insane fuel tax, while many people will choose to buy their electronic devices and have them imported from the US just to get them cheaper.

Silicone Valley: Silicone Valley is one of America’s crowning achievements with one of the biggest reasons for its success is simply the support that the US lends to start-ups and to the tech industry in particular. America is a fantastic place for new businesses – so much so that many small companies will actually move out to America to enjoy the benefits (as well as the larger market). By supporting these interests the US has wisely invested in its own future and that has paid off in the dominance of huge companies like Microsoft and Facebook – for which there are few European equivalents.

In short, the US has some of the biggest man made attractions on Earth and dominates the entertainment and tech industries. We must be doing something right…

Posted under Europe

If you’ve been watching the news, then you’ll have heard about a new proposed immigration bill for the US that will affect an awful lot of foreign residents. Republican Senator Marco Rubio explained that the new bill would outline a path for the 11-12 currently immigrants living in the US to become legal more easily, but argued that the bill didn’t constitute ‘amnesty’. Currently for an illegal alien to become legal in the US they would have to first leave the country for ten years, which would change under the new law to prevent illegal employment. Rubio has also been talking about tightening the borders in general though, so the take home message here is that if you want to move to America for free – then now’s your chance. If you get in before the new bill makes it harder then you’ll also benefit from laws making it easier for you to become legal… That’s if they ever get around to passing the bill of course. Actually, take your time…

As we were writing the article USA senators accounted that the only people who will qualify for immigration amnesty are those who have entered the country before December 31, 2012. We wonder what prove they will ask people and if it’s easy to fake it ?

Posted under Europe

Calling customer support and getting through to someone in India is something of a running joke in the US and certainly not a surprise when it happens. Of course outsourcing jobs like customer support makes a lot of sense for businesses big and small alike – it prevents them from having to pay over the odds but ensures that customers will always be able to get through to someone (and provides a handy barrier to help filter sieve out the more inane complaints). The only problem is that often the quality of support suffers thanks to language barriers and the fact that the people you’re talking to are often based thousands of miles away and have never actually seen the laptop you’re now struggling to turn on…

The same is true for things ‘made in China’ – another punch line these days. Manufacturing for many American companies is handled overseas by countries like China where it can be done more quickly and cheaply and this allows them to keep their overheads low and their prices competitive. Of course this potentially also creates a dip in quality, but that’s a debatable matter. Really the bigger problem in both these situations is of course that outsourcing work means fewer jobs for locals – which is a highly controversial matter that many believe is hurting the economy. Of course what also hurts the economy is that those salaries are being exported too – but it’s important to note that this is usually only a very small percentage of the profit.

So what about our European cousins? Is outsourcing an issue over there as well? Or do European companies find their workers more locally? Is there anything we could learn from their way of doing things? Let’s take a look at some of the facts.

Outsourcing: ‘Quite Big in Europe’

Right off the bat it’s fair to say that yes, outsourcing is an issue in Europe and you’re just as likely to get through to an Indian help centre in England as you are in the US. This is slightly less true for countries like Germany and Bulgaria though, partly because there are fewer German or Bulgarian speakers in India. It’s worth noting too that call centre growth in India is actually slowing down – presumably as more and more companies are realising the bad associations people have with this kind of outsourcing and as more options become available. In general though, this is still something that happens, even if it is slightly less widespread. Manufacturing however is outsourced throughout much more of Europe, and you’re just as likely to find a national flag in England, Germany or the France made in China. Outsourcing to Asia in all industries is common in Europe in fact, but in most areas not quite as common as the US.

Outsourcing Within Europe

One more reason that outsourcing isn’t as common in Europe, other than the aforementioned language barrier, is the fact that a lot of companies are now outsourcing but within Europe. This is actually something that is more and more common throughout the world and there are a lot of benefits to outsourcing within Europe for countries both within Europe and elsewhere.

Outsourcing in Europe is a useful option first of all due to the reduced language barrier. More people in Europe speak English, while a German company will be more likely to find German speaking workers in Europe than in India.

Outsourcing within Europe will still cut basic costs – you can find cost effective options in many Eastern European countries that rival the savings offered in Eastern countries – but at the same time companies in Western Europe get to save further as they won’t have the same inter-continental flights to check on their operations, the same expensive calls, or the same prohibitive shipping costs. On top of that, Europeans outsourcing to other Europeans get to deal with countries following the same EU laws and regulations, working within similar time zones and with recognizable university degrees and qualifications (that said India has the lead in terms of IT and engineering graduates with pharmaceutical and electrical degrees being in best supply in China).

 

In short, there are many benefits for European companies that want to outsource their jobs to the rest of Europe, so there is slightly less impetus to outsource to Asia. Furthermore, with EU laws making immigration easy between European countries, many companies are able to find Eastern European workers in their own country happy to work for a lower wage. In the UK there has been a recent influx of Polish immigrants doing labour jobs for low wage which has caused some controversy.

Other Considerations

Something worth considering when it comes to outsourcing in Europe and the US alike is that it’s mostly large companies that outsource. This is worth noting as actually it’s the smaller organizations that create the most jobs (because there are more of them).

Another consideration is that outsourcing can actually be positive for the economy if it results in more affordable and more desirable products and services. Research has suggested that outsourcing can actually increase demands for the affected products in the country of origin, creating more jobs both locally and abroad. Meanwhile, the savings that consumers make on more cheaply manufactured products may result in more spending on other services – whether that means more meals out or more holidays. Either way this could also help to in fact fuel the economy and create jobs rather than having the opposite effect.

In other words then, as usual this is by no means a black and white issue. There are many considerations with regards to outsourcing and no easy answers, but what’s certain is that just as in the US, outsourcing is certainly an issue in Europe.

Posted under Europe

Tracking your ancestors is a highly worthwhile endeavour and one that can not only prove to be highly fascinating from a historical point of view, but also an enlightening way to learn more about yourself. When you learn where your ancestors came from this tells you how your lineage travelled across the world and shows you how you actually have blood from many different nationalities. You might think of yourself as being ‘all American’ but who knows – you might have once had relatives in Germany or Poland which could explain aspects of your personality or show them in a whole new light. Perhaps it could explain why you have such broad shoulders or have always been attracted to a certain kind of countryside? It’s a brilliant way to learn more about yourself and to instantly feel more mysterious and interesting. And once you know you have a particular heritage it’s also a great excuse for a holiday…

If you are likely to have ancestors from anywhere, then Europe is a pretty good bet. That’s because Europe has been home to so many huge empires which spread around the world from the Romans to the Celts to the Vikings to the British. Combine this with the fact that all Americans originally came from Britain apart from the Native Americans and you are left with a very high chance of some European blood.

But how do you go about tracing this heritage and finding your Ancestors from Europe? Fortunately there are a number of ways you can explore this fascinating possibility.

Services

The first and easiest option even if it is a little unadventurous and potentially expensive is to simply try using a professional service to trace your family tree. These should be able to find you relatives from anywhere around the world and fill you in on details such as their professions, who they married and how and when they died. You can find a lot of these services online, or if you are really serious you might decide to hire someone face to face instead.

There are limits to what these services can do, and if your family moved around a lot it may be that they aren’t able to trace them back all the way. However for the most part this will at least serve as a good starting point for you to continue your travels.

Look Up Records

From there you will probably want to start taking matters into your own hands, and one way to do this is to look up records of your surname in the areas where you knew them to live. You can do this online for the most part or alternatively by requesting birth, death and marriage certificates. If you lose track of your line at any point then try to think logically about why this might have been and to look for other clues – research the origins of your name and read about the local history in those areas.

Travel

Now comes that excuse to travel I mentioned – if you think you’ve found a lead then you can chase this up by visiting the area where you believe some of your family to have come from which will allow you to look for more clues and to find points of interest such as the church where they might have gotten married or the schools they might have gone to. If nothing else this can help you to really relate to the history you’re learning rather than just reading about it.

Chat

Another great option available to many of us is simply to chat with our older relatives. If your grandparents have been around for a long time for instance then there’s a good chance they might actually know a fair deal about where your family came from and what your ancestors were like. Again this can serve as a great starting point for your investigation so don’t squander this great resource.

Posted under Europe

Investing money is something that goes on all around the world and is just as important in Europe as it is in the US. Just as in the US, Europe’s various economies rely on people investing their money using the banks or directly in the stocks and shares of businesses. This way that money can be used to grow those companies so that they might employ more people, pay more salaries and generate more investments.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that investments have to work the same way across Europe as they do in the US, and perhaps there are differences in the ways people invest their cash? Here we will look at whether that’s true for Europeans and at whether they prefer investing in shares or currency?

What’s the Difference?

Before we look at which kind of investment Europeans prefer, it’s first important to understand the differences. In short then, trading in stocks and shares means buying an interest in a company that then increases or decreases in value in keeping with that company’s success, while currency trading or Forex (a portmanteau of ‘foreign exchange’) trading means buying different currencies in order to take advantage in their shifting values.

How Europe Likes to Trade

So is there any difference in the preferred method of trading between European countries and the rest of the world? Bearing in mind that Europe is made up of so many smaller countries in close proximity you might be forgiven for thinking that Europeans would be more open to exchanging currency…

In reality though that’s not strictly true and actually Europeans tend to trade in the same ratio of stocks to currencies as the rest of the world – which is to say that they prefer to invest in currencies. That’s right: even in the US currency trading is actually more popular than investing in stocks and shares and the Foreign Exchange Market is actually the world’s largest financial market which sees over $4 trillion traded every single day.

So why is Forex so popular? Well for one, currency trading is highly liquid meaning that you can usually find someone to buy your currency at any time due to the high number of participants and you never get ‘stuck’ in a trade. Forex is also flexible – there are no fixed lot sizes and you can trade all around the day (whereas stock trading is only open 9am-4pm EST most days. There are also low barriers to entry and it’s impossible for anyone to corner the market.

So if you’re a fan of Europe, why not have a go at trading some European currency?

 

Posted under Europe

Bodybuilding is an unusual sport in many ways, particularly in the fact that you don’t run, throw anything or run or jump around in any capacity while you’re actually competing. Rather all of the work in bodybuilding takes place beforehand meaning that the result is really a foregone conclusion before anyone has even stepped onto the stage. Bodybuilding is almost more a way of life than a sport which requires intense discipline, a huge work ethic and a helping of good genetics.

A specific set of skills perhaps requires a specific set of people then and perhaps this is why there are so many great bodybuilders from Europe – perhaps it just appeals to the European mindset, or perhaps European physiques are conducive to bodybuilding?

Either way, some of the greatest bodybuilders of all time have come from Europe, particularly during the golden age of bodybuilding. Here then we will look at some of those…

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the name that comes to mind when you think of bodybuilding and it just so happens that he’s from Austria in Europe. To be specific he comes from a small village in Austria called Thal where you can today find a museum where his home used to be. He always had aspirations to travel to America though and was able to use his massive guns as a one way ticket to get out their via bodybuilding legend Joe Weider.

Franco Columbu

Franco was Arnold Schwarzenegger’s best friend and a fellow immigrant during bodybuilding’s golden age. Specifically Franco came from the small village of Ollolai in Sardinia (Italy) which you can see in the now-famous documentary ‘Pumping Iron’ (where he pulls his Dad’s car into a parking space saving him a parallel parking manoeuvre). Franco was much shorter than Arnie, but made up for it with sheer brawn – he was also a contender in strong man competitions!

Eugen Sandow

If there’s a name that’s more important to bodybuilding than Arnie’s then it has to be that of Eugen Sandow, who is often hailed as the ‘Father’ of modern of modern bodybuilding. Born in what is now Kaliningrad, Russia to a German father and Russian mother, it was in London that he began his career as a strongman (after stage jumping a performance) and eventually refined his craft into what we know today a bodybuilding.

Charles Atlas

Charles Atlas is perhaps most famous for his comic-book advertisements selling training books and for his ‘dynamic tension’ system of training. He is also a great bodybuilder in his own right though and was originally born as ‘Angelo Siciliano’ of Italy.

Reg Park

Reg Park is another bodybuilder from a bygone era who came from Europe and specifically Leeds in the UK. Perhaps Reg’s greatest claim to fame is the fact that he inspired one Arnold Schwarzenegger to get into the sport – but even before that he was a great competitor in his own right.

While there were many European bodybuilders steeling the limelight back in the golden age of bodybuilding and before, it seems that today the sport is more dominated by American athletes who seem to be more focused on size at the expense of definition. To train like the golden age bodybuilders of yore, check out the Joe Weider training principles they would have all been using.

Posted under Europe, Sport