Here is a 1920s article that clarified how thoroughly mystified the Europeans were with American values and American culture:
"Envy and admiration as well as ridicule and praise are found in the many articles the European press devoted to this country. Our big business astonishes them, our so-called lack of culture inspires thinly veiled contempt, while our homicide records lead some rather irascible English critics to speak of the United States as 'the Land of Liberty - for the murderer.'"
"What does this callous indifference to murder imply? Why is it that a country like the United States, which started so well, has got all its moral and social values so mixed?"
Sited within this article are some thoughts by Stéphane Lauzanne (1874 - 1958) writing for LA REVUE MONDIALE and Stacy Aumonier (1887 - 1928) of THE LONDON EVENING STANDARD.
|
