Living in Europe: A Continent Between Tradition and Innovation
Life as a European is unique. In both positive and negative ways. But why is the life of a European so interesting?
Chapter 1: The History of Europe
I will greatly abbreviate the history, otherwise, I would still be writing next month, as Europe has the longest and best-documented history. It all started with ancient humans migrating from Africa to all continents, which were still connected by land bridges. In Europe, the Homo neanderthalensis adapted best during the Ice Age. The Neanderthal was relatively small but very strong compared to other humans of that time. When Homo erectus arrived and wiped out the Neanderthals, a bit of their DNA mixed. But let’s get to the main point: Europe has a huge advantage over all other continents. These advantages are: few poisonous/dangerous animals, many edible plants, resources on easily accessible terrain, and fertile soil. After the time of early high cultures, Europeans had a gigantic lead. The Romans were hundreds of times superior to all other cultures, regardless of the continent.
Then came the dark times, the Middle Ages. During this period, people, thanks to religion and monarchy, forgot and lost all their high standards and their lead. The Europeans only had a small lead left. Then the Renaissance began. People rediscovered old values and relearned what had been forgotten. Everything blossomed, and thus began the era of colonization. The Europeans shamelessly exploited the advantage they regained thanks to the Renaissance and destroyed all cultures that were not nearly as advanced as they were. South America was plundered by Portugal and Spain. Central America also suffered under Spanish rule. France and Great Britain took over North America. Many of the Caribbean islands went to the Netherlands. Africa was colonized by many countries, including Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, etc. In Asia, too, there were colonies of Spain, France, Great Britain, Germany, etc. There were only a few countries that could resist the colonizers. Ethiopia was only taken by Italy during World War II. Japan was defeated for the first time in its history by the USA during World War II. And now, we are in modern times: our advantage is almost or completely gone. Others have caught up and overtaken us. In Japan, you can talk to the toilet and it even plays music, while the European cries because there is no toilet paper. Even in public transportation, Europe lags behind. In some countries, there are bullet trains, while a European is already fascinated when a train reaches 230 km/h. However, I will mention the bad points in another chapter. First, let’s discuss the advantages of Europe.
Chapter 2: The Advantages of Europe
Of course, there are advantages to living in Europe. I will now mention and explain some of them. Public transportation is extremely well-developed in almost all European countries. You can get from anywhere to anywhere. In Austria, for example, the trains are almost always on time, there is a bus station in almost every village where a bus comes about every hour, and if not, the next one is easily reachable on foot. I do not want to say that public transportation in every European country is a dream; of course, there are places or countries that are harder to reach. Belgrade, for example, is very difficult to reach from Vienna by public transport. The next point is safety. This point has become shaky recently due to the Ukraine war. However, one can say about all other European countries that they are safe for tourists. Health insurance also exists in almost every country. Social policy in Europe is generally a huge advantage compared to other continents/countries, as in Europe, you feel insured by the state for almost everything, such as health insurance, pensions, work accidents, and much more. The EU is also an advantage: you can travel to many countries without controls, and there is widespread peace. But let’s move on to the disadvantages of Europe.
Chapter 3: The Disadvantages of Europe
Europeans have greatly fallen behind in recent decades. Even the Japanese, who suffered two atomic bombs, are more developed than Russia, Great Britain, France, or Germany. Europeans cling too much to old values. Here’s an example: “Why should we buy a new car? Our 30-year-old Golf still works, and the rear axle is only half rusted.” Europeans are very skeptical and frugal, which is of course good but also bad. Good because they don’t buy every nonsense, but bad because they are not open to new, better technologies. This is also the reason why we still don’t have maglev trains in Europe; we are not open to new technologies because we still have the old reliable tracks. Of course, there are also problems with racism and discrimination: “The Poles steal my car”, “The French raise the white flag”, “The Czech porn stars” etc. You quickly realize that most of these things are complete nonsense or outdated. However, many people still believe that Poles steal cars or that Czech women are porn stars. The next problem is dependency: Europe has become too dependent on raw materials and products from abroad. In Europe, people almost had to freeze because Russia didn’t want to supply gas anymore.
Chapter 4: Conclusion
When you compare all the disadvantages and advantages, you realize that living in Europe is overall great and recommendable. You meet many nice and friendly people in Europe, and you will never be left helpless. Therefore, I can recommend everyone to take a vacation in Europe or even move here.
