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ShoeshineBoy: So do Brazilians feel - and I can't say I blame them if they do - some animosity towards the US because of it's indifference in recent years? Is that why they head to Europe or simply because they feel the institutions there are superior?
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February 25, 2008
SouthAmerica: It has nothing to do with American foreign policy since the US became the major superpower after WW II.
Brazilians always preferred the education system of the major European universities, and they still do.
I almost finished my high school education in Brazil, before I moved to the United States.
I could not speak any English when I arrived in the US, and I did not know anything about American history other than the information that I learned by watching Hollywood movies. I had no idea when the US had its independence, and I could not name a single founding father of the US.
In the other hand, since I was in the 3rd grade in Brazil I learned well European history, including French, English, Portuguese, Italian and Roman Empire history and so on. I also learned world history that included the history of major countries and empires, such as the Roman Empire, about Egypt, Persian Empire, and some Asian history.
I donât know why I learned nothing about American history when I was in school. Regarding the American history I knew only the Hollywood version. Thatâs why before I came to the United States if I had to name the most famous Americans in American history and in global history I would be able to name only Al Capone, Billy the Kid, Jesse James, Lucky Luciano, Scarface, Bonnie and Clyde, General George Armstrong Custer, Walt Disney, and I knew that the US had a president called Lincoln - All that with the compliments of Hollywood.
Brazilians still going to Europe to study because it has been a long tradition for Brazilians to get an European education, besides we have a very strong European heritage â the Brazilian legal system is based on âRoman Lawâ and the âNapoleonic Code.â And Brazil has been close to certain European countries for centuries. Brazil used to be a Portuguese colony, but the English had some influence because England was the major superpower for over 100 years. Brazil had over the years 2 French invasions, and a Dutch invasion and these people left roots behind in Brazil after they were kicked out of Brazil. And Brazil also had a large immigration from Italy and from Germany after WW I, and after WW II.
Basically, the US it is just the new kid on the block (50 years is nothing in world history) and the old Brazilian connections to Europe still are very strong today. Until a few years ago there were more executives of Brazilian companies who were fluent in French than in English.
English has been growing in importance only in the last 20 years in terms of Brazil - the development of the internet also had something to do with this trend.
Brazilians go to Europe to study because they associate Europeans with intellect, philosophy, science, and they have a long history and traditions.
Brazilians associate the United States with Hollywood, a make believe world, the movies, Walt Disney, Disney World, Disneyland, Rambo type movies, cowboy movies, war movies and other extensions of that kind of mindset such as the Vietnam War, Grenada, the first Gulf War, the current Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan, and so onâ¦.
And in the 1990âs when Argentina decided to follow the American economic model and they became the poster child for the US ideas of free market economy and privatization that the US wanted to export to the rest of the world. It did not take long for the Argentina economy to collapse and go down the toilet.
Since the economic collapse of Argentina, that country became a symbol for people who want to follow the American ideas and intellect.
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