When a Comment surprises you because it is full of Hate

A while ago, I got a feedback by a blog reader. He or she made an accusation: I would be equating Europe with Germany. While I can tell you for very sure that this is not true, I was a bit surprised by the hard language used by this person: he pretended to be insulted by this and thus highly insulted the German people, culture and country.

So that you get a better idea what I am talking about, I would like to let you read the comment:

“I am an Eastern European who lived in several Western European countries as well, and I can tell you the German population is the only sick one I met. Living in Germany is literally sickening to the core, and life damaging in every aspect. This is also the opinion of all foreigners I met who live in Germany. Please do yourself a favor and get some insight into how Eastern Europeans, Southern Europeans, and even the British are – you will be in for a big surprise. Please do not insult us all Europeans by making ´German´ to mean ´European´. That is one fascist idea I encountered in Germany, that everyone should become cruel and terrible like them. But let us hope they will never succeed.”

First of all, Germany may be the country that I liked best and that I decided to spend most time in but it is by far not the only one that I have spent much time in! In my first years in Europe, I was for months in the UK. I have spent many weeks in Spain and for shorter time but never less than a few weeks, I have also been in Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, Ireland, Belgium, France, Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands and maybe even some other countries that I forget now, for which I beg your pardon. So much to the idea that I have not seen anything but Germany.

I have not, however, in any country got such a bad impression that you obviously have from Germans! You call them cruel, terrible, fascist and life there sickening and life damaging! You claim that all foreigners think like you. I can tell you that I have hardly met non-Germans that spoke so bad of Germany! That’s actually the most fascist opinion I have ever heard! Who is the cruel person here, looking at your words?

While I am sure I am not talking of Germans and writing Europeans, as I often enough talk only about German attitude and culture as well, I would never talk like this about any nation in whole. You may have met the wrong people, but I refuse to think that any people of this world can be so generalized as bad.

Of course, in writing one needs to always generalize a little bit and there will always be people who don’t fit stereotypes but I truly, honestly can say that with all generalization I have always met beautiful and lovely people wherever I went.

Maybe instead of me doing more travelling, you should learn to see the positive in people?