What’s also funny is that between "Internet" and "social media", there’s a huge layer called "World Wide Web".
That layer (which is now often confused with Internet itself) is an European invention. (A Brit and a Belgian, sitting in an office on the border between France and Switzerland, could not be more european than that).
The point is not to be pro-european, just to say that if you list inventions and remove the components not invented in the US, you will end with a list of inventions from the US.
I think the point is that defining authorship of intellectual products is a bit like putting authorship on words (even common ones). They are always part of a larger shared discourse. That is not to remove merit from individuals but to acknowledge that merit is not quantitative and could be stretched to fit political motives.
To be fair they did leave out highest per capita consumption and CO2 emissions, freedumb cars for everyone at the expense of public transport, efficiency and equitable urban planning, using guns as can openers and childrens toys, etc.
>freedumb cars for everyone at the expense of public transport, efficiency and equitable urban planning
While America is the poster child for car culture, Europe isn't a panacea either: lots of cities built up post-WWII are car-bound hellscapes too. Lots of other places have bowed to worshiping at the altar of the automobiles too, it's not just the US.
As for equitable urban planning, Europe is going through a huge housing crisis now too.
I have to tell you, between those three things one of them is not like the other. But I'll be enjoying Barbie and Oppenheimer this weekend instead of getting into the typical nationalistic pissing contests that Americans usually start, and non-Americans can't help but get into a frenzy debating.
ploum|2 years ago
That layer (which is now often confused with Internet itself) is an European invention. (A Brit and a Belgian, sitting in an office on the border between France and Switzerland, could not be more european than that).
The point is not to be pro-european, just to say that if you list inventions and remove the components not invented in the US, you will end with a list of inventions from the US.
RickyS|2 years ago
defrost|2 years ago
midoridensha|2 years ago
While America is the poster child for car culture, Europe isn't a panacea either: lots of cities built up post-WWII are car-bound hellscapes too. Lots of other places have bowed to worshiping at the altar of the automobiles too, it's not just the US.
As for equitable urban planning, Europe is going through a huge housing crisis now too.
HelloMcFly|2 years ago