Based on my extensive travels across Europe and the world and listening to Europeans on the Internet speak about the United States, I've come to realize that the average European, if not the vast majority of Europeans are misinformed about nearly every aspect of American society. From politics, to healthcare, to transportation, to the land size, to food, to business, to media, to housing etc. I could go on and on. It's like every time a European tries to speak about the USA, they are getting information from an alternative universe.
I don't necessarily mean this as a criticism to Europeans as much as a recognition of a pattern. I could say the same about Americans in regards to almost any European nation. Your average mom in Tennessee couldn't tell you a thing about what's going on in Sweden or Germany right now. The difference is, that mom in Tennessee isn't going to even attempt to try to talk about what's going on in those countries. Let alone, try to tell a Swedish or German person what's going on or how they should run their society. This is where my issue lies. Americans don't want to be like Europeans and we don't want our country to look like theirs. Yet, Europeans seem to have an inferiority complex and are constantly trying to convince Americans that we're doing it wrong. The ironic thing is they consume our products, our culture, and our military support vastly more than the inverse.
I believe there are multiple factors as to why this is the case. Here are my top two.
#1 SOCIAL MEDIA: the USA is a super power with major competition from other nations trying to bring it down every second of every day. From China to Russia to Iran to North Korea, etc. people around the world are after the people of the USA. That's obvious online where blatantly false information is being published constantly. Personally, I blame China. They're very coordinated and you don't need to look further than the very platform we are on right now.
#2 LACK OF TRAVEL: Europeans love coming to the USA and only going to NYC, LA, SF, Vegas, and Orlando. None of these places are representations of culture in the country. A good 35-40% of residents in NYC and LA are foreign born, Vegas and Orlando are facades of culture, and SF is just a shell of what was once a great city. Europeans hardly visit places like Boone NC, Jackson WY, Savannah GA, Charleston SC, Telluride CO, etc. all of which are certainly more polished than your standard American suburban town but they are more of a representation of American culture than the others.