America an Epitome

America an Epitome

To achieve is to bring to a successful end, to accomplish. This verb is an accurate description of both Europe and America, in that America has attained a utopian status in the eyes of Jean Baudrillard where as Europe has reached the status of reverence; the New World coinciding with the Old.

In Europe, one may stumble across the birthplaces of the greatest philosophers, artists, astronomers, and scholars. This just reinforces his statement: “When I see Americans, particularly American intellectuals, casting a nostalgic eye towards Europe, its history, its metaphysics, its cuisine, and its past, I tell myself that this is just a case of unhappy transference (112.)” The nostalgia stems from respect and admiration to the Continent that gave birth to the Land of the Free. It is reasonable for yearning minds to wander back to Europe and pay the respects it deserves by observing the history from which many American citizens have derived. In exemplum, the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria did not originate from the confines of falsehood, nor did the history books lie when telling of Lafayette’s assistance in the American Revolution. To say Europe is revered is an understatement, for it is greatly appreciated for the rich history as to which it has provided.

The acknowledgement of European history coincides directly with American way of life, in that the US accepts many immigrants from the landmark continent annually. And with Baudrillard’s claim that America is utopia achieved based off his consistent comments on US modernity there is another connection between the two continents, that of envy. “The unrelenting exposure of corruption and their own society’s faults in the cinema and media” is “a freedom we might envy (120.)” The lack of fear of self-examination/ self-criticism