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...nations have high tax rates and socialized medicine; in the U.S., people flock to fast-food restaurants and pile into SUVs. But according to Peter Baldwin, a professor of history at UCLA, the reigning stereotypes about both groups are mostly untrue. In The Narcissism of Minor Differences, a new book published this month, Baldwin collected data from dozens of organizations and found that the U.S. and Europe are actually more alike than they are different. Baldwin talked to TIME about transatlantic differences in religion, crime and health care - and why the distinctions matter. (See pictures of Obama's travels...
...your book, you refer to the U.S. and Europe as "twins keen to differentiate themselves." Why are we so intent on being different? It has to do with domestic politics. Anti-Europeanism exists in America, but it's a relatively minor aspect of the political discourse. Generally speaking, America doesn't pay much attention to Europe one way or the other. In Europe, on the other hand, anti-Americanism is a much more mainstream opinion. They think America is quite different, usually as something to be criticized. Anti-Americanism helps bridge political gaps within Europe. It's useful for Europe...
...daring, investigative reporting. In his 40 years as a journalist, he has worked undercover at a tabloid newspaper, industrial plants and fast-food chains to expose the conditions the employees faced. In the 1980s, he posed for two years as a Turkish "guest worker" and wrote a best-selling book revealing shocking examples of discrimination and exploitation. But Wallraff's latest project may be his most controversial yet. His attempt to address racism in Germany by donning blackface makeup has drawn strong criticism from black Germans, some of whom see his movie as patronizing, if not racist itself. (See pictures...
...journalistic influences come from America rather than Germany, where my type of journalism has little tradition," Wallraff tells TIME. Still, Wallraff's work has gained him notoriety in Germany, along with financial success. His book about the two years he spent posing as Turkish guest worker Ali Levent Sinirlioglu, The Lowest of the Low, sold more than 5 million copies and forced Germany to have a national discussion about its long-neglected Turkish minority. The dialogue led to a strengthening of the rights of temporary workers in the country and gave Germans of Turkish descent their first real foothold...
...they've been speaking out about racism in their country for years, with little progress to show for it. In 2007, the black German actress and director Mo Asumang released a film called Roots Germania about her search for her family's descendants. And the latest album and book by the popular Hamburg rapper Samy Deluxe, That's Where I'm From, released earlier this year, deals extensively with his feelings about being black in Germany. Wallraff's film is seen as a dated contribution to what is already a lively discussion. Some consider it little more than a stunt...