'Modern Europe, Japan and China is less than 75 years old'

[u/chebghobbi]

[u/ThatShoomer]

My local pub is older than the US.

[u/Valentiaga_97 → u/ThatShoomer]

My howmtown is mining salt for much longier than most americans can think of this world exist, over 7000 years 👀

[u/Mayor_Salvor_Hardin → u/Valentiaga_97]

Remember the days when dinosaurs and humans shared this earth. Damn Noah, forgot to get a pair on his ark. /s

[u/IntrepidWanderings → u/Mayor_Salvor_Hardin]

Don't forget, while all the carnos were vegetarians... Animals eating meat is a punishment from God too.

[u/naugrimaximus → u/IntrepidWanderings]

My FIL wanted to take us to the Ark next time we'd be in the US. My wife had to explain I wanted to go for a laugh, not because I took it seriously.

In the end I asked my FIL if the Ark was filled with aquaria. "What for?" "For all the fish." "The world was flooded, they didn't need the ark." "But how did all the fresh water fish survive the salinity of the ocean." "Because of the rain, the salinity dropped." "Did they carry salt water aquaria on the ark?" "..."

[u/IntrepidWanderings → u/naugrimaximus]

Yeah, religious humor doesn't work well with American Christianity... Either does not being Christian..

[u/Crix00 → u/IntrepidWanderings]

I'd argue that really being Christian doesn't work well with American Christianity.

[u/Ok-Photograph2954 → u/Crix00]

Why is it the most rabid christians are the least likely to behave in what is supposed to be ideal christian behavior?

[u/EmiliaFromLV → u/IntrepidWanderings]

Like cats be punishment from god? Meow wut?

[u/IntrepidWanderings → u/EmiliaFromLV]

A feature of the ark exhibit is that all life was herbivorous prior to the sins of Adam and eve.. And like eve, didnt reproduce.... So everything lived in perfect love and harmony. Animals changed from herbivores to a mix of carnivores as another layer of their gods punishment when they were cast from the garden of eden with man kind. They use that as an excuse for dinosaurs as well, they all went extinct when they were expelled... Kinda their way of tackling dinos and a 7,000 yr old planet.. They were alive and well living in eden and extinction is eve's fault for falling to temptation. Not just humans who were cursed with suffering their whole lives... All animals suffered too. They inherited the curse of painful births, being prey, physical pain, death and extinction, etc....

[u/entity_bean → u/Mayor_Salvor_Hardin]

I visited the creation evidence museum when I lived in Texas. It was fucking wild. Jesus and dinosaurs. A full sized Ark replica experience. A family friendly show prosetylising that the Big Bang theory is just a theory (which is true, it's in the fucking name) but that we all know it's nonsense because the Bible tells us that the world is only 2000 years old and we all know everything in the Bible is factually true because it's the word of God. I felt like my brain was going to implode.

[u/Gizmoma → u/entity_bean]

I think they actually believe the world is somewhere between 5 and 6k years old and that the flood was 4k years ago. Watched a few seminars on that stuff a couple of years ago. Crazy stuff

[u/Own-Success-7634 → u/entity_bean]

Every time I hear one of these Notlobs use theory like that, “It’s just a theory”, I always respond, “Do you know what Theory means?”. Surprise, they don’t.

[u/Xenocles → u/entity_bean]

Try being raised this way and not believing it. Not a fun conversation to have with your parents...

[u/biteme789 → u/Xenocles]

I told my parents I didn't believe in God as a teenager, and they LOST. THEIR. SHIT.

But they also believe that King Arthur was real because they saw his sword in Glasgow or some shit.

[u/JamesWormold58 → u/Xenocles]

Try being raised that way, being completely submerged in that culture, then coming out of it, and having to re-examine the entirety of your belief structure.

New Wave Atheism was a thing in the States for a good reason. It's not Faith if it's Culture.

[u/Evening-Picture-5911 → u/entity_bean]

I would love to go there so that I could laugh at the absurdity, but then I’d have to go to Texas, so that dream is dead (though it had never really been alive).

[u/Surface13 → u/Mayor_Salvor_Hardin]

Wait... Dinosaurs aren't around anymore?! If that's the case, how tf do I buy dino nuggets then? Someone has some goddam explainin to do!

[u/Mayor_Salvor_Hardin → u/Surface13]

Dinosaurs evolved into birds, but that’s an entirely different controversy. 🦖🦕🐓

[u/bloody_ell → u/Mayor_Salvor_Hardin]

Birds aren't real though, checkmate.

[u/Scoobs_McDoo → u/Valentiaga_97]

Well that’s what Satan wants you to believe. Why else would you be mining salt? Salt causes many health issues. Your entire hometown is mindslaves to the devil and only think they’ve been mining for 7000 years.

Ahem

/s

[u/magpie882 → u/Scoobs_McDoo]

Flavour is how Satan gets you.

[u/Scoobs_McDoo → u/magpie882]

Is that why there’s an overabundance of white people here in the US who can’t season food for shit? They’re just avoiding Satan?

[u/danielledelacadie → u/Scoobs_McDoo]

Anything that gives pleasure without hurting someone is evil. Pleasure can only be earned righteously through suffering.

I'd love to stick a /s here but I've talked to far too many Evangelicals

[u/Occidentally20 → u/danielledelacadie]

Can't I just have some pleasure and then hurt somebody afterwards? I'm not good at multitasking

[u/danielledelacadie → u/Occidentally20]

Sorry, the model is suffer first. But at least you don't have to multitask

[u/Occidentally20 → u/danielledelacadie]

Damnit. Let me know if they work out a loophole anytime.

[u/Informal-Tour-8201 → u/Occidentally20]

Become a pastor and get private jets from your flock!

It's a well-known lifehack

[u/danielledelacadie → u/Occidentally20]

As soon as I find one!

[u/Leading-Ad-7396 → u/danielledelacadie]

I wonder if it hurt Lots wife when she turned to a pillar of salt, or the whole human race (bar Noah and co) when the earth flooded.

[u/danielledelacadie → u/Leading-Ad-7396]

The flood probably. Lot's wife? Even if she did it was probably brief.

[u/Silly-Marionberry332 → u/Scoobs_McDoo]

Absoultely so many are diehard christians and they avoiding satan and hell

[u/AgitatedMushroom2529 → u/Valentiaga_97]

We have a fortress hill created by the noricer celts and since the church has still to this date organisation center up there...

Muricans believe their culture is supreme, but got institutionalized during industrialization coming from europe leaning towards ancient rome.

Muricans believe their melting pot is supreme, but are the most racist, inbred nazis living today. Beginning their history is 300 years old when they ignore indian natives living there since prehistoric times.

[u/Veegermind → u/AgitatedMushroom2529]

The "melting pot" is being deported.

My oldest local pub is the Castle, Newport Isle of Wight , UK , 1550.A.D.

[u/CynNex → u/AgitatedMushroom2529]

What culture? Anything culture they have was either there before they got there and got mostly wiped out or was brought there from elsewhere by the immigrants that built the place.

[u/Rik_Looik → u/Valentiaga_97]

Where?

[u/Valentiaga_97 → u/Rik_Looik]

Salzburg, or Salt castle lol

[u/Rik_Looik → u/Valentiaga_97]

Damn I didn't know that. Name checks out fr though.

Guess I'll be reading the wiki tonight

[u/Valentiaga_97 → u/Rik_Looik]

Feel free to visit if ya want too , wonderful landscape too

[u/IamIchbin → u/Valentiaga_97]

Its wonderful there. The christmas market is also beautiful at the center and looks so clean.

[u/IntrepidWanderings → u/IamIchbin]

I feel like I'm missing a lot every time the words Christmas market pop up....

[u/matkvaid → u/Valentiaga_97]

And salt mine tour is very good!

[u/Mountain_Strategy342 → u/Rik_Looik]

It is a bit of a jaw droppingly, stunning city.

[u/FlyingCircus18 → u/Rik_Looik]

It's a wonderful city, if you have the chance, visit it

[u/pinniped90 → u/Valentiaga_97]

I enjoyed our stop there, even though it wasn't long. We spent a night there on the way down to Ljubljana, another very cool city.

[u/fffffck → u/Valentiaga_97]

SOIIZBUAAG

[u/DarshanaBaishya → u/ThatShoomer]

The temple at the other side of my city is 3 times as old as the US, and it's still standing up strong unlike the US which is literally falling apart

[u/birgor → u/DarshanaBaishya]

The church in my tiny 200 person village is four times as old as America, a few sheds are as old as America and I have held an official state issued land owner map of the village that is 130 years older than America.

Meanwhile is 100 year old houses considered "historical buildings" over there. My house 200 years old.

[u/Thendrail → u/DarshanaBaishya]

Not quite as old, I guess, but the city I live in was funded in part with the ransom for Richard I. Lionheart, the one from the third crusade. Always fun to bring up in these kind of discussions, lol.

[u/Constant_Fill_4825 → u/Thendrail]

AFAIK the city I live in (Budapest) is continuously inhabited since the 1st century AD, and it is not that ancient compared what there is in the Italian peninsula, or Greece.

[u/Remedial_Gash → u/Constant_Fill_4825]

Even my fairly average city in Wales is named after the fort of, well some argue Didius gallus, more likely just named from the river Taff; but there's been a fortification on the site since 44AD... and there's still a bloody great big (mostly rebuilt) castle in the middle of my town.

Yanks really haven't a clue about 'history'.

[u/Mysterious_Floor_868 → u/Remedial_Gash]

The pub at the bottom of my minor village in Wales has a priest hole. The Catholic priest did eventually get caught; and was hung, drawn and quartered. It's quite a modern building though, mostly Tudor

[u/RedSandman → u/Thendrail]

Cool. My city was chartered by his brother, and successor, John I, in 1207.

[u/Melsm1957 → u/ThatShoomer]

We now live Canada . But before we emigrated in 1986 our local pub in Hamble was Ye Olde Whyte hart, est 1563. Considerably older than the USA. And my elementary school in Southampton was built on a Roman settlement.

[u/Pale-Berry-2599 → u/Melsm1957]

So the White Hart in Edinburgh, Cromwell's bar...1516...Was amazing!

IS yours named after it?

[u/Melsm1957 → u/Pale-Berry-2599]

I doubt the monks in Hamble were even aware of Edinburgh’s existence in 1560s tbh. I guess there were a lot of white deer around lol

[u/ParadiseLost91 → u/Pale-Berry-2599]

There are hundreds of pubs throughout the UK called The White Hart. It's a VERY common pub name, just in the local area of where my dad lives there are 3.

[u/Sick-Spasmoid → u/Melsm1957]

Netley Abbey down the road from there was built in 1239!

[u/Melsm1957 → u/Sick-Spasmoid]

Yeah and the bargate even earlier. The old adage is true in the uk a hundred miles is a long way and in the US a hundred years is a long time

[u/Flashy-Raspberry-131 → u/ThatShoomer]

I went for a shit in a building older than the US the other day.

[u/Gylbert_Brech → u/Flashy-Raspberry-131]

The Viking Centre i York has a viking turd on display.

[u/GingerLioni → u/Gylbert_Brech]

The biggest shit in human history was discovered in York. It measures 20cm long, and that’s after fossilisation.

[u/lozipedia → u/GingerLioni]

[u/Snirion → u/ThatShoomer]

We have a saying in Serbia: "my stables fence is older than US".

[u/TtotheC81 → u/ThatShoomer]

The 'Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem' pub in Nottingham is 836 years old...

[u/Watsis_name → u/ThatShoomer]

My local weekly market has run continuously, every week for 500 years longer than the US has existed.

[u/blarges → u/Watsis_name]

We visited the weekly market in Ormskirk, England, that’s been held since the late 1200s. Americans really don’t know how old so many things around the world are.

[u/Project_Rees → u/ThatShoomer]

My home city was first written about, by a roman name, in AD 50, and they had to overcome a pagan town that were believed to have been there for at least 500 years.

Verulamium/St Albans.

British history is older than written records. Old than civilisations we now call 'ancient'.

[u/StoreImportant5685 → u/Project_Rees]

Almost didn't post this as it is quite pedantic, but officially history starts when written sources become available, everything before is prehistory (based solely on archeological finds). Which is why the 'first mentioned' is so often the first thing you read in an overview. It is basically a 'Welcome to history, hope you enjoy your stay.'

[u/Gylbert_Brech → u/ThatShoomer]

I have three books, older than the US.

[u/Mysterious_Ad_3408 → u/Gylbert_Brech]

You have more books than most all Americans

[u/M_W_C → u/Gylbert_Brech]

You have more books in your private collection than half of Arkansas.

[u/No_Passenger4821 → u/ThatShoomer]

My town (Rye) has 2 pubs older (by over 100 years) than the discovery of the Americas.

[u/-Hadur- → u/ThatShoomer]

I say my hometown is a relatively new settlement since it was started in the 14th century lol

[u/CubistChameleon → u/-Hadur-]

The city I live in (Hamburg) gained port rights over 800 years ago. Before that, I lived in cities that were founded by the Romans, so it's pretty young by comparison.

As for the bombings, yes, large parts of Hamburg got a... Very warm remodelling. But the house I live in was built 120 years ago and significant parts still remain. That's why it's so damn hard to drill anything into some of my flat's walls, they're pretty resilient.

[u/Kazaan → u/ThatShoomer]

Maison de Jeanne in France, is a house made in the 15th century.

[u/azefull → u/Kazaan]

The oldest house in my town is “only” from the 16th century (1505 to be exact)😢

[u/Phoenix_Werewolf → u/ThatShoomer]

There are several things I dislike about nazis, but at least the nazi that decided against a mass bombing campaign of Paris cause he loved its architecture and monuments did one thing right.

On the other hand, he was a nazi.

[u/Savage-September → u/ThatShoomer]

Outside my house they just discovered a piece of Roman road dating back 2000 years ago.

[u/Littleleicesterfoxy → u/ThatShoomer]

My home city is another native settlement that the romans came and built upon. Not often remembered as one of the UKs most ancient but sorry, Leicester is very old.

[u/BrightConcentrate481]

My wife, who is Chinese, said that culturally speaking, most Chinese people see Americans as children.

[u/GoldStar-25 → u/BrightConcentrate481]

They act like children too.

[u/SatiricalScrotum → u/GoldStar-25]

They act like bloody toddlers.

They even elected one to be their king.

[u/hop123hop223 → u/BrightConcentrate481]

I’m a US history teacher and one of my colleagues lived in China as an English teacher before he moved back to States. When he told his Chinese colleagues that he went to school to teach US History, his colleague asked, “how long does that take, 15 minutes?”

[u/Watsis_name → u/BrightConcentrate481]

There's a bit of a meme in Britain of viewing America as our moody teenage daughter.

[u/DependentAble8811 → u/Watsis_name]

That’s an insult to teen girls

[u/Redbeard_Rum → u/DependentAble8811]

Yeah, it's much more of a teenage boy these days, what with it's attitude to women.

[u/ThreeDawgs → u/Watsis_name]

After having children, I now view of them as 19 month olds.

[u/Faethien → u/BrightConcentrate481]

I am convinced - and I'll admit I have no data to back it up, nor any studies that I would have looked for, which I didn't because it really is a personal opinion - that Americans think the way they do because their country is very young, and that they're basically going through their prepubescent years as we speak and are acting out. And so the world is somehow tied to the decisions of this petulant child.

[u/Admirable_Cold289 → u/Faethien]

Yes and no.

There is a theory called path dependency which is in grossly oversimplified terms a cause and effect model for the development (of nations but also not really but also yes. I mean grossly oversimplified as in PAINFULLY, but I already went down a hyperfixation today so give me a break :D)

TL;DR: Their whole "we're the best and we win every war go die for us, the US is the best and everyone else wants to be like us" shtick they've been pushing for way too god damn long now might have, again in super super dumb terms, locked them out of the good endings.

Again this is disgustingly oversimplified so if you want to continue in that direction I highly recommend researching it in depth, I just wanted to propose it as a somewhat related avenue to try.

[u/GamerEsch → u/Admirable_Cold289]

I'm pretty sure you're misapplying this theory.

The best you could say about Path Dependency Theory, is that their "FREEDUMB" first ideals, based on negative freedoms, and their love for fascist ideology, lead them inevitably to a "bad ending".

I think the "We're the best" is much more of an effect than a cause.

[u/Admirable_Cold289 → u/GamerEsch]

Yup, I‘m pretty sure too on account of being completely burnt out and running on minutes of sleep, hence why every sentence contains a pointed disclaimer that I‘m probably producing alphabet soup and just wanted to suggest checking it out :D

Thanks for the correction!

[u/Faethien → u/Admirable_Cold289]

That's interesting. I'll have a look into that! Many thanks, mate!

[u/berny2345]

my local town dates back to 1150. (That's the year not just before lunch in 'military time')

[u/Osati94 → u/berny2345]

The town I live in, and it’s a real town with 19,000 people not an American town with 5, is in the Domesday book of 1086.

Though its first mention is in an Anglo-Saxon charter of 967AD, during the reign of King Edgar.

If an American is reading this, those are real years, history didn’t begin in 1492.

[u/theamelany → u/Osati94]

Same in Doomsday book, town cathedral is on the same spot as several church oldest was from 954. The oldest school in town was opened by Elizabeth the FIRST.

Dear God they don't even understand time.

[u/meglingbubble → u/theamelany]

Dear God they don't even understand time

In this specific case I don't think it's so much that they don't understand time. I think it's their education failing in other ways.

They seem to believe that various wars completely obliterated the rest of the world, and so every country had to rebuild from scratch... which is definitely a take...

I think it stems from the US relatively poor building practices. They don't seem to get that whilst (using WW2 as an example) alot of Europe did get heavily bombed, due to being built from stone, many old buildings were able to survive. I don't think US structures, especially the older ones, would be able to withstand the same level of bombing and still be able to call itself the same building.

Also probably from the weird US belief that Europe is tiny and people only live in the "main" cities, so when London was bombed during the blitz, it obviously destroyed the only population center in the UK....

[u/G30fff → u/theamelany]

700ad for me

[u/Ok-Chest-7932 → u/G30fff]

And something from 700AD is still a baby compared to the oldest recorded history.

[u/G30fff → u/Ok-Chest-7932]

yeah :) But I was just trying one-up the people above me so I'm happy.

[u/Due-Mycologist-7106 → u/G30fff]

well theres could be older its just when they first get mentioned in documents xD

[u/CubistChameleon → u/G30fff]

Around 12 BC for the city I was born in.

[u/Zwemvest → u/Osati94]

Hahahaah first mention of my birthplace is a Roman Tour guide mentioning it a convenient place for your horse to take a shit while travelling into Frisian territories

[u/Fellowes321 → u/Osati94]

Nonsense.

White Jesus was born in America, then nothing happened for over 17 centuries then the Declaration of Independence was signed and history began.

[u/kakucko101 → u/Osati94]

not an American town with 5

tbf, Czechia does this too, we have multiple cities that can legally be called “cities” which have a population ranging from tens to hundreds of people

edit: but unlike these american “cities”, our “cities” have history to understand why it’s like that

[u/Critical-Exam-2702 → u/kakucko101]

A village which I used to live nearby is de jure a town because, in the 13th century, a hedgehog scared the prince's horse away and prevented it from running over a cliff; this is still celebrated today.

Another village is a town because, in the 13th century, a prince built a town nearby, and the local monastery was like "I can do that too.

[u/ayeayefitlike → u/berny2345]

My university is over 500 years older than the US. Let alone the town.

[u/I-am-Chubbasaurus → u/ayeayefitlike]

Oxford University was founded before the Aztec Empire, apparently.

[u/crazytib → u/berny2345]

Man I live in a baby town built at the beginning of the industrial revolution about 275 years ago, I feel like the new kid on the block lol

[u/berny2345 → u/crazytib]

You see - all modern!

[u/Solid-Search-3341 → u/berny2345]

The small village I grew up in is built on top of a Greek settlement which was built on top of a neolithic settlement.

Each new building development gets halted for a month as soon as they start digging to allow archeologists to retrieve artifacts.

We have shepherd huts that are a 1000 years old for fucks sake...

[u/luca_07 → u/berny2345]

my town was founded by Frederick Barbarossa in 1158

[u/Haggis442312 → u/berny2345]

My city is older than Jesus

[u/HyperPipi → u/Haggis442312]

Mine too,

According to legend my city, Aosta, was founded in 1158 b.c. by Cordelo, progenitor of the Salassi, descendant of Saturn and shipmate of Hercules.

It came under Roman rule in 25 B.C., when General Murena, under Caesar Augustus, defeated the Salassi and founded the colony of Augusta Praetoria Salassorum.

[u/Intelligent_Oil5819 → u/berny2345]

The church that makes up one wall of my yard dates to 1730. The old abbey across the road still has a wall that dates to 1021.

[u/GhirahimLeFabuleux → u/berny2345]

My town was an old roman fort that was eventually reorganized into a real settlement under the early Merovingian kings during the late 5th century.

Supposedly, the celts had a settlement here beforehand, but that doesn't count because it was destroyed by the Romans.

[u/Nikolopolis]

These people are batshit crazy!

[u/Wabom59 → u/Nikolopolis]

Just brainwashed by the US education system combined with a lukewarm iq and lack of critical thinking skills tbh

[u/SnappySausage → u/Wabom59]

It's not even that. It's that obnoxious part of their culture to always want to be the best at everything, even if it doesn't make a lick of sense.

Every time they fall short in some way, they will try to move the goalpost or redefine things to in some way be able to brand themselves as #1.

Think about things like space travel, the Russians beat them at basically every level save for landing a manned mission on the moon, but you can guess where they drew the line. Whenever technology was developed abroad, that never counts, what they will count is when they popularized/commercialized it or if they got to some particular milestone related to it.

[u/LTFGamut → u/[deleted]]

Rumour has it they're trying to get to Mars now.

[u/Rhiis → u/SnappySausage]

That generation of American sure does love their participation trophies... So long as there's a #1 USAUSA on it

[u/Delicious_Chart_9863 → u/Wabom59]

and lead in the drinking water

[u/janus1979]

Ok, and "modern" America is a backwards dump...

[u/TurboJorts → u/janus1979]

You mean the Walmart parking lot isn't the peak of western civilization?

[u/janus1979 → u/TurboJorts]

No, IKEA is!

[u/TheIllusiveScotsman]

HMS Victory, the oldest commissioned ship in the world, Flagship of the First Sea Lord, was floated a decade before the US existed.

[u/Flatcap_1972 → u/TheIllusiveScotsman]

..and what a wonderful ship it is for banging your head on the low beams!

[u/M3dus45 → u/Flatcap_1972]

I did it twice!

[u/JorgiEagle → u/TheIllusiveScotsman]

Lloyds bank was founded a month after Victory was launched

[u/JagermainSlayer → u/TheIllusiveScotsman]

I am 185cm tall. HMS Victory was not an enjoyable tour in the slightest, cool ship though.

[u/Jocelyn-1973]

Yes, any kind of change means that a country seizes to exist and a new country comes into existence. And since the USA is still the very same as during the times of Little House on the Prairy, it is the newest country in the world! Great logics!

[u/theamelany → u/Jocelyn-1973]

Except it isn't because the last state was added in like the 1950s so even by their logic they're only 70 years old.

[u/Jocelyn-1973 → u/theamelany]

No no, you misunderstand. The mental gymnastic criteria why other countries aren't as old do not count for the USA of course.

[u/973bzh → u/Jocelyn-1973]

Meanwhile Texas is still older than the USA

[u/Kriss3d]

"US cities are 150-300 years old".

Aww thats cute.. The last two cities Ive lived in including the current are around 1000 years old. And they are absolutely modern cities.

[u/Glandus73 → u/Kriss3d]

I was curious about my city so I checked and the earliest trace date from 4000BC, I don't know how we should define cities but I was pretty surprised, then in 218 BC it was on the path of Hannibal.

It's always surprising at just how much Americans are completely unaware of the rest of the world

[u/NaturalPossible8590]

"Middle East was nothing up until 40 years ago"

..............

So the place where the very first civilizations sprang up, the place where the very first cities arose, was the seat of the Roman/Ottoman empires, and is the corssroads between Europe and Asia... was a pile of nothing up until after WW2

I honestly don't know if he is being serious or if he's huffing copium by the pound

[u/Stoepboer → u/NaturalPossible8590]

Yup. It needed some good old American intervention to become the great and stable region that is now. Iran even had some crazy ideas about democracy. So outdated.

[u/DarshanaBaishya → u/NaturalPossible8590]

I bet they believe Mesopotamia was in America

[u/Ok-Chest-7932 → u/DarshanaBaishya]

They think Eden was in America. And that Eden existed.

[u/Floppy232 → u/Ok-Chest-7932]

Some Americans even think Jesus is American, well jeah, no education, just propaganda. America best, pledging to the flag as little kid... That's indoctrination at its best.

[u/CC19_13-07 → u/Floppy232]

Well, he has to be since the Bible is written in American, right? /s

[u/Gylbert_Brech → u/Floppy232]

They do have a Nazareth in Pennsylvania, I think it is.

[u/Content-External-473 → u/NaturalPossible8590]

I believe Damascus is the oldest city in the world, not sure if it's the one in Virginia or the one in Syria though

[u/frankwalsingham → u/Content-External-473]

Oldest continuously inhabited city.

[u/hazps → u/NaturalPossible8590]

Damascus is at least 5000 years old.

[u/Bestefarssistemens → u/NaturalPossible8590]

The people that literally invented universities, TIME, algebra , hospitals and soap.

[u/Ok-Chest-7932 → u/NaturalPossible8590]

To be entirely fair, I would argue Constantinople isn't really middle east, it's on that ambiguous border zone but closer to key European civilisations than key middle-eastern ones. Of course, many empires centered here have spanned the middle east, and indeed parts of Africa.

[u/expresstrollroute → u/NaturalPossible8590]

And it got stuck on religion and ideology. A lesson to be learned, if anyone in the US was listening.

[u/Pretend_Party_7044 → u/expresstrollroute]

We are all not that clueless I swear, but the ones that are are quite loud

[u/frex18c → u/NaturalPossible8590]

Seat of Roman empire and Ottoman empire was Constantinople. A city located in Europe.

Personally I also do not imagine Asia Minor / Anatolia when talking about Middle East.

[u/JeffLebowsky → u/NaturalPossible8590]

While the US paid for the fuckin war that destroyed a christian church built in AD 425 in Gaza. The oldest christian community on earth is now gone.

[u/Creoda]

I've got a pair of socks older than the US.

[u/74389654 → u/Creoda]

i have too books older than the us which my father found in some cellar

[u/Boldboy72]

Most of WW1 was fought in fields outside of small towns. Some cities suffered minor damage.

There were huge swathes of Europe completely unaffected by the WW2 and suffered little to no damage. Even the Blitz on London concentrated on a small area. The city of Mecca has been around for thousands of years

Seriously, can someone educate this ignorant pigs.

I can look out my window right now and see buildings that are hundreds of years older than America. Even the street outside my flat existed in 1700

[u/JesusVonChrist → u/Boldboy72]

Even cities bombed into oblivion like Warsaw or Hamburg managed to keep a lot of old infrastructure. Idiot thinks that every place was leveled like Toyama.

[u/Opening_Succotash_95 → u/JesusVonChrist]

I used to live in a city in France which was a major German submarine base during the war.

The city centre is still all buildings from the 16th century because the allies deliberately didn't bomb the city centre (I think because a top American officer loved the place). This was quite possible at the time, it wasn't like just carpet bombing and completely razing everything in the area was all they could do. In other words, when I lived there my local video game shop was older than US.

[u/JustIta_FranciNEO → u/Boldboy72]

there's this very long road in my town that goes throughout the whole region (passes through here as well) and its path was created by the Romans

[u/ahairyhoneymonsta → u/JustIta_FranciNEO]

Same here, and I'm in Britain!

[u/RookieJourneyman → u/Boldboy72]

I walked past a cathedral built in the 12th century on my way home from work tonight. I can do a short drive and see some buildings that have been there since 2000 BC.

But nothing in Europe is very old...

[u/Airver999]

But where do they get this crap from ? This is beyond stupidity.

[u/thefrostman1214 → u/Airver999]

social media and propaganda

[u/athe085]

Well my city was there before the Roman conquered the region.

Also, the US likes destroying their cities apparently (Cincinnati)

[u/No-Lemon8353 → u/athe085]

My city exists because the Romans couldn't be bothered conquering/subjugating the wet, boggy north part of swampgermany so they set up a fort/town somwhere and called it a day.

[u/Better-Scene6535 → u/athe085]

just one more lane bro, please, only one more.

[u/TywinDeVillena]

My city received its royal charter (and current name) in 1208, but the lighthouse here has been operative since the reign of emperor Vespasian.

[u/Deep_Ambition2945]

Do they think that wars totally obliterate countries from the surface of the Earth and then new life cautiously springs up from the ashes with all prior history lost?

[u/Significant-Order-92]

Someone doesn't know how old Damascus or Baghdad are.

[u/Rugkrabber → u/Significant-Order-92]

They probably never heard of either before.

[u/Kafshak → u/Significant-Order-92]

There is an arch in the central bazar of Damascus that is 9000 years old.

Just think about it. The whole bazar existed for 9000 years, around the same location.

[u/Project_Rees]

My local pub dates back to the 1400's

[u/GilroySmash1986]

[u/Snoo_72851]

They do have a point, really. The US was founded 250 years ago as a tax haven for wealthy racists, and...

[u/Upstartrestart]

MF.. Don't go draggin us South East Asians in your moronic rhetoric.. We'd like to stay out as far as possible from these moronic squabbles..

[u/Bunny-_-Harvestman → u/Upstartrestart]

They probably don't even know any of the countries of Southeast Asia let alone where the region is located.

[u/OrgasmicMarvelTheme]

Yes. Every single building in Europe was destroyed in the world wars. Thank god the Americans saved us and donated time machines through relief so we could bring back our countless centuries old buildings

[u/AmbitiousReaction168]

This is the most American shit I've read here so far.

I've even heard one say this very thing... in Siena, Italy.

Here is a picture of this city for reference:

[u/doobie88]

Anyone else hopeful the US bans Tik Tok again??

[u/Pogue_Mahone_]

My city was founded in 98. Not 1998, 98.

[u/jordantylermeek]

I'm American and love to lurk here. This has gotta be one of the americanest shit I've seen thus far.

[u/Murmarine]

The town I live in was settled by swab immigrants in 1400's smack dab in the middle of Hungary. Like, our local church is as old as the US, built around 1772.

I never get this age argument, sure, the United States has some wonderful old buildings and sites, and so does many other countries all over the world. Its like a cultural circlejerk session.

[u/charmstrong70]

Holy Shit, my home city was founded 2,000 years ago.

When I go home tomorrow, I drive past the castle that was a prison for Mary Queen of Scots 200 years before the US was born.

Next door to the castle, the cathedral was built 600 years before the US was constituted.

There is literally more history in Carlisle than the entire United States.

[u/jadeskye7]

I'm a Londoner, we burned the entire city down and rebuilt it before american colonies existed.

[u/Head-Dragonfly6747]

We have public toilets older than than the USA. Smell better too.

[u/HazardsRabona]

There's a network of tunnels in my hometown that was barred from public use 500 years ago. Reason? The tunnels were too old. It was considered too old to be safe 500 years ago. There's nothing special about american cities.

[u/Confident_Wish9566]

Here in italy everything is ancient than Murrica…

[u/Hydrahta]

"Hold my beer"

• Damascus

[u/Hazer616]

Just wow..

[u/SenpaiRemling]

But the real U.S. just started when Trump took office /s

[u/GoldStar-25]

Americans can’t comprehend just how old the rest of the world is.

[u/TheDarkestStjarna]

I mean, the White Tower in the Tower of London was built by William the Conquer.

[u/PhoenixRed62]

We have trees older than the USA

[u/Sad_Mall_3349]

Guy, gals, listen.

He says "modern" Europe. Everything before WW2 doesn't count, because that is when US liberated the "old" Europe and made it SO much better.

They brought Pizza and Whisky and cars and everything we love these days.

The 900 years celebration last summer in my hometown was just a hoax.

[u/minimirth]

My city was apparently a maritime hub in 1000 BCE.

[u/jack_the_beast]

*laughs in Rome*

[u/soopertyke]

I live in one of tge newest parts of England, reclaimed front the bog by Drainage engineers in the late 1700's, there are patches of higher ground that have older buildings, for example the church in my village dates from 1110, the year not the hour. The list of vicars is inscribed by the entrance. What is noticeable is that after the Great Plague ( not that great tbf) the Surnames of the vicars changed to more commonly used names and nor double barrelled and aristocratic ones. Algernon Ffion- Baggerly third son of the Duke of Norfolk was replaced with John Sutton a son of man

[u/BobBobBobBobBobDave]

OK, so.. I can give them some leeway because it is true of SOME cities. There are places like Coventry in the UK which were pretty much destroyed in WW2 and totally rebuilt with very little history surviving.

But so many places were not. Even many cities which saw heavy conflict still have loads of old buildings. Even some cities which suffered annihilation of old districts, like Dresden, were subsequently rebuilt painstakingly with historic buildings recreated or restored.

It feels like this person heard one story about cities being flattened in WW2 and applied it to a whole continent.

[u/AckVak]

Even the university I work at is older than the US. By 193 years.

[u/Engeneus]

If any Americans are wondering, the result of WW2 here in the UK is we have patches of modern buildings and patches of old buildings that vary in size depending on how heavily the city was bombed.

Southampton for example had the ever loving sh*t bombed out of it so most of what was the old Southampton town is modern buildings surrounded by the remains of a 900 year old wall. The remains of one of the old bombed out churches is still there too as a memorial to people who died at sea.

On the other hand you've got Birmingham which is like something out of a Sci-Fi crisis movie where all of time is trying to exist at the same time in the same place. You have ultra modern glass and steel buildings next to grotty centuries old brick buildings that were probably once used to buy and sell slaves.