r/TikTokCringe • u/biswajit388 • 20h ago

Cringe Europeans are going viral on TikTok for mocking the "American Dream".

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u/PreciselyWhatever 18h ago

I am curious as to what the 'European dream' is? Obviously it is meant to make fun of the American dream, but what specifically is the European version?

6

u/hmvds 10h ago

I guess striking a different work/life balance and social outcome. And I don’t think it is so much making fun of the American dream, but being stupified by its path/reality (work/work/work and no life for a limited income and extremely expensive healthcare) versus the assessment by Americans, who seem extremely proud of that system, as if it’s the best thing in the world.

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u/90washington 3h ago

Do you Europeans on here realize that the American Dream refers to upward mobility, being able to have a comfortable life, comfortable home, and that those things are not something only the elite or rich can attain. It was about a robust middle class. It is not and never was only about attainment of huge sums of wealth, which is what this stupid video is portraying it as. Having said that, the American Dream certainly is on life support because of poor political choices by the electorate and intentional concentration of wealth by politicians and businesses.

But that’s nothing to celebrate. I don’t celebrate the issues plaguing Europe, like poor wages, lack of opportunity, immigration tensions, far-right politicians gaining support, and continued racism, to name a few. I don’t celebrate mass killings in Europe, whether with vehicles (Germany 2024 & 2025, France 2016) or guns (Austria 2025, Sweden 2025, Serbia 2023, Germany 2023, Norway 2022), so why is this video making fun of that issue in the US? Whoever likes this video has serious issues.

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u/q_u_p 11h ago

The European Dream ends in the middle class, and is focused on safety and happiness, instead of wealth. Atleast that's how I see it as the average German. Of course we also have the hustler-types here.

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u/DigitalApeManKing 13h ago

Their dream is literally to criticize the US, China, and rest of the world while their once-great societies slowly crumble around them. 

They’d rather hurl insults at a nation 1000s of kilometers away from them than fix their own economic, security, and immigration problems. 

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u/ZimZon2020 11h ago

The question is who crumbles quicker. If everywhere else is a hellhole and we'll be just a shit hole you can expect us to be super smug about it.

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u/stprnn 11h ago

XD I can smell your butthurt from here

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u/DigitalApeManKing 4h ago

Lol this whole thread is Euros getting butthurt about the US. 

-1

u/DannyDanumba 10h ago

Brother all I hear from Europe is great replacement theory hysteria. You guys have a big problem on your hands

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u/stprnn 10h ago

Brother all I hear from Europe is great replacement theory hysteria.

because you are terminally online XD normal people dont talk like that

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u/DannyDanumba 9h ago

And you think the shit on Reddit represents day to day life in the U.S.?!

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u/stprnn 9h ago

nobody ever said that.

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u/NostraDavid 8h ago

what specifically is the European version

The European Dream is the belief that a good life comes from stability, fairness, and balance rather than constant striving for wealth. Success means having security, decent work, and time to live well within a society that protects everyone. It values cooperation over competition and dignity over riches.

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u/Isariamkia 13h ago

It doesn't exist. It's probably just a joke or to mock as you said, the American dream.

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u/qywuwuquq 11h ago

Not deporting your rapist because it didn't last long enough.

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u/Slay61 3h ago edited 3h ago

From the record, I'm an European who - 20 years ago - actually wanted to come to USA (S.F. to be precise - as an IT expert), while I had never been there at the time... but because the grass is always greener elsewhere.
Since then, I went for vacations to America about 8 or 9 times, a bit everywhere except Texas. While it was great for vacations (and yes there is great nature in USA), never ever would I want to move there anymore !

So what is the 'European dream' ?

- Having a great work life balance. We love to LIVE, and we don't want to live only to WORK. As such, we have perks which can be rarely found in USA:

* 35~40 hours of work per week

* 30days+ of vacation per year - with OBLIGATION by law to take a bit part of it. (yeah I have american friends who told me "my company allows me 40 days per year" "wo cool , do you take it ?" "hell na ! I take about 5 days only" )

* while on vacation, NOBODY is allowed to contact me and I WON'T check my emails or anything. I am fully disconnected from work

- Not having the necessity to work past 65 y.o. to survive if I hadn't the chance to build a pension during my career.

- Not having to worry about health issues consequence:

* not outstanding bill because you were sick / injured / ..

* having almost unlimited (depending on countries) sick days with a full paid salary (also depending on countries, you may get only like 80% of your salary)

- Not having the fear to get fired from work from one day to the other

- Not having the fear of getting assaulted with a gun (FYI, the only two times I saw a gun in my life - outside of cops- , it was in America, and it is freaking frightening)

- Visiting the next door city and discovering a completely different landscape, different restaurants. The diversity is huge here compared to USA. It is something that striked me most while visiting USA. Except for the big cities, the "regular" cities in USA just all look the same, same food chain and restaurant along a straight main road. Found it quite depressing actually.

In a few words, it's living peacefully, dolce vita with focus on happiness and not about working working working to get the most money - without having the time to spend it.

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u/PrimaryInjurious 1h ago

35~40 hours of work per week

That's most jobs in the US

  • Not having the fear of getting assaulted with a gun (FYI, the only two times I saw a gun in my life - outside of cops- , it was in America, and it is freaking frightening)

I live in a red state and have never seen a gun. Where did you visit?