Posted on 07/04/2004 10:13:17 AM PDT by aliquis
The quoted, are my thoughts on the current affairs more than a year back (I have published it as Ook elsewhere). Some things have changed, some haven’t.
Hope it makes sense.
Let's try to remember the days of the Cold War. NATO, lead by the US, opposed the Eastern Block, dominated, rather than lead, by Soviet Union.The United States took the brunt of the expenses on all fronts: intelligence, military, economical, political, and social. The US had to adapt and had to establish the model that would allow it to preserve the democratic values while guaranteeing maximum efficiency and ability to oppose 'the empire of evil'. It was not hard to get the Americans to follow the 'American Way', where everyone has an opportunity to make it - it has become a standard mentality. Therefore, an average American is unsympathetic to socialist ideology of any kind. The American model proved to be the most successful: economically, militarily, and culturally it stands, unchallenged, as a giant in the World. Even in the field of science (something the Europeans always prided themselves on), the US is an unchallenged leader (the field of theoretical physics, for instance, was totally dominated by the American scientists during the second half of the last century).
Things were very different in Western Europe. Protected by the American might, spending token amounts on the needs of NATO, the Europeans could afford to conduct various social experiments (France's 'French capitalism', for example). I would guess that the reason for this is hidden in the aftermath of the WWII.
It is fair to say that after the World War II, some of the worse affected countries were forced to implement government regulation and some features of welfare state - they had to take care of millions of people without homes, means to existence and medical care.
During this great rebuilding, however, Western Europe could not do anything about preserving its power - most of it has been spent during the war (the war did happen on the European territory, after all). So, during the war, they have lost their power, after the war they have lost their influence. However, freed from the necessity to protect themselves from the big and nasty neighbor, they managed to quickly recuperate economically. This recuperation was not complete, though: the welfare state stayed and grew in strength, the Unions - as always in hard times, grew in power too. The constant propaganda from the East did not help the matters either. Forced by the population (it is hard to give up the benefits, once you are used to them), the European governments pursued the policies of the welfare state so much, some of them become socialist.
Another factor, I think, is the heritage. Europeans are accustomed to being told by the government what to do, and rely on the government to take care of problems they should be sorting out for themselves. This leads to centralization of governing, (not as bad as USSR, but not too far off). The bureaucracy rules supreme. Thus, a very powerful top is created that controls everything: media, industry, culture, and ideology. To such an infrastructure, the American way of life is an obvious and definite threat.
So, this is the picture of modern Western (old) Europe: embittered by the loss of power and influence, militarily impotent, unable to control extremely strong left movements (Unions, anti-globalism, etc), and, above all, ruled by the governments that are trying to stay in power at any cost. Add, as the cherry on the top, the inferiority complex toward the United States, and you have an ideal environment to foster anti-Americanism. The Middle East and the rest of the Third World is simply used by the "old Europe" as the political arena for creating a counterforce for the US and its allies. Unable to directly challenge the US, the European governments are resorting to propaganda (their governments control the media) and try to use any political body to hinder the progress made by the US and its allies.
Can the anti-Americanism in Europe be beaten? Only by the Europeans. The Anglosphere, however, needs to do more than just to keep exposing the fallacy of anti-American ideology to themselves. The American culture spreads more and more in Europe... but what about ideology? This is the most critical issue. At the moment we have young Europeans following American (or generally Anglo-Saxon) culture on the surface but remaining indoctrinated with left dogma underneath. The shortcomings and lies of European governments must be exposed to the Europeans. We need to demonstrate to them that the freedom that we enjoy in the Anglosphere offers a great deal more opportunities and benefits than the centrally controlled order they are forced to endure.
For this we need allies in Europe. And what would be better demonstration then a success? Tony Blair often mentions that the UK should act as a bridge between the US and Europe. But what Europe? I'd say the "New Europe". Let's get the real allies onboard before they are pressed onto the other side by the economically stronger "old Europe". These countries have just emerged from under the communist rule, and they are pro-American because they know what is on the other side. If they follow the American model, could that be that they'll develop faster and better than when regulated and often hindered by the EU? Having dynamic and prosperous neighbors would make it hard for "old Europe's" governments to bash the 'capitalistic, and greedy' Anglosphere.
The new world is emerging and we need to raise up to the challenge and shape it so that we'd be proud to see the results.
Some of things have changed since the time I wrote the above. Particularly, we have seen the fall of Spain. The country was practically destroyed by an single terrorist act (I do not in any way gloat or make a light of the atrocity, it’s just sometimes we are faced with rather unpleasant choice: to fight to the end or to surrender). It is characteristic of the more traditional European states to choose the way of retreat. I’m not going to go into any sort of analysis of the reasons for this particular behavior (leave for some other rant), but one thing is evident: the world is split into 5 different groups - even if they are not specifically conscious of the fact:
The situation is strangely similar to the outset of the Cold War. In this case, again, it is up to the United States of America to take the lead and form the coalition necessary to win yet another war against evil. The US have done it before, there’s no good reason to fail this time.
God bless America. Happy 4th of July!
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