A couple points from an American who lives in Germany:I refer back to Spock's thesis on residue. Europe is America's residue and the Middle East is theirs.
1. The politicians here don’t have any silent plans to deal with problems either. They’re not that bright. Education here has very little to do with the development of critical thinking skills and everything to do with reinforcing the dominant ideas. It is a rationalist intellectual tradition….empiricism takes too much time and effort. Furthermore, the paternalist Staat ensures that citizens are shielded from the vicissitudes of the real world (with the help of the American military shield). The result is a nation of whose adults think as do college sophomores. They don’t have so much to learn as to unlearn.
2. Independent thought and action required considerably more moral courage here than in the States. There is just simply not the same individualism here. Don’t forget also, that the government here is party-based and within the parties they play for keeps. Vicious. Mavericks are dealt with, and so the only real chance would be a new party. The Greens were the last to really bridge the gap from fringe to influential, and there is no Reaganite party on the horizon.
3. Fischer is just as teflon-coated as before. He is in insufferable ass, but that falls under “he says what I wish I could bring myself to say” here. There is alternative.
4. Let’s not forget our basic economics here, shall we? Why has this massive influx of Moslem immigrants occured? Political persecution at home and economic opportunities in Europe. Thanks to W and friends, persecution is heading for a serious decline, and economic opportunities in the Middle East will improve. As Europe declines, the difference won’t be worth packing the U-Haul and filling out the paperwork. In fact, expect a goodly number to head back.
5. Radical Islam never developed the “vale of tears” idea of this world that Christianity did. Islamicism is supposed to be a recipe for earthly happiness as well. So who’s doing more for the earthly happiness of the Moslem world that all the venom-spewing imams put together? Expect that as information becomes freer that disinformation will be easier to spot.
6. With the birthrates I can’t help much, or at least not much that wouldn’t get me in a great deal of trouble with the wife. They must have a basic idea here of how it’s done, because it’s on TV constantly. The problem is, what you see there makes you want to yell “No, no, no, that’s not right! That isn’t how it’s done! I’ve seen it done better in a kennel!". Seriously, what they show has all the romance of a dog humping a chair leg.
Actually, refer back to my college sophomores point. One’s not ready to be a parent until one is ready to stop being a child. Another strike against paternalism. But I imagine that they’ll manage to figure out some sort of financial incentive.
All these need development, but it’s late and I’ve got to work to support those who can’t or won’t.
Comment by LizardAbroad — 2/27/2005 @ 6:31 pm
Bush has realized that the only hope is an end run around Europe directly at their residue. It may not work of course. But at least we'll be able to sleep at night when things get really ugly knowing that we tried.
I couldn't support the effort more.
But I still suspect things are going to get really ugly despite our best efforts. How I wish it weren't so...
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