Anti-Americanism & Friendship

USA Today is reporting on the rise in anti-American sentiment throughout Europe (I mentioned it yesterday). The author spends most of the article describing some of the incidents that happened (and trying to attribute their occurrence to Bush policy, but that’s a rant for another day), but he does bring up some interesting points that bear some discussion. He mentions concerns about US dominance in the world, US selfishness and the also points out the generational differences in opinion among the Europeans.

The Europeans really seem to be getting a complex about the US being the sole remaining superpower. One of the anecdotes in the article describes a Berlin cabbie asking about “American megalomania” and then demanding to know how his fare might feel if someone she knew were killed in war. I view this as another example of the Europeans just not getting it. 9/11, the Twin Towers, 3000 of our friends and relatives killed, the destruction of a national symbol. We haven’t forgotten and we aren’t about to. How would the Germans react if the Bundestag was destroyed? Or the French if the Louvre was laid to waste? I’m sure that then it would be personal and they might attempt to act in a similarly “megalmanical” manner. We all “knew” someone that died on 9/11, they were Americans, the same as us.

The author also brings up that idea that American “selfishness” is breeding resentment by the Europeans. He cites our withdrawl from Kyoto and our penchant for driving SUVs as examples of our selfishness. Yet the Europeans are concerned most about the lack of US tourist dollars. According to the article the number of Americans visiting Europe is down over 19% since 2000. That is equating to a substantial hit to the European economies. We do act in our own interests, as shown by Kyoto, but we’re very open about it. The Europeans try to act sophisticated, when in reality they are just dodging the true issues. They don’t want to admit that they are lagging behind the US economically, so they whine about US selfishness. It’s time for the whiners to grow up and own up to their decisions. They chose socialism over capitalism and now they’re reaping the shriveled fruits of their labors.

The statement of most interest to me, however, was the one in which the author revealed that the resentment against the US runs deeper among the younger Europeans than it does with the older folks. Perhaps the younger Europeans need to learn the value of a human life. Maybe they need to learn the value of an honest week’s work, or maybe they just need to pressure their politicians to encourage policies that lead to job growth so that they can become employed. All in all, it seems like the younger generation of Europeans is rapidly becoming out of touch with reality. They seem to have already forgotten the lessons of the twentieth century. They still allow demagogues, in this case the European elitist media, to dominate their thoughts. The older generations know of Europe’s past and of the inherent good of Americans. The younger generation needs to be reminded of how the US, Britain and Canada saved the Continent from a megalomanical dictator and then had enough concern for the people of Europe to help them to rebuild through the Marshall Plan.

The Europeans need to get over it. The world no longer revolves around the Franco-German axis. Every little spat between the powers of Europe is no longer of earth shaking consequence. The US is not the center of the universe and should not be. But just because we choose to exercise of independence of the Old World does not mean that we are disrespecting them. The fact that we choose a different path than that desired by Jacques Chirac does not mean that we are ignoring Europe. We are the US. We don’t expect Europe to be us; Europe should not expect us to be them. As nations, we are friends (even France). But remember, even when you are in total disagreement with a friend, you never – ever - spit on them.