Friday, October 14, 2005
Rivalry Versus Anti-Americanism
Lost on this crowd is that each of the nations which are expressing "anti Americanism" in their politics are our RIVALS. They are competing with the US for economic growth, political influence, power, what have you. And generally, in that competition, they are losing. Mightily. Their economies are smaller, growing more slowly; their influence has been waning on the world stage since the beginning of the 20th Century. Until they destroyed themselves in World War II and needed the US to rebuild them and protect them, they always detested the US. And frankly, we viewed them disdainfully as well. When I was a kid in school, we referred to Europe as the Old World, and ours as the New World. I don't have to discuss the connotation.
So why must the liberal MSM (and some commentors on this and many blogs) bleat on incessantly about French and German whining about America? Who CARES? Perhaps they should consider cutting their taxes, encouraging their people to work harder, reduce their unemployment levels from 10-11% and focus on taking responsibility for their own issues, rather than blaming others. They're our rivals folks. Don't forget it. They should not determine our policies or our laws. It's why our ancestors left in the first place to come here.
8 Comments:
By 
TigerHawk, at
Fri Oct 14, 10:27:00 AM:
Absolutely. Rivalry does not preclude cooperation on many matters, but rivalry it is. Which is precisely why beating on America is such a sure-fire vote-getter in the center of Europe.
By Counter Trey, at
Fri Oct 14, 11:09:00 AM:
VDH wrote a piece in June (URL below) explaining that Old europe will eventually appreciate us again. He made some of the same points as you, CP. He said the US will be the only democratic superpower and China will be the other superpower. He also said:
Old Europe "has some breathing space to decide whether it will reemerge as a rising power or be relegated to a curious museum for cash-laden tourists from Asia and America."
I suspect their main industry in twenty years will be selling small, plastic Eiffel Towers to the Chinese.
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/hanson061005.html
By 
, at
Fri Oct 14, 11:17:00 AM:
In our flat world we are all economic rivals. A company in Itally is a rival to a company in Ohio. This has nothing with anti-americanism to do. International investors do not base their decisions on who is most anti-American.
Actually, why do Americans invest so much in China, the biggest US rival for future world power? Do those American investors enjoy the Chinese Anti-Americanism and whining about Bush?
By Dr. Goodheart, at
Fri Oct 14, 12:20:00 PM:
I spent a month in a Goethe Institut German language program in Germany in the fall of 1993, with Clinton at his smarmy height. The German teacher, Italian and other students except for one Swiss fellow were all reflexively anti-American. The teacher would routinely lambast the US for all sorts of stuff. I wrote my final class essay on how pissed I was that the country that had come to Europe's defense three times that century was so reviled. The teacher apologized--his anti-Americanism was so deep he didn't even think about it.
By , at
Fri Oct 14, 03:33:00 PM:
Not directly on point, but met with my relative from N. Zealand recently who suggested that my children's world would be much different as the power of the U.S. diminishes in the future. In some respects I think this is inevitable to some degree as China, India and others begin to "catch up" economically. However, I detected a bit of glee on her part. I wonder if she ever considered what life would be like for her children where China was the preeminant economic and military power in her hemisphere. Envy or just the desire to take us down a peg seems to blind them to the fact that someone else will fill the void, and it won't necessarily be them or some better.
By , at
Fri Oct 14, 03:50:00 PM:
Dear Tigerhawk,
Earlier today I emailed when I caught the CSPAN broadcast of a talk given by Jack Wheeler or Freedom Research Foundation on "envy".
"He is explaining the "envy deflection" process of the rich liberals,
"envy appeasement" by Hollywood. Stars feel money unearned
therefore apologize for it. Liberalism the "politicalization
of "envy appeasement". Machoism, ok to hurt yourself if it hurts
others. Lethality of "envy appeasement" projected onto others,
while males = "auto racists"
"All the frenzies of the Left are Machoism". "Do not want their
culture to survive"
"CANNOT DEFEAT MUSLIM TERRORISM UNLESS WE DEFEAT
MUSLIM ENVY"
CSPAN "leaving shortly" Accuracy in Media, Liberals and Homeland
Security - boadcast of talk given on Thursday.
Hope there is a transcript and that this will be rebroadcast this
weekend.
"Liberalism a Ponzi scheme"
Think that Mr. Wheeler has
nailed the umbrella under which all Liberal behavior and thought hide.
Hope you look into and further comment.
Best,
By pst314, at
Sat Oct 15, 01:25:00 PM:
Counter Trey said wrote "In our flat world we are all economic rivals. A company in Itally is a rival to a company in Ohio. This has nothing with anti-americanism to do."
I strongly disagree. Old Europe has been anti-American ever since our revolution, which they correctly recognized as challenging the legitimacy and necessity of their ruling elites. For the first century or so the hostility was based on hostility to our dangerous democratic society and included a great deal of really nasty snobbery regarding our culture for being too populist. The European left, opposing the entrenched elites, tended to look at America with favor. But in the last century curiosly, the traditional right-based hostility has been joined by an equally virulent hostility from the left. This would at first seem very strange, until one realizes that the left has tended to prefer communist thugs and has hated America for opposing them, and also because the left has become part of Europe's largely unaccountable and unremovable ruling elite, and sees America's more free system, in which ordinary people have much greater power to make substantial change and even (horrors!) vote parties out of office.
You are certainly correct that there is an important component which is simply based on economic rivalry, no matter how much it may be dressed up in political or moralistic tones--or even clothed in xenophobia. But the other factors I cite are deep and powerful and old.
By the way, just out of curiosity, are you German? "This has nothing with anti-americanism to do" resembles German in its construction. The proper English construction would be "This has nothing to do with anti-americanism." I'm not criticizing, just curious. Such a minor error is, after all, nothing to be ashamed of--the opinions of snobs notwithstanding. (I only wish that I were so fluent in another language, but after 25 years my German has badly deteriorated and my French and Spanish are execrable.) If your native language is not German but another, then I will have learned a small but interesting fact about it.
By pst314, at
Sat Oct 15, 01:29:00 PM:
I should have directed that comment at jorg, not counter trey. D'oh!
