Europe Hates America
George W Bush is due into London & every whining leftie peacenik is getting ready to protest about the recent unpleasantness in Mesopotainia. Well that is one of the privileges of living in a democracy. It will of course achieve and change nothing. (I was one of half a million people that marched through London to protest against the Bill to ban Foxhunting, but that is another story for another day.)
Already, those that wear sandals are complaining that they will not be allowed to harangue GWB & generally bring London to a standstill. Protest away I say (it is your right), but do not allow your political convictions to get in the way of people going about their lawful business, like Heads of State for instance.
Now, look at poor Iraq. After suffering years of unspeakable suffering, they are now free - much to the chagrin of former Bathist Party members and the Islamo-Facists. The Coalition has a stated aim of establishing democracy as soon as possible. So these protesters are in effect protesting against the introduction of democracy in Iraq. So what is this? Democracy is all right British & American citizens but not suitable for the long oppressed Iraqi people. Really rather racist don't you think?
(It is interesting to note that these protestors are the same people who continually bleat about racism, racism in the media, institutional racism in the police and racism in just about everywhere else you care to look. )
The criticism of the Coalition is racist, driven by blind hated of America (racism?) & in Part 2 of this rant I want to explore this further. In the meantime, I am off to buy a 'GWB 4 more in 04' mug and a large Stars & Stripes to fly out of the office window.
My Free Markette was playing with one of his chums last week. Little chum is a good kid, notwithstanding his parents misguided liberalism. During the afternoon, my little beacon of transatlantic solidarity was overheard saying,
No, America is our friend because they helped us in the First & Second World Wars.
Out of the mouths of babes and all that but it set me thinking & readers, you know how dangerous that is!
Most of Europe despises America, for many reasons. Half of it could only be liberated with US aid; the other half got its collective arses kicked in the process. The whole place only was rebuilt because the Marshall Plan. From the British perspective, just remember in WWII, 25% of our ammunition and 50% of our tanks were supplied by the US, as well as almost our replacement merchant shipping & nearly all of our transport aircraft.
I already hear cries of 'yank-lover' but I make no bones about this being a pro-US blog. Now I'm no expert on geo-politics, but Sir Winston Churchill was and as he said in his broadcast from Washington in May 1943,
The experience of a long life and the promptings of my blood have wrought in me the conviction that there is nothing more important for the future of the world than the fraternal association of our two peoples in righteous work both in war and peace.
The eco-weenies continue to drone on that America is populated by narrow-minded cowboys that have no comprehension of the World stage, pursues a damaging unilateral foreign policy, think that Disneyland is the cultural peak & only want to eat in Taco Bell. It is the view of your correspondent however, that the EU�s non-intervention in policies that cause huge problems; witness Bosnia. The exception to this is of course, Germany - they keep invading everybody in an attempt to force entire populations to listen to 3-day Wagnerian operas.
This dislike of America is deep seated and to a greater extent, has blinded EU leaders to recent World events. Most of Europe is at best spinelessly ambivalent to the War on Terrorism; France and Germany actively collaborating in their opposition (nothing new about the French collaborating with the Germans eh?).
But this loathing goes much deeper and steams from envy - Europeans hate America because it is so much richer & has higher standards of living. All because American working folks produce more of just about everything in any year than their European counterparts.
A report published in the Los Angeles Times concluded that Italians get 42 days of paid vacation every year, the French 37, the Germans 35, and the British 28. Americans, meanwhile, take off only 14 of the 16 days to which they are entitled. Figures from the US Government's Bureau of Labour Statistics show that Americans also work a 49-hour-week, which adds up to 350 more hours of labour a year than the typical European worker. I hear cries of 'quality of life' from Champagne Socialists in Hoxton. (Note to Father Christmas - As I've been a good boy this year, please may I have a Tomahawk cruise missle for Christmas ... just one will do)
A good way to sum up Americans views of vacations is to study the habits of George W. Bush during his summer break. He retreated to his ranch, where the temperature regularly exceeds 100F, to clear brush. For relief from that vacation activity, he met his foreign policy team, then his economic advisers, then travelled to national parks to push his plan to reduce the incidence of forest fires, then on to California for a fundraising tour.
Even bloated Eurocrats are starting to express real worry. Not only is the American economy more productive than Europe's, the gap is widening output per man-hour in the US continues to rise, as the infrastructure left behind by busted dot-coms becomes more and more efficiently deployed. Worse still for those who want to play catch-up, America's outlays on research and development, a harbinger of future improvements in productivity, continue to outstrip those of the EU. But how can that be, now that Brussels is trying to create a Workers Paradise?
The bad news for Europe is that the mediocrity of our politicians is manifest in their lack of understanding of both macro & micro economics. They espouse the advantages of not working, rather than to implement policies that make work more attractive. Gordon Brown lusts after America's productivity performance, but continues to raise taxes so as to make work less remunerative.
Bush has done the opposite and cut marginal tax rates. Perhaps he is looking over his shoulder at the Chinese, who seem to view leisure with even greater suspicion than do Americans. I've lived in China & witnessed this first hand.
As a closing thought, let us once again revert to the wise words 'our skipper', Sir Winston,
We must also never allow the growing sense of unity and brotherhood between the United Kingdom and the United States and throughout the English-speaking world to be injured or retarded.
House of Commons, 1 March 1955
Comments
I do say, good post. Mr Free Market, you are my personal hero today.
-Damon
Fellow Blog Runner and Capitalist Radical
Posted by: Damon Dimmick | November 19, 2003 7:20 PM
You got this American-blogger-in-Germany's vote in the showcase, but only because of your style, class, literate postings, and wry sense of humour.
The Rugby girls had nothing to do with it.
Nor the rifles.
I hope you have the needed bandwidth for when the big guys start linking you.
Posted by: Greyhawk | November 19, 2003 10:42 PM
Will you be posting more Rugby shots?
Posted by: Greyhawk | November 19, 2003 10:43 PM
Wonderful post. Thank you. I have happened in here to spend real time trying to find out "Why they hate us???". I think you summed it up admirably, and it's it ironic that the same reasons the Europeans hate us is only a tad more sophisticated than why the Arabs hate us!
Now that I can honestly say I know why they hate us, I will get back to work and move on. This is a short life we live. I only get one week (5 days) of vacation p/year. Not nearly enough to satisfy the Brits complaints that we Americans are not 'worldly', but then again....I haven't seen all of my own country yet. :)
Carry on!
P.S. Can someone tell me....the woman on the news that climbed the palace gates, to show her dislike of Bush's visit. Was she an American or a Briton? I have a bone to pick with her either way but want to get my facts straight first. Any ideas?
Posted by: radtec | November 20, 2003 7:36 PM
The old baggage who climbed the gates was on the radio today - she works as a health visitor for the NHS somewhere up north and "represents" an organisation "truth about US bases in the UK" or similar crap - I hit the off button before I either smashed the radio or drove my SUV into the first Citroen I saw.
Posted by: Tim | November 20, 2003 8:14 PM
Ditto. You've got my vote.
Posted by: Dustin | November 20, 2003 10:11 PM
Thank you, it's been a while since I've laughed that hard. It's nice to hear about a Brit who has his head screwed on straight after hearing about all the dipshits on the news. All I have to say is, God Bless You and Keep on keeping on. You have at least one supporter from God's country (The Loveliest Village on the Plains).
Posted by: Dan | November 21, 2003 5:59 AM
Note also that California has approximately the same size and population as France, but double the GDP.
Food for thought... :)
Posted by: Casey Tompkins | November 21, 2003 6:00 PM
I'd love to see you and one of my Brit haters go head-to-head! I'm sure seeing your site will absolutely burn him - that's why I'm going to be linking you =)
Keep up the great work!
PAG
Posted by: PAG | November 24, 2003 12:37 AM
Most of you are fucking stupid, it is a miracle that you guys can read and write.
But this is irrelevant cause you can't think and if you don't you need to shut the fuck up!
More than 10% of the population of the ''most powerful land'' can not find the US on the map and over 80% of you supported Bush and his liers.
In America it's all about money but the real worth of a man is his knowledge and his wisedom not his fucking, low-quality cause made in the United States, car.
And now the us goverment has a second Vietnam.
Posted by: Paul Kraft | November 24, 2003 6:44 PM
Paul Krap,
You are so right about the low life level of education in America, given your use of expletives. Are you one of the 10% who couldn't find your classroom at school?
Furthermore, while you are entitled to your opinion (the right garanteed by people in uniform fighting for it and not you spewing venomous drivel)about the US and Iraq, you are definately not entitled to be rude.
You also must have cheated and used your spell checker before you posted.
Now, get this straight: There is enough collusive evidence that Saddam and Osama Bed Linen were working together. Saddam also did not comply with US resolutions at the end of the Gulf War and Clinton just left him alone...and we still had terrorist attacks on US soil during the Clinton Reign of Error. He had a chance to bring in Bed Linen and did not.
Bush, like most good Republicans, is cleaning up the mess Clintoon and Hitlery left. Dimocrats do not know how to end things. VietNam was a Democratic presidents debacle, and a Republican president got us out...yep, ol Tricky Dick ENDED Johnson's War. Too bad he didn't end Johnson's War on Poverty and his stupid Great Society.
Now, go take your student loan application, or Pell Grant application and SIT ON IT!
Posted by: one who knows | November 24, 2003 7:31 PM
Mr. Free Market,
I liked it. When your neighbors finally throw you out of the country for your views, (they'll know about you from your spiffy new ID card), we'll take you in. This country was founded by type "A" British subjects, like you.
Posted by: Bones in the US | November 26, 2003 6:18 AM
Mr. Free Market,
As a U.S. citizen I just want to say that I very deeply appreciate what you said about my country. I have family members who fought and died on the battlefields of Europe. I know that America is not "everything" and I realize we make a great many mistakes, but I think we have also TRIED to help the world advance and become more free. Many complain of our apparent imperialistic agenda, yet forget their own imperial history. France and Germany both complain about U.S foriegn policy, yet forget their own unilateral diplomacy during the early French empire, Napoleon's time, the late 1800's, Germany's 1st Reich, and of course Hitler's atrocities. Is it so bad that America has its spot in the sun now? So we have to secure our interests. Well that includes Europe and we have protected the Europeans for decades. If not for us, would Europe be speaking German right now, or would we see a France SSR? Who knows, but I know that American money, time, and blood went into freeing Europe and then defending it. Are Europeans not our friend despite this? I guess not, but think about this scenario: If the U.S. had been devastated by war on the same scale as Europe during WW2, do you think anyone would have helped us, even so much as lifted a finger, probably not, hell we'd probably be partitioned like Africa in the 1890's.
Posted by: Eric Daltonq | February 1, 2005 2:54 AM