Re: I may not go along with Berlusca 100%, but on this account I can only agree! We are culturally superior! What do we have in common in Europe with wild-eyed Taleban? Nothing!
Are you offended?
Not in the least... Problem is, Berlusconi is not the best pick to make such declarations. As I once pointed out, the difference between Europe and the US is not "immigration" --both civilizations are coping with ever larger inflows of immigrants. Yet, the US is fundamentally a co-optative fabric whereas Europe has stuck to a segregationist mindset. That's especially true for Southern Europe (Spain, Greece, Italy, Southern France) where crackers' resentment towards their North African neighbors is stronger. But then, Berlusconi was not completely off-beam: after all, every year, thousands of illegal Muslims vote with their feet and scramble to sneak into "Fortress Europe"...
However, Berlusconi's patronizing utterances didn't shock public opinion as much as because of their content as because of the very person who voiced them: as a European, Berlusconi belongs to a segregationist society that denies aliens (particularly from the Third World) the mere possibility to share in his "Grand Western Wonderland". Hence, since most European countries don't co-opt their immigrant constituencies, their claim about the so-called superiority of Western civilization is perceived as a contemptuous anticlimax, that is, Western people are superior and, ultimately, European races are superior, to others... The US doesn't face such a cultural predicament because Colin Powell, Secretary of Education Rod Paige, or Secr. of Transportation Mineta, could make the very same glib statements as Berlusconi without offending anybody. (*)
Gus.
(*) news.bbc.co.uk |
