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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: hmaly who wrote (161296)	2/17/2003 7:05:30 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1573927

In it he puts forth many of the same arguments you do. Europes true motivation, is twofold. One is much like the relationship of a young adult trying to break his parential bonds and go out on his own. The article takes the position that the current differences between the US and Europe emanate from the perceived positions of the two; that Europe is weak and the US strong. The author goes on to claim that Europe is having difficulty with the Iraqi war because its weakness encourages non confrontative politics whereas the US's strength allows it to be more confrontative. It sounds good except for the fact that its an American writing the article, albeit one living in Europe, and that's a very American way of looking at the problem. I suspect that a European reading that article would probably laugh at his theory. Why? Because Europe could easily hide behind the US's strength and let the US do the dirty work, but instead they are choosing not to........which doesn't make sense if they were coming from weakness as the author asserts......the weak always cling to the strong. And you know its not because they fear we will exclude them from taking advantage of our power. So why is Europe unwilling to ride our coattails? That should be the focus of the article and not the author's might makes everything right position. However, the author's theory fits your notions completely and so you're eating it up.......unfortunately, like a whore, its too easy. There is nothing that simple between the US and Europe. The differences that now exist be Europe and the US are far more complicated. They have always been there but have been made more striking by Mr Bush. In fact, his overall behavior has exaggerated their nature and forced them to become problematical. Current Europe does not see us as coming from strength but rather as a parent sees a child charging an africanized bee hive......with apprehension and great concern. IMO they consider Mr. Bush's tactics to be similar to that of a bully. His attitude has become increasingly strident and he refuses to listen to their perspective. Part of the problem, is that the two sides don't like each other. Another problem is that for eight years, they were dealing with a polished statesman and now they have to contend with a plain speaking cowboy and his cowpokes. You can't blame them if they think we are little bipolar. I believe differences exist but I think those problems have been excerbated by a major change in American foreign policy due to a change in players and 9/11. For the Europeans, 9/11 was horrible but something they had expected. For us, it was a wakeup call.......therefore, both sides have responded differently. To confirm if I am right, I plan to send, without foreword, this article to some Euro. friends and get their reaction. The second, is that Europe could be on a crossroads, just like the US. Europe has stagnated the past 10 yrs. Liberalism hasn't promoted growth, and as a consequence, Europe feels a need to get out of the trap. Oh, why am I not surprised that we finally get around to politics. Unfortunately, I see this new twist as taking your stance further from reality. Europe has stagnated for a couple of reasons. One......the engine of the European economy, Germany, has been on idle while it absorbs the former GDR.......a merger that's proven to be far more difficult than Germany expected. In addition, the entire European economy has been hit with dislocations caused by the entrance of the former eastern bloc.....nations where good and services are produced at a considerable price advantage to the western countries. Finally, Europe has undertaken what has been so far the most audacious undertaking of the new millenium.........the European Union. This undertaking is intensely complicated and fraught with considerable problems. Europeans can be excused for being a little preoccupied right now. And if the experience of one of our major corporations is a precursor, the EU may well prove to be an audacious competitor. Airbus has been giving Boeing a run for its money. Its hard to admit [since I live in Seattle] but Airbus has managed to come up with a better product and has continued to make money in spite of losing its gov't subsidies and Boeing's predictions to the contrary. From the improved functionality of the cockpit and the reduced need for manpower to the well designed passenger cabins, the Airbus's series of planes have proven to be a very attractive alternative to Boeing's. If Airbus is a harbinger of things to come, the EU will force us to be even more competitive than we are now. The liberal intelligensia would have us believe their problems are created by an overpowering, overbearing USA, who has stiffled their freedoms, by keeping them down. The reality may be, that it is liberal policies which are doing the holding back, and Europe may have to embrace conservatism, in order get out of their shackels. So the Europeans gov, see this as their Waterloo, and know they can't afford to lose either. My guess is that competition from China and India, will show that liberalism has bounds, and that they will have to follow the US to a more conservative stance. JUst putting the US down won't solve their stagnation problems. You folks should listen to the liberal intelligentsia from time to time.......conservatism might learn a thing or two. ted