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Politics : Foreign Policy Discussion Thread -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: paret who wrote (7088)	11/29/2005 11:55:51 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15987

"Nearly every top politician in Germany is on record giving a grave, smug warning about the danger of letting 'American conditions' seep into the German economy. In Germany's economic debate, 'American conditions' is code for stiff economic competition, low taxes, minimal state intrusion, and limited duration welfare payments." Many American elites share Europeans' anti-Americanism. They're also against "American conditions" and want us to have Europe's high taxes, highly regulated economy and socialized medicine. They also want us to share the European lack of will to protect themselves. Beautifully put... The reality is that the European politicians have created a economically inefficient system that might be great for current social and economic security, but lacks future economic security for younger Europeans. I had an interesting conversation the other day in Barcelona (I'm on vacation in Spain).. It was a young Dutch gal who spoke very good English (on which I complimentd her). I asked her where she learned it and she told me that most Dutch students learn English because it's the language of business and necessary to advance. She contrasted that with the situation in Spain, and in particular Catalan Barcelona, where very few speak English. She had obtained a job with an American company working there that apparently had difficulty finding sufficient local workers fluent in English. No mind you, I was perfectly willing to speak in Spanish with her, but she preferred to practice her English (especially since a year of disuse on my part has left me yabbering like a Spanish baby... ;0). I mentioned to her that we'll likely wind up speaking Chinese someday, to which she astutely replied that the Chinese are very much into learning English as well.. Personally, I try and speak the local language as much as my abilities permit. But back to the article, it is rather ironic, given the recent events in France. The unemployment situation was certainly something that I encountered last year in Sevilla (when I was again on vacation there). And here in Spain, they still believe in three hour long siestas during the afternoon. That's no way to encourage productivity and economic growth. The Europeans don't have to worry about Americans though.. They, and us, need to worry about the Chinese and Indians. Hawk