wlofie and I were discussing international affairs again, which is a topic that comes up often, seeing as how we are having one. Heh. The particular issue was how the US can gain back Europe's respect and trust, what sorts of things would have to come to pass. We also talked about Tony Blair, and his ideas for reconciling the sides.
On NPR I heard a bit of the speech Blair gave at this traditional function. He said that the alliance with the US and the membership in the EU are the two pillars between which Britain is suspended, and that it's important to uphold these. He wants a strong EU-US alliance, with Britain "in the thick of it".
That's nice. I wouldn't mind all that; it would be grand. However, the British people seem to be of a mind similar to that of the rest of the EU in that this whole Iraq war and intelligence thing was illegal and messed up and possibly amounts to war crime. Officials in Blair's government have fessed up to messed up intelligence and have pledged to put in safeguards against such a thing happening again, but nothing more concrete than that. Not even that much is coming out of DC.
So, trying to maintain an alliance with the US is alienating Blair from half his party and even more folks outside it. And trying to maintain relations domestically are alienating him from his ole pal Dubya.
It must really suck to be Tony Blair right about now.
But anyway, back to respect and trust in the EU - I was listening to this interview on NPR about what author John Parker calls "American exceptionalism", which is a pretty accurate and simplified take on what sets us apart. The NPR website is expected to have audio on this story after 10:00 AM Eastern today. One of the things that Parker pointed out is that while Americans have many attitudes that make us similar to Europeans, like sexual equality and civil rights and such, we also have many attitudes that are distinctly -not- European but more like third world countries, like strong religiosity and patriotism. I hadn't thought of it that way, but he's quite correct.
And Americans, because we are usually introduced to morality within a spiritual/religious context, associate these inextricably. If you asked a sampling of people in Europe whether someone had to believe in God in order to have a strong sense of morality, those who would answer "yes" would be a very tiny figure, whereas in the US, you would get a much higher figure, probably a majority. That's something I hadn't thought of before.
Parker was talking about how Europe seems to be waking up and finding the US to be so very drastically different, and in the process of wondering what the heck happened, have jumped to the conclusion that it's all the administration's fault, when that may not be the case. We may have, like partners in a too-comfortable marriage, grown apart without noticing it.
He didn't, however, address the bigness. And probably he wouldn't because it's easy to overlook, but I sincerely believe that American bigness psychologically contributes to the disconnect in mindset. In the US everything is big. Even tiny things are big, or at least far apart so that the space between them is big. Meals are bigger, cars are bigger, trains are bigger. Even the freaking photocopier paper is bigger. It's all big.
Right after I got back from Sweden I was sitting in the diner with Napalm with my eyeballs falling out of my sockets, and he was wondering what the deal was, and I was going, "It's soooo biiiiiig here." He didn't understand what I meant, so I tried to illustrate. If that diner were in, say, Helsingborg, that booth would be about three quarters the size it was, and the aisle between the booths would be half as wide. The entire diner would probably be about half the size it was. And the diner, or one like it, would be within a half-hour's walk or less.
Everything here is big and spread out far, and when you grow up with all this space and size and distance, I can't help but think that has something to do with the shape of your mind. I have to think that this is why we are so freaking impractical, and why we cannot understand places that are smaller, more compact, and more efficient.
I have noticed that many Europeans don't get the space/size/distance disconnect either. They glare at us because we so steadfastly have resisted wonderful ecological measures like carpooling and mass transit, not seeing why these not only don't work but can't work completely in our mostly suburban country with the so-far existent technology. Our population density is generally high enough to cause problems but too low to enact the sorts of relief that Europeans get to enjoy. Only people in the densely populated urban areas can enjoy these benefits.
Ever try to organize a carpool? How'd that go? Hell, just catching a lift for a one-time deal can get close to impossible.
So, there are a lot of differences, many of which haven't been touched on yet, and rather than recoiling in horror (which so far has been the norm) the US and the EU need to try to understand the differences and bridge some common ground. If we're going to have an alliance, it's vital.
In the "Reap What You Sow" department, other nice things about the news lately:
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The WTO says if we can tariff steel, other countries can restrict our goods too. How interesting that the specific goods come from pro-Bush constituencies.
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The Supreme Court decides, much against the President's wishes, that yes indeed it will evaluate the Guantanamo Bay issue.
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UNESCO says that film and music, as cultural items, belong on their agenda and not the WTO's. The US administration doesn't like it, but tough noogies.
In Austin, if you stiff a day laborer, you can get so busted, regardless their immigration status. Sadly, most cities don't consider this a crime.
In the "Aha!" department:
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Now I know why Miami Police Chief John Timoney's name is so damned familiar. He's the guy whose name came up a lot during Philadelphia scandals involving police shootings and beatings of unarmed suspects. I used to live near there.
