Since you didn't care to mention it... am I right to assume that you now agree with me now that America cannot destroy the EU economy?
The point being.... yes we have an awesome ability to cause death and destruction. And thank GOD we do, we have to protect the entire freaking world. (BTW I am not religous)
That point can be made in regard to Western Europe during the cold war and maybe in regard to a few other cases but I fail to see who the USA tried to protect in Vietnam, Iraq 2003, Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti, Philippines and so on. In many cases the USA merely protects her own national interest.
But unlike most everyone else in the world.... we never attack unless provoked. I'd say that history has shown how restrained we are.
While I agree that the USA is (or used to be) a comparably benevolent super power, I don't think that such a simplified statement is appropriate. How exactly did Iraq provoke you this year? Unless you deem the lack of WMD a provocation, of course.
The attitude that you EU's hate so much about the USA is exactly what makes us great. Can you see this?
I don't "hate" the USA. It's not that simple. I detest the current neocon fad that has taken over your country and the change of foreign policy doctrine that comes with it. I don't like Chickenhawks like you, Dubya and Donald Rumsfeld .
The neocon takeover is a new thing and therefor you cannot argue that it's what made America strong in the past few decades.
Back to hating America... yes, I hate the confusing, gun-toting, primal USA of Dubya Bush and the Bush Doctrine, powerful corporate interests and media, the death penalty, extreme economic inequality, Christian fundamentalism, jingoistic militarism, the idolization of that asswipe Ronnie Reagan and the self-centered "without us the world would burn" arrogance.
But on the other hand I love the enlightened USA of the the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the New Deal, Jimmy Carter, technological ingenuity, grassroot activism and strict church-state separation. I love the America that manages to accommodate immigrants from all parts of the world without any significant internal unrest. I love the America that progressed beyond the ethnicity-based perception of nationality which is still haunting all European nations.
Hell, I even love Hollywood (minus jingoistic claptrap movies) and American fast food. I prefer American style pizza to Italian style pizza, for fucks sake! I can't even stand to watch movies in the German synchronized version. Bottom line is, I am as Americanized a European as it gets. And I don't mind that the least.
You could say that what I hate and what I like about America is pretty much the same what a liberal American would love and hate about America.
The problem is that American right-wingers think it's up to them to define what America is all about. You guys equate "American" with "our particular right-wing views".
As a result you label liberal Americans as "un-American", "unpatriotic" or even "traitors" and Europeans who disagree with your worldviews are "US haters" or "anti-American".
The simple truth is that you right-wingers probably hate the "leftist" aspect of America as much as liberal Americans and most Europeans dislike the "rightist" part of America.
But still you right-wingers claim that people who disagree with you must unequivocally hate all that is America while right-wingers are the true Americans who somehow hold a monopoly for the right to decide what the terms like "American", "freedom", "moral" etc. mean.
Isn't it funny how the rejects of Europe formed a much more powerful country? Maybe the basis for your ideology is not as good as you think.
The fact that most of central Europe was a pile of rubble a mere 50 years ago while the war propelled the USA right to the top might explain why America has such a substantial lead. Yeah, it's Germany's fault, not yours.
I dare say that "ideology" only played a minor role in that. The public sector is about 35% of the GDP in the US, in Europe it's probably around 45%. That's a gradual difference, not a fundamentally different system or ideology.
And now for a change of topic---- I have not read lately about how the east/west germany thing is going. Are the people in the east adapting well?
A recent EU study has found out that over the past 10+ years the efforts and costs of reunification (including substantial tax raises and a huge strain on our social security system) reduced annual economic growth by 1/3 and will continue to do so for the next two decades.
It's one of the main reasons for Germany's lackluster economic growth. Low economic growth just aggradates the very same problems that caused it in the first place. It's some vicious cycle kind of thing.
The east of Germany doesn't do particularly well, despite the hundreds of billions western Germany pumped into it. There is a substantial population drain in the east.
I guess no one could anticipate how big a challenge the whole thing would be. Initially people thought that there was at least some economic substance in East Germany, like marketable products and trade ties to eastern Europe etc. But the eastern European markets had already evaportated and we ended up with having to rebuild the economy from the scratch.[/quote]
