On the Self-Defeat of the United States
Here are the reflections from Geza to my comments to the thread The Self-Defeat of the United States at Gates of Vienna. (There are several comments by me in the thread, starting early up. Especially an interesting exchange with PRCalDude.)
Geza has been a trustworthy participant at this blog, and now so again. So here's Geza's take on it:
As for your first sets of comments in the Self-Defeat of the United States thread, I am largely in agreement with you but I have a few quibbles.Firstly, you are correct that even if the opposite of Obama was elected, American-Euro-Russo relations would probably not improve. Even if we take a look at probably the best electable GOP candidate right now, Mitt Romney, he would still follow the same path as Obama and play along with the multicultis and transnationals in Britain and continue to antagonize France (America and France may be sister nations in ideology, but they are bitchy sisters who fight a lot), Germany, and Russia. Every high ranking American politician disdains Europe, regardless where they fall on the political spectrum. A conservative Republican may admire Poland for its devout Catholicism but would retch at Polish displays of nationalism. Likewise, a socialist Democrat may admire Finland's socialist programs but be disappointed at the lack of diversity in the country. So, even if an American politician admires something about a European country, he will continue to find fault with that country if it does not share a similar charactistic with America such as propositionalism or diversity. In most cases, whatever ails Europe, the American critic, whether he be left or right, insists that the cure can be found in America.
The clash between America and Europe was of course inevitable mainly because America is not an organic nation such as Germany or Slovenia and therefore is incapable of relating to Europe. American culture is not tied to a specific ethnicity and even the day it was founded, anyone could have become an American. If America had remained a WASPish country with the majority of the settlers hailing from Britain then it may have had the potential to become a nation in the European sense but it was not meant to be and this started much earlier than the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965. Due to the very nature of America, and to a lesser extent, Canada, they simply cannot understand why Europeans do not go the propositional route and are deathly afraid of European nationalism, no matter how benign. Nationalism doesn't exist in America, only jingoism and it is seen as a relatively harmless although most liberals do find it very annoying. Even the furthest of the right in America cannot be accurately described as nationalists (e.g. right wing militia groups) due to their hatred for the government. The majority of nationalists respect the role of the government even if they do not agree with it; they do not entertain paranoid conspiracy theories about what the government may be doing to them like these militia groups. Some may try to use white nationalists as a counterpoint to nationalism existing in America. I think white nationalism is a misnomer mainly because you cannot force an ethnicity into being by collecting a bunch of like minded white people from very different backgrounds and reaching a consensus on culture, language, and religion. Due to the education system and the culture of America, they can never understand the positive aspects of nationalism and always equate any right wing group in Europe that does not tow the multicultural line as fascist.
However, I think Europe can be blamed for quite of bit of their problems with regards to America. I noticed that you mentioned the trauma of the World Wars which should be considered a factor of why Europe gives into America's demands so easily. Europe wanted peace at any price after WWII, so much so that they were willing to put with their immature cousin's antics provided that their immature cousin was strong enough to protect them from each other. But it didn't stop there, did it? Let's take a look at Japan. It also wanted peace at any price after they lost to America, so why is Japan, relatively speaking, more robust as a culture and people than almost any Western European country? I think the main reason is that Japan does not have a culture of self-critique and although the Japanese are capable of feeling great shame over certain things, they do not take it to the same extreme as the Germans (I think this is primarily a German ethnic quirk). The Japanese do not spend a lot of time worrying about what happened in Manchuria. They stopped caring and even if someone did broach the subject, they would defend themselves, unlike the Europeans. I was also attribute some of the European malaise to the downfall of imperialism in the Third World. They realized that they were no longer the "masters of the universe" and this greatly deflated their collective ego.
I do not think that the decline in Christianity contributed to the the decline of Europe. Europe could have been as Christian as America post-WWII and I think both you and I would agree that it would have still allowed for Third World immigration in order to evangelize the heathens or for some other ridiculous reason. Christianity, whether the liberal or traditional sort does not act as a safe guard from cultural decline. It can coexist with a strong culture but for how long before it mutates into something else or becomes irrelevant is debatable.
I will post my answer to Geza's reflections another day. My blog is now active again, and I will continue write a new post here every day
1 comment:
Your analysis of the Japanese is correct. They do have a culture of self critique, but it's application is limited to problems within internal groups. World War Two was an us verses them scenario, involving the people as a whole, rendering the application of self critique unnecessary. I hope I've explained this clearly enough.
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