Saturday, January 24, 2004
Can we please have a bit of honesty about this?
First off, America has no aspirations for economic, cultural, or political supremacy.
Americans simply want to be fat, dumb, and happy. That's it.
They want their comforts, NOW!, and cheap. They devote massive amounts of time to finding cheaper, faster, better ways to get things done, because all they really want is to get back to the air-conditioned comfort of their homes so they can kick back with massive quantities of BBQ, and watch "The Simpsons".
Oh, and they don't want Islamofascists crashing airplanes full of innocent people into their skyscrapers and public buildings.
That's it. That's all of it.
Now, as a side effect of all this effort Americans are rich, and everyone else in the world wants what they've got. Americans are not setting out in leaky rafts for Castro's paradise. They're not swiming to Haiti. Mexico does not have a problem with illegal American workers. France's population is increasingly Islamic, not American.
Americans are economically superior because they want to get back to their BBQ. They're culturally superior because they want their entertainment engaging, surprising, and edgy. They're able to be this way because they were lucky enough to get a Constitution and political institutions that have stood the test of time.
(Note to insolent French Defense Minsters: The American Republic is older than all the old European republics combined.)
America's Constitution outlines a way to govern, not the biases of the moment. It stands in plain contrast to "Europe's" new Constitution which will have to be scrapped as soon as the politically correct of today changes. OF course, Giscard will have run through his current paycheck by then, so it's probably just as well.
America has political supremacy because it's been in a battle with unarmed opponents.
Now, as to America's difference in sensibilities vis-a-vis the Muslim world: it wasn't the Eiffel tower that got hit on 9/11. Americans are well attuned to injustice and poverty, they just don't have time for a bunch of psychotics who score own-goal after own-goal. And, since they have the economic, cultural, and military power, and the political will, they're not going to sit for it.
This contrasts quite nicely with moribund France: an increasingly aging polulation that chugs antidepressants and imports its labor (and future) from the Islamic world.
Instead of coddling terrorism, as France does, America intends to pile on the humiliation until these people get it. Sherman didn't burn everything between Atlanta and Savannah for the hell of it: he wanted to humilitate the South utterly and teach it a lesson. Rebellious pride was bent towards pride in the Union. Result: the South is firmly in the Union, we have more and more damn Yankees moving here every day, and Southerners are the most utterly patriotic of Americans. They also have great BBQ.
Similarly, we'll not be done with Islamofascism until Islam learns to play well with others. The Islamic world is going to take humiliation after humiliation until Muslims become willing to rejoin the human race and turn their faces towards 2250, not 1250. The alternative is psychopaths with a medieval outlook and nukes to hand. That, for sure, would interfere with BBQ and "The Simpsons", and that is just not going to happen.
In the meantime, we may just save France's backside. Of course, we've already done that a couple of times, with the predictable result that they'll never, ever forgive us. I sometimes think they'd prefer to be singing the "Horst Wessel Lied" and exporting their Jews to points East.
Now, as to the final part: all this talk about France as America's enemy, France as counterweight to American power. It's talked about because it's what France has been after. I mean, a Polish unit find French anti-aircraft missiles in Iraq. Missiles that had been manufactured a couple of months before the war began. And as for counterweight, well, the French have been trying to turn the clock back to 1685 since about, oh, 1686. It hasn't worked yet. Give it up. Please.
Bottom line: the French might profit by paying more attention to themselves, rather than trying to turn foreign relations into a sort of soap opera. France is the bureaucratic driver of the European Union. It's a union for elites, being brought about by elites. It's anti-democratic and utterly corrupt. Only by the good graces of the new Europeans might it ever be saved. The alternative is another bloody war.
Personally, I'm betting on form.
First off, America has no aspirations for economic, cultural, or political supremacy.
Americans simply want to be fat, dumb, and happy. That's it.
They want their comforts, NOW!, and cheap. They devote massive amounts of time to finding cheaper, faster, better ways to get things done, because all they really want is to get back to the air-conditioned comfort of their homes so they can kick back with massive quantities of BBQ, and watch "The Simpsons".
Oh, and they don't want Islamofascists crashing airplanes full of innocent people into their skyscrapers and public buildings.
That's it. That's all of it.
Now, as a side effect of all this effort Americans are rich, and everyone else in the world wants what they've got. Americans are not setting out in leaky rafts for Castro's paradise. They're not swiming to Haiti. Mexico does not have a problem with illegal American workers. France's population is increasingly Islamic, not American.
Americans are economically superior because they want to get back to their BBQ. They're culturally superior because they want their entertainment engaging, surprising, and edgy. They're able to be this way because they were lucky enough to get a Constitution and political institutions that have stood the test of time.
(Note to insolent French Defense Minsters: The American Republic is older than all the old European republics combined.)
America's Constitution outlines a way to govern, not the biases of the moment. It stands in plain contrast to "Europe's" new Constitution which will have to be scrapped as soon as the politically correct of today changes. OF course, Giscard will have run through his current paycheck by then, so it's probably just as well.
America has political supremacy because it's been in a battle with unarmed opponents.
Now, as to America's difference in sensibilities vis-a-vis the Muslim world: it wasn't the Eiffel tower that got hit on 9/11. Americans are well attuned to injustice and poverty, they just don't have time for a bunch of psychotics who score own-goal after own-goal. And, since they have the economic, cultural, and military power, and the political will, they're not going to sit for it.
This contrasts quite nicely with moribund France: an increasingly aging polulation that chugs antidepressants and imports its labor (and future) from the Islamic world.
Instead of coddling terrorism, as France does, America intends to pile on the humiliation until these people get it. Sherman didn't burn everything between Atlanta and Savannah for the hell of it: he wanted to humilitate the South utterly and teach it a lesson. Rebellious pride was bent towards pride in the Union. Result: the South is firmly in the Union, we have more and more damn Yankees moving here every day, and Southerners are the most utterly patriotic of Americans. They also have great BBQ.
Similarly, we'll not be done with Islamofascism until Islam learns to play well with others. The Islamic world is going to take humiliation after humiliation until Muslims become willing to rejoin the human race and turn their faces towards 2250, not 1250. The alternative is psychopaths with a medieval outlook and nukes to hand. That, for sure, would interfere with BBQ and "The Simpsons", and that is just not going to happen.
In the meantime, we may just save France's backside. Of course, we've already done that a couple of times, with the predictable result that they'll never, ever forgive us. I sometimes think they'd prefer to be singing the "Horst Wessel Lied" and exporting their Jews to points East.
Now, as to the final part: all this talk about France as America's enemy, France as counterweight to American power. It's talked about because it's what France has been after. I mean, a Polish unit find French anti-aircraft missiles in Iraq. Missiles that had been manufactured a couple of months before the war began. And as for counterweight, well, the French have been trying to turn the clock back to 1685 since about, oh, 1686. It hasn't worked yet. Give it up. Please.
Bottom line: the French might profit by paying more attention to themselves, rather than trying to turn foreign relations into a sort of soap opera. France is the bureaucratic driver of the European Union. It's a union for elites, being brought about by elites. It's anti-democratic and utterly corrupt. Only by the good graces of the new Europeans might it ever be saved. The alternative is another bloody war.
Personally, I'm betting on form.
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