US and EU

 

The American espionage against the EU and Germany and other countries in Europe disclosed by Der Spiegel and The Guardian if confirmed shows more things.

American arrogance and contempt for friendly nations.

Even though this contempt could be regarded as partially justified when looking at European indecisiveness  and bureaucracy, it is nevertheless a sign of deteriorating quality and falling  levels in international politics.

Between major friendly players such arrogance  is unseen and also points to:

The end fight for world hegemony is approaching. This fact makes the involved countries use methods, which if not involving direct warfare outside the 3. World, still gets more and more uncivilized as already seen in the American fight against terrorism and the Internet war between the United States and China .

Widespread electronic espionage is just a natural part of this.

The only surprising fact is that apparently the Americans regard the EU and European countries as very important competitors on the World scene keeping the weakness of Europe in mind!

Germany appears to be very closely followed by the NSA. As earlier stated Germany can be seen as the best governed and most politically mature state in the old modern world. If as the Germans would like, this quality of governing would get spread over the whole of the EU, then surely this Union would become a formidable power politically and economically. This could explain the keen American interest in spying on Germany.

But my dear Americans, I do not think you need to worry! The other countries in the EU will rather continue their misgovernment than submit to Germany.

As I have pointed out earlier, the world after more than 2 centuries of brutal wars, civil wars and other external and internal conflicts needs all this chaos  to be ended. Just as was the case in old Rome and old China in the years up to -30 and -221 respectively.

We are longing for our version of the Pax Romana or Pax Sinica.

This should just be reached in the most humane and democratic way possible. BUT even if these civilized conditions should be supported, it is also a fact that a Pax has never been achieved through eternal discussions and negotiations between countries each having the power to veto everything, certainly not if these countries have no common idea of means and goals.

The United Nations and the European Union are doomed to fail, if they are not reformed radically with very strong executives.

So who should bring Pax to our world? It must be a major player like America, Europe, China or Russia. Russia may be too small. Europe is too weak. China could be a possibility because of sheer size and economy.

But the Americans have something, which is not yet as clearly to be seen in China. The will to power. This, the Americans seem to have in large amounts as seen in amongst other things:

-          Belief in own values

-          Contempt for international rules and other countries

-          Will to dominate others

-          Willingness to use the means necessary

If we like this or not it certainly qualifies America to win the competition for hegemony.

And thus to bring peace. We must only hope and work for it that this peace is more of a benevolent type!

Even though the Europeans are right in being outraged about the spying, they should also be honored by the importance with which they apparently are regarded in Washington. I am not sure that the EU really deserves so much attention.

The EU reaction will show if the union has muscles enough to deserve the honor of being subject to massive US espionage!

Ils sont fous ces Americains!

Ils sont fous ces Americains but

Vor Paris steht Mickey Mouse

A free trade agreement is being negotiated between the US and the European Union. France has demanded that European countries should have the right to impose quotas for the amount of American culture, films etc. in TV and other media. This French attitude is being ridiculed in some circles. But seen in the light of extrapolations of the present trends in the World and in the light of historical precedents, the French demand is reasonable.

The French comic book series Asterix about the fight of a village in Gallia against the Romans at the time of Caesar is interesting for more reasons:

- It points to many of the clear parallels between our present modernity and the Greco-Roman modernity. Like if we repeat many things from that certain part of the past with a time lag of 2 millennia.

- The books also show the European skepticism towards the Romans and thus transferred to our time the Americans. As Asterix' friend Obelix often says: Ils sont fous ces Romains! These Romans are crazy!

- but the books also show the admiration  and uncritical imitation of the Romans by other people in Gallia. And thus the same imitation in Europe today of the Americans. As the German group Rammstein sings "Vor Paris steht Mickey Mouse" ( before Paris stands Mickey Mouse). It points to Disney World standing outside Paris. But the wording also sounds like Mickey Mouse as representative of the whole American culture being an army ready to invade Paris.

What is Crazy about the Americans?

For a European more American phenomena seem very strange.:

The idea that America should be Gods own country.

Extreme superficiality.

The enormous focus on material richness and admiration of the very rich. Of course Europe also has a focus on attaining richness and indeed Europe has invented modern capitalism. But even a European capitalist is outraged when Paris Hilton takes showers in champaign.

And again I say to you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Americans seeing their own country as having special rights in the World. I have already pointed to things like the American use of the Swift computer system to follow money movements between Europe and the outside World, the illegal hunt for terrorists abroad including of suspects in Europe and flights with these suspects over Europe. Few have any doubt that the US governments electronic surveillance of its own citizens internet use also extends to the citizens in Europe.

A conceited belief in own values, being they puritan or the superficial World presented in films and other media.

The carrying of weapons seen as the right of everybody no matter the consequences and even no matter how lethal they are.

The cowboy mentality against other countries.

Social welfare seen as evil and unchristian.

Obama described as Anti-Christ. How can it be against Christ to aid the poor through things like health care? Have these people never heard of the Good Samaritan?

The unforgiving and uncompassionate condemning nature of American puritan Christianity.

The use of the brutal and indeed uncompassionate death penalty.

….. first cast out the beam out of your own eye; and then shall you see clearly to cast out the mote out of your brother's eye.

This all points to a a reading of the Holy Bible that stops early in the Old Testament and certainly never has reached Isaiah 53.

Taken over without any reflection

Europeans eagerly follow the Oscar awards staying awake at night to watch it live even though the often far better European films only fall into the category "foreign language films".

Super bowl is catching more and more interest in Europe.

Halloween has already become a European tradition for our children.

Valentine is also a new tradition in countries where it wad never heard of earlier.

Even the somewhat ridiculous phenomenon Cheer leaders is spreading here.

A very large part of films shown in European cinemas and TV channels are American.

This even seems to have been a part of official US policy. Part of the American aid to France after WW 2 was given with the obligation that it was to be spent on buying Hollywood films!

Also our children are exposed to this influence. Extremely superficial American talk shows and series with never ending canned laughter is dominating TV for children here as well.

Facebook… Used by everybody in this strange small Scandinavian country, where nobody seems to reflect on or question anything. Even left wing politicians and state owned radio and TV stations use Facebook instead of an ordinary homepage. Nobody give it a thought that Facebook is a commercial establishment and that users are at the mercy of the owners and indeed American surveillance. Only 2 percent of teenagers in this country do not have a Facebook account! Sooner or later I suppose the local government will make it mandatory to have an account! This invasion force is about to take the rest of Europe as well.

The demands of the Market mechanisms dominate the countries in Europe even more that the United States. I have already mentioned the American Rating Agencies. These market demands are carried out without reflection. Keynes is forgotten. Germany is acting as an agent of the market mechanisms and enforcing their demands over the rest of Europe.

Scandinavia used to be proud of its models in social welfare and the well functioning organization of the relation between the work force and employers. Now everything is with joy being broken down and the societies changed into places where everything is regulated only by market laws. All in the name of global competition and the Holy Markets.

Conclusion

For a true European the United States does not look like Gods own country. It more looks like the country of Pluto. No not the dog of Mickey Mouse, but Pluto, the god of money and the Underworld!

But

One can fear that even if many Europeans in our generation still may say as Obelix, the next generation is being brought up with American culture in the form of films, the Net and TV.

We in Europe would  rather have

Vor New York steht Obelix.

But our children’s minds may already have been invaded by Mickey Mouse.

In the Mediterranean World 2000 years ago Greek survived in the East. Here Latin did not win like it did in Gallia outside the village of Asterix and Obelix. A deliberate effort like the one advocated by France might be necessary if like Greek the European cultural languages of today shall survive. If nothing is done, then  in 100 - 200 years most of Europe will speak American English. Zee, not zed!

 .... the French language for centuries on Earth represented civilization.

Jean-Luc Picard.

Let us hope it will stay that way, also for the other European languages!

Ils sont fous ces Americains!!!

International aspects of political development

International aspects of political development

Here I will elaborate on the topic in the last post, The Decline of Politics.

Democracy for any prize?

The degree of democracy possible without counterproductive effects in the form of instability depends on

1. Political development on the way up.

2. Political decline on the way down again.

It is important that the degree of democracy should always follow the maximum  level, which is possible without chaos, in the light of the political level.

Most third world countries are not yet sufficiently politically developped to implement democracy in the full western sense. This would lead to instability and will often be terminated by coups. To demand democracy from such countries is irresponsible!

Also China and Russia are not sufficiently politically developed to implement full Western democracy. To demand they should is also irresponsible unless of course it is a deliberate attempt to weaken them and so easier defeat them in the international competition! But a break down of effective government in such important countries would harm the whole World, not least economically!

We saw what can happen if democracy is enforced too early in Russia after the fall of Gorbatjov. The strengthening of the government under Putin was necessary. China would also have plunged into a chaos even worse, if the students had won in 1989.

But of course a country can also limit democracy more than necessary in relation to the political level.

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From the age of Enlightenment Western Europe and North America were ascending in political level, Southern Europe a bit later. The Third World much later. This culminated probably in the sixties and seventies of the last century. Since then the downward trend has been underway as described in the last post.

This means that Southern Europe and the Third World have not and will not reach the most developped states before the downward turn. Italy reached a new low point in the elections. “Two clowns” won more than 50 % of the votes.

The west inspires the rest. When the west declines, so does the rest.

The international competition for supremacy

There is one more threat to democracy. This one is valid for the big players on the international political scene. These countries are competing with each other for dominance and therefore their internal strength and thus political efficiency is important, so they don’t lose in the competition from the other powers.

This threat was not very relevant for the Romans after Zama. No opponents of any strength existed west of the Parthians. And this probably also is a part of the explanation why the internal chaos continued until just before Augustus put an end to the Warring States or Modernity phase or as Toynbee calls it, the Time of Troubles. As a single Roman general could subdue and eradicate whole states, the politicians and military leaders in Rome itself could afford the chaotic in fights much longer without fearing that outside forces would take advantage of the situation.

This was very different in the same period in the first Chinese civilization, where all the major powers were very strong and each had armies of one million troops. Here only the most effective states could stand the competition and the wars. Qin won the fight by being extremely well and harsh governed.

For our civilization we are somewhat closer to the old Chinese condition. Our Rome, the United States is not alone, but has competitors like China and Russia and soon maybe more. This means that it is imperative for the Americans to be well governed and effective.

This pressure for efficiency is another major threat to democracy. Here like with the other threats, it would be ideal to save democracy by strengthening the executive just as much as needed and no more. We don’t want to have the Qin solution with its brutal oppression! But if the Americans hope to continue as the "leading nation on Earth" they will have to strengthen government.

A World power cannot continue as a such, if the opposition sabotages the necessary decisions. Today the right wing Republicans, tomorrow under another president perhabs left wing Democrats.

Even more harmful could be the extreme anti-Washington sentiments. People whose dream is a decentralized state not ruled from Washington and the "political establishment" and instead want small communities ruled by "Christian" pro-life, pro-gun, anti-tax, anti- Obama care people and defended by small bands of individual desperados armed by the Rifle Association. Even a small approaching of this condition would imply a serious weakening of the United States.

 I guess not even the Tea Party movement or other right wing Republicans want the Chinese and Russians to win the competition for world hegemony?!

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NOTES

The smaller countries in the old continent do not anymore take part in the competition for world hegemony. Therefore they do not feel the external pressure making inner strengthening necessary. They could end like the greek city states. At a time representatives of four competing parties from  the formerly so well ruled Sparta were in Rome each seeking support for their cause in the chaotic political battles.

The EU is an attempt on the level of all European states at countering the trend. Create a common executive above the single governments. But this will fail as the decline within the states continues.

For the World it may make only a little difference who wins, the Americans or the Chinese. They may be approaching the same level of limited democracy, even though from opposite sides.