Why America

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Why America isn't Europe
A personal perspective by Professor Randall
Baker. Prof. Indiana University
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Important Prologue

• This lecture has nothing to do with which is
  better, or worse.
• It is to examine the ways in which the two
  cultures are rather fundamentally different.
• And to understand the way these differences
  manifest themselves in policy, both domestic and
  international.

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Important Proviso
On October 4, 2005, formal negotiations opened
between the EU and Turkey, after 40 years.

• Europe is a work in progress, and the pace of
  change is rapidbut to what end is uncertain,
  especially since the rejection of the draft
  constitution. Now, the EU has to focus on means,
  not ends.
• It is virtually impossible to say, in
  conventional terms of sovereignty, what Europe
  is, and how the US relates to it.
• Some, both inside and outside the USA, are
  arguing that the War on Terror, is making
  fundamental inroads into timeless American values
  of libertyi.e. changing them. Not so.
• Also, in discussing the comparison, we have to
  remember that the US is a country, even though
  much power is devolved to the individual states,
  and this balance changes from time to time.
  Europe, even though it has many of the central
  powers of a state is, legally, a collection of
  sovereign countries.

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Why is this Europe/US question Important?

• Because Europeans tend to measure the United
  States by the norms and values of European
  history and politics. The values may have been
  similarthe process was very different.
• For instance, in the recent Iraq crisis there was
  a sharp division between the US and Europe.
  Europe wanted the UN to handle it the US
  maintained the right of individual intervention
• When the US does not behave as the Europeans
  believe it should, it is accused of
  unilateralism, bullying etc.

What is it, exactly, about our Foreign Policy you
do not understand?
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The Basic Misunderstanding

• For several reasons that we shall discuss, the
  United States is not some offspring or distant
  cousin of Europe
• Furthermore, total immigration now is higher than
  it was at its peak in the 1890s and over
  ninety percent of this immigration comes from
  Latin America and Asia not Europe. So, the EU/US
  division is more likely to become accentuated.

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Why America Isnt Europe 1 Demographic History.

• The population of the USA is self-selected.
• Nobody asked to be born French, but most of the
  population decided to become American.
• We call this being an immigrant nation, but we
  rarely think about what it means.
• It means that very many people share a common set
  of values, because they chose them.
• Commitment to individual liberty first and last,
  has always been the essence of America. This is
  why we never have extremist parties, and why it
  is hard for outsiders to tell the difference
  between US parties.

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You see this today

• In the fact that many Americans fly the flag,
  which is something you do not see in Europe. Why?
• Because it represents their personal choice, it
  identifies many different people as one, and it
  is symbolic of an idea.

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Why America Isnt Europe 1

• As a result, US Politics has almost never been
  built around conflicting ideologies, as they
  involve change in the role of the state, which is
  resisted by Americans.
• Europe has been dominated by this Fascism,
  Bolshevism, Anarchism and other great constructs
  of social engineering. In the US, the government
  governs best, that governs least.
• The US, for instance, has never had any serious
  candidates of these ideological extremes for
  political office.
• When attempts were made to change this, they were
  bitterly and strongly resisted.

Victor L Berger
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Saco and Vanzetti
This was a notorious case during the 1920s. They
were charged with shooting two Brinks guards
during a holdup in Braintree MA

• The question of their guilt or innocence became
  almost secondary to two things
• They were from Southern Europe, and there was
  resentment of the Italians and other southern
  Europeans because of their extreme politics. This
  was Un-American
• They were active anarchists and that threatened
  to bring a new dimension into US Politics.

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And who is this?
It is Senator McCarthy of Wisconsin
Who, in the 1950s went on a witch-hunt for
Communists in America. His House Un-American
Activities Commission accused dozens of people,
though no case was ever substantiated.
But, it is the same storya passionate desire to
protect the American Democracy from the scourge
of ideological politics. This time it was
artists, writers, and other liberals who were
targeted.
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Why America Isnt Europe 2No Sense of Place
This Soviet Poster, for instance, is called Love
the Motherland. When was the last time you heard
the US called the Motherland?

• Because the distinctive element in the history of
  the USA is the migrant, there is no sense, in the
  US, of belonging to a piece of territory
• Think of Francethey have evolved on the land
  called France, speak French, and have a strong
  sense of identity with a place. That is not true
  in the USA

This is why "Homeland Security" sounds so totally
alien in the US.
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Why America Isnt Europe 2

• Our patriotism is to an idea, and that idea is
  embodied in the Constitution of the United
  States, not in the soil of the United States. It
  is called LIBERTY. The essence of the US is the
  Constitution, and nothing must compromise that
• We cannot claim to have evolved here as a
  nationwe came here.
• There is no National Language as there is, for
  instance, in Bulgaria.
• Consider the history of the American and French
  Revolutions.

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Why America Isnt Europe 3Avoiding the c.19

• We got it right from the beginning Because the
  Constitution achieved so many advances in
  individual liberty, and there was little
  history to deal with, the US was able to avoid
  the national and class wars of Europe. The Civil
  War was the exception, and that was because the
  Constitution did not deal with that issue.
• In 1789, the US adopted the Constitution of the
  United States which, at a stroke created a
  working popular democracy (as it was perceived
  then).
• The US gave its time, on the other hand, to
  getting on with the job and releasing all the
  creative energies of the people who went there,
  and sometimes ruthlessly removing all obstacles
  in the pathespecially the Native Americans.
• This was the origin of the Getting the Job Done
  obsession noted by Dickens, de Tocqueville and
  Alecko Konstantinov, and the lack of respect of
  position.

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A Consequence of the Lack of Place

• One of the great economic advantages of the lack
  of roots is the extreme mobility of the
  workforce.
• This keeps unemployment very low (c. 5)
• It makes the US economy extremely flexible.

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But They Missed One Crucial Thing

• Slavery
• Partly because they thought it was about to die
  out, and partly not to split north and south. It
  took the Civil War to correct this.

This is what revitalized slavery.
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Why Europe Isnt America 4A Common Distrust of
Institutions

• Most of the People going to America as immigrants
  were escaping some sort of institutional
  oppression
• They were fleeing religious, political, class or
  economic oppression almost always supported by
  the power structure in their home countriesi.e.
  by the Government
• So.

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Why Europe Isnt America 4

• The citizens of the new Republic were determined
  not to let those things be developed in their new
  country
• US is, therefore, founded on checks and balances
  because of a healthy distrust of Government,
  The Church
• Europeans, on the other hand, expect the
  Government to have a social role, (the Welfare
  State) and to pay the taxes that involves. This
  is a big difference

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"Rights"
When a European says, as no American would,
Education (or Health Care) is my right, what
they mean is that the State should guarantee it
to youotherwise how can it be your
right? America is the only developed country not
to have a state-mandated national
health-insurance system. Why? Because it would be
handing to the state control over a very
personal aspect of your life. Through taxes, you
would pay for it whether you needed it or not.
However, we do have 40,000,000 people in the USA
who do not have any personal health insurance
whatsoever. Is it their right to be outside the
system?
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But, don't imagine that the 40,000,000 all
look like this...
They are more likely to look like this...
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Not This... Occupied the Energies of Americans
This
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Why America Isnt Europe 4

• The people coming to America rejected some
  undesirable aspects of European society, and had
  no intention of rebuilding Europe. It was their
  only chance to start again.
• Indeed, in 1776, the US actually did reject
  Europe, and defined itself for the next 100 years
  in terms of being different from Europe. American
  foreign policy has never favored Europeunless
  it was expedient to do that.

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Why America Isnt Europe 4
Yes, it is true that many of the ideas and
principles for the American Republic came from
Europe, but the fact is that the Americans saw
them as universal and implemented them in the
creation of the first modern state based on the
liberty of the individual.
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Why America Isnt Europe 4
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Why America Isnt Europe 5The Country Invented
Itself

• Americas Population, at the time of the War of
  Independence, had a chance to define itself ,
  which it did
• Most countries never have a chance to do that
  without internal conflict with classes or groups
  that evolved over a long time (e.g. the Russian
  Revolution). The US started from a clean slate
  with, as it were, no burden of history. They got
  rid of it.
• But, remember, the c18 model of democracy was
  rather different from what we have today.

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Why America Isnt Europe 5

• Which gives rise to the very tricky American
  characteristic of Exceptionalism
• By which we mean that, as America was the first
  modern country based on the principles of
  individual liberty, there is a sense within the
  country that it invented Modern Democracy
• Therefore, the US feels like it owns democracy
  and, is very rarely, a team player. Hence
  unilateralism and accusations of bullying etc.
• It distrusts multilateral arrangements

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However

• There is strong evidence that Europe does not
  regard American democracy as the model any
  longer, and, therefore, does not really accept
  Americas exceptionalism
• But, America is so rich and powerful, it does not
  really have to care what anyone else thinks
• Over 80 of Americans think they have the right
  way, and should share it with the world.

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Update

• In December 2005 the Congress reined in the
  President
• New Law banning torture anywhere
• Revelation that President has been tapping
  telephones and emails
• Patriot Act not renewed by The Congress because
  it was making exceptional limits on liberty a
  normal situation.
• Question of the US moving prisoners to Eastern
  Europe where they could be questioned outside US
  jurisdiction.
• America reinstating the old values.

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How does this play out now?

• Americans Think the Europeans
• Fail to accept the reality that they no longer
  rule the world, and are too cheap to pay for
  their own defenses.
• Prevent swift, and decisive action to bring the
  bad guys to justice
• Talk a lot but dont walk the walk
• However, this does not apply to Eastern
  Europeans, like the Poles, who love Americans and
  must be good
• Also the British, who have probably caused the
  USA more trouble than anyone, have somehow
  convinced them that there exists a special
  relationship. True, the two have been at war
  several times. But we are friends now

• Europeans think Americans are
• Lacking finesse and sophistication, having no
  real roots, or a real history
• They are Johnny come Lately types who somehow
  won the lottery and used the money to buy big
  guns. They are unpredictable, self-centered and
  potentially dangerous
• They have no long-term loyalties or commitments
  and are creating havoc in a world that needs
  harmony and multilateral solutions.
• Otherwise they are ok, but loud.

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The Modern Image of the US 1945-1990
1949

• The States of Europe ended WW 2 bankrupt and in
  ruins
• The US controlled over 60 of manufacturing
  trade, and a big surplus
• But the overwhelming problem after the defeat of
  Fascist Germany, was the spread of Communism, and
  it was this that formed the relationship with
  West Europe.

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Europe and the US The Impact of the Cold War
in Confusing the Issue

• Most people over 30 today have grown up in a very
  unusual era of European-US relations.
• Now that that era is over, older patterns are
  re-establishing themselves. So it may not be that
  America is changing, but that the world is
  changing.
• Will the War on Terror replace the Cold War in
  uniting the US and Europe in a new common
  purpose?

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The Main Factor

• Europe and the USA were united by a common enemy,
  not by a common identity

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What is changing?

• The Transatlantic Alliance is destined to go away
  now that the Cold War is over
• The current President is not Europe-oriented at
  all, and has caused considerable dissension in
  the EU. He has often sidelined it, e.g.
  Afghanistan and Iraq.
• The US looks to Europe to come in and tidy up
  after it has taken the initiative. Europeans
  chafe at this role, but end up doing it because
  they are still a group of small to medium-sized
  states. Until the EU becomes a state itself, this
  is unlikely to change

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Europeans dislike the dominance of US culture,
lack of reciprocity.
But, they can't stop watching US TV,
Movies, MTV...
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French Images of the USA?
Money Obsessed
The Texas Cowboy
Where the Bad Guys Go?
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Oh Oh This is Politics?
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Totally, like, Paranoid
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Gun Crazy and Violent.
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Totally obsessed with Money and Possessions
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Probably as dangerous as any terrorist
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A Somewhat Limited Understanding of
Culture. Noisy, Brash No Dress Sense
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So What?

• In fact, what really distinguishes the United
  States from Europe is the incredible persistence
  and durability of the American system, and a
  very predictable conservatism
• Their money never changed or lost its value,
  neither did their stamps they have the same
  constitution, branches of government, system of
  elections, as they did in 1789

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1923
and you can still spend it
1999-clearly the same
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British Five Pound Note 1934. Try spending it.
1955. Nope.
1984? Sorry. Withdrawn
Do you take dollars?
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Conservatism
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• Plus they are the last people to use pounds and
  ounces, Fahrenheit, inches, feet and yards, and
  pints, acreson earth. Why change?
• They retain capital punishment to the horror of
  Europe
• They have absolutely no interest in soccer, which
  sets them apart from the rest of the world.
• Nothing will convince them to get rid of the
  bill. No-one else has a bill for such a small
  amount.

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So They are NOT Europeans?

• They are largely non-ideologicalor at least they
  all subscribe to what looks like the same
  ideology
• They put enormous value on the continuity of
  institutions and instruments. No other country
  comes close
• And yet, their open, classless system, largely
  unrestrained by government allows for enormous
  energy, innovation and change. They would never
  allow the level of intrusion by government that
  Europeans demand

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Or are they?

• Is there any way for the US to solve its
  health-care crisis without making the state the
  key player?
• There is no question about the US being able to
  solve its health-care problems its difficulty is
  in finding an American Solution.
• Can Europe afford the enormous social welfare
  programs and society ages?
• Convergence?

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Changing Patterns

• As globalization proceeds the world is responding
  by economic and political regionalizationthe EU,
  FTAA and changes in East Asia.
• US and Europe are natural rivals in this emerging
  pattern, especially as the and the Euro become
  competitors.