Debra Rae -- Europhoria Trumps Americana

EUROPHORIA TRUMPS AMERICANA

By Debra Rae

October 16, 2006

NewsWithViews.com

While traveling and living abroad, I have on occasion surprised myself with hankering for a Dunkin� Donut or a scoop of Baskin-Robbins or Ben & Jerry�s ice cream. Somehow familiar products, as these, dish up a slice of Americana, chased by nostalgia for the good old �red, white, and blue.�

Fact is, these treats (along with Snapple, A & W Root Beer, Bazooka gum, and more) hold in common something unexpected. That being, each comes from European-, not American- owned companies. Believe it. Snapple, A & W Root Beer, and Bazooka gum are products of Cadbury-Schweppes; furthermore, Dunkin� Donuts and Baskin-Robbins also are properties of a British beverage conglomerate.

Talk about a British invasion! The Brits are coming, yes; but they are not alone in that the Dutch, Swiss, and Germans have left indelible marks on the US economic landscape as well.

You see, Shell and Texaco both are run by the Netherlands� oil company Royal Dutch Shell, and even Jiffy-Lube is a Dutch-owned firm. Fido�s Alpo is made by the same Swiss food titan Nestl� that energizes �dog�s best friend� with Power Bars. You may be glad you use Dial (wishing everyone did), but then you could be surprised to learn that the Dial Corporation is a subsidiary of Germany�s Henkel Group.

Even the �American� Heritage Dictionary is published by a subsidiary of a French media firm�the same one that coughed up tens of billions to buy recording and movie operations of Universal Studios. So, it seems, all that glitters in Hollywood isn�t gold�American gold, that is!

Could be there�s �capital-T� trouble in River City when it comes to the triumph of America�s free market economic prosperity?

Euro-supremacy in the Marketplace

No doubt the EEU presents a foreboding counterweight to US dominance claims. Because the US budget deficit is broadly viewed as dangerous to the global economy, it matters big time that Europe�s countervailing power wields more voting power than the US in the IMF and WTO (not to mention the UN).

To offset America�s insatiable spendthrift habit, her economy depends heavily, and increasingly so, on a huge flood�a tsunami, if you will�of transatlantic investment. Bigger chunks of the up-and-coming �global economy� threaten to leave the USA in a cloud of smoke. Speaking of which (and who would have guessed it?), Kent, Viceroy, and Lucky Strike cigarettes are likewise products of the UK.

Sporting a single currency and common business regulations, coupled with a growing spirit of enterprise, the European Economic Union leads on the fast track toward winning global business battles. In the highly celebrated global economy, America�s copycat products fail to impact or curtail emergence of what Winston Churchill somewhat prophetically referred to as the United States of Europe with astounding economic clout.

Having poured many more resources into research and design, Airbus has emerged as formidable competitor to the Boeing industry; and its planes are more economical than even better-known Boeing counterpart models. Already, Europe surpasses the US in wireless communications, interactive TV, automatic vending, and far-reaching use of the smart card. Europeans, not Americans cloned Dolly, invented Viagra, and launched Red Bull, the energy drink that stormed America in the late nineties.

As the world�s largest trading block, the collective pan-continental economy of unified Europe represents a new-world superpower of pooled sovereignty�a force to be reckoned with.

The Pan-European Welfare Model: Boom or Bust?

On a positive note, the new borderless Euro-continent is dedicated to fiscal responsibility. Its multilateral approach transcends cultural norms and, then, unites its extended family with pan-European public transit and welfare-minded social solidarity on large- and small- scales.

Not only does the government support Euro-firms aspiring to compete in the global market, but it also salaries parents for raising their own babies. Workers enjoy capped work weeks and ample paid time-off. Leading Europe�s expansive menu of rights and privileges are near-free, quality education�through college�and coveted health care for all.

But hold your horses! Before packing up the household in pursuit of the transatlantic gravy train, think again. Promise and delivery are two separate things. High unemployment and slow growth make for the universally recognized malady of �Euro-sclerosis.� For example, the National Health Service is slow to do tests and x-rays commonplace here in America. Waiting lists for operations delay timely treatments, and health care is strictly rationed in attempt to maintain cost effectiveness.

Similarly disturbing are legal ramifications of Europhilia. With regularity, a European supreme court in Strasbourg invalidates laws and legal findings of member states. In fact, rulings have become points of reference globally, even for American judges. As a result, participating nation-states are yielding significant control over their domestic economy to an international body, the agenda for which is no less than central control of world markets.

Trouble in Paradise

The new-found paradise of Europhoria nurtures all�malefactors included. By law, no teacher may swat the bottom (or hand) of an intolerably disruptive first grader in dire need of swift curtailment. Chuckle if you will, but consider this: The prevailing belief is that none (young or old) should be left alone to bear consequences of their own miscues and resulting bad decisions. With this in view, Portugal�s parliament has decriminalized drug-use. More astonishingly, the Dutch government has gone so far as to permit �hash houses.� Granted, as a matter of ethics, the line is drawn when it comes to unused joints. No �doggy bags� allowed!

To deter what is perceived as American barbarism, it is illegal now for member states to extradite a prisoner to the US if so doing qualifies that offender for the death penalty. This applies no matter how heinous the crime (or crimes) committed.

To support Europe�s idealist social model, ballooning runaway taxes are required. Because Europe scrimps on tanks, missiles, and aircraft carriers, one of America�s best-known foreign correspondents, T. R. Reid, characterizes Euro-armies as �self-defense on the cheap.�

In sheer manpower, Europe�s combined military strength exceeds the Pentagon�s; but in comparison it remains a �military munchkin.� As self-proclaimed peace makers, not war mongers, Euro-armies brandish pass� weaponry and summarily write off 21st-century reality. To borrow a 1960s anti-war mantra, gay-friendly Euro-soldiers �make love, not war.�

Although today�s Goliath of terrorism is intent upon ridding the world of non-Muslim infidels�Europeans included�David seems to have �left the building� with sling in hand!

Generation E

In January 2001, self-proclaimed �Citizen of the Planet� Mikhail Gorbachev wrote a letter to George W. Bush. In it, he acknowledged America�s power; but her hegemony, he insisted, is not similarly acknowledged by the world community. Nor should it be. In no uncertain terms, Gorbachev declared that the 21st century does not belong to America, nor should globalization proceed along American lines.

As demonstrated over the course of our national history, American soldiers, sailors, and pilots are willing to die for their beliefs. Not so for European troops. The latter eschew God-fearing, flag-waving, individualistic American capitalists. Europe�s so-called Generation E loves to hate Americans as selfish, insular, materialistic, war-mongering, gun-happy patriots whose waistlines more often than not exceed their IQs.

Europe�s Generation E may well be educated, vigorous members of the youth culture (ages 18-40); but this new breed of beer-guzzling Europhiles is characteristically pessimistic and decidedly secular. Any flicker of individual faith is more likely to align with Hinduism or Islam than that of the now-minority Christian belief system. To Euro-youth, marriage is superfluous; sexual orientation, irrelevant.

In contrast, all that the US claims to represent is considered sheer hypocrisy. Eurocrats rule the roost in so far as these arch Europhiles are concerned. Europeanization promises to pioneer a secular New World Order devoid of borders and sovereign nation-states�and with collectivist dependence on Big Brother. As such, Europhiles willingly redistribute wealth (called globalization), even when that wealth lands in coffers of elitists, deemed exclusively fit to call the shots on behalf of peon masses.

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Never mind that a government expected to provide everything for its constituents is likewise poised opportunistically to take it all back (and then some). Be sure, a socialist culture of entitlement, minus Christian ethic, delivers the kiss of death.

Those who pucker up to the Euro-frog can expect no prince to materialize.

T.R. Reid. The United States of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy. New York: The Penguin Press, 2004.

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Daughter of an Army Colonel, Debra graduated with distinction from the University of Iowa. She then completed a Master of Education degree from the University of Washington. These were followed by Bachelor of Theology and Master of Ministries degrees-both from Pacific School of Theology.

While a teacher in Kuwait, Debra undertook a three-month journey from the Persian Gulf to London by means of VW "bug"! One summer, she tutored the daughter of Kuwait's Head of Parliament while serving as superintendent of Kuwait's first Vacation Bible School.

Having authored the ABCs of Globalism and ABCs of Cultural -Isms, Debra speaks to Christian and secular groups alike. Her radio spots air globally. Presently, Debra co-hosts WOMANTalk radio with Sharon Hughes and Friends, and she contributes monthly commentaries to Changing Worldviews and NewsWithViews.com. Debra calls the Pacific Northwest home.

Web Site: www.debraraebooks.com

E-Mail: ABCs@debraraebooks.com�

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