(no subject)
Nov. 3rd, 2004 10:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
highfemmeAt around 10pm EST when it became clear which way things were going, I realised that I felt like shit because I had no vote.
There is a solution to that. I do have a vote, it just doesn't happen to be a US one. British policy since Suez has been based on the idea that it's too risky to offend the White House. So I posed a little thought experiment to myself: what would have happened if Europe had said in 2002, no, we'd like to wait for some more inspections, and when we say we'd like to, we mean we actually intend to make sure that we wait for inspections. Obviously nothing would have happened because currently the EU's combined armed forces are only a quarter of those of the US, have no proper ability to fight together, and contain a German contingent which is very worried about upsetting anyone. But none of these are political givens. The EU is chaos and makes bad decisions about bananas. That's not a given either.
The one thing that is given is that the US is split on a knife-edge between people who are confident enough to want moderation in foreign policy and people who are scared shitless. Europeans can't do anything about that - the US will elect a Democrat once they find someone with enough charisma to drown out the fear.
So American Democrats! No despair! You have to believe in your fellow countrywomen and men or they will never vote with hope.
But what can we Europeans do? We can't even donate to the Democrats. But we can do something about our own mess.
I don't much want a United States of Europe. But I want it a damn sight more than I want a unipolar world.
Europeans unite! You have nothing to lose but your disenfranchisement!
There is a solution to that. I do have a vote, it just doesn't happen to be a US one. British policy since Suez has been based on the idea that it's too risky to offend the White House. So I posed a little thought experiment to myself: what would have happened if Europe had said in 2002, no, we'd like to wait for some more inspections, and when we say we'd like to, we mean we actually intend to make sure that we wait for inspections. Obviously nothing would have happened because currently the EU's combined armed forces are only a quarter of those of the US, have no proper ability to fight together, and contain a German contingent which is very worried about upsetting anyone. But none of these are political givens. The EU is chaos and makes bad decisions about bananas. That's not a given either.
The one thing that is given is that the US is split on a knife-edge between people who are confident enough to want moderation in foreign policy and people who are scared shitless. Europeans can't do anything about that - the US will elect a Democrat once they find someone with enough charisma to drown out the fear.
So American Democrats! No despair! You have to believe in your fellow countrywomen and men or they will never vote with hope.
But what can we Europeans do? We can't even donate to the Democrats. But we can do something about our own mess.
I don't much want a United States of Europe. But I want it a damn sight more than I want a unipolar world.
Europeans unite! You have nothing to lose but your disenfranchisement!
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-22 05:57 am (UTC)can you friend me? how are you?