perfidy

Yeah, well here we've got 7% unemployment, in an economy that not long ago had surpluses for as far as the eye could see. And our 7% unemployment figure doesn't include people who've stopped looking for work, like software engineeers who've been trying for a year and a half.
The EU is one of the best structures for freedom on the face of the planet. I don't necessarily refer to regulatory freedom -- more to personal freedom. You can pick up and go and work in any of a couple of dozen countries. There is tremendous freedom of expression, freedom of movement...things that America has forgotten.

In what ways, apart from some noise at the University level and in certain city councils, have Americans lost freedom of expression?

Ditto for freedom of movement. I don't follow your argument there (although your points about the US economy are well taken).

Ross, have you seen their constitution? It is not exactly a mandate for personal freedom. And the ability to move freely from one impoverished stagnant economy to another isn't exactly the best of all possible worlds.

Anyone here can move anywhere in the US they want, there is no lack of that freedom. There are no internal passports required.

And how often to we hear of european courts stopping publication of books? There is no lack of freedom of expression - in fact you're expressing your opinion on this website, and on your own.

I don't think we've forgotten. Nor will we.

I should not have to remind anyone that it is probably more pleasant to be unemployed in Germany than in the US. Germans have social services, Americans are trying to eliminate what few services that exist.

Furthemore, unemployment tends to be regionally specific. It is high in the former East Germany for obvious reasons. It is also high in the Ruhr, where de-industrialization has been difficult.

It is also socially specific. Russians who have emigrated under Kohl's agreement with Gorbachev generally refuse to seek employment. Their numbers are significantly large to way down employment numbers. The country has picked up large numbers of Spanish and Portuguese as well in the past decade. The social structure of German has changed radically over fifteen years in a way that is not comparable to the contemporary US.

Concerning US unemployment numbers themselves: I have heard, but cannot confirm, that the US changed how unemployment was assessed. In the eighties (until when, I do not know) the numbers included many people who were not seeking work, retired men or people who were not employable for any reason (among other additions.) It did not count women as much. The current method counts people seeking employment, and the number (so I have heard) is lower than it would have appeared under the previous method. From what I have been told (but cannot confirm), US unemployment numbers in the last six months would have exceeded those under Reagan had the old method been in use. Like I said, I cannot confirm this (and I am not in a position to research it now.)

Nat,

Interesting point. If you can afford the internet cafe time, I'd like to hear what you think about the EU and its future. As noted above, I am deeply ambivalent about the effectiveness of such a venture (as I am about everything!!), owing to the stultifying effects of bureaucracy on everything from economies to the production of artisanal cheese. But I have not BEEN to the EU, but once for three days, and I am decidedly less internationalistic than you are. That is, if you have the time and the inclination.

Boyz, twist that little knob on the side of your head labelled EXPAND. Move anywhere in the US you want to? Big frickin' deal! So you can go from one walmart dominated town to another dying walmart dominated town. Sheesh. In the EU you can get on a plan in Madrid and step out in Norway. Nobody will check your passport. Nobody gives a shit. You can walk into town and GET A JOB. The freedom to experience other cultures is something that the US has forgotten in its rush to be absolutely, perfectly, navel-gazingly safe. The EU has made a deliberate set of choices when it comes to personal freedom and the nature of the relationship between a citizen and _multiple_ government and countries. It's a relationship that very few Americans appreciate. Hint, hint.

Ross,
I see your point, but I don't really agree.

You're absolutely right-- you CAN go from Berne to Barcelona and work in either place. The EU has not yet (yet?) managed to bureaucratize the differences in culture out of existence, and in fact has attempted to honor them. I totally agree with you there.

But consider three "dying, Wal-Mart dominated towns", say, Peabody Massachusetts, Homestead Pennsylvania, and Savannah Georgia. Three towns I know a little about. On the surface, they are not too different, all small urban areas. A Wal-mart or two. Losing jobs. Chain stores all pretty much the same.

But walk into the local bars, and you find profound regional differences. Beyond the surface things-- do they root for the Red Sox, Pirates, or Braves, do they drink Sam Adams, Iron City, or Red Brick-- the very fabric of their various regional cultures are made from different stuff. They might not differ as drastically as, say, Basque and Norwegian, but regional, ethnic, and demographic differences are still deeply significant within the US. I'm a Mass-hole, and I'm not ABOUT to walk alone into a local place in Mississippi. I'm from Ohio, and anymore, at home I'm a stranger. We don't even speak the same language.

Your statement about the US-- "the freedom to experience other cultures...has [been] forgotten in its rush to be absolutely, perfectly, navel-gazingly safe," could also be levelled on an institutional level at the EU. Both areas have been faced with crises of security, and have responded in their own ways, seemingly choking off certain assumptions of freedom in a drive for better safety. Reasonable people may differ to what extent this is true in each case.

So, at the level of policy and bureaucracy, A agree that your assertion is true for both US and EU.

But at ground level, in both cases, I believe the assertion is totally false. The US has always been a bit (a BIT?) arrogant about other cultures-- two big oceans and a century of badassery will do that-- but at no point has that made Americans less free to experience them, even on so small a trip as the G train between Park Slope and Long Island City.

P-saurus,

I will write something up for tomorrow and download it. The EU has a difficult future ahead. Things that Americans take for granted must be negotiated at the level of diplomacy. Most governments, even outside the EU, don't want to accept one of its core values--fiscal responsibility. I would point out that there are many former eastern bloc countries that are rushing to enter the EU in ways that make the British blush. But those countries are more like blank slates, much like the early Republic, and can deal with innovation more readily. For the Western states in the EU, the union will always be about trying to make the best of their slow decline.

Concerning the Euro, it has proven to be more successful than the dollar zone. Currently, one only reads about the latter when the issue of Argentina is being discussed.

BTW, I am pretty certain that if we made a list of all the places we would like to live, Germany would be up there pretty high (so long as language and hard feelings did not get in the way.)

NDR-- Totally agreed regarding Germany as a place to live. The good wife and I have discussed the feasability of moving to Berlin.

My wife would dearly love to move to Deutschland. She visited there in High School, and loves Munich. Both of us took many years of German, it wouldn't take to long to get some of the language skills back. However, it would be difficult to get a job as a german language technical writer.

Personally, of all the places that I've visited, I'd love to live in Scotland. Because, "if it's not scottish, its crap!" Actually, I love the landscape, and the people.

If I weren't living in the United States, I think my top five might go something like this:

1) Scotland, near Inverness.
2) Dublin
3) Munich
4) Somewhere near the French/Swiss border
5) Florence

Other places that might get the nod include Vancouver, BC (from what I've heard), the Bahamas, and New Zealand.