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Continental style: The End of Atlanticism

#1
C C Offline
http://koenraadt.info/essays/the-end-of-...icism.html

EXCERPT: Atlanticism is the belief in a single European-American worldview, as expressed in NATO and many trans-Atlantic trade agreements. But the relationship between Europe and America is far from equal. Since the American armies emerged victoriously from the Second World War, Europeans have been living as vassals, serving the interests of American capitalism.

In exchange for NATO protection, a militarily weakened Europe was left with little choice to accept the relationship. But while Americans reap the benefits of globalization, Europeans have been footing the bill, forced to see their continent flooded with African and Arab immigrants. Why? To satisfy American market expansionism.

Is it time for Europeans to break away from NATO in favor of European independence? Taking a look at ancient history, a break-up between America and Europe may indeed be inevitable.

[...]

It would be foolish to think that some measure or action could somehow magically prevent the decline of the West. Such delusions lie at the heart of both the progressive left and New World Order conspirators. Instead, Westerners will have to make tough choices. To Europeans, the question becomes: What are we willing to sacrifice in exchange for long-term survival?

Cutting loose from their American owners, Western Europeans would be free to share their wealth with neighboring peoples in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa, rather than with Starbucks and McDonald’s. Ending Atlanticism in favor of European independence could help secure Europe’s borders and end economic immigration.

No longer a vassal to American interests, Europe could guard itself against Saudi, Turkish and Russian aggressors more effectively. If Europeans don’t embrace their independence, the alternative would mean to join in America’s endless wars for profit, undoubtedly sacrificing millions of Europe’s strongest men and women.

I see no honor in such meaningless death. It is time for Europe to become a truly independent continent once again. It is time for Europe to cut its ties with America. Indeed, the loss of its European consumer market would most certainly bring about America’s downfall, as well as the demise of its Middle Eastern outpost, Israel. Then again, the age of colonialism ended a long time ago. Europe first....
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#2
Syne Offline
What utter nonsense. So European countries have been able to run grand socialist experiments on the American taxpayer dime (footing the bill for their military protection), and THEY have the gall to claim they've been footing the bill. Forced to be flooded by Arab immigrants? They've rolled out the red carpet, complete with welfare benefits afforded them by their lack of significant military funding.

By all means, let such self-deluded Europeans fend for themselves. Share their wealth? This article needs to make up its mind whether Europe is impoverished by America or wealthy. See how far that "wealth" goes when you have to fund a significant standing military force. Or just wait until all the immigrants coming across your open borders take over. If you think you've been vassals to the US, just wait for Sharia law to become widespread.

What a socialist apologetics piece of crap. Maybe they'll learn once they've followed the US and UK lead to independence. If that ever does happen, who's taking bets on how fast authoritarian regimes take over to ensure they can keep wringing enough out of their people to keep their failing systems afloat?
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#3
Yazata Offline
Quote:EXCERPT: Atlanticism is the belief in a single European-American worldview

'Atlanticism'? I guess that it's possible to add the suffix '-ism' to any word.

I think that it's obvious that a distinctive civilization did arise in Europe. Just think of ancient Greece and Rome and their cultural heritage, the Medieval period, the Renaissance, the Scientific Revolution, the Enlightenment, the Industrial Revolution and more. The intellectual and cultural products of Europe transformed the planet. It's foolishness to dismiss all that.

And it's true that culture did spread itself around the world, to places like the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand by direct settlement from Europe, and to every other country on Earth (to a greater or lesser degree) by colonialism or cultural osmosis. (China has embraced modern science after all, along with Western styles in architecture and dress.)

Even the rise of Marxism and the critiques it spawned was an in-house affair inside Western civilization that was only subsequently exported worldwide and eagerly adopted by cultures that wanted all the goodies provided by science and technology, while rejecting the cultures that had made them possible. Marxism allowed those cultures to pose as 'scientific' ("scientific socialism"!) while adopting a strongly critical stance.

More subtly, most of the ideology of "democracy" and "human rights" (and even "power to the people") that motivates these kind of left-critiques originated in Euro-sphere too. The United Nations and its "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" was a Western creation.

Quote:as expressed in NATO and many trans-Atlantic trade agreements. But the relationship between Europe and America is far from equal.

In the 19th century the United States was very much the junior partner. Young Americans from wealthier families made ritual treks to Europe to civilize themselves. Living in late 19th century Paris or Florence were big deals. Science and engineering were led by British, French and German scholars. American scholars weren't educated unless they could read French or German in order to follow these thinkers. And the British and French flags were found all around the world. The British Royal Navy patrolled the globe.

Then Europe inexplicably committed intellectual and cultural suicide in two catastrophic world wars.    

Quote:Since the American armies emerged victoriously from the Second World War, Europeans have been living as vassals, serving the interests of American capitalism.

"American capitalism"? What would this writer rather have happened, his pissant little country becoming a part of the Warsaw Pact, with a communist regime imposed on it by Moscow? Since he's pretty clearly a Marxist, he probably does wish that happened.

Quote:In exchange for NATO protection, a militarily weakened Europe was left with little choice to accept the relationship.

Europe's weakness is Europe's own choice. that choice is the big reason why Europe has never recovered from World War II and never returned to parity with the United States. Europe decided that nationalism is what brought about the World Wars and set about trying to eliminate the formerly independent European nations, reducing them to mere provinces in some fanciful homogenized European Union identity. And since the European nations are supposedly evil atavisms and nationalism is something to be fought and eliminated, there was no desire for military or political strength. Weakness became the new European post-national virtue. (Never were they gong to return to what they believed caused the World Wars.)

So the European Union, despite having a composite GDP equal to that of the United States, never picked up the slack that the destruction of European nationalism created, and never created a coherent European foreign policy or fielded a capable European military. They just assumed that NATO meant that the United States was somehow obligated and committed to eternally defend them, so they concentrated instead on building their welfare-states. And after destroying half the planet in the 1940's, they inexplicably assumed a haughty pose of moral superiority, responding to crises by issuing sharply-worded moral condemnations. ([sarcasm]Bad-actors around the world really hate to get hit with sharply-worded moral condemnations. Worse than a-bombs.[/sarcasm])

Europe is basically a non-entity in world affairs these days, and increasingly irrelevant culturally. Where in the 19th century, American scholars all learned German and often published in European journals, today European scholars all learn English and publish in American journals. European scholars complain of 'brain-drain' as their best and brightest move to the US to take positions in our universities. Leadership in almost every intellectual field comes from the United States these days.  

Quote:But while Americans reap the benefits of globalization

We are? I think that it's indisputable that China is reaping the benefits. The US is becoming de-industrialized and its middle class destroyed. The same is happening in Europe, but it isn't America's fault. It's the fault of an intellectually bogus 'free-trade' ideology supported as strongly by European elites as by American elites. It's a big part of the underlying motivation of the EU (the "common market").

Quote:Europeans have been footing the bill

That's demonstrably false when it comes to military defense. The US contributes the vast share of NATO military expenditures. The Europeans just roll over on their backs and show their bellies in the confidence that the United States is there to defend them, while insulting us endlessly for our supposedly primitive and backward militarism.  

Quote:forced to see their continent flooded with African and Arab immigrants.

If the Europeans don't like them flooding into their continent, then maybe they should think about defending their own borders. It's their decision, the United States has nothing to do with it. Stop welcoming all the migrants and then blaming it on us. (I have to say that I'm surprised to see a left-European even acknowledge that the 'migrant crisis' is a problem.)

Quote:Why? To satisfy American market expansionism.

Bullshit.

Quote:Is it time for Europeans to break away from NATO in favor of European independence?

Perhaps. That's why President Trump was firing warning shots across Europe's bow (and getting savaged in the press for doing it). NATO is a mutual defense treaty. There's no reason to expect the US to meet its obligations if Europe doesn't want to meet its own.

Europe has a combined GDP equal to that of the United States. Europe has advanced technology and a great deal of industrial capacity. Europe could be one of the world's great military powers if it chose to be. But it doesn't, because it's imagined that the United States will always be there.

And notably, Europe doesn't really face any credible external conventional military threats. The long term effects of the 'migrant crisis' might be the only real existential threat that Europe faces, but it's usually too politically-incorrect to even acknowledge that. ("Hate-speech!") A great deal is made of Russia, but Russia isn't the old Soviet Union and its military is dramatically smaller than it was then. Russia does threaten the three Baltic republics (and non-NATO member Finland) but that's all. Russia doesn't even border on any other NATO country, except Poland if we count Russia's Kaliningrad exclave (which is more vulnerable than Poland is). The old situation, when NATO was facing huge Soviet tank armies on the north German plains, no longer exists. So it isn't clear what NATO's purpose is any longer. The Europeans could come together to guarantee the Baltic republics' security if they wanted to.

So I agree with Trump that NATO's future should be on the negotiating table. It's obviously possible to argue that NATO, if it combined American and European strengths (assuming Europe had any strength), would be a way for Western civilization to still exert itself around the world on the world stage. Considering the nature of the alternatives, there's a strong argument to be made for that. But in order for that to happen, Europe will have to recover from the self-inflicted shocks of World War II and start seeing strength as a virtue once again.
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#4
Syne Offline
(Mar 13, 2017 06:11 PM)Yazata Wrote: And after destroying half the planet in the 1940's, they inexplicably assumed a haughty pose of moral superiority, responding to crises by issuing sharply-worded moral condemnations. ([sarcasm]Bad-actors around the world really hate to get hit with sharply-worded moral condemnations. Worse than a-bombs.[/sarcasm])
LOL! Too true.
Quote: (I have to say that I'm surprised to see a left-European even acknowledge that the 'migrant crisis' is a problem.)
Now that you mention it, that is rather surprising. Although I'm sure he blames that solely on US intervention in the Middle East.
Quote:Bullshit.
You seem to be much more assertive in your opinions nowadays, Yaz. I, for one, appreciate hearing a comparable exacerbation to my own, especially in this setting.
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#5
C C Offline
(Mar 13, 2017 06:11 PM)Yazata Wrote: [...] "American capitalism"? What would this writer rather have happened, his pissant little country becoming a part of the Warsaw Pact, with a communist regime imposed on it by Moscow? Since he's pretty clearly a Marxist, he probably does wish that happened. [...]


The baffling thing, though, is that one would come away with the opposite impression if first reading his How to Destroy the Left By Using Their Own Tactics Against Them or How To Heal White Guilt.

I guess it just goes to show that political orientations in the rest of the world can appear very quirky or more complicated when compared to their roughly-matched equivalents in North America. Or perhaps it might be better to interpret him (at least in this particular opinion piece) as a Euro-nationalist isolated from the usual baggage grounded in the dichotomy of the right and left spectrums.

As another potential example, later on in the week I'll post something from what initially seems like an Indian right-winger. But then at the end one is kind of prodded to make a similar adjustment: Re-conceive him as a bare India nationalist. (And not just because of the skeptical or anti-USA flavor his essay exhibits; since a degree of cynicism in regard to other [powerful] countries should be an expected norm for anyone).
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