(Untitled)

[randomways]

I've been watching the whole French EU constitution vote with some interest. Passions are definitely running high, and now that defeat appears imminent, I have some vague thoughts on what this means.

(I know I have a couple French citizens on my f-list, so y'all take what I say with a grain of "he's just an American" *g*)

Comments

[atpotch]

Interesting and intelligent as ever. Looking at all this from a pro-European English point of view, this is all rather dispiriting. Sort of like if you're waiting to vote with a group of your friends on whether your local bar should embrace country and western, and another social clique come past you, wearing cowboy hats and big boots and several other dreadfully stereotypical garments, and crowing loudly about how they voted against it. And your group of friends going, oh, well in that case, there's no chance

[randomways]

I think that, on one level, the multinational corporate aspect, the EU's constituent states will be okay. English corporations alone own substantial interest in properties and revenues of other countries, including the U.S. (And, despite the vaguely Yellow-perilish reaction to Japan's boom, U.K. firms own more properties in the U.S. than Japanese ones.) But the era of the multinational has thus far proven to be incapable of escaping the older era of geographical chauvinism. Globalization has expanded the financial markets, diffused them to the point where currencies are so interdependent as to be virtually indistinguishable from a cause/effect perspective. But this seems to have led to an entrenchment of local self-interest, a reactionary (I don't necessarily mean the word in a pejorative sense) clinging to one's own nation-state or even vague cultural identity. This can be seen rather clearly in the burgeoning ineffectuality of the U.N. -- military alliances like NATO have proven far more decisive and effective in accomplishing

[atpotch]

Yeah, I agree with an awful lot of what you're saying. Actually I can't think of anything I disagree with. Hmm

[randomways]

Speaking as an average American -- if there can be such a thing in a country of 280 million that is, in the purest sense, a nation of immigrants -- England is likewise considered a special partner of America. The cultural cross-pollination is undeniable -- the English were the dominant cultural influence for most of the U.S.'s history. The French and Spanish had a lesser influence, Italian and Irish influence grew during the early 20th century, and African influence (via African-Americans) has surged in recent years, but the shared language provided the foundation for American culture as it struggled to find its own voice. During the building process, the ready-made English culture provided instant gratification. Sparse literature? That's okay, there's a whole canon-load of stuff we can read coming from England. Manners and mores? Hey, the English made it work and did so in a language we can understand! This has continued to the present day -- literature classes in U.S. highschools and colleges still rely heavily on the

very very OT

[angeyja]

Happy Birthday.

Re: very very OT

[randomways]

Thanks! Sorry, my journal isn't set up to send e-mails, so I didn't notice this until just now.