I got a note today from an acquaintance who is a European and is involved in a sort of rear-guard action to attempt to salvage some scraps of European culture out of the ongoing slow deluge.
Thinking about that noble, perhaps quixotic, effort, I had an epiphany. I think I know why European intellectuals hate the U.S.
(I’m not saying that all Europeans hate us. I believe [on the basis of limited personal contact and some reading] that most Europeans like us just fine, at least as individuals. A lot of them probably believe our country is the root of all evil, but they don’t mean us to take it personally.)
It occurred to me that the “native” European is under tremendous cultural pressure. The orthodoxy of our time proclaims that all evil in the world—without exception—is the fault of old Christian civilization. Which essentially means Europe. Therefore the conscientious European feels obligated to despise himself.
Well, what does a person do when he’s full of self-hate?
He looks for a scapegoat.
America is the scapegoat. When the European intellectual feels at his worst, his most sinful and guilt-ridden, he still has the satisfaction of pointing at America and saying, “Well, we may be evil, but we’re not as evil as that!”
This concludes my epiphany.
There’s a bit more than that. Modern Europe isn’t very Christian. But the modern US is. In many ways we are the primitive throw backs. To make matters worse, our unenlightened ways actually work.
The opposition of the ‘intellectual’ to the ‘West’ or to Christian civilization is more than a European phenomenon. Some Libertarian thinkers have had some good things to say on the subject. (By some coincidence just last week I listened to a lecture by Ralph Raico on the subject; History; The struggle for liberty #6. [http://www.mises.org/media.aspx?action=author&ID=344]
– one can read Mises on ‘The anti-capitalistic mentality’ or various essays by Hayek. (Which I think are free, online at Mises.org)
– yes; I know that few, if any, of the regulars here are interested in the Libertarian world view.
– some claim that the u.s. is very christian; this seems highly optimistic to me. I can’t for the life of me see the evidence of it.
– the Raico lecture is free as well.