From: Christian Weisgerber (naddy@mips.inka.de)
Date: Thu Jan 23 2003 - 08:05:03 MST
Michael M. Butler <mmb@spies.com> wrote:
> > If you truly believe that the US have troops in Europe to protect the
> > europeans you are *very* naive!
>
> If you truly believe that pulling US troops out of Europe would have
> no negative consequences for Europe, the same might be said of you.
Considering that we seem to live in different universes, could you
please be more explicit? I'm prone to misunderstand your allusions.
A few communities around the US bases would be hit hard economically,
but that's probably not what you had in mind, is it?
> Why did France test those nukes *right after German reunification*?
> Anyone care to answer? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Because their nuclear weapons program happened to require exploding
actual warheads at that time. The very idea you seem to be proposing
that this was some sort of signal against Germany is just too
ridiculous. (Actually, France offered to explicitly extend its
nuclear protection to Germany.)
To my generation the idea of armed conflict between France and
Germany is inconceivable and the accounts in history books about
the enmity of past centuries look truly bizarre. I'm not sure how
to phrase this in terms an American can understand. How about this:
How likely is the outbreak of Confederation/Union hostilities in
the contemporary USA?
France and Germany may not be growing together as quickly as one
might hope--that hard language barrier is pesky, and the structural
differences between the two countries are enormous after a millennium
of separation--but I'm feeling increasingly reluctant to employ
terms such as "foreign" when refering to the sizable chunk of
continental Europe that has reduced borders to lines on maps, shares
the same currency, allows me just take up residence and work wherever
I may please, etc.
The raving US American nationalists that have largely hijacked this
list since September 11, 2001 (and diverted it from Extropian themes
to atavistic talk securely rooted in the frame of mind of the nation
states from the first half of the 20th century--but I digress)
display an understanding of the world that is so incredibly distorted
and removed from reality that I'm largely left speechless.
-- Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de
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