As I continue my pre-pack out week of sharing links, I recommend “A narrower Atlantic,” an article I wish I had written. The article looks to be a teaser for Peter Baldwin’s upcoming book, one I’m looking forward to. The article’s only weakness is its lack of footnotes.
In proper Hegemonist fashion, I’m going to share a few quotes that talk about how great America is:
- “Many western European countries in 2000 had a higher percentage of poor citizens than the US; not only Mediterranean countries, but also Britain, Ireland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland and Sweden. Unemployment benefits in the US, often portrayed as derisory in the European media, are actually higher than in many European nations. Greece, Britain, Italy and Iceland spend less than the US on unemployment, measured per capita.”
- “A higher percentage of Americans have graduated from university and from secondary school than in any European nation.”
- “The US lavishes more money per child at all levels of education than any western European nation.”
- “The average American borrowed more library books in 2001 than their peers in Germany, Austria, Norway, Ireland, Luxembourg, France and throughout the Mediterranean. Not content with borrowing, Americans also buy more books per head than any Europeans for whom we have numbers. And they write more books per capita than most Europeans too.”
- “The French suffer over six times the American rate of bribery.”
- “[Americans] recycle as well as the Finns and the French, and better than the British, Greeks and the Portuguese.”
- “…the percentage of national territory protected in the US is about double that of France, Britain or even Sweden.”
- “Granted, Americans are more likely to think that their country is better than most others…and a larger fraction of Americans admit that there are aspects of their country that shame them than do the Germans, Austrians, Spanish, French, Danes and Finns [Comment. Really? More than the Germans?! End comment].”
- “More American pupils agree with the statement that science helps them to understand the world than in any European nations other than Italy and Portugal.”
- “No one is arguing that America is Sweden. But nor is Britain, Italy, or even France. And since when does Sweden represent “Europe”—at least anymore than the ethnically homogenous, socially liberal state of Vermont does America?”
The full article is a bit more balanced, aiming to show that the U.S. is simply on par with European countries taken as a group, but I’m a patriot [this blog was nearly named American Apologist, and I toyed with American Jingoist; I hope ya’ll agree that The Hegemonist is more accessible, despite the big word]. Anyway, since those of you reading this part clearly didn’t click the first link, click here and read the full article.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
When acting as a representative of ones country how does one balance pride and humility? I’m proud of my country but at what point are we bragging instead of acting as an example of our democracy? Humility is a virtue that America as a whole is so often lacking.
@KB - Clearly this isn’t the sort of thing you’d bring up whilst giving a demarche or even just chatting with a neighbor in a host country. That being said, we’ve all been in situations where America is being unfairly criticized, and I think we all have a duty to defend the U.S. (Note, a lot of criticism against the U.S. is fair, but it’s also easy to see a lot of unfair criticism.)
When acting as a representative of ones country how does one balance pride and humility?
My guess is that it’s all in the delivery.
““The US lavishes more money per child at all levels of education than any western European nation.””
Hm. The assumption here is greater spending leads to greater accomplishment. That can be true, but I went to a school — Midland School, in Los Olivos, Calif. — that had one of the lowest dollars-spent-per-pupil rates in the state. The founder, Paul Squibb, once said, “Midland is in a fight to stay poor.” He was referring to the many aspects of what we’d now call voluntary simplicity about the place: wood-heated dorm cabins and showers, every student having a job maintaining the school, food grown on site, etc.
That said, my class saw 20% go to top-notch colleges. That was 3 of a class of 15, but we went to Claremont, Brown, and Amherst.
My point is, while spending-per-student is an easily quantifiable and comparable statistic, it isn’t the whole story.
I love America. And I never believed for one sec the Europeans were more progressive. Nor do I understand what’s the fascination with Sweden. Everyone keeps referring to them here in Canada. Don’t they still have high suicide rates?
@ Brooks - I couldn’t agree more.
@Hal - I agree with you too, but I will point out that the idea is to dispute the myth that Europe spends massively more on social programs than the U.S.
@The Commentator- Long time no see. Thanks for the comment, I hope Canada is treating you right.