Just wrapped up a 3 week European vacation. I have always said that traveling is the best form of education. It gives you a chance to experience and learn things with all 5 senses; something that reading a book can’t accomplish. This trip, I had the opportunity to check off three bucket list items; touching the Berlin Wall, kissing the Blarney Stone, and visiting Auschwitz. I visited Poland, Germany, Austria, Norway, and Ireland. In speaking with, and meeting various people from across the globe, I think I have pretty good litmus of the overall European temperature regarding America. What I find is slightly disturbing. I think the opinion of Europe is that America is but a shadow of it’s former self. I met a group of Chinese businessmen on the train to Oslo, and one of them noticed my camera (he too, had a nice camera). When I asked him where he was from, he said with a grin…”your enemy.” I immediately knew what he was talking about, but being an American smartass, I replied…”Russia?” Fact of the matter is- he was dead right. China is the enemy. They are surpassing us both educationally, and industrially. Fact of the matter is that we are no longer the world superpower. We do not have a patriarchal Ronald Regan exclaiming “Mr. Gorbachev…Tear Down This Wall!” We have a weak, candy-ass of a president, which has reduced our spotlight in the world’s eyes to that of any other G8 nation. While walking through a park in Berlin, we passed the statues of various statesmen. Like in any major city, there were/are statesmen who the community wishes to immortalize in their parks. My comment to Kirk was, “who would you build a statue of in the US right now?” He couldn’t come up with a worthy candidate, which I found sad. I was there for 3 weeks, and I did not see one public service announcement or commercial regarding the American “bullying” epidemic. I saw well-behaved kids, entire classrooms of them even, walking through museums, and not even one with his pants hanging off his ass. Don’t get me wrong; I am not comparing America to European countries. It has been and is my opinion that we are still the greatest nation on earth…but the gap is closing my friends. You can still see the American flag motif in the fashion. Our music, television shows, and movies still reign supreme. There is not a 24-hour Wal-Mart on every corner. The roads are inferior, and ice is still a commodity. But with that said, there is something that just makes me as an American notice that the “thrill is gone” when it comes to how the average European views us. I hope that changes. Coming home to find Obama hugging the father of a deserter -while he praises Allah in our White House - just puts icing on the cake.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Jun 2014 03:02:18 +0000
Trending Topics
© 2015