The Europeanization of America and How to Stop It.

jasonk282

Banned
http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed120809c.cfm

More than 170 years ago, Alexis de Tocqueville warned Americans of an emerging danger to democracy: "soft despotism." This insidious threat, the French political thinker explained, could reduce a self-governing people to "nothing more than a herd of timid and industrious animals of which the government is the shepherd."

Today, that danger is greater than ever. The Left is pushing America toward European-style centralization of power. Liberal panjandrums seek an even more highly regulated economy, nationalization of industries and socialized health care. Lawmakers increasingly leave the "details" of how to implement legislation to unelected bureaucrats.

This isn't progress. It's the revival of a failed, undemocratic and illiberal kind of statism.

Luckily, the slow Europeanization of America isn't inevitable, and it's not too late. There's another way.

To take our country forward, we must renew our commitment to eternal truths about man, politics and liberty -- the truths


Reclaiming America's future will require a concerted, monumental effort to push back progressive liberalism's assault on individual liberty and recover the Founders' principles in our political culture. We should focus on six priorities:

The Six are
Educate for liberty. The classroom should foster understanding and appreciation of founding principles. Instead, high schools tend to minimize or disparage the story of America's founding. They justify neglect of the founding by arguing it's outdated and difficult to explain. Or they give short shrift to the principles of constitutional government and fixate on the Founders' acknowledged flaws.

Engage the American mind. Despite constant scorn by academic elites and popular media, most Americans still believe our country is something special and still respect the Founders' ideas that make it so. Conservatives must repeatedly articulate these core principles and apply them directly to questions of the day, thereby giving voice to the majority of citizens who haven't given up on the American experiment in self-government.

Uphold the Constitution. Public officials take a solemn oath to support the Constitution, so they have a moral obligation to understand and abide by it. For members of Congress, this means refraining from passing bills that exceed their constitutional authority. For the president, it means rejecting unconstitutional bills and executing the law in a constitutional manner. Judges, who are uniquely positioned to spell out the meaning of the Constitution, must also recognize they aren't immune from its constraints.

Defend free markets and fiscal responsibility. Americans work hard to improve their families' condition. The fruits of their labor are moral goods contributing to happiness, as are opportunities to pursue the American Dream. Yet democratic capitalism is under attack by progressives. Principled leaders must reconnect the economic arguments for liberty and prosperity with the moral case for equal opportunity, free enterprise and creativity.

Revive self-government.
In the 20th century, government assumed more and more tasks in more and more areas outside its responsibilities, greatly damaging American self-rule. When it fuels an entitlement mentality and dependency rather than promote self-reliance and independence, government encourages a character that is incompatible with self-rule. Determined to impose moral neutrality, the state pushes churches and other traditional social institutions into the shadows. To strengthen the fabric of civil society, we must restore the standing of those institutions to their proper roles.

Promote liberty. The United States has a special responsibility to defend the cause of liberty at home and abroad. Friends of freedom everywhere draw inspiration from our ideas and example. A confident understanding of our founding principles reaffirms what Americans hold to be self-evident. Anything less would deny our birthright and undermine our moral standing in the world.

Oh us crazy right wing nutjob NeoCons.
 
The schools primary job should be to teach basic education so when these kids get out of school they know how to do something more than steal the tires off my car.
I agree that the a comprehensive knowledge of the ideals of the U.S. founding should be taught. But all too often it is forgotten that those same ideals have been inspired by European Ideals, the Magna Carta for one example. Also, probably the greatest writing that extolled the virtues of this country's founding ideals (the pamplet Common Sense) was writen by a European(Thomas Payne).
We Americans also have a nasty habit of forgeting that if it wasn't for the actions of Europeans (the French and the Dutch just to name a couple) this country would not even have gotten out of the gate. Sometimes we forget that part.
So not everything that comes out of Europe is all bad. I happen to think the idea of topless beaches is a preatty good one too. :)
 

PlasmaTwa2

The Second-Hottest Man in my Mother's Basement
There is already a Europeanized America. We call it Canada, eh.
 
Are we saying that we are becoming a second rate country like Germany? :rolleyes: I just dont see this angle in America, I think this is way overblown...
 
I know a lot of swear words. But "Europe" is new to me. :dunno:
No shit! European does't equal bad or wrong. This is a country of immigrants and the vast majority are of European decent and our form of government in based on the British Parliamentary system. :dunno:
 
http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed120809c.cfm



The Six are
Educate for liberty. The classroom should foster understanding and appreciation of founding principles. Instead, high schools tend to minimize or disparage the story of America's founding. They justify neglect of the founding by arguing it's outdated and difficult to explain. Or they give short shrift to the principles of constitutional government and fixate on the Founders' acknowledged flaws.

Engage the American mind. Despite constant scorn by academic elites and popular media, most Americans still believe our country is something special and still respect the Founders' ideas that make it so. Conservatives must repeatedly articulate these core principles and apply them directly to questions of the day, thereby giving voice to the majority of citizens who haven't given up on the American experiment in self-government.

Uphold the Constitution. Public officials take a solemn oath to support the Constitution, so they have a moral obligation to understand and abide by it. For members of Congress, this means refraining from passing bills that exceed their constitutional authority. For the president, it means rejecting unconstitutional bills and executing the law in a constitutional manner. Judges, who are uniquely positioned to spell out the meaning of the Constitution, must also recognize they aren't immune from its constraints.

Defend free markets and fiscal responsibility. Americans work hard to improve their families' condition. The fruits of their labor are moral goods contributing to happiness, as are opportunities to pursue the American Dream. Yet democratic capitalism is under attack by progressives. Principled leaders must reconnect the economic arguments for liberty and prosperity with the moral case for equal opportunity, free enterprise and creativity.

Revive self-government.
In the 20th century, government assumed more and more tasks in more and more areas outside its responsibilities, greatly damaging American self-rule. When it fuels an entitlement mentality and dependency rather than promote self-reliance and independence, government encourages a character that is incompatible with self-rule. Determined to impose moral neutrality, the state pushes churches and other traditional social institutions into the shadows. To strengthen the fabric of civil society, we must restore the standing of those institutions to their proper roles.

Promote liberty. The United States has a special responsibility to defend the cause of liberty at home and abroad. Friends of freedom everywhere draw inspiration from our ideas and example. A confident understanding of our founding principles reaffirms what Americans hold to be self-evident. Anything less would deny our birthright and undermine our moral standing in the world.

Oh us crazy right wing nutjob NeoCons.

Your premise has some flaws. Like the fact that points 1-3 and 6 have very little conflicting with any changing socialistic nature that our country might be going in.

Points 4 and 5 have been found to be flawed in a lot of ways and people that think about it have figured it out that it doesn't actually work like the idealized philosophy libertarians spout, even if somebody with half a brain that thought about common sense could have figured most of it out before. It's gotten to the point where it's screwed things up so bad for us we now realize they don't work in the real world and never did. The benefits of cowboy capitalism have been grossly exaggerated and have done nothing but hurt us, much much more than it's helped society as a whole. As for the other point people might not like it, in some ways even me, but there is just some things that are so large and/or important they can't be reliably, fairly, ethically, and morally done with any other entity other than the government. (like the fire department, public education, or health care for example) Also, the idea that everybody's bad situation is only caused by themselves and they can just pick themselves up by their bootstraps is naive, silly, and just pretty stupid.

In any case brainwashing kids to think towards one ideology isn't any better than brainwashing them towards another one. The idea that self government is gone is silly also....well at least the idea it is gone any more than it already has been for a long time now. What you really don't like is the fact more and more people are starting to think in a way that's different from you and might personally hurt your situation even if none of your actual rights are taken away.

I also find it funny how people that claim faith and churches are being pushed to the fringes are the same people that are blatant hypocrites when it comes to the supposed faith most of them belong to or are trying to teach. I like how some people out there will champion their faith, but then can turn around and be some of the most selfish there are when it suits them. They pick and choose which parts they want to follow depending on how it helps them at the time.
 

Legzman

what the fuck you lookin at?
Engage the American mind. Despite constant scorn by academic elites and popular media, most Americans still believe our country is something special and still respect the Founders' ideas that make it so. Conservatives must repeatedly articulate these core principles and apply them directly to questions of the day, thereby giving voice to the majority of citizens who haven't given up on the American experiment in self-government.

:glugglug:
 
- 5 weeks vacation
- Healthcare
- Stronger curreny
- Public transit that works
- Beautiful women *
- etc.. (to many to name)

:dunno: Nothing wrong with that side of the pond, whats the issue, other than the USA dropped the ball on many fronts and now we need an outlet to feel good about ourselves?
 
So what’s wrong with Europe? America was founded on ideas that came from Europe. More specifically, the founding principles of the Enlightenment were the bedrock not Christianity. The founding father would have a hard time with the idea that only the good should be presented as history and anything negative buried. The truth of history has both good and bad and should not be sanitizing to some idealize myth. You speak of a mythical America of the past that never existed in reality. Let’s us get more practical and less ideological for the betterment of America.




BTW your source would have more creditability if Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity did not shill for it.

http://www.askheritage.org/
 
What works in Europe will not be necessarily working in the USA. I clearly preferred USA during than the time of Reagan than during Clinton or Daddy O's presidency.
 

Supafly

Retired Mod
Bronze Member
As an European, I can say:

You need to thinkl about all of that gun-toting, world-sheriff, self -righteous ways

Do not override the United Nations any more

You do your business in your country, outside, you discuss it with the UN
 
As an European, I can say:

You need to thinkl about all of that gun-toting, world-sheriff, self -righteous ways

Do not override the United Nations any more

You do your business in your country, outside, you discuss it with the UN

the UN is filled with a bunch of leftist goons, I would rather have a world sheriff than an organization which has failed to prove its efficiency.
 

om3ga

It's good to be the king...
Shucks - and there was little ol' me worrying about the Americanization of Europe....:D
 

Mayhem

Banned
If it gets more French and Italian wines into the store, then I'm all for it. I'm so bored with domestic wines I could :pukey:
 
Yes, capitalism is a wonderful thing as is the free market.This is why American jobs are being exported to China , it makes perfect sense.

Has it not occurred to the writer that the world changes and it makes no sense to set things in stone. And to our American friends, you didn't invent freedom and you haven't got any more of it than most Europeans.Except the freedom to starve or not get medical attention.
 

Facetious

Moderated
If it gets more French and Italian wines into the store, then I'm all for it. I'm so bored with domestic wines I could :pukey:

Just stay clear of all of the "vinted and bottled by . . .''] swill -
''Estate Bottled'' or at least "Produced and Bottled by . . ." wines ONLY :glugglug:
 

maildude

Postal Paranoiac
Yes, capitalism is a wonderful thing as is the free market.This is why American jobs are being exported to China , it makes perfect sense.

Has it not occurred to the writer that the world changes and it makes no sense to set things in stone. And to our American friends, you didn't invent freedom and you haven't got any more of it than most Europeans.Except the freedom to starve or not get medical attention.

Like I said before, the Great Depression of 1929 hit worldwide. There were no unions then...no socialized health care, few entitlements, no environmental conferences, no demons trying to take God out of schools. Yet it happened. And a lot of people died or at best went hungry and penniless. Can't blame the liberals for that one.
 
Top