Aux Armes, Citoyens

We have not eternal allies and we have not perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual and those interests it is out duty to follow.

- Lord Palmerston

Something that's been troubling me lately is the widespread notion that being born in a country makes you a representation of everything that country has ever done, and able to call in 'debts' from other countries for past services. And I cannot for the life of me understand the rage that occurs from the more jingoistic when another country fails to follow that idea.

That's not very well put. I'll use a current example to illustrate what I mean: the relationship between the US and France. Who gave us vital military and strategic support during the Revolutionary War? The French. Who lost over a million men in the trenches before the US decided to step in? They did. Who fought the Nazis while America was too scared to face reality or too selfish to think that Hitler concerned them? You guessed it.

And yet, you can barely spend five minutes in a 'patriotic American' crowd without hearing the French described as the most cowardly, contemptible, surrender-happy people in the world who owe the US eternal obedience for the liberation of Paris.

But let's look at what else happened in WWII. The country that sacrificed the most, suffered the most, and fought the longest against the most overwhelming odds, was the Soviet Union. The Red Army suffered losses on a scale that would've set the US Army in full retreat before the slaughter was 1/10 over. Could Vladmir Putin today stride into Poland or East Germany and declare "We saved you from the Nazis. Now do as we say!"? I doubt it.

In the end, it's all fairly irrelevant. Even if the French (or any other country) had passively sat by and it was the US alone who had fought Hitler, what does that mean for Americans today? Most of the people who fought in WWII are dead. Brave deeds aren't inheritable.

Further, the constant whine of "Those socialist wimps hate us now, but just wait till they need us again!" belies a basic misunderstanding of the situation on all levels. First of all, the Europeans do not 'hate us'. They despise the reckless and arrogant behavior of the current administration. And yes, there are some cultural snobberies, but we make up for them with out own. Second, it's not as if the EU has trade sanctions on us; we still trade, visit, and embark on international aid ventures together. And finally, 'we' need 'them' as much as the other way around, both economically and in terms of much of our shared cultural and philosophical heritage. This marriage can yet be saved.

Yet this I think is a problem with the personification of countries; the idea that each nation is, in effect, a single person, transferring the words, deeds, sins and virtues of each citizen of that nation into every citizen of said nation, and making the people who happen to be born in one place somehow the heirs of those who lived in the same place over half a century ago. For a writer of travelouges, this might be a charming literary device. As a way to decide foriegn policy, it is sentimental nonsense at best.

But don't let that stop you from ordering your freedom fries. Getting heart disease is as American as hot dogs and apple pie (both of which probably also cause heart disease).