A Farmers perspective in Europe
I just returned from a business trip to Germany and had some time to spend talking to some old German friends of mine. After a lot of catching up on family talk the conversation drifted into US politics. What I heard was not new to me. It was the same thing Europeans have been seeing on the news for years. What amazed me is that it is such a concern to people like this. Like most American’s they do not feel the impact of the war in Iraq. My friends are farmers and live a life isolated from much of what is going on around them. The only logical conclusion I can come to is that society, through the media, has pushed these people to be very concerned with the USA. Unfortunately for Germans they have even fewer resources for getting information that is not tilted toward liberal ideas.When they half joked about the USA being “The World Police” they had to reconsider the label when I reminded them that Europe requested the U.S. to help them in Bosnia (1). When they mentioned the cause of their warm winter was American SUVs (Which I do agree are generally stupid) they were surprised to here that we have the cleanest emissions standards in the world. Regardless of the amount of good will the U.S. gives it will always be a challenge for us as long as we are more powerful economically and otherwise.(1) Indeed as the outcry goes forth to bring our poor troops home everyone has conveniently forgotten that troops are still stationed as peace keepers in Bosnia!
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