Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Europe: Still Not Dead

One thing I've been skeptical about for some time is the reported 'death' of Europe. For a few years now, I've been hearing that the European countries are collapsing, or dying, or otherwise in decline. I saw some serious social concerns in France, especially in regards to the highly isolated Paris banlieu that I wandered around one day after researching; but I didn't see a society that was in decline, or showing any serious signs of collapse. I've said before that I think Western Civilization might well die of boredom! But, I didn't get the feeling that the center isn't holding.

Anyway, the European Union isn't declining economically. Does anyone remember when the Euro first came out and people were warning that we shouldn't take any because the Euro was going to decline in value? Anyway, it's done quite the opposite, and is currently worth more than the dollar. And Europe's productivity increased sharply last year. So, where's the problem? Is their culture declining? We're the ones who produced Brittney Spears remember.

4 comments:

Greg von Winckel said...

Seems pretty alive where I am.

Rufus said...

Hey, that's right! You're drinking absinthe with Beethoven as we speak! Let me know if you're there next Spring- I'll be in France and we can try to hop over.

Greg von Winckel said...

If you're interested, you can follow our plight on our livejournals.

Rufus said...

Absolutely. Do I have the link? Can you cross-post some stuff here?