The View from Abroad: A Personal Reflection

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American Politics Journal

E-mail Edition

Feb. 9, 2006

 

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The View from Abroad: A Personal Reflection

by Ernest Partridge

Co-Editor, The Crisis Papers (http://www.crisispapers.org)

 

February 7, 2006 /SAN FRANCISCO (crisispapers.org)/ -- Except for a

Naval Reserve cruise to Hawaii when I was nineteen, I had not, until my

 

fifty-fifth year, stepped off the North American continent.

 

The decade that followed made up for all that. During that time, I was

invited and participated in nine scholarly conferences abroad (four in

Russia, two in Italy, and one each in Germany, Japan, and at Oxford

University in England). In all, I visited fourteen countries for

durations varying from two days to six weeks. Whatever I might have

contributed to these events, I can testify that I returned home with a

much-enriched understanding and appreciation of the cultures that I

visited, and with the advantage of perspective gained through

detachment and distance, an enhanced understanding and appreciation of

the heritage, traditions and values of my own country.

 

Here are three impressions that are both vivid in my memory, and

relevant to our current political circumstances.

 

 

War and Peace...

 

War, to the Europeans, and especially the Germans and the Russians,

means something quite different than what it means to most Americans.

 

Since the close of the Civil War in 1865, " war " for the United States

has always been " over there. " For the Europeans, as well as the

Japanese, it was " right here! " In World War II, not a single Nazi

shell fell on American soil, and except for one fatal " balloon bomb, "

the Japanese caused no damage to the Continental United States. In all

fronts of that war, we lost a quarter million dead in combat.

 

In Europe, in that same war, entire cities were reduced to rubble. At

least ten million Germans and more than twenty million Soviet citizens

were killed. Of the Soviet males born in the early twenties, ninety

percent perished. For every American GI who fell in combat, over fifty

Russian soldiers were killed. Scarcely a single family in Germany or

Russia was spared the loss of several close relatives.

 

For all too many Americans, war is an adventure, especially so to

those, who, like George Bush and his cabinet, have never experienced

combat. " F— Saddam, we're taking him out, " Bush was heard to say, and

when he decided to launch his war, he struck his fist against his palm

and said " feels good! " That decision was to cause the death of more

than one-hundred thousand, and still counting.

 

To the Europeans, who have experienced it, war is an unmitigated

disaster and an unspeakable horror. And a half a century later, its

evidence is everywhere. For example, across the street from my friend's

 

apartment in St. Petersburg is " Park Pobedy " ( " Victory Park " ) -- a

pleasant plot of trees, ponds and lawn through which I walked to and

from the Metro station. Under that turf lies the bones and ashes of

tens of thousands of Leningrad citizens, victims of the 900 days of

siege in which up to a million residents starved. About a kilometer

past the park on Moskovsky Prospect (Boulevard) is a monument to the

siege of Leningrad, and a museum that commemorates that horror.

 

There I saw on display a small cube of sawdust and wallpaper paste --

the " bread " that served as a daily food ration -- and lighting the

perimeter of that huge room, there were 900 lanterns placed in shell

casings, one shell for every day of the siege.

 

True, just a mere twenty-one years after the first World War, the

Europeans were back at it again. Even so, I am convinced that as long

as the general public has a significant say in the matter, the

Europeans will remain at peace with one another. Given the recent

behavior of United States governments, both Democratic and Republican,

and the scale of our so-called " Defense " budgets, I am not similarly

confident of our own peaceful behavior.

 

 

Public Infrastructure...

 

" Infrastructure " refers to roads, bridges, telephone service,

electricity, water and sewage disposal – in short, the facilities and

accommodations in place that service and sustain a nation's economy.

 

With the exception of Russia, I found the European infrastructure to

be excellent, as was the Japanese. In Russia, the infrastructure

varies from " adequate " to sub-standard, although I can report

remarkable improvements between my first visit in 1989 and my last in

1999.

 

An informed account of European and Japanese infrastructure would

require an unacceptable investment in research time and in space in

this essay. So I will confine my remarks to my personal experiences

with just one infrastructure: rail transportation.

 

The contrast of European and Japanese railroads with our own is

breathtaking – and acutely embarrassing to the American tourist.

Clean, quiet, comfortable, reliable, efficient, all describe these

accommodations, though they must be experienced to be fully

appreciated.

 

At the Osaka airport, I walked a short distance from the baggage

pickup to the awaiting train, which looked like it had just been

delivered from the factory. In just forty-five minutes I was in Kyoto.

(The trains run every five to fifteen minutes).

 

Most astonishing was the " Chunnel " train from Paris to London: 213

miles in two and a half hours, at speeds up to 140 mph. (The British

rail-beds require reduced speeds). From downtown Paris to downtown

London, the Chunnel train is faster, cheaper and more comfortable than

a flight, and at a small fraction of the energy cost per passenger. By

comparison, auto travel between the cities, involving a time-consuming

ferry across the English Channel, is unthinkable.

 

Why don't we have such facilities in the United States? Why not a

" bullet train " between Boston and Washington? Why was a proposed

fast-rail link between San Francisco and Los Angeles recently

de-authorized? With even the aging equipment and decaying rail-bed,

the downtown to downtown travel times between Washington and New York,

by air and by rail, are comparable. Imagine the savings in time and

fuel if a European- or Japanese-quality rail link were established

between these cities. As for the advantages in time, fuel and

convenience over auto travel, you have no idea!

 

How did it come to this? It happened by design, and not by accident.

Soon after the end of World War II, a consortium of auto, gasoline and

tire manufacturers bought up and then shut down major intracity

commuter railroads, and the passenger railroads went into steep

decline as investments dried up. Then Congress approved and funded the

interstate highway system, " for national defense, " we were told. Autos

and airplanes were to be the transportation of the future, and they

were subsidized by tax revenues for highway and airport construction

and promoted with untold billions of advertising dollars.

 

Public investment in rail transportation? " No way!, " we were told.

" That's socialism! " Why public investment in roads and airports were

not also " socialism " was not explained.

 

The short-term return on investments for the holders of automobile and

petroleum stocks were extravagant. The long-term social, environmental

and economic costs – well, we're beginning to find out. In the coming

global competition among nations, as energy costs rise (as they must),

economic advantage will be enjoyed by nations with fast and fuel

efficient transportation and distribution infrastructure in place –

the sort of infrastructure that I experienced when I rode the trains

in Europe and Japan.

 

 

Language...

 

The United States is a nation predominantly of monolingual citizens,

the few exceptions are found in Louisiana (French), Florida and the

Southwest (Spanish), Indian reservations, and in our largest cities,

some ethnic neighborhoods. Otherwise, despite immigration, our

population is becoming ever-less acquainted with foreign languages, as

language instruction is disappearing from the public schools, and the

language requirement of the Bachelor of Arts is being discarded in our

Colleges.

 

Thus the American visitor abroad, this one included, depends upon the

language skills of others to get around. For the most part he or she

is generally well-accommodated. The American tourist's response to

this limitation may go in two opposite directions: arrogance ( " what's

wrong with these people; why can't they understand me? " ) or, more

appropriately, embarrassment and humility.

 

I knew, of course, that there were many distinct languages in Europe,

but came to appreciate it in a five-day train ride from St.

Petersburg, Russia, to Florence, Italy, as I encountered, in sequence,

Russian, Finnish, Swedish, Danish, German, French and Italian. And

throughout all, English.

 

Much impressed with the linguistic skills of even the ordinary

citizen, I encountered mind-boggling virtuosity in an attractive,

twenty-something tour guide in Copenhagen. As we were about to embark

on a boat tour of the harbor, this young lady asked us, in sequence:

" please raise your hands, who speaks English? " Then she continued,

" Qui parle française? " " Wer spricht Deutsch? " " Quien habla Espagnole? "

And perhaps a couple more languages including, of course, her own:

Danish. She then proceeded to conduct the tour in six languages. How

many more languages she had in her repertory, one could only guess.

Amazing!

 

I have often pondered the price that we Americans pay for our neglect

of foreign language study. Of course, it aggravates our isolation from

the rest of the world, for our confinement to a single language shuts

off the opportunity to study, understand and appreciate other cultures

on their own terms and with their own evolved meanings.

 

But even if we confine our travels and our studies to our own country

and culture, our failure to study other languages might also constrict

and distort our thought-processes. Monolinguals, I suspect, are more

susceptible to " word-magic " – the linkage of words with the things and

ideas that they designate, a cognitive trap that is much less likely

to ensnare a person who has the capability of expressing a thought in

two or more distinct languages. Moreover, multilinguals are well aware

of the limitations of a language, as they struggle with translations

and encounter " untranslatable " words and phrases.

 

As George Orwell was so well-aware, " word magic " is the primary tool

of the propagandist. Newt Gingrich was also aware of this when he drew

up and distributed his notorious memo, " Language: a Key Mechanism of

Control. " The master's project has been carried on, with great skill

and effectiveness, by such GOP spinmeisters as Frank Luntz and Karl Rove.

 

A public of monolinguals, as victims of " word-magic, " are more

inclined to focus on what politicians say, and less on what they do.

Thus supporters of Bush and his policies applaud his " Healthy Forests "

and " Clear Skies " initiatives, after all who is not for healthy

forests and clear skies? They do not bother to notice that " healthy

forests " allows clear-cutting on national forests, and that " Clear

Skies " permits an easing of pollution controls. Similarly, " No Child

Left Behind, " " USA Patriot Act, " " Compassionate Conservatism " and so on.

 

Search the Bush/GOP educational policies, and you will find scant

attention to foreign language study. Small wonder.

 

 

In General...

 

I found that Americans were well-liked and respected, but then I was

usually among professional colleagues. The general public abroad that

I came in contact with treated us, in all but a very few cases, with

courtesy. I gained the impression that American political institutions

and traditions were genuinely admired, but that some American personal

traits, in particular ethnocentrism and arrogance, were not. My last

trip was in 1999. What the typical European thinks of Americans today,

I dare not contemplate.

 

I encountered a sample of that American arrogance on a return flight

from Moscow. I was assigned a seat next to an officer of a prominent

American right-wing think tank. He explained that he was in Moscow to

conduct a seminar in free-market economics – in effect, he was a

missionary to the heathen. For several hours he related what he had

taught the Russians. I don't recall that he said a word about what he

had learned from the Russians. I listened and occasionally posed some

innocuous questions. But by then I had learned not to engage a

dogmatic regressive in an argument. Might as well attempt to persuade

Jerry Falwell to accept evolution. It was, after all, a long flight home.

 

The countries I visited were not " teeming " with populations desperate

to emigrate to the United States – with " huddled masses yearning to

breath free. " Instead, I met people who were proud of their own

countries, and content to remain there. Many live comfortably on much

less then we do – or did, since, of course, the median American

standard of living is in decline. I found no slums, such as I find in

Los Angeles and other American cities, though of course I did not

visit Africa or south-east Asia. Europe and Japan, are free and

prosperous, and Russia less so. I remain fully aware that the vast

majority of the world's population experiences a level of poverty that

is unimaginable to most Europeans, Japanese, and North Americans.

 

We like to call ourselves " the leaders of the free world. " But world

news, along with personal correspondence with my friends and

colleagues abroad, tell me that this leadership is slipping away. News

from within the United States, when read critically, tells us that our

self-congratulatory " freedom " is eroding, and that which remains is in

grave peril.

 

After a decade of travel abroad, I remain proud of our political

heritage and of our scientific and technological accomplishments. I

cherish our natural environment, and I revere our founding documents

and the political and moral principles therein. My recent

world-travels have served to intensify these sentiments. Thus I am

enraged as I see that heritage betrayed, that environment despoiled

and sold-off, and the Constitution tossed aside by a President who

regards it as " just a goddam piece of paper. "

 

Will " government of the people, by the people, and for the people " not

" perish from the earth, " as Lincoln resolved on the field of

Gettysburg?

I believe, with Lincoln, that it shall not " perish from the earth, " as

I have met in foreign lands, many admirable individuals who are so

resolved. But will such a government survive in the United States of

America? Of that outcome we can not be assured, for we have, in five

brief years, traveled far along the road toward despotism. The

government now in power will not turn us back on that road; this is

something that we the people must do for ourselves. The United States

was born out of a struggle to overthrow a despot from abroad. Now the

despot resides in our Nation's capital.

 

In the darkest hours of that founding struggle, the cause of freedom

and independence seemed hopeless – " these were the times that tried

men's souls. "

 

Our times are not as grave – not yet. We the people can still prevail.

After all, we've done so before.

 

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The View from Abroad: A Personal Reflection 2006 Ernest

Partridge.

American Politics Journal E-mail Edition 2006 American

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Mark Hull-Richter, U.S. Citizen & Patriot

U.S.A. - From democracy to kakistocracy in one fell coup.

" Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent

revolution inevitable. " - JFK

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