Those who knew Europe was sociologically and politically gentrified and corrupt fled to a new continent seeking a better life and a fairer government. Some two hundred odd years later, a decendent goes back to the "old" land to find that the stale hautiness, cultural stagnancy, and backward thinking still prevail. I'm shocked.
"Give me empire, my dear Yanks. Come over here and colonize this place so that I can put my suitcases back on top of the closet, keep my swishes and furbelows, my fanfreluches and baubles, my adopted family jewels and Continental airs, and live to a ripe old age here in the center of Paris, in the middle of nowhere."
~The last paragraph. Never again. Never. So many were lost to do just this thing in the forties. Our youth are not worth your Continental airs nor your furbelows.
Save yourselves, and if not, then France dies.
I'll read the entire article later. (Just after I finish watching the NFL playoff games!)
I lived in a small village in Europe for a few years some time ago. Certainly the Europeans have a history. Monuments every darn place that you go. Some are simply ruins found in obscure little places.
That is my real view of Europe. A place which celebrates past events with lots of monuments. Monuments to wars and heros and policies which eventually convinced multitudes of people to flee that place for a better life in the new world.
Now the liberals (Socialists) in this country would have us emulate the failed European model. Well, my ancestors left that place because they were tired, poor, downtrodden, etc.
Europe is over, and the Islamic conquest is noteworthy in that such a violent cult could conquer an entire continent in an essentially non violent way.
Remarkable.
Whoa - this is somebody who really has had her eyes opened. I was prepared to sneer a bit before I read the full article. Now all I have to say is that for someone with the grasp of France that Nidra claims, she seems blissfully unaware of what happened to the Jews there during WWII. This stuff isn't new.
Very timely, very poignant.
For those who continue to contend that the UN is "mankind's last, best hope", be advised it never was and never will be.
But the United States of America probably is...
Great post self-describing an arrogant leftist slowly being mugged by the reality of a decadent and declining France.
She should stay in France, of course, and fight for Marxist truth there. A person with such a slow learning curve would be of no help here.
The joke is she really thinks someone cares what she does.
I thought so. The Muslims are already taking over..it's just a matter of time. Sad. They will really be Eurabia soon..and we are the dumb ones?
Great essay. Are there any follow-ups to the last bit (dated January 2004)?
So what's your problem again?
bttt
As an American who lived in Paris from 1983-1996, I can reaffirm what this woman writes.
During my time there, I never experienced any anti-Americanism, in fact, being American was sort of an asset, allowing me entree into things. I was invited, entertained, and befriended by wonderful, gracious, hospitable people.
As a Protestant,I was regarded in that very Roman Catholic country as unusual. I never saw the discrimination written about by this writer until late in 1999.
There has been a sea change since I lived in France. It is exactly the way the writer describes it.
I never thought that in my lifetime, we would witness the re-emergence of hatred for America, Israel and Jews we all know existed in World War II France. I heard remarks uttered in "polite society" about Jews that would be totally unacceptable here and never spoken . This undercurrent of anti-semitism is now right out in the open, socially acceptable and media endorsed.
Of course, they say it isn't against all Jews, it is against Israel and the Zionists, just as they say they don't hate America or Americans, just the government of George W. Bush.
They refuse to acknowledge Islamo-fascism for what it is, and believe they are protected because they did not support the War in Iraq.
History does repeat itself, and unfortunately, those who don't learn from it are condemned to relive it.
What fools!