Posted on 07/31/2015 5:45:30 PM PDT by NRx
Everything I needed to know about why the European Union would fail I learned at a truck stop.
It was in 2001 when a bus tour I was on stopped at a truck stop on the German Autobahn. For the American readers, you must understand that European truck stops are much different from what you get in the states. In Europe, the facilities are clean and the food is actually decent. They don’t have the same hot dogs sitting in the cooker for five days. And no, you can’t buy six gallon soda cups.
As it were, in this truck stop the inside was what you expect to see in Germany. It was clean and efficient. You grabbed your tray, stood in line quietly, pointed to the food for the scowling German lady cook to serve you, and moved to the next station. It had just enough order, cleanliness, and gray color inside to remind you that you were in Germany, but without making you feel like you were in East Germany.
As the bus wound its way across Europe we eventually stopped in Italy at the identical chain of truck stop. This is where I had an epiphany about the European Union, the Euro, multiculturalism, and why it’s all a bunch of garbage.
Italy is a great country, but nobody is going to tell you it’s like Germany unless they are a completely clueless moron. Instead of the quiet line of people collecting their food and proceeding to the next station, you instead had a mob of people yelling, waving their hands, and rushing the counter in a huge mass. If you didn’t push forward, you didn’t get food. In other words, it was Italian.
This is when I realized the EU and the Euro would never work. The idea that you were going to get Italians, Germans, Spaniards, Greeks, French, Dutch, etc. to live under one government and one currency is simply madness. Not only are the Germans far too impatient to deal with the hyper-emotional Italians, but the Italians are far too laid back to want to deal with a bunch of controlling Germans. This of course applies to the other countries as well. The Dutch really don’t like the French telling them what to do. The French don’t like the Germans. The Germans don’t like the Spaniards (or anyone else), and everyone dislikes the Swiss mostly because they were smart enough to not join the EU and share the misery.
And really how could it be any different? The idea that you’re going to put all these different people, languages, and cultures under the same currency and control is just mind-boggling stupid. Now they want to bring in all of Eastern Europe and possibly Turkey to add to the excitement? Yikes.
Culture matters far more than today’s enlightened man is allowed to admit. And frankly, most cultures probably are better off having nothing to do with each other in terms of common governance. For starters, having one currency with countries that have defaulted multiple times (like Italy, Greece, Spain, etc.) is like opening up your bank account to your entire extended family: An extended family complete with check writing privileges to your deadbeat cousin and crazy uncle. Who wouldn’t expect that situation to eventually lead to conflict?
Then you have to ask some more pointed questions. For instance, why does Germany want to support Italy? Why should Italians be held hostage to the wishes of German taxpayers? Why should Greek politicians care about spending when they know everyone else will bail them out? The entire idea breeds nothing but contempt and hostility as any collectivist system eventually does.
This is why I thought more than a decade ago (2001) that the Euro wouldn’t last 20 years. I’m now 13 years into that prediction and each year I feel more certain that the entire thing will fly apart.
The only issue we need to worry about when it does fly apart is whether it will kick off another war, which it very well might. This is no small irony considering the leftist imbeciles that backed the forming of the EU did so with the idea that it would prevent future wars by tying everyone together. Of course what they didn’t anticipate is when everyone is tied together they are more able to swing knives at each other.
I like every country I’ve been to in Europe. But, the reason I like them is because they are different. Trying to make them all the same in a multi-culti rainbow of happiness requires an all-powerful overbearing government that must rule by lowest common denominator. The different groups, and different group interests, will ensure that fights happen so nobody has it any better than anyone else. By trying to make everyone happy, you make nobody happy. Didn’t we learn this already from other failed Marxist experiments?
I left Europe at the time when they were transitioning to their suicidal Euro experiment. I kept some of the old currencies when I was there for souvenirs. I’m thinking I’ll be able to spend them again after the Euro and EU finally goes away.
LMAO!
The EU was created to feed off of its well off hosts they invivted to join the party. Its a scam
LOL...me neither. somehow the first thing that popped in my head as I read the article. It’s still a good song. Now I will be humming it for days.
LOL...very clever. Thumbs up.
Reminded me of a great piece in National Lampoon. See it at: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/01/15/1357821/-Racist-Humour-from-P-J-O-Rourke-1976-National-Lampoon#
http://imgur.com/a/94Jue
ha~when I lived in Northern Germany and was pregnant with my son—I would crave American (junk) food desperately. (you can only eat so much schnitzel) Anyhow, I would drive to a truck stop that had a Pizza Hut.
When my sister went to Rome, many pictures she put on facebook were the weird way the Italians parked...LOL
I suspect you’ve never been on the two lane portions of the Autobahn, when a truck pulls out of the line of trucks going up the hill at about 30 miles an hour so it can pass them doing 40 miles an hour. Good brakes are a necessity.
It’s also fun as you pass the long line to note what countries are represented. More Eastern European trucks than you see Mexican cars in Dallas.
You might enjoy this book as well... “The Europeans”, a somewhat stereotypical, yet perceptive and enjoyable read on the various “europeans”.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Europeans-Luigi-Barzini/dp/0140071504
I think this gentleman has not been in an America Truck Stop.
The places are clean, the food is good and fresh and I have yet to see a six gallon soda cup.
If you are traveling you want to stop where the trucks are. Their job is not a lot of fun but food is the one thing they can control. And I have yet to run across a OTR trucker who could not tell you the best places in town to eat.
Oh, yes, "America sucks", right? I tire of these bleating elitist Pajama-boy beta-male types. They can't hold a candle to the real American men who drive 18 wheelers.
“For the American readers, you must understand that European truck stops are much different from what you get in the states.”
No Lot Lizards?
A bit of trivia I had no idea about.
“and everyone dislikes the Swiss mostly because they were smart enough to not join the EU and share the misery.”
Just jealousy. The Swiss have long been the smartest folk in Europe. During WWII, when everyone was choosing sides, the Swiss told everyone to go eff themselves - after first accepting their money for safekeeping.
Yep you can win a bar bet with it.
Also bet them that it’s almost the same distance from Seattle to Anchorage AK as it is from Seattle to Boston.
That will trip ‘em up also.
That’s kinda like Reno Nevada is further west than Los Angeles.
Very few of those are real long-haul truck trips by North American standards. The U.S. and Europe have a comparable population, but the U.S. is about 2.5 times larger than Europe. Texas alone is larger than France.
Absolutely true.
Also people who have never been there don’t realize how big LA metro is.
Impose a layout of LA from Riverside to the base of Grapevine on the map of you favorite state, and be amazed.
One does not drink a large soda while driving on the Autobahn at 150+mph.
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