German anti-Americanism

The title of this post is perhaps a bit overdone (überspitzt, as my friend Eberhard in Marburg would say). I spent six days in Germany last week, visiting friends of my youth with whom I had studied in Marburg so many years ago. I found myself forced into some discussions with several of them concerning American politics.

For several years now I have withdrawn from offering opinions on American politics. Frankly, I cannot bear the logorrhea, whether from liberals or conservatives. In Canada, where I am spending two months, few people have even bothered to ask me about Donald Trump. Whenever the subject comes up, I simply say that I did not come to Canada to discuss American politics.

Several of my German friends, because we go back so far, were more aggressive on the subject, and I occasionally let myself be drawn into responding, but not often. It goes without saying that they are anti-Trump and that they follow, in their newspaper reading, the president's goings on. I suppose it is understandable that they might be concerned about his foreign policy or the fate of alliances between the U.S. and Europe. It goes without saying that they are apocalyptic about the environment. In other words, they sounded like New York liberals.

There is a world of difference, however, between these Germans and American liberals. Liberalism in its true incarnation has not had much purchase in Europe. Whatever their commitment to representative democracy, the nations of Europe are strongly interventionist in economic and social policies. They have managed (for the time being anyway) to establish strong welfare states, while at the same time being capitalist. It strikes me that the success of this model has depended on the support of the U.S. since World War II, without being burdened by the large military outlays of the U.S. Evidently, Germans think they have done better than the U.S. (Maybe they think they should rule the world again?) One can't help wondering how long these countries can keep the balls in the air.

To the anti-Americanism. What I found surprising was that my friends would be so concerned about healthcare in the U.S. I mean, what does it have to do with them? America's failures in respect of health care, however, serve to point out the superiority of Europe. That's what I mean by the anti-Americanism, which is not a new phenomenon. American liberals, in their hatred of Trump, have simply given the Europeans a cudgel with which to beat up on the U.S.

What really distinguishes the Germans who criticize the U.S. from their American counterparts is the much deeper level of historical and literary understanding of the former. Whether they are on the right or on the left, Germans know their history and they understand not only its faults and failures (Nazism), but also its achievements. They are balanced about their country. American liberalism, on the other hand, is shot through with disdain for the American past, is embarrassed about patriotism. Ironically, in recent years Germans have taken to waving their flag, at least at sports events.