Is Europe Democratic by nature?

[Aizen]

A question I do have about Europe though... why are the birth rates so low in many countries? They aren't low here.

[Antarctic]

A question I do have about Europe though... why are the birth rates so low in many countries? They aren't low here.

Whenever I visit the US I'm always struck by the large number of young people (under 30) with children....it's strange to me as we tend to have our first child in our early 30s and a family with more than two children is unusual.
Those who do have more than two children tend to be religious.

IIRC the birthrate in nearly all Western countries is below or barely at replacement levels...that's certainly not the case in the States so perhaps the question should be "Why are the rates so high in the US?"

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Actually, its rather more basic than has been discussed.

Many europeans see Americans a big, dumb, unsophisticated louts who refuse to take orders from europeans.

They resent us because we are more sucessful.

Thank you for highlighting the reason why the second line is thought.

...and no it's not that basic.

The reason is diverse. Many around the world have an decidedly increased negative feeling toward the US since George Bush came to power.

Clinton was ALWAYS warmly received.

[minionofmidas]

Thread header question: No.

Does this mean that Europe and the US can never see eye to eye when a GOP president is elected?

They can't see eye to eye with a Democratic president either. It's to do with the skewed balance of power.
Of course, an insular idiot like Bush who doesn't understand anything about the relationship between America and (Western) Europe makes matters even worse, but this is not necessarily happening with any Republican President. It didn't with his dad - even though I dare say his dad wouldn't have won here either.

While in some respects Europe is more liberal than the U.S., the U.S. is more liberal in many aspects.  The U.S. is quite liberal when it comes to abortion laws.

That's just because the US is the only country in the world where Judicial Activism isn't entirely a right-wing phenomenon. [/hyperbole]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Actually, that is currently rather easier than becoming an American citizen - for legal immigrants, that is. Now, becoming a legal immigrant...

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Actually... people born abroad of American parents are American citizens too. Blood has been making you an American since 1791.
But yeah, people tend not to be able to distinguish between "German" as an ethnic category and as a citizenship term.

[daboese]

Religion may have a formalised role in Europe, but it's actual IMPACT and influence is rather superficial.

Exactly. We have very few evangelicals here (perhaps on the order of less that 0.5%). These are throwing the right-left politics off balance, since McCain also has to satisfy those (he did that by choosing Palin) and Obama having to move more to the right in order to get enough votes.

Someone like jmcfst for example would not be on the street in Germany, because his parents would have told him that he should not play with the normal kids. In a way, the US is- with its large, very diversified protestantism- still a patchwork of colonies of people who were persecuted for their beliefs in Europe. Or they came as slaves (Afro-Americans) or immigrants (Hispanics).

Thus, no country in Europe is as diversified as the US (although we have about 7% Muslims in Germany), which makes it easier for politics to react to the different cultural needs of each group. And that is why Israel, with about 20% orthodox Jews is closer to the US in politics than Europe is.

That is exactly why the birth rate is so low within Europe. It is comparable to the well-educated, moderate white people in the US. Your average is just thrown off by those other groups.

[Mr. Morden]

America is just more conservative than most countries in the world.

"Most countries in the world"?  Lol.  Only if you have a rather interesting definition of "conservative".

[minionofmidas]

America is just more conservative than most countries in the world.

"Most countries in the world"?  Lol.  Only if you have a rather interesting definition of "conservative".

Such as, a US Conservative one.

[Hash]

The Republican Party is too extreme nowadays for Europe. The conservative parties in Western Europe are much less extreme than the GOP is.

Many of the Conservative parties are to the left of both parties. If Sarkozy ran here for example he'd be labeled a Liberal Democrat.

Except the Spanish PP, IIRC.

[Јas]

Comparing 2004 & 2008 is unlikely to yield a proper answer. One would need to compare with the pre-GWB era.

Since before the 2000 election, GW has been seen as an idiot. This has evolved to the extent that he is now perceived to be a malign & dangerous idiot. Obviously this has affected the perception the party and country he leads.

[Sbane]

America is just more conservative than most countries in the world.

"Most countries in the world"?  Lol.  Only if you have a rather interesting definition of "conservative".

Free market conservatism. I don't think any country trumps us there. We are also more socially conservative than Europe but probably not as conservative as certain South American,African and Asian countries.

[angus]

Does this mean that Europe and the US can never see eye to eye when a GOP president is elected?

No foreign government can truly see eye to eye with the US when a GOP president is elected, but that has little to do with any discussion of whether Europe is Democratic by nature.  (and, no, the various tribes of white people are no more or less Democratic, by nature, than the various tribes of non-white peoples.  or democratic, for that matter.)   

The GOP's definining characteristic has always been, since its first national convention in 1856, nationalism.  Not conservatism, not liberalism.  Whether the GOP is the most conservative or the most liberal party around depends largely on what external and internal circumstances, usually beyond the control of any party, dictate.  But they are always the most nationalistic party.  Sometimes we decide that nationalism is what we need.  Sometimes we decide they're not what we need.  And the American people have been pretty good, but not perfect, at decided when we want the nationalists in power and when we don't.  But when we do decide that we want nationalists, I can assure you it's not during the times when we're seeking ecumenicalism.  This would not only be true of the US, by the way.  It is my guess that any country would most likely elect members of its most nationalistic party during those times when it deems appropriate, and it is precisely those times when the other governing bodies of the world will meet with the most intransigence.  This is neither good nor bad.  There will be times when other countries may benefit from Republican administrations, and at any given time some countries will benefit from one US party over the other.  But that is generally an unintended effect.  But whether or not anyone besides the US benefits when Americans decide that it's time to empower our most nationalistic faction, it will always be the case that the dominant language of American statecraft will serve largely to unify a majority of Americans and alienate a majority of the world outside the US.  Sometimes that's the appropriate course, sometimes it's not.  And I think we are pretty good at deciding which times are which.

[Verily]

A question I do have about Europe though... why are the birth rates so low in many countries? They aren't low here.

It would horribly simplifying things to say this is the sole cause, but Europe is much more densely populated than the United States. Even in the United States, those living in denser areas tend to have fewer children, often below replacement level.

There are also cultural factors; northern Europe reproduces at or close to replacement level, but Mediterranean Europe reproduces far, far below replacement level. Some of this is due to differing social support systems. A common argument is that Italian, Greek and Spanish government policies which favor mothers staying home with children have in fact caused a severe reduction in the birth rate in those countries. (Indeed, across Europe, there is an extremely strong correlation between more women in the workplace and higher birth rates, although this runs counter to conventional wisdom.)

[angus]

not really.  conventional wisdom would suggest that if you put a doughnut on a tray in a busy office, someone's gonna eat it, whereas if you keep it in the box at home it will just get moldy.

[opebo]

angus is correct that the Republican Party appears to be primarily a nationalist party - or is sold as such electorally - much like the Nazi Party of Germany.  Secondarily both these right-wing nationalist parties were sold as the representatives of cultural conservatism/racism/etc.  But in both cases the 'real purpose' of these sort of parties is economic - to protect privilege and prevent any gain of power by workers.

Most reasonable observers outside any country are loath to see the rise of nationalism, as it increases the chance of war or other negative aggressive outcomes.  But those who really suffer from the success of these parties are the working class at home rather than the fearful foreigners - we know the GOP is always going to attack the american working class (this is its ongoing purpose), but only occasionally does it attack foreigners, and usually in weak countries rather than other 'first world' countries.

In any case I don't think there is anything very surprising or informative about the finding that Europeans hate the GOP.  It is certainly in their interest to oppose same.  What is interesting is that they tend to dislike and fear americans because they keep voting in such a foolish and self-destructive way - it is natural to fear the irrational and 'insane'.

[cannonia]

In turns of progress of civilisation the US is always about 50 years behind Europe.
[...]
All civilisations progress to the left

QED?

BTW, this is why the word "progress" makes me hear alarm bells.