[Milsurplus] Enough about the European views

[Alan Barrow]

Dan Arney wrote:

> Bruce, A very true statement. I have seen my share in my travels.
> If I had to live outside of the USA and had my choice, France would 
> very close to the bottom of the list.

Imagine saying this about the US based on a visit to Chicago, LA, and 
NYC.  My experience with France is that they are just as regionalized as 
the US is, with just as many differences.

Anytime you start painting millions of people with the same brush, I 
believe you get into trouble, whether it's the US, France, middle-east, 
or whatever. To me it's a form of ignorance at best.

For what it's worth, I've found most French outside of Paris to like 
Americans, they just don't understand why we support our politicians and 
their policies. There is far more to French behaviour than disliking a 
country. I won't take the time to go into it, but I'll just say I 
understand why they have some of their perceptions based on traveling 
and working with the French (and Germans) on an ongoing basis.

An example: Most resturants are closed on Mondays. Seems stupid, and 
certainly not the norm. But once you understand why, and that it's a 
level playing field, then it makes more sense. Here's the flow:

- Most resturants and shops are family owned and operated
- Most are open on Saturday
- So they close on Monday so they don't have to work 6-7 days a week. 
Who would want that for a family?
- Nearly all resturants do this, so folks just plan around it. You don't 
eat out on Monday, except fast food if traveling.
- It's not a rule, but more of a cultural understanding. And since 
everyone does it, there's not a competitve advantage to someone who 
opens on Monday.
- Enter McDonalds (or other chain). They pay more, they stay open when 
others are closed, etc. It disrupts the pattern, and slowly drives the 
family operation out of business, as they have to take on more 
employees, usually non-family. Which means tax and labor law complexity. 
You have to have a manager to cover it when you are not there, etc.

It's a curse of "globalization". I enjoy the family owned shops and 
businesses, and see the effect of the corporate giants killing our home 
town small businesses. In France, they are trying to support the family 
owned businesses, which I admire. In the US, we allowed them to go out 
of business just to save 10% on price. So now I have to make do with the 
limited stock Home Depot or Wal-Mart carries because my local family 
owned hardware store is now out of business. And I miss them!

I see similar behavior about continuing to use/waste paper the way we 
do. When all businesses commit to using less office paper, and it 
becomes a cultural norm, then there is intense peer pressure not to 
waste it. We waste paper in the US. There, I said it. We are tree 
killers more than we have to be. (there is a difference between zero 
forestry, VS use what you need, but don't waste it.)

After driving in several thousand k's in France, Germany, and Austria, 
and other countries, I can say this:
- Their highways & bridges are in better shape than out interstates
- Their highways are prettier, as they don't allow billboards (why do we?)
- Semi-trailers do not dominate like on ours. In fact, they drive mostly 
at night to avoid traffic. Slow Semi's have to take secondary roads 
rather than disrupt traffic in the highways. Bad behaviour is simply not 
tolerated.
- Everyone "drives right". IE: you only get in the left lane to pass. 
It's enforced, and everyone abides. And traffic flows so much better.
- Drivers are more professional and more courteous than in the US. It's 
shocking to adjust to the Euro norm, then drop back on a US highway. 
When I come back from a long trip, it's 2-3 days of nearly getting hit 
before I (sadly) adjust to the US norm of discourtesy.
- Roundabouts work so much better than traffic lights. You can drive 
across most European cities and spend 1/4 of the time stopped than the 
similar distance in a US city. It's lights VS roundabouts. Yes, they 
have lights, but if they can use a roundabout, they do.
- Roundabouts don't work well in the US because it takes a level of 
cooperation and courtesy France and Germany maintain, which the US does not.
- It's not traffic density, it's the core "every man for themselves, 
I'll not back down for the other guy mindset" you see in the US. This 
aspect is consistant... I've drivenextensively in Norway, New Zealand, 
Australia, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Barbados. In every 
one of those countries, drivers take "give gap, take gap" seriously. IE: 
they cooperate, and they'll slow if someone needs to come in or make a 
turn. I'm convinced US drivers would rather hit someone than slow down. 
Forget about yellow lights!
- I can seamlessly transfer from international flight to high speed 
train to regional train to subway with coordinated schedules in a manner 
they US has never achieved in any single city, much lost all the major 
areas. Yet it's the norm in France/Germany/Switzerland. My 5 year old 
son asked me why the US did not use trains/subways like in Munich, 
because it worked so well. I did not have a good answer for him. The 
French trains work just as well.

So from the French (and German) view, we waste energy and pollute more 
than we need to, because of the way we drive and the way our traffic 
system works. And I now have to agree. And we don't have a plan to 
address it, which we should.

So back to the French. They don't hate us. In fact, they want to like 
us, believe it or not. They just don't understand why we do some of the 
things we do. And after seeing many other ways of doing things, I'm not 
blind enough to believe that the US norm is the *only* way. I love and 
respect the US, and always will. But I also see many things we need to 
do better. And I can now see how the French and Germans are baffled at 
why we do things the way we do. Some of it I can't defend.

So before the attacks start, I'm not defending the French, or any 
others. I'm being realistic about the US, based on direct (not TV or 
news or rhetoric) comparison from personal experience. So it's not 
politics, I'm as conservative as many others here. I don't like the fact 
the French did not support taking out Saddam. But I'm also not convinced 
we planned the war well, or had clear objectives, etc. So in many 
aspects, we positioned Europe to say "I told you so" about Iraq. That is 
the politicians fault, not the GI serving.

Sorry for the long post. But whenever I see ignorant statements like 
several of the recent posts painting an entire country with one brush, I 
have to respond.

Let's get back to discussing radios!

Alan
km4ba