Bush's USA: Internationally Hated

Now here is a really great article from AlterNetEurope:

"The truth is that the world would likely be a better place if Team Europe and not Team America were in charge. And more and more people around the world are reaching that conclusion."

The article is based on a new poll, conducted by GlobeScan and the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), which reveals that citizens in twenty out of twenty-three countries would like to see Europe become more influential than the United States in world affairs.

Here's how bad it is: even China rated higher than the United States in popular assessments of its global conduct. The United States also took the top prize as the country most widely viewed as having a negative influence on the world (in 15 countries), with Russia coming a close second (14 countries).

Even 34 percent (one third) of Americans agree that Europe should be running the show!

If you are an American and you are reading this with disbelief, I would urge you to go and work and live in Europe for a while. Americans work more hours, live shorter lives, and are much more likely to be poor than their European counterparts. To quote Norwegian foreign minister Jan Peterson:

One of eight UN countries is an EU member state. The EU generates about 20 per cent of the world's total GNP. The internal market is the world's largest multinational market. The euro has become the world's strongest currency after gaining 50 per cent in relation to the dollar during the three first years of its existence. There is even a European space agency, which has 200 satellites orbiting the Earth and which is planning to make a European the first human being to reach Mars.

The Alternet article highlights some major points of disagreement:

Take the case of food... Where Europeans are cautious and more concerned about its effects on human life, the American philosophy is all about the corporate bottom line...

The difference between the Bush administration's military plans and that of the EU: Europeans want to use military force to avert catastrophe, rather than precipitate regime change. It's about peacekeeping not imperial expansion.

The comments on the article are also worthy of note. From a US Expat in Sweden:

That willingness to put human needs before profits is what makes me admire the Swedes, and the E.U. in general... I am saddend by what my country has become and I dream of a day when American wakes up and realizes that chasing that bottom-line is going to decrease the quality of life not only in the U.S., but the whole world.

From Canada:

We may sound snooty and clever in how we bash America here, but I'd say it's just to hide the real fears of being annexed culturally, economically, and politically. We're not just dissatisfied with American leadership, we're scared of it.

From an American:

We did'nt really have any choice in the last election as it was a vote for the lessor of the two evils. Bush was a failure in the oil business and he carries the same to his position as pres. Don't get me wrong, I voted for Bush each time. The BIBLE SAYS... This is now a real scarry world... We can no longer concure and rule!!

And how about a positive outlook:

How about instead of one region having all the power... how about we all start working TOGETHER for the betterment of MANKIND? I know... wishful thinking. People are too greedy for that... And that would require sacrifice and compromise... but until people get over this "nationalistic" notion, we're doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.

Or an action plan:

Open a Euro bank account and shun the US dollar. It not only makes great economic sense (50% profit in just a few years, and the dollar rate is still going down) but also political sense. Getting rid of dollars is the best way to castrate the US bully.