Question to the American part of the audience
We all know about the economic woes in Europe. Greece is on its way to drowning in the mud, and Germany (which is calling the shots in the EU) is already considering dropping the hammer on the Greeks and starting a "controlled default" process. Italy's credit rating has just been downgraded yesterday (still considered "stable, but vulnerable"). Ireland, Portugal, Spain are on the line. If Spain fails, EU probably won't be able to avoid disintegration.
The US has its own share of economic woes, too. However the US economy looks more dynamic and sturdy compared to the European one, so probably what started in the US will remain in Europe as an epidemy for quite a while, even at the time the US will have probably stepped back on its feet (it *will* happen in one form or another, no crisis is eternal, although a new one is always sure to follow).
It's a fact that these markets at both sides of the Atlantic, plus the Asian ones, are interconnected. We can't deny that whatever happens at one side affects the other - this has become very visible in the recent years. If one side sneezes, the rest catch a cold. And it lasts long, and hurts a lot. And it hurts everybody.
So my question to the US part of the audience, and particularly to that part which is always sure to state how shitty things have become at the *OTHER* side of the Pond, and who are kind of feeling a sort of grandeur Schadenfreude from that fact:
What's your stake in this? I mean why should anyone be feeling delight in the woes of an economic partner, be it the funny Europeans? Does it compensate for some inner shortcoming originating domestically, which in fact has little to nothing to do with them funny Euros? Do you really, sincerely, deeply, believe that a fractured and fragmented Europe is the better option FOR YOU than the current one? Granted, the way the EU is being shaped in recent years is far from perfect. In many ways, bureaucracy has prevailed over rationality and pragmatism. Those are ulcers that have to be healed. Not the whole patient be killed. So what urges you to jeer and cheer whenever you hear some bad news coming from Europe? "EU is about to break apart. Again. Haha. How typical. And how funny". I've literally heard those words coming from an American. But why?
The US has its own share of economic woes, too. However the US economy looks more dynamic and sturdy compared to the European one, so probably what started in the US will remain in Europe as an epidemy for quite a while, even at the time the US will have probably stepped back on its feet (it *will* happen in one form or another, no crisis is eternal, although a new one is always sure to follow).
It's a fact that these markets at both sides of the Atlantic, plus the Asian ones, are interconnected. We can't deny that whatever happens at one side affects the other - this has become very visible in the recent years. If one side sneezes, the rest catch a cold. And it lasts long, and hurts a lot. And it hurts everybody.
So my question to the US part of the audience, and particularly to that part which is always sure to state how shitty things have become at the *OTHER* side of the Pond, and who are kind of feeling a sort of grandeur Schadenfreude from that fact:
What's your stake in this? I mean why should anyone be feeling delight in the woes of an economic partner, be it the funny Europeans? Does it compensate for some inner shortcoming originating domestically, which in fact has little to nothing to do with them funny Euros? Do you really, sincerely, deeply, believe that a fractured and fragmented Europe is the better option FOR YOU than the current one? Granted, the way the EU is being shaped in recent years is far from perfect. In many ways, bureaucracy has prevailed over rationality and pragmatism. Those are ulcers that have to be healed. Not the whole patient be killed. So what urges you to jeer and cheer whenever you hear some bad news coming from Europe? "EU is about to break apart. Again. Haha. How typical. And how funny". I've literally heard those words coming from an American. But why?