Author: Judge Michael Boyajian

According to T.R. Reid in his book the United States of Europe the English writer Zoe Heller wrote Help I Am Turning into An American which inspired me to write something along a similar line only from a perspective of this side of the Atlantic.  For simplicity’s sake I wrote this in list format.  So here are the reasons I believe I am turning into a European: 

I am against war.

Currently the United Nations is an organization devoted to bringing together nation states from around the world.  However, the establishment of the European Union may signal a change to that formula.

One must marvel at the emergence of China as an economic and political power after an eternity in the doldrums.  Pundits speak with amazement at their new found power as if it has never been the case in their long history.

The question is with the Arab Rising and the emergence of China is what kind of prosperity are they seeking, the form found in America or that of Europe.  Well with the Arabs they are seeking freedom and with that freedom concurrent prosperity.  As for the Chinese they may dream of freedom but on the surface at least are satisfied with prosperity.

In a small community 60 miles north of New York City history and patriotism have squared off against the age old American belief in the supremacy of property rights.  Let me explain, the Fishkill Supply Depot was a military camp that supplied all the American forces operating in the Hudson River Valley during the duration of the American Revolution.   Without the Depot there would have been no victory at Saratoga and no turning point in the war.

There is talk of the Europeanization of America bringing the nation into a more modern era.  Some parts of the country are already Eurocentric.   This is very apparent in New York where many people only travel between there and Europe and nowhere else.

The trajectory of Europe puts it on a path to surpass both the United States and China as an economic superpower contrary to chest beaters in both those countries.  What can be done to put America back on its own upward course through history into the future?

Something interesting happened with the news coverage of the Arab Rising.  More and more women were appearing in scenes that were once dominated solely by men.

Jeremy Rifkin in his book the European Dream points out the differences between the European and American Dreams.  Unknown to many Americans is the fact that Europe has more population and an equal GNP when compared to the U.S.  Meanwhile on the other side of the globe China is coming into its own as an economic superpower threatening both European and American supremacy.

Jeremy Rifkin in the European Dream takes off with the premise that Europe is leaving behind American supremacy and Western Ideology embracing instead universal human rights and nature thus creating a new history.