Greetings from twenty-first-century Europe,

[ZeitgeistObserver]

where new ideas, new technologies, and better ways of living are flourishing

by Chris Turner
From the May 2010 issue of The Walrus

This is long, 6 pages, but very pleasant and I thought some of you might enjoy a tour of Europe on a Saturday night.

http://www.walrusmagazine.com/articles/2010.05-environment-the-new-grand-tour/

[stevedeshazer]

1. Stop gloating, Euros.

Stop running your six weeks of vacation - universal healthcare - paid parental leave - smackdown and get with the rest of us second-world countries like the US where free markets rule and the middle class is crushed.

#40 is #1. Suck it, Brasil and the Czech Republic and Mali. And especially Iceland.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

3. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

Lots of their own problems to be sure, but a very livable place.

[Go2Peace]

8. They are now #2 in per capita GNP. Kind of disproves the globalist mantra

Germany that is. Their rise is underreported.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

9. I don't know what

globalist mantra you mean, but yes they are doing well. China nipping at their heels though.

[Go2Peace]

10. With 1.3 Billion people they look good in GNP, but what kind of life do they have

Germany is now #2 is GNP per capita. That is quite impressive for an "old" European country.

Which country should the world be emulating? China or Germany? Which lifestyle is sustainable?

[ZeitgeistObserver]

12. A much better one than they used to have!

Two very different countries though, so they really aren't comparable.

Ideally I'd like to see a combination of the two...growth plus livability.

[Go2Peace]

19. Yes, but again, is it sustainable?

They have awful environmental problems and like with India, we only hear mostly about the success, not the massive suffering that it lives off the back of. They are a machine that is for sure. But I don't think there is much to emulate there, other than their love for modern transport technology that they are growing.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

27. Is what we're doing sustainable?

I posted something about Europe so you could see what they're doing.

[Go2Peace]

33. I think we are saying the same thing. You brought up China

not me LOL. I believe we are talking circles. Have a great day!

[ZeitgeistObserver]

35. I just said China is gaining on them, but otherwise

they really aren't comparable.

You have a nice day too.

On edit: I should have added I wouldn't like to live in either place, as they both also have drawbacks.

[pampango]

26. Germany is quite "globalist" - "free trade" and open immigration borders with 30 other countries

as a part of the EU, as well as numerous other FTA's with non-European countries (plus they're negotiating with Canada, India and MERCOSUR). Of course they also belong to all the trade organizations, like the WTO, that they US belongs to.

What makes "globalism" work for them (and the rest of Europe) is the progressive governments that with which they back up this relatively open approach to the rest of the world. Germany is the number 2 exporter in the world in spite of it having a high-wage, high-benefit economy. China just past it in the last year or two despite having 15 times the population of Germany.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

28. Then I'd say the open approach works.

[Go2Peace]

34. So with sustainable practices you can have open trade

and maintain living standards. What is really interesting about Germany is they absorbed a completely poor and underdeveloped half into their country and still ended up where they are now. If that does not show that a managed economy can do well I don't know what does. But then we prefer the anarchy economic model and dog eat dog here.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

36. Yes, now you mention it, Germany did do that.

And it was a heckuva chunk to swallow, but they seem to have managed it.

[Odin2005]

2. K&R

[elleng]

4. 1/6 of the way thru, and loving it!

Danke, Zeit!

[ZeitgeistObserver]

6. Bitte, elleng

The story made me feel good right before bed. Gives me hope.

[elleng]

5. dupe

[Go2Peace]

7. Every American should read this.

Some in our country detest Europe, while many parts of it lead the way to a renewed and sustainable future. This is what a social democracy can look like. The government and societal structures all work to sustain people, not the other way around as we are taught here.

Germany's rise is one of the most underreported stories of the decade. They are proof positive that the most powerful economonic way of life is not "low tax / low regulation / minimal government intervention". We would do well to learn more about the miracles they are pulling off in this era. They are testing and proving the way to the future.

[Go2Peace]

11. I wonder why someone thought this was a threat? Don't we want to learn?

(someone unrec'd). How in the world learning about successful strategies could threaten anyone on DU is beyond me.

[ZeitgeistObserver]

13. I gave up on recs a long time ago.

Some people are open to different views, and some are not, so I just post the things I find interesting.

[JCMach1]

14. Meanwhile, IMF is bailing out one of its members...

with more to come...

[ZeitgeistObserver]

29. US states need bail-outs.

[lunasun]

15. Heard it has racial problems increasing in the twentyfirst century

So open invitation for better way of living for anyone to come join ?
Have you seen the new documentary, Black on White about Germany yet?

[Go2Peace]

17. I wonder how prevalent it is. These things are always distorted.

By the emotional media.
But regardless, does that mean we cannot learn from what they are doing right?

[ZeitgeistObserver]

30. Everyplace has that.

It'll get worse before it gets better as people move around and eliminate borders.

[BlooInBloo]

16. Damn your good-health, good-education, good-food, fast-internet, low-crime, hot-women socialsts!

:P

[BlueJazz]

18. ...and We have lots of Churches, Teabaggers and Hummers.

[elleng]

20. 'Gehl believes urban public space is the lifeblood of democracy,

the essence of humanism, and the sine qua non of green-minded livability. “Throughout history,” he told me, “public space had three functions: it’s been the meeting place and the marketplace and the connection space. And what has happened in most cities is that we forgot about the meeting place, we moved the market space to somewhere else, and then we filled all the streets with connection, as if connection was the number one goal in city planning, in public space.” What he means is that we replaced public squares with parking lots, enclosed and privatized our marketplaces as shopping malls, and then turned over our streets almost exclusively to rapid transportation by private vehicle. In so doing, we enslaved ourselves to oil, choked ourselves on exhaust, and shattered into a million fragments the public realm where civil society once flourished.

Copenhagen’s great lesson for the New Grand Tourist is that the essential first step, maybe the only critical one, in reassembling these shards and building the urban foundation of the Green Enlightenment is to put people ahead of their cars and public spaces ahead of private ones in the planning priorities of the city — of any city.'

[elleng]

21. 'The overarching lesson of the New Grand Tour,

it seems, is that the centre of gravity is shifting rapidly back to the east side of the pond.'

BRAVO!!!

[old mark]

22. Fucking republicans/fundamentalists - we could have had this for many years if not

for their idiotic policies...

fucking people...

m

[Go2Peace]

23. For a while it seemed like we were on the way to a sustainable nation didn't it?

They sure the hell mucked things up. Between them and the corporations they completely turned the nation on end.

[tabatha]

24. What a wonderfully written story.

Thanks so much!

[cali]

25. you mean the Europe that's swinging dramatically to the right?

[ZeitgeistObserver]

31. Their right is to the left of the US.

[eridani]

37. Don't blow off right wing nutballs

The Euro variety are dangerous too.

[Joe Chi Minh]

32. Tell that to Sarkozy and Cameron - to name but two.

[never cry wolf]

38. Thanks for posting this, I read it all

I am an american architect and studied in europe in '78-'79... They were far ahead of us then and are increasing their lead... Not that it is a competition but even 31 years ago a shower in a train station cost about $1, if you wanted hot water it was $5.

Of course the essay American Pictures also tells a great story of europe...

http://www.american-pictures.com/english/racism/articles/welfare.htm