The revolution will be blogged

In The Europeanization of America, writingfrontier.com correspondent and former Playboy model (insert your own joke here) Suzanne Bertrand argues that 9/11 precipitated a socio-economic convergence between North America and Europe.

For the first time in it’s [sic, tvh] history, the United States had been successfully attacked by foreign terrorists on its own soil and our country was going to react precisely as it should. It would follow the trail blazed by Europe decades ago.

This trail is one of security measures (eg. video surveillance in shopping areas), economic interventionism (cf. “European subsidization and outright government ownership of various key industry sectors”) and inflation. These measures are importing a European lifestyle of urbanization into the US: more fuel efficient cars, cycling to work or commuting to work by public transportation and urban living. This, the author warns, will lead “(m)ore and more Americans, like Europeans, (…) to make do with less, including less square footage in favor of more convenience.” While I applaud the author’s positive evaluation of this change, I do not think that Europeanization will fundamentally change American identity/culture. I believe that the financial interdependence (and risks involved) of Europe and America looms larger, casting dark clouds over ‘our’ living standards – and those of our children.