They really do believe it!
Frightening post on Samizdata.net, the huntin' and shootin' collective. It reads like a man who has never been to a party before who has suddenly been to a rather good party (at least that is what I would sound like if someone would invite me to one). But that's not frightening, of course. These are the frightening bits..." have a confession to make. Two confessions, in fact. Last Thursday, I referred to Brussels as the 'Heart of Darkness'. Well, I was wrong about that"
"Away from the soulless, modernist horror blocks are towering and inspirational monuments to the old Flemish mercantile traditions upon which the city was built. It is still a very prosperous place. Walking around the city centre, I lost count of the number and choice of high-quality retail outlets, restaurants, cafes and bars. There is also a bustling, commercial quality to the atmosphere that gives Brussels quite a buzz.
Of course, two days is nowhere near long enough to get an accurate impression of what it would be like to live in a place. But it is long enough to dispel this caricature notion of Europe being a socialist hell-hole as compared to the English-speaking world. If only thing were that cut and dried. They are not. "
So when the right-wing call Europe a 'socialist hell-hole' or as Peter Cuthbertson once called Sweden and the Netherlands 'degenerate hell-holes' they aren't actually joking. That's actually what they think it is like. I'm sure most of my readers assumed it was just political hyperbole. But no. It's actually what they think.
Carr ends with:
"Certainly we do some things better in Britain but there are also very many areas in which I think the Belgians are doing things better than we are. I hope we can learn the good things from each other and I hope to be taking another trip to Brussels quite soon.""
He actually thought there was nothing we in Britain could learn from Europeans. Words fail me.
posted by Matthew @ 4/10/2004 08:26:00 AM
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