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06/07/2005: "Europe as a Dittohead Paradise"

Last week was my first trip to Europe since starting this Journal. I’ve been there frequently over the years, even living in Bavaria for four years at one point, but never had the extra observational impetus, the sharpening of sensitivity to irony, that maintaining a daily personal record brings. This trip was particularly useful in that respect, considering how diversely frenetic it was. It included virtually ever aspect of European life – major cities like Milano and Roma, isolated mountain villages, ritzy resort areas like Bellagio on spectacular Lake Como, and the Jones-beach style everyman scene in Rimini on the Adriatic Sea. To get between these I took all the common forms of transportation, including planes, trains, and automobiles (not to mention plenty of hiking). During these experiences I began thinking of what America’s right wing Dittoheads would make of these experiences. Not that experiencing cultures that developed in parallel with American culture would be high on their priority list. For one thing, Europe consists entirely of Foreign Countries. For another, it has a reputation among US right wingers of being a hotbed of socialism and government activism. This is why Bush’s first visit to Europe was remarkably late in life (considering how cosmopolitan his Dad is). My diverse experiences last week, sharpened by my sensitivity to the right wing inconsistency, convinced me that Dittoheads are missing out by not looking to Europe as an embodiment of economic and libertarian values they espouse. Let’s spend a couple of days considering this question.