Blaming America For Europe’s Woes

The Continental HOA would still be bad even without American influence

It’s long been common for European right-wingers to dream of a united continent that would cast out American influence and become a superpower in its own way.

The anonymous poster Niccolo Soldo, a Highly Respected guest of Croatian ancestry, expressed this view last week in a series of X posts. He outlined what Europe should do to free itself of America and make itself great again:

We either become philosophically anti-American or our continent dies. There's no two ways about it.

First two steps:

1. Severely restrict the use of the English language in governance and media

2. Ban all US social media

These steps are both impractical and unfavorable to the Right. The European Union, even after Brexit, still relies on English as its primary working language despite vows to replace it. The alternatives of French and German are too divisive for its members, so they still rely on a language not native to any of its members (Ireland does speak it as its day-to-day language, however). The ban on US social media would severely disadvantage European nationalists and make it easier for their governments to suppress them. American social media often provides the only way for nationalists to broadcast their views to the European public. Eurocrats would love such a ban.

Soldo claims Europe will rely on Latin to replace English (“to be introduced in 20 years after continent-wide education programs at all tiers”) and that social media is a foreign “poison pill” and Europeans will resolve the ban in a manner that benefits them.

These opinions reflect the fantastical thinking of some European nationalists. The idea Europe’s leaders will conduct daily business in a dead language few of its people can read is silly. If Latin ever did become the lingua franca of the EU, it would just further separate the elites from the masses and make these leaders more ridiculous to the people. Latin is not a language suitable for 21st century diplomacy and international business. One might as well demand a return to Sanskrit.

The language issue speaks to Europe’s identity problem. The European Union has a flag and a governing body, but it has no real, flesh-and-blood identity. It has too many languages, too many cultures, and too many competing heritages to form a strong body. Europe does have a history of “multicultural” (different from our version) empires, but that’s not what the EU is. The Habsburg Empire had the monarchy and the Catholic Church as unifying institutions. It wasn’t enough to keep it together from the devastation of World War I, but it did provide an identity to its subjects, inspired men to die for it, and kept the empire together for many years.. All the EU has is a useless parliament, a detested bureaucracy, and the Euro. It’s not enough to make men fight and die for, nor is it capable of effectively ruling in the 21st century. It’s no superpower–it’s a continental HOA.

A homeowner association, like the EU, doesn’t inspire much reverence. It’s primarily an obtrusive force that tells homeowners what they can do with their property and nags them about dues. The EU acts similarly when it imposes many idiotic regulations and nags its members constantly about their apparent obligations. Like an HOA, the EU infringes on its members’ sovereignty and (ineptly) tries to mediate disputes among its partners.

The EU cannot get its members to rise above their petty concerns and do what’s best for Europe. This is sometimes for best, as when Eastern European states refuse to take in migrants. But sometimes it’s for the worst, as when the EU refuses to take up necessary economic reforms to make it more competitive in the world. Stasis is often the preferred option.

A shared enemy could truly unite Europe and make it act as one. But it could be argued that it has one at the moment–and it isn’t America. It’s Russia, and it’s not making for great results. It’s exposing the weakness of the EU and making it more dependent on the U.S. European states practically beg America for more troops to be stationed on the continent in response to the war in Ukraine. They look the other way as America likely blows up gas pipelines and eagerly assent to Washington’s requests to stifle their own economies on behalf of the war. Europe is far more eager to continue the war than the current White House, with some countries pledging to keep funding Ukraine even if America pulls out.

It’s understandable for European right-wingers to resent American influence and want to be free of it. It’s natural for nationalists to want to have full sovereignty and be free of foreign intervention. America played a major role in the current state of Europe and its ability to bully the continent would encourage nationalists to dream of independence.

But eliminating American influence won’t solve Europe’s problems. It will still have millions of migrants in its lands, courts that block their deportation, weak military capabilities, girlboss Eurocrats, onerous gender quotas in the workplace, petty squabbling among its member-states, an idiotic commitment to geriatric socialism, economic decline, and a lack of unifying identity. It would serve as a sink-or-swim moment for Europeans as they would now have to rely on themselves for defense, which could jeopardize their generous welfare states.

If anything, American influence is, at the moment, a positive for Europe. American influence keeps Germany from banning the AfD, allows social media platforms to broadcast right-wing views, pressures European states to do something about immigration, and seeks an end to the destructive Ukrainian war. Without American influence, it would be easier for the likes of Ursula von der Leyen and other Eurocrats to impose their will and suppress the Right.

It’s hard to face up to your own mistakes, poor judgment, and bad decisions. It’s much easier to blame these issues on outside forces. Europe’s problems are now largely internal. America doesn’t set Europe’s immigration levels or gender quotas. Nor does it block deportations or imprison Europeans who speak out about mass immigration. The high-regulation, high-taxation regimes that curb innovation and push ambitious types to go elsewhere were not set by America. That’s the fault of European governance.

It may feel good to block out manifestations of American influence, from the English language to Facebook. But none of that will make Europe great again. Only a veritable revolution from within will do so.