We’re All Americans

America, you used to have it better. The public mood in Germany in recent weeks has turned not only against the war, but against the United States generally. In Iraq, all indications are that Americans are indeed pursuing a drive toward hegemony, using their immense power to take complete political and economic control.

Yet as justified as it is to question America's war, there is no denying the American influence on the German way of life: Whether it is fashion, food, drinks, language, music or film, even our way of behaving, no other country has had such an influence on us.

Germany might be trying to take its own path politically, but in day-to-day life we're all Americans. Even the peace demonstrators wore jeans and carried placards demanding - in English - "No War!" Not even the biggest "anti-American" opposes the American way of life, because it is often faster, more direct, friendlier and more colorful. Look how Halloween and Valentine's Day have become big occasions in Germany.

But you say that the hamburger chains are not doing so well anymore? That is largely because of the competition from the other fast-food operations that have saturated the German market. And we know where fast food came from.

Unfortunately, America as an ideal is proving less durable than some of its cultural exports. Tragically, Sept. 11, 2001 was the cause of a deep gulf between the United States and Europe; the date may be omnipresent there, but here in Europe people do not see in the same way how it could be a justification for war. And the terror attacks worsened the already dismal situation in the technology and stock sectors, enthusiasm for which had been whipped up and investment encouraged in large part by an American ethos, so some of this resentment was inevitably directed toward America.

Gradually, the extent of American influence began to bother many Europeans, with some critics of this presence recently recommending that we call T-shirts tricots, playboys bon vivants, and tickets billets. The more desperate the recommendation, the more absurd.

Generally, though, there is no great reaction against the American Way of Life in Germany. Attraction and repulsion are mixed in a curious way; on one of the music video channels there is an ever-present peace symbol in the corner even though much of the programming is devoted to violent "gangsta" rap. Maybe this dichotomy is symbolic of anti-Americanism at the political level and the embrace of American culture at the individual one. And what does lifestyle have to do with the big political issues anyway?

Actually, more than is at first apparent, because America has put its values and virtues to service in pursuing hegemony: To recognize a problem, approach it analytically and resolve it with practical solutions and common sense, all the while promising freedom to the victims even if it has to be forced on them with violence, these are all parts of the American approach and helped them to win their victory in Iraq. These traits are also the reasons for the huge triumph of American popular culture. In terms of globalization, the practical, dynamic, fast and sporty approach gives them a big advantage over the Germans, burdened as they are with their traditions.

For many Germans, expressing political opposition to America may be a symptom of frustration that we can't keep up to the Americans in everyday life. Most people who have been nurturing their anti-Americanism for years are no longer in a position to recognize their own motivations. Whether we here in Germany drown on Starbucks coffee or choke on hamburgers, America will remain something of an abstract. Criticisms of it will have more validity when the critics overcome their own contradictions.