U.S.E.?

The French have voted against the E.U. Constitution. Why?

Many commentators believe it happened because the French people are afraid that Europe will become more like the United States of America.

But, wait...isn't that the whole idea of the E.U.? Don't they want to federate so that they can compete with us economically?

My $0.02 is this: The Europeans have never really understood those factors that made the U.S.A. an economic powerhouse - and therefore are incapable of setting up a pan-European government that will give them what they seek.

France, Germany, Russia...these countries could, individually, give the U.S. a good run, but don't.

The problem is that the Europeans still think that the size of the U.S. and the ability of its 50 states to sell without individual trade policies is what created our economic juggernaut. They are wrong. Or at least they used to be.

What created the force known as the U.S.A. was a dedication to the ideas of capitalism and limited government. Those are the factors which more than any other allowed the U.S. to become what it has. The Europeans don't believe those things and so - united or no - they could never catch us.

Today, though, it is the U.S. that is (to borrow a phrase from Robert Bork) slouching towards the same socialism that has hamstrung the economies of Europe.

So, in Brussels the question should now be: "Why try to be like them, when they are trying to be like us?"

If the advocates of Socialism are successful in remaking America, the Europeans will have very littel to fear from the United States economy.

As it is, the French have done the right thing for the wrong reasons.