June 17, 2005
Is the EU Constitution Dead?
Posted by Gordon Smith
June 01, 2005
Currency Conversion
Posted by Gordon Smith

The so-far bloodless revolution in Europe is roiling currency markets. The graph below shows the conversion rate of Euros per 1 U.S. Dollar. That upward leap at the end is the response to the French election, and the Dutch results will move the line even higher. It turns out that this is good news for someone about to travel to Europe.*

Currency1_1

* The effect on Swedish crowns has exhibited a similar pattern, though somewhat less dramatic.

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Now the Dutch Reject EU Constitution!
Posted by Gordon Smith

And the margin looks to be astronomical: 62% against and 32% for! The Netherlands is another founding country, and as I wrote in response to the French vote, "an underappreciated aspect of this story is the sense in France and in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe that the EU is out of control." This angle is getting some play in this morning's NYT:

Europeans are worried, among other things, that the rapid enlargement of the European Union, especially the prospect of Turkey's membership, will leave them more vulnerable to uncontrolled immigration, especially by Muslims. There is a sense, palpable in the Netherlands, that the whole European enterprise is controlled by unresponsive, unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels who have it in their power to rob countries of their national identities.

Not to mention their social welfare programs. This is only going to become more painful. This snippet from the NYT is insightful:

The paradox here is that if the political elites and most economists are right in saying that free-market reforms and more competition are essential for these nations to match their economic competition, then the "democratic intifada" could rob the faltering core of Europe of the very means it needs to rejuvenate itself.

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Auschwitz
Posted by Gordon Smith

Oscar Madison is still in Europe, and I just read the account of his visit to Auschwitz. He writes:

The tour quickly devolved into a museum tour distinguished only by its unusually horrific subject matter. You see, hear and read about, the detritus of the horror of the camps – the torture and executions, the huge piles of human hair and luggage – but it is conveyed in the manner of a museum: the tour guide’s lecture, captioned photographs and selections of real artifacts inside glass cases. And not a particularly well-presented museum at that: I’ve seen half a dozen museum exhibitions of the holocaust that moved me more. The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. was a far more powerful experience.

I had exactly the same reaction. The tour was so sanitized and so remote. So unlike the moving experience I thought it would be. I cried at the Holocaust Museum and got frustrated at Auschwitz ... until the gas chamber, which was genuine and heart-breaking. Oscar recounts his experience:

Auschwitz had one gas chamber – a prototype for the larger ones that would be installed in the later death camps – and it survived the war. The attached crematorium, where the bodies of those killed by the poison gas were incinerated, was destroyed by the Nazis in their coverup effort as they retreated from Poland; but the Museum has realistically restored it using original materials.

We lined up outside, and then filed into the gas chamber, as millions of people had done as the last act of their lives. In that moment, I felt all the layers of thought that protect me from shameful feelings – the evaluative, judgmental, humorous, cynical, angry layers of thought – stepped aside. There was nothing but to feel “I am here, now.”
I’ve not had that many moments of such unfiltered experience. This one took the shape of a single sob.

Having been separated from my tour group, I saw the gas chamber alone. Five minutes alone in the gas chamber. I tried to imagine what had happened there. The faces and bodies, the sounds and smells. I imagined the young guards shouting at the prisoners. Then I left the gas chamber and rejoined my family, who were waiting under the gate proclaiming Arbeit Macht Frei.

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May 30, 2005
France's Vote By Department
Posted by Gordon Smith

France is divided into 22 regions, which are further divided into departments. This map shows the vote by department.

Via Metafilter (with a nice Red State-Blue State corrective).

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France & The EU
Posted by Gordon Smith

France's rejection of the European Constitution looks like a vote of fear. According to David Ignatius:

France's stunning rejection Sunday of a new European constitution was, most of all, a noisy protest against the disruptive, leveling force of economic globalization. You could see that in television images of the "no" voters as the result was announced -- burly arms raised in the air, fists cocked -- as if by rejecting a set of technical amendments to European rules they could hold back a threatening future.

Yes, anti-globalization forces are strong in France, but there is more to this story, including the  passionate feelings against Chirac. Perhaps an underappreciated aspect of this story is the sense in France and in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe that the EU is out of control. With 25 member states, it seems less manageable than ever before. And more distant from the people. For the Non voters in France yesterday, rejection of the European Constitution must feel good. Democracy usually does, and the people of Europe rarely feel that in their dealings with the European Union.

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