The term “Westerner” is full of contradictions. For me, it is a remnant of the cold war and may be defined as “followers of the West” in contrast to “followers of the East” (Soviet Union). However, Mark Patterson’s approach to Europe is a very British one. Why, for example, does he mention the colonies of the British Empire (yes, you have been one)and Churchill, but not Gutenberg and Luther? Luther indicates that sometimes a religion needs corrections.On the other side, the religious war lasted 30 years and was a disaster,especially for Germany. However, there was a free city in our region, whose citizens (Catholics and Protestants)decided to share the local church after the war and they do it till now. Bad.-Württ., the state I live in, is very successful,though the South is Catholic and the North Protestant. Religions do not matter in economic issues but the values a person is exposed to in childhood are of some importance. Churchill, on the other hand, I see not as a positive figure. I see him as a man of destruction, nothing less. He did not only destroy Europe, but in the end he had to face the fall down of the British Empire. That is why I do not understand the US. And do not argue that Churchill saved mankind. One should not forget that many German Jews fought in World war I and shared the bitterness of all Germans. And in World war II? A member of the family Einstein was deported to Theresienstadt on April 1, 1945(all Germany was in ruins but the railway stations functioned).How this can be explained?By the way, Herr Einstein returned and lived all his life in Germany. O.K., let the past be the past. However, I simply do not understand why the United States of America are so afraid of the future. Personally, I would not have stressed the notion of globalization in case you want to be in control of the world.
