Gratitude

Victor David Hanson has another essay on Europe and America out. I don't greatly dispute most of what he says, but one point bothers me. "I won't even speak of a sense of gratitude, because that is an emotion almost as archaic to the contemporary European mind as patriotism. Nearly 30 percent of all Frenchmen polled last year wished Saddam to defeat the United States in Iraq."

Gratitude? World War II ended almost 60 years ago. Gratitude is an attribute of human beings, and people die. We've had 3 generations born since then with no first-hand knowledge of the Nazis, and history is often a rather pale thing. And why should my counterpart in France be grateful to me? I didn't help his father and grandfather; I'm only 49.

One can justifiably claim some debt of gratitude for defending Western Europe against Soviet imperialism. Unfortunately, people easily forget what didn't happen, and the Red Army didn't move west. The "not invented here" attitude isn't just restricted to institutions; it also shows up between generations. Young leaders want a hand in making policies, not just in inheriting them. So they have to show why old policies need to make room for new ones. So they have to focus on the inadequacies and unfortunate side effects of old policies and alliances--and that makes it very hard to be grateful. (The modern West isn't very good at respecting ancestors.)

Of course the flip side of these effects is that it can be easier to make peace with former enemies: "The Nazis did horrible things to my grandparents, but not to me." That's usually a good thing, though sometimes old enemies are merely biding their time and only an (unfortunately ubiquitous) ignorance of history hides the danger. Think "hudna," and remember that over the centuries European countries resupplied the Turks with military technology in hopes of gaining advantage in their own local squabbles.

So, little appropriate gratitude, and little appropriate fear.