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| Boulevard Kennedy, Paris. |
In almost two months of travelling in France I have yet to
visit a town or city that did not have some recollection of Presidents
Roosevelt and Kennedy. Usually it’s just
a street named in their honor. Other
times it is a boulevard, plaza (square), park or other monument.
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| Avenue FDR as it crosses the Champs Elysees, Paris. |
President Roosevelt is remembered for his “lend lease”
policy with Great Britain and ultimately asking Congress to declare war on the
Axis Powers of World War II. One of my
history professors used to say “Without Roosevelt all of Europe would be
speaking German by now.” While that
might be a bit of an exaggeration one cannot underestimate the effects of US
involvement in WWII.
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| The Kennedys with President and Mrs. De Gaulle, Paris. |
Roosevelt along with Churchill, and even General De Gaulle in
exile, were beacons of hope for their own respective people but also many
others in the sight of Nazi and Japanese aggression. They and their leadership are rightfully
remembered.
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| FDR and Churchill, Washington. |
While
President Kennedy successfully avoided war and nuclear
proliferation in the Cuban Missile Crisis, he is mainly remembered in France
for his robbed years by the assassin’s bullets.
The youth and vibrancy of his administration and his family brought
tremendous hope to postwar Europe, postwar France.
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| Jardin Kennedy, Brest |
The visit that the president had made to France with a
French-speaking First Lady was one of the most popular visits ever made
overseas by an American President. When
he later joked that he “was the man who accompanied Mrs. Kennedy to Paris”
there was more than some truth to the statement. The People of France were deeply moved when
that excitement emerging from the postwar haze was cut down prematurely leaving
Mrs. Kennedy as the “First Mourner.”
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| L'Arc de Triomphe as it sits central in the Place Generale De Gaulle, Paris. |
In a world that can be too often tangibly
anti-American or anti-American government policy it’s nice to cross “Boulevard
Franklin D. Roosevelt” or stroll through “Parc Kennedy” while listening to people
speak their native French.
A European responds:
ReplyDeleteWhen we spend time abroad, we become ambassadors for the culture that we’ve left behind. In interacting with people abroad, we enter into a dialogue that helps both parties to the conversation understand their respective cultural backgrounds. Different cultures thereby enter into a diplomatic conversation. For us, Fr. John (or “Jack”, our fellow pilgrim on the Camino) was just such an ambassador when he came to visit us.
In our conversations, we spoke about the commonalities and differences between America and Europe. For us, America is always exciting, as much of what happens there will happen here in Europe sooner or later. For Jack, it was the history that you see in old European towns, where a building might date from before the United States was even founded. However, we Europeans have not just inherited our physical surroundings, such medieval buildings, from our forefathers, but also many of the old ways of doing things.
In Switzerland, for example, people are frequently active outdoors; climbing mountains, swimming in rivers, riding bicycles and skiing. Although these are things people do in America as well, in Switzerland the natural environment and modern cities are often well integrated. People, especially children, participate in these outdoor activities on a day-to-day basis. This helps the Swiss maintain their healthy lifestyles. But much of this is only natural to them. They have been climbing mountains and swimming in rivers for centuries and are merely continuing these practices without thinking much about it.
In New York, and in the larger European cities, such healthy lifestyles can no longer be taken for granted. Junk food has long since arrived in Europe and we also live sedentary lives. Compensating for the lack of physical activity and social interaction outdoors in nature is therefore a challenge on both continents. It is also now up to the individual to make such choices, whereas before that was simply part and parcel of everyday life. Jack told us about the Mayor of New York’s deliberate efforts to help the city’s inhabitants stay healthy.
In Europe there is still more of a social safety net that helps those who fall on hard times. In America, individuals often have to provide for this themselves. But our economies are global and we are dependent on each other. A city such as Detroit can go bust in America, just as a small country, such as Greece, can go bust in Europe. Often such tragedies are down to individuals failing to take responsibility. How do you teach young adults to deal responsibly with finance and money?
We often look to America to see what lies before us. We listen to the messages of hope and change. Sometimes, our hopes are fulfilled, while other times, the message of hope and change gets lost. Yes, we are quick to criticise the US government’s foreign policy. But at the same time we are grateful to America for being that defender and upholder of individual liberty. The ideal of liberty that we see in America, the ideal that people in Europe saw in the youthful President Kennedy, is the reason why bridges, plazas and avenues are dedicated to him in our European towns and cities.
This ideal of individual liberty entails both freedom and responsibility. Ultimately, our choices are our own. We can’t rely on society to bail us out when we make the wrong choices, although we can help each other by establishing a society that fosters what is valuable. But this is a slow process and often issues are too complex for us as individuals to change by ourselves. As members of different cultures, religions and creeds, we all bring something unique to the table. By sharing experiences, we can help each other find the best way forward.