Classicist blasts Europe
Former Fresno State professor discusses world's view of the U.S.
Joseph Vasquez / The Collegian
Victor David Hanson is author of many books dealing with modern and ancient warfare, and appears regularly on the History Channel as well as other networks. The former Fresno State professor of classics and ancient history spoke Wednesday about the United States and its place in the world. |
By Jenna Nielsen
The Collegian
While a number of countries have adopted economic and political systems favorable to the United States, some countries remain hostile and anti-American.
Classicist and historian Victor Davis Hanson spoke about anti-Americanism in the media and other topics such as illegal immigration, the war in Iraq and Hurricane Katrina Wednesday night in the Satellite Student Union.
The lecture and question-and-answer session was presented by the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, which said it offers intellectually stimulating learning and cultural opportunities to people age 50 and older.
“Europe has a negative perception of the United States and the reasons they are angry are not based on fact. They are not empirical,” Hanson said.
He said European newspapers such as The Guardian reported Hurricane Katrina as a global catastrophe brought on by American global warming. Hanson said newspapers were also saying helicopters couldn’t land in Louisiana, which led to the shooting of people of color on the ground.
“Europe is a proud nation,” Hanson said. “They have a larger population and territory than the U.S.”
He said growth in the U.S. last year was about 4 to 5 percent compared with .2 to .5 percent in Europe.
“Europe’s not growing,” Hanson said. “They have an aging population that cannot pay the entitlements to sustain it.”
In Greece, for example, Hanson said there is one person paying for one person retiring. He said Europeans look at the U.S. and see a younger population with more square footage and they are angry about it.
“This creates deep-seeded emotional responses that are anti-American,” Hanson said.
Hanson remains optimistic on the future of the perception of America.
“Most people on the planet have decided they want an open, free country,” he said. “I remain optimistic actually. Look at China. They have adopted a capitalist system.”
When asked if he thought America was an empire, Hanson responded that the U.S. has not taken land from anyone since 1898.
“We pay for our bases around the world and we have undergone a radical withdrawal of troops from the DMZ in Korea and Germany, etc.,” Hanson said. “The U.S. has begun to turn the tables. If we are so bad, why don’t you just defend yourself? And you know, a funny thing happened, they didn’t want us to leave,”
Countries are now begging the U.S. to stay, he said.
On the subject of drilling in the Artcic, Hanson said people have no problem with Russia tearing up land in Siberia, but when it comes to America’s own land, people are not so willing to allow the drilling for oil.
“Send us your oil so we can drive, drive, drive, but we aren’t going to dare drill on our own soil because we are ‘environmentally sound’,” Hanson said.
Hanson also spoke about the problems California has with illegal immigration.
“We have plenty of statistics. Eight to 12 million illegal immigrants live here and there are 15,000 in the California penal system costing $450 million a year,” he said.
Hanson said illegal immigration has both positive and negative effects on California, but the problem can be solved.
“We all need to roll up our sleeves and everybody needs to make a concession,” he said. “We can solve this problem before it really begins to pollute our politics.”
Hanson works with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution, a program dedicated to research for domestic policy and international affairs. He is a retired and honorary Fresno State professor who joined the Fresno State faculty in 1984 and initiated a classics program before leaving to the acclaimed Hoover program in 2004.
Hanson lives in Selma and has written about 170 articles, book reviews and newspaper editorials on Greek, agrarian and military history and contemporary culture, according to his biography.
His new book, “A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War,” will be published in October.
He has also won several awards including the American Philological Association Excellence in Teaching Award in 1991, which is given to undergraduate teachers of Greek and Latin, the Eric Breindel Award for opinion journalism in 2002 and Alumnus of the Year at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2002, where he received his B.A. in 1975.
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