The State of European Television

The gap between the U.S. and the rest of the world is as large as ever. It is gigantic. This this was one of the big takeaways from the trip too.

The dynamism that is palpable on even the poor streets of America (with a few exceptions), and in the deserted places, where it feels slow and listless compared to the urban places of this country. Nevertheless is flows there as well. It is the thick substance of Life that is clearly driving the machine of the world economy and global culture.

Everyone else lives in the shadow of America. We are such titans above everything else.

Even our riots are filled with great dynamic life.

In Europe the masses congregate in protests. They are the protests of people who know that they are of the class of people who are not rulers, and not the wealthy, and they know that they never will be, and nor will their descendants be. They know that the class structure that rules their society is eternal.

Most European pop culture is an attempt to follow American trends in showmanship, narrative, characters, ideology, etc. This is painfully obvious across the continent. American pop culture is the gold standard of the world as much as ever---more than ever.

Who had the best television in Europe?

We both agreed on the obvious answer: Italy. This is because thebelieve in their own sense of style, and feel they don't need to follow the Americans, at least on this one issue. They feel free to borrow much from America they like---in fact they ironically love America.

Europe Can't Escape Its Waterloo

Nowhere in Europe was the decay more evident than in Belgium, and most of all, in Brussels.

Our hotel was downtown, about a half mile easy walk uphill from the train station. Our room looked right across at the many stories of the police municipal headquarters.

But as we'd come to expect, the streets were full of trash and the nearby park and botanical gardens, with sunny royal and mythological sculptures, was, when one looked around, smashed up and tagged with graffiti when you looked.

I couldn't help feeling that this is what Central Park looked like New York City in the 1970's, when that place was an emblem of the rot of America.

America's cities have mostly come roaring back, at least in the ones that are officially abandoned. But the spirit has stirred inside the urban cores.

In Europe the cities feel as if at the end of the cycle of long period of building and stability. All of Europe was signs of it, or signs of the impeding effects of these changes, even where it hasn't yet taken hold (like Sweden).

Brussels, however, was where it was most evident. It felt like a city that although still stable, could descend into complete dysfunctional chaos at any moment.

This is quite different than an American city. In Europe it feels as if there is a lack of the social cohesion that still holds America very tightly together, but which most American's don't realize even exists to the degree it does, because outwardly we are at each other's throats (because of our insistence on finding consensus in pop culture, mostly).

Europe has no such problems because it just feels listless, as if the social fabric itself has rotted away such that it would not take much to make it all fall apart completely.

Personally I believe this is partly a result of the giant mistake of creating the Ideal of Europe, and putting it at the center of people's lives. It is a false idol, and now its emptiness is bearing bitter fruit.

My Swedish friend Stefan, who lives and works by choice in comfort of Switzerland, was not at all surprised at our observations about Brussels. He laughed when we told him all this.

And then he added a remark which sort of summed up the whole trip, and the whole situation in Europe at this moment of history. He mentioned in particular the place that is at the epicenter of the trends that have overwhelmed the continent in recent decades.

"Of course," he said. "That's the way it is. The closer you get to France..."

This video from 1974 plays on a continuous loop at the ABBA Experience in Stockholm, where the instruments and costumes are on display as well.

Europe Has Fallen

To be honest, the trip to Europe last fall was tough.

Not in a personal sense, really at all. In fact on that score, it was a great triumph.

We traveled with ease, in what would have been to me, at an earlier age, grand luxury.  Discomfort was minor. Incidents few. Working from the road while relocating almost constantly was a mere slight burden at this point.  The one true crisis I encountered was solved by folks back at home with only the slightest need for intervention on my part.

We got to see some amazing sights. Above all, we got to interact with marvelous people.

But Europe itself on the other hand, felt quite different. We both noticed it to a strong degree, almost everywhere we went. The Spirt of 1985 seems like a long time ago. The wind felt so strongly towards freedom back then. Now a stagnant chill seems to have fallen over much of the continent. Things have changed. Things just feel so different, even in the prosperous cheery places.

Thankfully there were pockets and islands of burgeoning life still, where one does not feel this chill so strongly. The Netherlands are probably the best example of this.

I would include Iceland of course, as the best example of the Spirit of the People, but geologically it is half in North America, so I consider it to be neutral ground, at least, if not on our side completely.

Gotham in the Rear View Mirror

The termination of my job at the Big Publishing Company, at least the way it played out, was like leaving New York all over again, only ten years after the fact.

The day-to-day interaction with people there at the headquarters, as sparse and routine as the communication became towards the end of my contract, gave me a low-grade buzz feeling that I was still playing in the New York league of work and business, even from thousands of miles away.

That I had discovered I could pull this off, and still compete in the "contact sport" of New York work places, was a great satisfaction for me, as a means of a fringe benefit for my job.

I'd been able to do this---and amaze folks with my ability to solve problems on a high level---while traveling the U.S.A. and the world. Forty odd states. Over a dozen countries. Three continents.

But by January of this year, I already knew it was time to move on. I had achieved all my goals at this job, I felt. Moreover they had signaled they weren't going to need me after a certain date, because they were phasing out the platform I had helped build for them.

On my last day, I told my boss that I thought the Big Publishing Company was making a mistake, throwing away that software platform they had developed for themselves, in house. He saw my point, but we both knew it was an academic discussion. The decision had been made.

So I left New York again. This time I didn't drive over the Bayonne Bridge in an old Dodge loaded with boxes and junk, but simply got up in the morning and didn't turn on Skype.

The Bookshelf of Normal

It's been over four months since I got back from a long trip to Europe. We settled back down in Portland, found a new apartment on the East side, and got back into the rhythm of everyday life again for a while.

Then everything went sideways for awhile, and among other things I no longer work for the Big Publishing Company headquartered in the odd-shaped building in Manhattan.

Also had to go back to Colorado and a family emergency. Things are ok there now, but it was stressful for a while. It was great to see the family again.

Now I'm back in Portland and wondering if I remember what normal is. It's like a book on the shelf with a bookmark, that I take down and begin reading where I left off.