At last, something Europeans and Americans can agree upon | Letter
Never make the mistake of conflating the actual people of a country with those who govern it, says Eric JanssonThe survey on which you report (Only one in 10 Europeans...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
Never make the mistake of conflating the actual people of a country with those who govern it, says Eric Jansson The survey on which you report ( Only one in 10 Europeans now see US as an ally, survey suggests, 10 June ) is wonderfully in line with the view of US citizens themselves, given the recent poll finding that only 2% of them trust the US government “just about always”, and only 15% trust it “most of the time” – a shrivelled fraction of the 73% who in 1958 said they trusted it always or most of the time, according to the Pew Research Center . We can rest easy knowing that Europeans and Americans (never mind their governments) remain natural allies with plenty to agree about. Never make the mistake of conflating the people of a country or civilisation with those who govern it. This goes for Washington, Brussels, London, Moscow, Beijing, Kinshasa, you name it. Eric Jansson Oxford Continue reading...