By Rupert Cornwell
The Independent
"....But I'll miss him most of all as the wisest student and interpreter of contemporary Europe on this side of the Atlantic – perhaps on either side.
That, it should be said, is not how he was primarily seen here. Judt was best known for his criticism of Israel's policies and his quarrels with the American Jewish committee....Judt's unique value lay in his ability to explain, and more recently subtly promote, Europe in a land where it is largely derided. But circumstances, above all economic circumstances, are forcing a change in the debate. And Judt, I suspect, will soon be seen as a prophet....
....I've spent the best part of the past two decades in the US. Never have I been more pessimistic about America's prospects. Some argue that Europe must become more "American" if it is to survive and punch its weight in the changing 21st-century world order. Never have I been more convinced that it is America that must move, and towards a more egalitarian European model, where the role of government is stronger, if it is to flourish as in the past.
As both the deficit and unemployment grow unchecked, as double-dip recession looms, and as America's safety net for its most vulnerable citizens seems ever more threadbare, some at least are coming to think that way. Naturally the patriotic drumbeat continues, and not only from conservatives who believe the answer to every problem is a cut in capital gains tax. America, we are constantly reminded, remains the land of unfettered opportunity, the best place to live on Earth.
But tell that to the country's battered "middle class" (about 80 per cent of the population)....."
The Independent
"....But I'll miss him most of all as the wisest student and interpreter of contemporary Europe on this side of the Atlantic – perhaps on either side.
That, it should be said, is not how he was primarily seen here. Judt was best known for his criticism of Israel's policies and his quarrels with the American Jewish committee....Judt's unique value lay in his ability to explain, and more recently subtly promote, Europe in a land where it is largely derided. But circumstances, above all economic circumstances, are forcing a change in the debate. And Judt, I suspect, will soon be seen as a prophet....
....I've spent the best part of the past two decades in the US. Never have I been more pessimistic about America's prospects. Some argue that Europe must become more "American" if it is to survive and punch its weight in the changing 21st-century world order. Never have I been more convinced that it is America that must move, and towards a more egalitarian European model, where the role of government is stronger, if it is to flourish as in the past.
As both the deficit and unemployment grow unchecked, as double-dip recession looms, and as America's safety net for its most vulnerable citizens seems ever more threadbare, some at least are coming to think that way. Naturally the patriotic drumbeat continues, and not only from conservatives who believe the answer to every problem is a cut in capital gains tax. America, we are constantly reminded, remains the land of unfettered opportunity, the best place to live on Earth.
But tell that to the country's battered "middle class" (about 80 per cent of the population)....."
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