by Hans-Gustav Schwartz

Created on: June 21, 2008   Last Updated: February 02, 2012

Recent events have disclosed that Anheuser-Busch is the subject of a takeover bid from a Belgian company. It seems a lot of people are concerned about this seeming encroachment upon what is viewed by many as an American institution.

Quite frankly, isn't this really much ado about nothing? I mean, if some other company buys out August Busch and his cronies, does it really matter to the guy killing off his Sunday afternoon twelve-pack watching whatever inane sports show he's decided to waste the afternoon with? Of course not. When he finds out that Budweiser is now made by the same country that gave us big horses, Jean-Claude VanDamme and Belgian waffles, is he going to switch to Coors or Miller? I think not.

Beer drinkers buy beer, presumably, because they like the taste. Ok, ok, so mass produced American beers are, by and large, a bit shy in the taste department. But I've always said there's no accounting for taste. The fact is, consumers are going to buy what they like, and, so long as these Frenchie wannabees change nothing in the brewing process, Bud drinkers are going to remain Bud drinkers.

So why all the hoopla about this? Maybe it's because yet another AMERICAN institution is being taken over by FOREIGNERS? God forbid. But aren't we told that globalization is a good thing? That we're all living in the mess we've created on good ol' Mother Earth together? That underneath it all we're brothers and comrades?

For those who have money to invest in publicly traded companies, this event might be worth looking at strictly from an economic investment point of view. Mention of this offer to buy out Anheuser-Busch by a non-American company might deserve some note on the financial page.

Look around you. Don't we really have a lot more serious things to worry about than who makes our beer? Shouldn't we be listening more closely to guys like Al Gore and Barack Obama who talk about a change in our country for the better? Shouldn't we pay closer attention to the way we are perceived internationally? Shouldn't we be involved in cleaning up our communities, improving our schools, finding jobs and food for those without, or even finding a cure for AIDS and other diseases?

In a country where we buy our clothes and workout gear made in developing countries by eight-year old child laborers, where names like Nissan, Panasonic and Toyota are nearly as American as apple pie, where every large metropolitan city has a China Town or Little Italy or some other reminder that we are a nation of immigrants, what's one more added to the Melting Pot? If the Belgians can afford it, and if Auggie Busch and his Board says ok, then, a deal's a deal. Nothing more American than that. It's what lawyers call "an armslength transaction".

Good lord, LAWYERS? Well, they're everywhere, I guess, and all this thought about Belgians buying out Budweiser has made me thirsty. Hold that thought while I grab another cool one from the fridge.

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