It's no secret that many liberal politicians wish we were more like Europe.
No death penalty, socialist economies and medicine, same-sex marriage, great worker's rights... it's a veritable Disneyland of left-leaning politics.
So how are things in, say, Germany? This is a great country with a fantastic economic base built from the ground up after WWII. The entire goal was high efficiency in the tradition of brilliant German engineers and businessmen.
Today?
From a poster at Cougarboard.com who used to live in Germany:
I just saw a German news program on the German economy:
A full eighth of all Germans live under the poverty level (meaning their take home pay is less than $1100 a month for a single person, under $1650 a month for a family of 4). Another 1/8th live right at those levels - through government assistance (on total, 26% at poverty level or lower).
Another 1/8th are "rich" - and take home over $4500 a month. And they're complaining about the increasing gap between rich and poor.
And this in a country where less than 40% own their home, where gasoline is currently priced over $9 a gallon, where utilities are 3 or 4 times what they are here, etc., and where the current big debate in government is not whether to raise taxes, but by how much. And lately their news reports have been full of gloating about how poorly the US economy has been doing.
If Europe is what our elected officials want for us, Europe is what we'll become.
That's a vaguely worrisome.
2 comments:
Hi there !
There is something you don't fully understand about Europeans. With the exception of brits of course, people of Europe for centuries fight for their survival not prosperity. Prosperity always was a bonus and for the most of European history reserved only for the nobles not for the regular folks. Sadly to say a lifestyle is not in European vocabulary because requires choice. Poor people have no choice. That's why nowadays after so many terrible wars and revolutions our governments are obliged by peoples of their nations to help us to survive. Different history and different priorities, that's all.
I appreciate your comments, anon. I admit I do not have a good grasp on the European perspective.
That said, I'd be more forgiving of how things are going if they'd leave off delighting in our current economic situation. :)
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