When nothing could be further from that depiction. Europe is in so many ways better off than we are.
When you have a group of people who are for the most part uneducated and extremely provincial, very religious to the point of being fanatical, very much troubled by others who are more educated, more intelligent, more eloquent; then you are bound to find some absurd and unfounded biases and misconceptions.
These are real and very much present in American society. You can see it in the way that all these Teabaggers reject intellectualism and meritocracy. Anything that is factual, researched, science proven they reject. They loath intellectual endeavors and academic excellence…that is why you see the likes of Sarah Palin or Rick Perry rise to prominence because to them these are like Rhodes Scholars. Hell, these people can’t spell or even speak English correctly. Even news organizations are chastised for not delivering the vitriol they want to hear. These competent and legitimate journalists will not sink to that level in order to gain the acceptance of this ignorant minority. Unlike Fox which does not waste an opportunity to put down anything European.
The “LIBERAL MEDIA”, as they are so often referred to, is composed of East coast liberal intellectuals who want to bring SOCIALISM to America and destroy the American way of life according to these idiots.
In reality, what has been destroying America is the widespread ignorance and harmful Republican partisan politics that range from spreading lies through demagoguery to actual sabotage of any legislation that would have brought a recovery from the mess they created.
Of course the conservative base of the Republican Party has no idea that what they are told is not true, after all, they don’t read, they don’t get to meet other people from different backgrounds, they loath diversity and wallow in a mud puddle of superstition and ignorance that their churches offers them. They seldom travel more than 50 miles from their rural or backwards provincial dwelling. To them, a vacation in Bronson, Mo. Is probably the highlight of their miserable sheltered lives.
Oh yes, these people claim to love America...they are MEGA-PATRIOTS and they measure their patriotism by lapel flags and the amount of right-wing bumper stickers they can fit in a car's fender.
Oh yes, these people claim to love America...they are MEGA-PATRIOTS and they measure their patriotism by lapel flags and the amount of right-wing bumper stickers they can fit in a car's fender.
What seems to be really pathetic to me is that a major political party and a segment of the population will so willingly surrender the helm of the nation to people who are clearly not qualified to occupy any public office. We saw how this was very obvious when they elected an incompetent, inarticulate conservative in the likes of George W. Bush. We had others like Reagan who had the luster of movie star but no real substance other than he was an admirer of Ayn Rand, he went on to occupy the infamous place of one of the worst Presidents America ever had.
With all due respect to those who don’t agree with me, I am a great admirer of Europe. I relish their level of culture and their LIBERAL-PROGRESSIVE values. I think that in order for the free enterprise system to function there has to be regulations and a government that enforces them. It works for them.
I am most impressed by the European safety nets (Canada also) and the assurance that old people will not do without basic food and shelter or medical care. Call that SOCIALISM…so be it…I love it and you can argue until you are blue in the face that a PLUTOCRACY headed by a multimillionaire like Romney is preferable to that.
This is a post that impressed me very much as it reflects a lot of the points I am trying to make.
It appeared today in MICHAEL IN NORFOLK
It appeared today in MICHAEL IN NORFOLK
Having visited Europe last October (not to mention my extensive travels there when I was in-house counsel for an oil company), I continue to find it amazing how the leading GOP presidential candidates depict Europe as some socialist nightmare far inferior to the United States. They apparently get away with such demagoguery because too many Americans haven't traveled to Europe and hence don't know any better than to believe the deliberate lies. The other reason, of course, is the growing level of ignorance and lack of education that are the norm of the GOP base. Bible beating, the embrace of ignorance, and the need to feel better about one's self by looking down on others seem to be the main characteristics of these folks (and a low IQ if one believes the research I referenced last week). The Washington Posthas an op-ed that takes on the GOP presidential clown car and makes the case that it the USA that is socially inferior. Not to mention highlighting the fact that most European countries nowadays are far less inclined to view their citizens as a throw away commodity than is the case in this country, especially in GOP circles. Here are some highlights:
Lately it seems that not a day goes by without a Republican presidential candidate portraying Europe as a socialist nightmare. Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum paint a picture of the Old World as unfree, strangulated by bureaucratic and inefficient welfare systems, and unable to reform and modernize. To these Republicans, Europe seems to be the antipode to everything America is meant to be.
[W]hen Romney, Gingrich and Santorum warn about “socialist Europe,” they sound as though they are talking about the Soviet empire, which vanished long ago. Europe is the European Union, a modern entity of 27 democratic countries that, despite many commonalities, greatly differ in history, culture, language, sociology and politics. Europe is difficult to comprehend, but viewing it through a single lens is like calling the United States a Third World nation because there are very poor areas in the South where some people live in shacks or have little access to health care . . .
My problem as a European living in the United States is that it is not Joe the Plumber who is bashing Europe but three longtime politicians who want to be president — people who should know better. . . . Those who seek to be president of a global superpower — and may perhaps one day sit at a table with leaders of the Old World — should know a few things:
All 27 E.U. members believe, more or less, in mandatory health-care insurance and public education. They believe that government should offer a helping hand to struggling businesses and people during economic downturns.
[S]some countries have carried out necessary economic reforms, engineered their comeback and managed the storm of the Great Recession quite well. To some extent they can now present better results than the United States.
Several European states run their mandatory health-care systems more efficiently and at lower cost than the United States while guaranteeing every citizen access to affordable and up-to-date services. The population’s health remains an important economic factor.
Romney pointed out in New Hampshire last month that, despite the economic downturn, the average U.S. worker still takes home a bigger monthly paycheck than the average European (and even the average German, who makes more than, say, Romanians). That’s true, but the comparison doesn’t take into account the much greater wealth gap in the United States nor the fact that Americans have to spend larger portions of their income on medical care and education.
A college education is still free in most Old World countries and produces generally better results than in the United States.
[H]high school students in a number of E.U. countries scored better in reading, math and science than their U.S. counterparts. Another OECD report shows that it is much easier for Germans, Swedes, Danes, Norwegians and Spaniards to climb the socioeconomic ladder than Americans.
Framing Europe simply as inflexible and outdated, or backward and socialistic, is shortsighted and wrong. Romney, Gingrich and Santorum should know as well as anyone that the globe is no longer flat.
[W]hen Romney, Gingrich and Santorum warn about “socialist Europe,” they sound as though they are talking about the Soviet empire, which vanished long ago. Europe is the European Union, a modern entity of 27 democratic countries that, despite many commonalities, greatly differ in history, culture, language, sociology and politics. Europe is difficult to comprehend, but viewing it through a single lens is like calling the United States a Third World nation because there are very poor areas in the South where some people live in shacks or have little access to health care . . .
My problem as a European living in the United States is that it is not Joe the Plumber who is bashing Europe but three longtime politicians who want to be president — people who should know better. . . . Those who seek to be president of a global superpower — and may perhaps one day sit at a table with leaders of the Old World — should know a few things:
All 27 E.U. members believe, more or less, in mandatory health-care insurance and public education. They believe that government should offer a helping hand to struggling businesses and people during economic downturns.
[S]some countries have carried out necessary economic reforms, engineered their comeback and managed the storm of the Great Recession quite well. To some extent they can now present better results than the United States.
Several European states run their mandatory health-care systems more efficiently and at lower cost than the United States while guaranteeing every citizen access to affordable and up-to-date services. The population’s health remains an important economic factor.
Romney pointed out in New Hampshire last month that, despite the economic downturn, the average U.S. worker still takes home a bigger monthly paycheck than the average European (and even the average German, who makes more than, say, Romanians). That’s true, but the comparison doesn’t take into account the much greater wealth gap in the United States nor the fact that Americans have to spend larger portions of their income on medical care and education.
A college education is still free in most Old World countries and produces generally better results than in the United States.
[H]high school students in a number of E.U. countries scored better in reading, math and science than their U.S. counterparts. Another OECD report shows that it is much easier for Germans, Swedes, Danes, Norwegians and Spaniards to climb the socioeconomic ladder than Americans.
Framing Europe simply as inflexible and outdated, or backward and socialistic, is shortsighted and wrong. Romney, Gingrich and Santorum should know as well as anyone that the globe is no longer flat.
Yes, they ought to know better. I guess when one has to court the votes of idiots and bigots, telling the truth isn't always too helpful for the panderers.
THIS IS ONE BLOG I WOULD DEFINETLY RECOMMEND:
MICHAEL IN NORFLOLK
Coming out in midlife
http://michael-in-norfolk.blogspot.com/
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