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 Post
has 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/
Those in control of money and power here are so afraid our people might figure out where we could be, they just construct outright lies about Europe or any other region that suites them.
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