[lbo-talk] Fwd: Jeremy Rifkin: The European Dream

[tully]

On Thursday 21 April 2005 05:54 pm, Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>While I agree with the direction of his argument, I think this
> statement is not true.  In my view, Americans are probably among
> the most risk aversive peoples - as indicated by the inordinate
> amount of effort and money they spent on procuring security or
> rather an illusion of it and avoiding anything that makes them even
> slightly uncomfortable.  Risk avoidance - staying in "safe" places
> and avoiding contacts with anything that looks different from
> "things at home" - is a rather salient trait of many Americans
> abroad.

I think the one leads to the other, that the every-man-for-himself 
attitude in the US leads to crime (a risk) at all class levels in our 
society and thus the need to protect ourselves from becoming its 
victim.  Is there anywhere in Europe where violent or white collar 
crime is as high as it is here?  Do the sidewalks in many European 
cities roll up at sunset?  Do European news broadcasts devote a 
quarter of their time discussing the most sensational local crimes or 
other fear-mongering tactics?  I doubt it.   

--tully