And the corollary to Dennis and others' mystifications of European social reality is that over here, every demontage of the social insurance system, every NATO or EU war, every introduction of students' fees, every propaganda against trade union strikes, is done with the justification that "at least we don't have American conditions."
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Interesting.
Americans use Europe for a variety of propaganda purposes; Europe returns to favor.
As you know, it's common for American 'conservatives' to describe Europe as a moribund haven for "socialist" ideas (in quotes because what people here call socialism ranges from, on the one end, actually existing socialist concepts to, at the opposite end, any government program they find objectionable and want to deride as "un-American").
And, it's just as common for American liberals and leftists to look to Europe for at least some examples of the kinds of social democratic practices we'd like to see take root in the US.
Meanwhile, European governments - who're apparently busy shrinking the scale and scope of those programs which are, depending upon ideological leaning, either criticized or celebrated by Americans - use the United States as a bogeyman and rhetorical lever.
.d.
-- Yuri, please switch the camera to AGC mode using the ATV control. Copy.
...................... http://monroelab.net/blog/