Somebody: This sounds much like Angelus crowing about the Hartz IV reforms in Germany. But, frankly, nobody questions whether there's been a neo-liberal onslaught in Western Europe. The question is merely whether or not the systems prevailing in certain EU countries is still on the whole more social democratic than in the United States. I think the answer is an unequivocal yes. I suppose I deserve a punch in the fucking mouth for stating the obvious.
Really, only the United States and to a lesser extent the United Kingdom have seen a massive increase in economic inequality in the last forty years. All the Economist approved reforms in Germany, France, and the Nordic countries still amount to less than Reagan achieved in just his first term.