I think it's easy to look at wealthier EU member states, outside of the UK, and point to how much better off they are than the US, despite their discussed problems. I'd wager the intensity of what's wrong with Europe today is more a question of where you look for those problems, in every specific member state. Europe maybe largely better off, but it isn't always felt that way, and for many it's getting worse.
Best, Joel
On Fri, Sep 17, 2010 at 8:33 AM, Somebody Somebody
<philos_case at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Bhaskar: As far as Blumgart's views on social democracy, I think he definitely underestimates how far the neoliberalism has advanced in Europe and looks back on the golden age of social democracy with too much nostalgia for my tastes
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> 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.
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> 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.
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-- joel schalit skype: jschalit tel: +49 1514 0212899 email: jschalit at gmail.com web: www.joelschalit.com