> A short version of this argument can be summed up as follows: US
> capitalists can engage in reckless and and outrageous pursuits because
> they feel safer than their European counterparts. And they feel safer
> because the plurality (if not the majority) of the US population sucks
> up to business big time, and grunts fight amongst themselves over
> bones thrown to them by their business masters instead of challenging
> the system.
>
I wonder these days if it's just a question of empire. Because from 1898 to 1985, the US was an empire, and not just any empire -- it was the biggest, richest, most technologically advanced empire of the 20th century.
That probably deradicalized US workers, because there was more buyoff (our trillion-dollar military-industrial complex is a glorified jobs program). But it may have radicalized other countries -- their ruling-classes were envious of the power and wealth of Wall Street, their workers envied US consumerism. Because you couldn't ignore that consumerism: it was right there, on Hollywood screens, in news reports, in the well-fed faces of GIs and tourists.
-- DRR