Having lived in both the US and a couple of countries in the EU, one thing that struck me about living in the EU is how inwards looking and past facing the society is. And the general sense of European exceptionalism meant there was much less interest in attracting talent from outside the EU. I personally believe the latter is one of the major reasons for their decline. In many industries and in academia, not only don't they attract outside talent, but also lose a lot of European talent to the US and UK.
Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
41–50 of 59 posts
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#42Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have to disagree with one point you made. Despite what the media would have you believe, gun violence in America is not random. The vast majority of it is gang related or suicide. We don’t have a gun problem, we have an inner city crime problem and a mental health problem, both probably fueled largely by the other problems you mentioned, such as our work culture and lack of social safety nets. Another point I’d lik…
> Another point I’d like to make is that modern European lifestyles exist partly due to American military hegemony, which has allowed European nations to redirect their defense spending to social programs. I agree with you on your main point, but I'm not sure this one holds. Per NATO, defense spending is supposed to be around 2% of GDP, with most European countries spending 1-1.5% [1]. This is while the average Europ…
That Wikipedia article you specify shows that U.S. already spends 18-20%, and then when you scroll down further to the Total Net Social spending, it rises to 30%, which places U.S. #2 in social spending as % of GDP already.
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have to disagree with one point you made. Despite what the media would have you believe, gun violence in America is not random. The vast majority of it is gang related or suicide. We don’t have a gun problem, we have an inner city crime problem and a mental health problem, both probably fueled largely by the other problems you mentioned, such as our work culture and lack of social safety nets. Another point I’d lik…
> Another point I’d like to make is that modern European lifestyles exist partly due to American military hegemony, which has allowed European nations to redirect their defense spending to social programs. I see Americans make this comment a lot. Putting aside whether or not it is true that it enables higher domestic social spending, the comment never seems to come with the realisation that many Europeans deride the…
> America [...] please stop continuously expanding NATO
Many Eastern Europeans would probably have very different thoughts.
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have to disagree with one point you made. Despite what the media would have you believe, gun violence in America is not random. The vast majority of it is gang related or suicide. We don’t have a gun problem, we have an inner city crime problem and a mental health problem, both probably fueled largely by the other problems you mentioned, such as our work culture and lack of social safety nets. Another point I’d lik…
That's not entirely true though, at least (living here) it doesn't seem that way. It seems that barely a week goes by without some rando running amok with another shooting in a local mall or in a school somewhere in the state and these people are then deemed "mentally ill" and nothing happens to stop it happening again. There sure must be a lot of mentally ill people in the USA... As for the last point, the US does n…
> not have military bases overseas for any reason other than self-interest
Which is fine as long as it's also in interest of the host country to have the American base in their territory.
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#45Is moving to EU from the US a terrible move?
Not at all, especially if you're an American working remote and you're bringing an American wage with you. You get a lower CoL and higher QoL in Europe. Life is more relaxed, more focused on living. I'm happier and healthier when I'm living over there vs here.
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#46Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Another point I’d like to make is that modern European lifestyles exist partly due to American military hegemony, which has allowed European nations to redirect their defense spending to social programs. I see Americans make this comment a lot. Putting aside whether or not it is true that it enables higher domestic social spending, the comment never seems to come with the realisation that many Europeans deride the…
> America [...] please stop continuously expanding NATO Many Eastern Europeans would probably have very different thoughts.
Like I said, views are changing in light of events, but let’s not pretend this was the settled majority view since 1945 or 1990. That’s the point: there has been a presumption by America that their view is the only view over the long term, leading to European perceptions that the US takes an arrogant view of their defence spending.
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#47Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have to disagree with one point you made. Despite what the media would have you believe, gun violence in America is not random. The vast majority of it is gang related or suicide. We don’t have a gun problem, we have an inner city crime problem and a mental health problem, both probably fueled largely by the other problems you mentioned, such as our work culture and lack of social safety nets. Another point I’d lik…
You may have an "inner city crime problem" but that does not mean you don't have a gun problem. It absolutely is both.
The way you said “you” implies you’re not from the United States. Gun violence is one of those areas where nearly all American media surrounding it is heavily biased. Politicians seize on this every time to push gun control measures which usually have nothing to do with the specifics of the incident, such as pushing for universal background checks when the gun used was legally purchased by one of their parents and improperly secured, or pushing for an “assault rifle” ban when the weapon was a handgun. This makes it painfully obvious that most of these gun control measures are really just intended to disarm the opposition to future authoritarian plans. The Second Amendment wasn’t put into the Bill of Rights just so some backwoods hicks could go deer hunting.
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#48Of course it has, and it will further. EU countries are busy dominating each other. The EU is not about unity but rather about modern day colonialism. I think storm clouds are brewing over europe and wont be too long until things will blow up again.
> The EU is not about unity but rather about modern day colonialism. What does this mean?
It means the central countries in the EU (Germany, France, Netherlands, Scandinavia) are mining the peripheral countries for resources and cheap labour, and placing them in a situation of permanent indebtedness, so they effectively become colonial outposts of Brussels.
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#49The point about the lifestyle industries is a good one. Europeans feel they have the good life, so why would they want to be more like Americans (who work like crazy, have no safety net, and live with random gun violence) or like the Chinese (who slide into even greater autocracy)? Perhaps the drawbacks of American and Chinese society are the very factors contributing to their economic growth?
I have to disagree with one point you made. Despite what the media would have you believe, gun violence in America is not random. The vast majority of it is gang related or suicide. We don’t have a gun problem, we have an inner city crime problem and a mental health problem, both probably fueled largely by the other problems you mentioned, such as our work culture and lack of social safety nets. Another point I’d lik…
There are mass shootings almost every day, and they do not seem to be limited to 'an inner city crime problem'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_shootings_in_the_...
Re: Europe has fallen behind America and the gap is growing
#50Having lived in both the US and a couple of countries in the EU, one thing that struck me about living in the EU is how inwards looking and past facing the society is. And the general sense of European exceptionalism meant there was much less interest in attracting talent from outside the EU. I personally believe the latter is one of the major reasons for their decline. In many industries and in academia, not only do…
Better past facing than ridiculously fast pacing.