I don't have too much of an argument on infrastructure. European infrastructure is, in some ways, much better, though much of it in ways that aren't especially useful to Americans. The French train system is so comfortable and fast that the only discomfort I felt while traveling the 800 kilometers from Paris to Marseilles in 3 hours was the embarrassment of comparing the trip to my commutes last month on the Acela, which takes the same time to travel half the distance for twice the price. But where outside the Bos-NY-Wash corridor could we build such a train? Our country is to big too have spokes of trains coming out of New York or Washington, like the TGV emanates from Paris.
But poverty and social justice? As a starting point, I think it's clear that France has reached a point very close to the Laffer Curve - that is, broadly, the point where lowering taxes would raise more revenue. I know for sure that if I was French, and told that I could make almost as much money by lazing at a prestigious government job rather than busting myself working for private industry, I would pack it in overnight and start planning my month-long Provence holiday.
But are things really better for the poor in France? I really can't tell. On one hand, the government benefits are obviously more generous. But on the other, I have never seen in New York, the jungle of poverty, scenes like I saw in the richest arrondissement in Paris during this vacation - poor men coming almost to blows over the grocery store's trash can, and two others trying to breath air into their friend's wheezing lungs after his emergence from what I took to be some sort of giant dumpster. I would say that we're better at pushing poverty off to the unseen sides, except that Europeans have long claimed with pride that their superiority had something to do with the fact that you didn't see poor people on their streets. Well, you do. And they're more desperate than the ones on ours, in my experience on this trip and others. So where does that leave us?
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well, i can't compare the poverty situation in Europe and the US because I really don't have scientific data to support an argument either way. I suppose if you are poor, you are poor in the same way here or there, but what I do know is that it takes a lot "more" to become poor in Europe. I'm speaking from my experience and maybe this is very specific to the basque country. There are many more tools in place to support the middle class which at the end, makes it more difficult for a family to reach the poverty level. Of course there will always be poor people and there will always be those who take advantage of the system.
I also understand the American (Adam Smith) view of "I take care of myself and the market will follow" but I think that works when all people start off at the same level of opportunity which I don't think is realistic.
So I think certain social tools are necessary to build a stronger country. As I see it, and I think it's the European mentality to a large stnt, I'd rather share my wealth and have a bit less in order to achieve a social equilibrium. Does this make sense?
Aran - I think your point makes perfect sense. Americans, to a large extent, have chosen to have more money and be forced to share less, and to accept the costs of lesser social equilibrium as part of generating more wealth. My inclination is the American way, but, in the end, I loved living in Europe when I lived there. Eh.
but have you thought about what was it about Europe that you liked so much? Perhaps the "wealth of living"? Without generalizing too much, Americans focus too much in the material wealth and accumulation of material assets without thoroughly enjoying what they have.
why live in a big mansion if your neighbor lives in a shack and you cannot even share a tapa with him?
and i'm glad my husband is not reading my comments because as a business owner, he always complains that taxes kill him! he is so happy i cannot vote...
It clearly is the wealth of living that appeals to me. But my overall judgement is that it is better for the eventual result to be like America than to be like Europe, even if I personally would rather live in the society that emerges from the European model. I'd like to live in all sorts of inefficient societies, honestly, since I like solitude, and quiet, and so on - but in the end that doesn't mean we should return to that of life for everyone.
i suppose one's upbringing has a lot to do with all this. like i said, i respect america. i live here, my husband is from here, he defends his right to bear arms, my son was born here... i really do understand it but i wish americans wanted to grow up a bit and open their eyes to the world and stop the john wayne attitude of cowboys and indians.
but anyway, i don't want to leave this comment section with a bitter note since i love living here and when i go back home i complain of people's lack of entrepreneurial motivation. nobody is perfect i suppose.
As a French I notice the same poverty here than back home. It just does not target the same populations and is visible differently. Poverty in urban environment is the same on both continents but I feel that in rural areas it is not as prevalent in France. Yes, we have many many aides and taz breaks (hich are digging a hole in the collective pocket), but there are as many bureaucratic loops to get them, and I admit I don't know how that specific aid system works in America. I also know that things are more noticeable when on a smaller scale. When I went home one year, I could not help but notice the poverty in a town like Paris or Marseilles and thought that it as not as bad in the US. When I got back here, I felt I was noticing it just the same, it was mre visible overseas.
Like Aran, one thing I love about the US is this entrepreneur spirit that one can do and achieve and that one can re-invent themselves many times over. My husband is on his 4th career and my degree was not leading me into the pastry industry but here it did and no one questionned it. In France, you keep the same job forever...very hard to remake yourseld because of our carreer/diploma stuffiness which I think makes it difficult for somebody in need or in trouble to find a solution or a way out of problems.
Yes. There's no doubt to me that in terms of flexibility and in changing your life, America is far superior, as it is if what you want is to become extremely rich. What France/Europe offer is the enforced societal choice of leisure over effort. As I've said above, it might be a choice I prefer, but I think on the whole the Anglo-Saxon model is superior.
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