A Dying Empire - America - A Working Empire - The EU

[odanny]

And you know this how? I feel like you have the impression that all of England is like London. Outside of London, the English are fairly poor compared to Americans.

Have you been to Europe? I have a multitude of times and have spent significant time there. Their standard of living is not as good as ours on average. You guys seem to view them as having these cozy lifestyles because of their big social welfare states, but that's really not the case. For starters, they have less disposable income than we do because they pay out their asses in taxes to afford those welfare states and they would have to fork out even more if we didn't have our military bases all over their continent propping up their defense. Middle class people in many of those countries pay half or more of their income in taxes. They have smaller living quarters in general than we do, drive smaller cars, the price of gas is astronomical. It's common for many families to have only one car, as opposed to us in the U.S. where each parent has one and possibly the kid.

There are some things over there I like better than here, but I guarantee you that those of you always complaining about how much better they are than we are would have to be dragged kicking and screaming into a European lifestyle.

I get what you're saying, and I'm not naive to think that people over there have more money. Yes, they pay a lot in taxes, and that is a non starter here. The one thing keeping this country from adopting anything related to socialism is taxing the middle class to spread the wealth around.

And that works so well for the wealthiest 1%, they could not be happier about that, and they continue to peddle the notion that Americans have it made because we pay low taxes. Except, well, we don't. The middle class does not have loopholes that the rich do, we don't have offshore tax shelters, and when speaking of "per capita", the middle class often pays more in taxes than the rich, based on the percentage of income going towards paying taxes.

That said, there is efficient rail systems in Europe so not everyone needs a car, Americans don't have the same luxury. Furthermore, the onslaught of privatization of everything has driven up prices in this country to often unaffordable levels for many. The most obvious and egregious example is healthcare. Someone in England who is out of work and gets hurt, and is living off their savings or inheritance, will not lose everything if they have an extended hospital stay. In America, you're screwed.

 

[sparky]

Forty six million people in the USA have been infected with Covid. That’s 14% of the population. Some 740,000 have died. In the European Union, 19 million people have been infected with covid. That’s 4.24% of the population. Some 295,000 have died.

that math don't add up

~S~

 

[ESay]

There are some things over there I like better than here

What is that? Lower criminal rates and public transportation maybe.

 

[Captain Caveman]

The US by definition is not an empire, it's a regional hegemon.

 

[Deplorable Yankee]

The EU continues to prepare for a future world (and economy) while the wealthiest 1% in the United States continue to bleed this country dry and hoard their billions in overseas tax shelters, all with the vociferous support of poor, white, religious conservatives.



Did you get that? The European Union is going to create a new economic system that works for everybody, and it going to invest $930 BILLION into changing the system for the greater good of all.

The gross domestic product for the EU for 2020 was $15.43 trillion. The gross domestic product for America for 2020 was $18.38 trillion. The gross domestic product for China for 2020 was $14.87 trillion. So that would put the USA as substantially richer than the European Union. In addition, while Europe has 448 million people, the States only has 330 million people. China has 1.4 billion people.




And then we have the United States, where Republicans continue to block any forward thinking ideas, instead remaining rooted in a mid-20th century mindset where oil companies are the future, and the white race is under attack.


As a consequence, America is more oligarchy than democracy. Laws have been passed for generations giving mega-corporation the kind of power to suck the blood of consumers dry. Yet, that is not the worst part. The worst part is the horrific ignorance of a large section of the population, resulting in conspiracy theories, belief in gods, and a refusal to heed science. In additon to that, the stress level of Americans has resulted in obesity, 25% life-long mental illness, another 25% episodic mental illness, and psychopathic politicians (and a past president who looks like he’s also going to be the next president).

Forty six million people in the USA have been infected with Covid. That’s 14% of the population. Some 740,000 have died. In the European Union, 19 million people have been infected with covid. That’s 4.24% of the population. Some 295,000 have died. As China is not that forthcoming, I’m not going to detail their figures, but, arguably, they have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world.

In other words, the quality of life in America, despite the individual being king, is not a good one.

www.medium.com/world-issues-politics-economics-and-more/a-dying-empire-america-a-working-empire-the-eu-an-emerging-empire-china-afa3e8887828

Western Europe is a complete basket case and a giant pile of dysfunctional shit

 

[sparky]

The US by definition is not an empire, it's a regional hegemon.

semantics cave dude.....

~S~