Most of Europe has embraced socialism. The EU is part of that outcome.
The US leans more towards the individual rights and a written constitution , as described well by @tigerwillow1 and @sdkid
EU follies
- Thread starter bigredfish
- Start date
Most of Europe has embraced socialism. The EU is part of that outcome.
The US leans more towards the individual rights and a written constitution , as described well by @tigerwillow1 and @sdkid
This is no doubt caused by the war on our border, with millions of refugees and constant stream of associated news. Started by a country that has been promising us the same treatment for last 35 years. People naturally are more supportive of the government in such situation.
There are the usual disagreements of course: abortion, climate change, both sides call each other Russian spies and so on. But remaining disagreements between supporters of major parties are really on who can be trusted, who has inferior motives etc, rather than specific ideology. Ideologically I think large majority is centre right (that would be "quite socialist" by US standards
, but it is center right in comparison with the local alternatives). It is because of the back then crappy air quality in the post-communist prefab concrete apartment blocks. Especially the dry air in winter caused by bad insulation and consequent scalding hot cast iron radiators that were always mounted under windows and powered by district heating.
I had the exact same problem. Pretty bad sinus infections once or twice each winter, and frequent headaches caused by it until my late teens when I moved to UK. It stopped 100%. Then I moved back to Poland almost 2 decades later, but I was now living in a self built house. Now it is ~7 years later I had not one sinus infection. The secret? Low temperature underfloor heating, and a well insulated and breathable building.
We do not know the cause for sure, but there are plenty of issues when the amount of renewables on the grid are pushed further and further.
A week ago there was a serious incident here in Poland. There was a sunny day and prediction of lots of wind. But the wind didn't materialise and the sun has set. Adding to this a couple of coal fired blocks failed to start on time in the evening and the West Europe had no power to spare. The result? The Ukraine had to bail us out or there would be load shedding/blackout. Here is an article in polish (use the translate feature of your browser) W Polsce zabrakło prądu. Pomogła Ukraina
This is why I'm a big fan of local solar+batteries allowing one to run off grid for a while if required.
The problem is technical people are pushed/allow themselves to be pushed by politicians and then get blamed when things don't work.
It's a bit like this:
Politician/Manager: can you make pigs fly?
Tech: no, we can't!
Politician/Manager: but we really need to, our future depends on it. We simply have to. There is no choice!
Tech: OK, maybe if we strap a solid rocket motor and wings, plus a guidance system we can make pigs fly, but it is stupid, and has many....
Politician/Manager: (interrupting)Great job. Just keep them in the air, ok?
A month later when flaming pigs start crashing with tall buildings and passenger jets.
Politician/Manager: ...Through the incompetence of our technical advisors we were led down this incorrect path...
The word has practically lost its meaning. Especially in a global context. A party that is called right wing fascist in Europe would probably be called socialist in the US if their actual actions were known.
Things that get called socialist in the US like national health care or higher education are only contested by the fringe movements with single digit support in most EU countries. They are considered utilities like electricity and water. You either have monopolies or state control. Neither are free market. Of the two I prefer the latter (lesser evil)
Even things like government control of industry has pretty wide support for strategic industries.
Worker rights... The left wants to shorten the working week, the right makes new national holidays and makes Sundays a mandatory day off in trade. Two opposing ideologies, but both result with less work...
And so on. My observation is that except few isolated items(abortion etc) most political disagreements are not on the substance, but who can be trusted to actually implement the stuff they promise rather than steal the money and run away(at least in my part of Europe).
The problem in western Europe is not really socialism, but the political correctness mixed with baby steps of authoritarianism. Authoritarianism? In Europe ? How come? Well, read about parents who had their children removed for holding incorrect beliefs in certain Western EU countries. Or how the curbs on free speech laws are implemented in other countries.
How publishing certain research that shows some crime types are perpetrated mostly by certain groups of people can land you in jail in yet other countries.
None of that has anything to do with socialism.
Most people in Europe agree that there are limits to free speech. We don't have the tradition of absolute free speech as it is in the US. For example, not many oppose people who advocate violence being penalised. But fining people because they hurt someone's feelings? That is insane.
Calling that socialism misses the point unfortunately. It is important to call things by their correct name or they will spread. This is the beginnings of authoritarianism. When the state has the authority to tell you how to raise your child or what you are allowed to say in research or on the Internet. That is authoritarian. Whether you prefer left or right ideology everyone should be against that.
Authoritarianism starts with baby steps,
The US has only 3 year head start on Poland/Lithuania with its constitution
Not all men were equal in Polish/Lithuanian constitution, but neither they were in the US. US had slavery, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had serfdom (both quite bad by today's standards). Another interesting historic coincidence. US abolished slavery in 1865, the last bit of Poland (under Russian rule at the time) abolished serfdom a year later.
It is a commonly held belief Poland was partitioned by Russia/Germany/Austria-Hungary as a result of (amongstcother things)"too much individualism" and not enough "patriotic sacrifice".
