Saw this on fb and had to share.
I — I hadn’t realised Americans can’t travel like we do because they don’t have vacations.
The other bits I knew, about your lack of decent health-care, no parental leave, and the weird pressure to go to church. But I hadn’t thought about your lack of vacations.
The thing is, though, that most European countries are also capitalist. We’re not socialist societies, not even Sweden.
We’re a market economy, but with regulations and universal welfare. And strong unions. You could call our system “social liberalism” or “welfare capitalism”, but it’s still, at its heart, a capitalist system.
This idea, that the US version of capitalism, a laissez-faire market liberalism, is the only form of capitalism, and that anything that even breathes of universal welfare is socialism, is a very successful ruse. It’s purpose is to silence anyone calling for decent welfare by labelling them a socialist, or even communist.
From a European perspective, US political discourse is insane, and large parts of our political right would be labelled “leftist” in your parlance.
Saw this on fb and had to share.
I — I hadn’t realised Americans can’t travel like we do because they don’t have vacations.
The other bits I knew, about your lack of decent health-care, no parental leave, and the weird pressure to go to church. But I hadn’t thought about your lack of vacations.
The thing is, though, that most European countries are also capitalist. We’re not socialist societies, not even Sweden.
We’re a market economy, but with regulations and universal welfare. And strong unions. You could call our system “social liberalism” or “welfare capitalism”, but it’s still, at its heart, a capitalist system.
This idea, that the US version of capitalism, a laissez-faire market liberalism, is the only form of capitalism, and that anything that even breathes of universal welfare is socialism, is a very successful ruse. It’s purpose is to silence anyone calling for decent welfare by labelling them a socialist, or even communist.
From a European perspective, US political discourse is insane, and large parts of our political right would be labelled “leftist” in your parlance.
