The European Dream

[T Verdier]

Enteresting article i read tonite.

http://www.utne.com/2004-09-01/the-european-dream.aspx

[Harry's E30]

good article but not sure this is the right section for it

[Ral]

I'm halfway through it and laughing my ass off. His prose may be at a 10th grade level, but his basic understanding of definitions, to say nothing of the history he comments on, is sorely lacking.

(that means he's a bad writer and has less understanding of the world than a 5th grader)

also, it's posted here in the wrong section.

[xwill112x]

idk i kinda like the values he stated and what not..

[Farbin Kaiber]

Politics & Religion Projects Subforum?

[dirtysix]

Project 'perfect world' v.8237732.9

[gwb72tii]

anyone that thinks the american dream is over or wrong has a very short vision of history'

[j0oftheworld]

I've worked w. close to 100 people from Europe/Asia over the last 10years.
They all lead much simpler lives than your typical American.
We're much more different than anyone cares to admit.

[gwb72tii]

I've worked w. close to 100 people from Europe/Asia over the last 10years.
They all lead much simpler lives than your typical American.
We're much more different than anyone cares to admit.

quite true. anyone that has spent more thana couple of weeks outside the USA realizes how much faster paced we are and the fucking incessant 24/7 advertising blitz that never stops.

[Julien]

quite true. anyone that has spent more thana couple of weeks outside the USA realizes how much faster paced we are and the fucking incessant 24/7 advertising blitz that never stops.

Yeah, we are busy striving for quantity where the rest of the world seems to be striving for quality.

[MarshallM]

Anybody that writes an article on how a country sucks and needs to be more like some other countries can go fuck themselves. When Europe lands on the moon maybe I'll give a shit.

[MarshallM]

I will say in the articles defense, European food is better than American. Not only what they eat but the quality of the food.

[evandael]

I will say in the articles defense, European food is better than American. Not only what they eat but the quality of the food.

Go fuck yourself. Has there ever been dehydrated, powdered, ready-to-eat gelato in space?

[jason952]

Wot

[rwh11385]

Did you realize this was written by "an advisor to the European Union for the past decade." And from 7 years ago, before EU's unideal currency union issue raised its ugly head?

There's a huge cultural difference and those who want the European lifestyle ought to move, or at least visit for a while. As fun as some parts were and great views/historical coolness, others seemed boring to an American who was used to more. Surely, we ought to not go nuts working and 60 hours a week is too much, but many salaried workers can get 3+ weeks paid off plus holidays, we just care about getting work done more than Italians, etc.

The American Dream is not, surprising to some, an exist and prosper story. People took huge risks coming here on ships during colonial times, put their money to make a business, or took a chance on the wild West. Success doesn't come without effort, no matter the location but those who work hard can find it. I've seen in at a company I worked for in which a multi-national corporation with major impacts on its industry started a couple decades ago with two friends in a dorm room with a business idea.

It also has the classic assumption that wealth remains, when I've read that looking at actual people, not just overall numbers... wealth usually stays for three generations. Those who make it, those who use it, and then those who lose it. Knowing a very wealthy son of a hard-working business man, I think it might skip to the last phase sooner than that.

Comparisons are between a densely populated collection of nations and one country, and in instances, only the most advanced 15 EU nations. Kinda cherry picking data points there... I'm sure if we chose the top 30 states our numbers would be skewed too.