[Atlantis]

Everybody knows that Europeans are far superior because the Yanks have no Culture.

Having no culture, they are incapable of any advanced thinking. They stumble into idiotic adventures like the Iraq war or the financial crisis because of a brutish mindset. The American century was fueled by fossil fuels and a brutish desire to accumulate dead things that are of no lasting value.

We will bury the Empire together with a materialistic culture that cannot be sustainable. The quality of life for most Americans is inferior to that of Europeans even though they are emitting two to four times as many green house gases. They'll go the way of the dinosaurs because that is not sustainable.

[One Degree]

Yes, from a nationalist viewpoint, the US should wipe out all competitors while we still have a huge advantage.
Being fair and reasonable guarantees our decline. I don't know what we are thinking. We need war now.

[Ned Lud]

Yes, from a nationalist viewpoint, the US should wipe out all competitors while we still have a huge advantage.
Being fair and reasonable guarantees our decline. I don't know what we are thinking. We need war now.

President Obama was the only fair and reasonable person successful in American Politics for a very, very long time, surely? It would appear that his successor embodies current US attitudes, or am I just being totally unkind? However dubiously, he did, after all, get elected.

[One Degree]

The US has over 300 million people. There is no US attitude, just conflicting factions.

[Ned Lud]

The US has over 300 million people. There is no US attitude, just conflicting factions.

Is there, say, a Dorset attitude or a South-East Leichenstein attitude? That Trump won an election anywhere, ever, is so extraordinary that it is bound to be noticed, I think.

[One Degree]

Is there, say, a Dorset attitude or a South-East Leichenstein attitude? That Trump won an election anywhere, ever, is so extraordinary that it is bound to be noticed, I think.

Trump winning was predetermined by the rivalry of different groups attempting to dictate morality for all. It was not a fluke. It was a natural consequence of attempting to use Democracy on a group too large for democracy to be fair. A teeter totter effect is normal.

[Buzz62]

I was born and raised in Canada, and have lived in Europe for about 10 years. My eldest daughter was born in Prague.
However I am not a big fan of the USA. Our "brothers" to the south have lost their senses.
But is Europe "better"? No it's not. Especially today.

[Ned Lud]

Yes. 'Western' capitalism seems to be going through a strange, existential crisis. We have allowed the fatmen to abolish all informed opposition and are left with nutters on computers, oh God!

[Rancid]

THE SKY IS FALLING! Is all I'm hearing here.

[Clangeddin]

18 - No shitty "tip the waiter" mentality, which pretty much beats all the other 17 combined.

[Atlantis]

Yes, from a nationalist viewpoint, the US should wipe out all competitors while we still have a huge advantage.
Being fair and reasonable guarantees our decline. I don't know what we are thinking. We need war now.

You pissed away 5 to 6 trillion USD, killed hundred's of thousands and created millions of refugees just to demonstrate that you can't even control a war-torn, sanction-weakened little shit-hole like Iraq with a population of less than 40 million. How are you going to subjugate and physically occupy the lands of 7 billions?

No my friend, the only way you can enforce the pax-America is by ruse and a strategy of creating alliances and dividing those who refuse to be subjugated, just like you have done for the last 7 decades. That is so obvious that it boggles the mind why the Trump administration is so eager to antagonize the whole world and force your opponents to unite.

The reason, as I said above, can only be a lack of Culture and the inability to think beyond your immediate material gain - greed and ignorance!

[Kaiserschmarrn]

18 - No shitty "tip the waiter" mentality, which pretty much beats all the other 17 combined.

This is not true for all of Europe, although the tip is usually not expected to be as large as in the US. We also often tip other professions like hair dressers and taxi drivers.

[SSDR]

It has more to do with personal wealth coordination. Americans love to travel, eat a lot, drive big trucks, and live in HUGE houses. That all comes with greater risk due to less economic security, which is one reason why the USA is more religious.

In the USA, you can live however you want, it is just that most Americans seem to lack proper wealth coordination. Jobs in the USA are also less family oriented, and are bigger, more corporate like. So that economically is more socialized. Plus, everything in the USA is cheap! You could be a box truck driver and lease a new Mercedes Benz E Klasse every three years. You could buy a three bedroom manufactured home for 25,000-30,000 USD. TV's and gaming consoles are cheap. And the food especially is really cheap.

Some Western European nations (Germany, Danmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, or Norway) are very advanced due to proper wealth coordination. But almost all Eastern European nations, especially in the Balkans, are far worse than the USA due to obsolete, family oriented cultures, and terrible wealth coordination.

[chrisw]

Some Western European nations (Germany, Danmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Iceland, or Norway) are very advanced due to proper wealth coordination. But almost all Eastern European nations, especially in the Balkans, are far worse than the USA due to obsolete, family oriented cultures, and terrible wealth coordination.

Do you mean on a personal level or a country level?

Are you saying that people from these countries simultaneously save for a car, while paying off a house, while investing and saving for retirement?

[SSDR]

@chrisw, Both, on a personal and a country level. In the USA, homes are over sized, people eat too much, the majority of the people drive bigger cars, and the American infrastructure is designed to drive almost EVERYWHERE.

If you go to Germany, within the past five or six years, the two most popular sold American cars in Germany were the Ford Fiesta, and the Ford Focus. And Americans can buy that. But many choose to buy bigger F-150's, Suburbans, Explorers, Cadillac CTS's, or Impalas. The average American worker eats more than the average German worker. Also, Americans tend to own a lot, so when you put much of your wealth coordination into extra food, clothes, toys, or excessive traveling (Americans do travel a lot), then yes, you won't have enough energy to put wealth into the better things you need.

The average American home is very big. So it uses lots of wealth. And the USA does have public retirement services, it's just that people love to travel, eat out THREE times a week, drive their big Lincolns, and buy new stuff all the time. If you live like that, then yes you may need to "save for retirement" privately.

[chrisw]

The average American home is very big. So it uses lots of wealth. And the USA does have public retirement services, it's just that people love to travel, eat out THREE times a week, drive their big Lincolns, and buy new stuff all the time. If you live like that, then yes you may need to "save for retirement" privately.

Yes absolutely, I understand what you are saying now. Unfortunately Australia and Canada is going in the direction of the USA as well. More and more larger trucks (still not F150 sized, but getting close), large homes, lots of take-away, $9 coffees and so on.

It's such a shame, I've found the quiet life with a "small but spacious" apartment to be so rewarding. The smaller the home, the less "stuff" you need. The less stuff you need, the more $$ in the bank. It brings about a lot of freedom.

[SSDR]

@chrisw, $9 coffees? I didn't even know people spend that much on coffee.

And I totally agree with your reply. There needs to be more smaller apartments, and especially studio apartments. And the USA really needs to invest in more public road assistance and public transportation.

[chrisw]

@chrisw, $9 coffees? I didn't even know people spend that much on coffee.

And I totally agree with your reply. There needs to be more smaller apartments, and especially studio apartments. And the USA really needs to invest in more public road assistance and public transportation.

I find that one interesting too - how people from Asia or Europe can happily live in a small apartment but Americans/Canadians/Australians are miserable if they don't have their enormous living spaces.

Why? Other cultures spend their time outdoors in community spaces. They don't cook at home but instead at markets (cheap street food).

[One Degree]

I have enjoyed both. A very small apartment is my preference, but not when I had 5 kids. A large house preferably with more than one story helps everyone stay sane in a big family.

[SSDR]

@chrisw, Americans tend to be very spacious people. They're bigger, they talk loud, when they sit they act like everything around them is theirs, and they're used to having so much space.

Cooking at home is domestic and is capitalist leaning. Markets are closer to socialism because its mode of production is not family oriented. It's better to get food at corporations like WalMart or Kroger than it is to buy domestic made foods in family owned shops.

And I think America is more community oriented, and is more family oriented. America has a strong emphasis on high senses of community in grade schools (sports, extra curricular activities, partying) and in university (partying, sports, hypersexual culture). Americans also love to party and have ceremonies. Midnight partying, hippie values and counterculture, and rave all have American origins. I also think that America is family oriented (bad in my opinion) because they love weddings, ceremonies, and are obsessed with staying connected to relatives who live far (example: a guy from Michigan has relatives in Idaho, and they stay connected via phone or internet all the time). Social media also is of American origin and is a symbol of Americana.

I also hear stories of some people in America owning more than one home.