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Politics : View from the Center and Left
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To: Bread Upon The Water who wrote (191628)6/15/2012 1:19:02 PM
From: koan  Read Replies (3) of 543695
 
<<One of the primary reasons Europe has a better social safety net, IMHO, is that they didn't have to put as much money percentage wise into defense as us as they rebuilt their economies after WWII because we were doing it for them (and necessarily so).

Now one could argue it is our turn to let Defense subsidize our fraying social safety net.>>

That doesn't explain Europe's cultural awareness. E.g. why are we the only western democracy that does not have universal health care, or affordable education (and we are the richest). Why do we have the largest jail population? Why are we the only ones left who have a death penalty?

In so many ways we are backward. I would maintain our country has had the tail (southern politicians) wagging the dog for the last 40 years (via Lee Atwaters Southern strategy) and and the souths reaction to the 1964 civil rights act pissing off the south and making them Republican's.

Think about it. Look who has been running the country for the last 40 years. Tom Delay and neo con types whom I could list all day who have forced antiquated and plutocratic ideas on us. And they are back at it again after the 2010 defeat with great numbers of bills waging a war on women and the poor, voter suppression and the refusing to face sophisticated problems like AGW and immigration.

Lack of cultural diffusion and control of our countries politics by our most antiquated culture is our primary problem.

If Americans started electing liberals again, like TR, FDR and JFK, we could fix the country.
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