A generation I hope European readers can access this article. Is there a computer where you live? How about electricity? Is there a store where I can buy newspapers?I vaguely remember seeing something like this in my travels Pale continent, But maybe I am wrong.A recent column from Bloomberg, titled Americans need to learn to live like Europeans, Indicating that Europeans live a poor life and cannot get modern conveniences-and believe that because of supply chain problems, Americans may have to get used to this. “Store shelves are being emptied, and it may take several months to find cars, refrigerators or sofas,” the article said. “If this situation continues, we may need to learn to do nothing-and, the terrible thing is that we have to live like Europeans.” Horror, indeed!
I’m not sure if Bloomberg’s headline is clearly intended to spark transatlantic anger and trigger an online culture war, but this is What did it do. To be fair, it doesn’t take much to make the Internet angry. You can write a light-hearted article about your love of cheese, and oops, you have started a very bad culture war. Someone on Twitter will explain that your joke about brie is class discrimination; others will say that your omission of cheddar is a violent erasure, and someone with a username like @DairyPatriot69 will tell you to go back to where you came from and eat Any terrible cheese they make there. If your article is more serious? What if your article should suggest that Americans can learn a thing or two from others? Well, the Maga crowd will track you down and condemn your point of view with stupidity in all caps.
Of course, this is exactly the fate of the Bloomberg article.Colorado Congresswoman Lauren BobertFor example, who loves guns and Sympathy for QAnon, Angrily tweeted that if she wanted to live like a European, she would move to Europe (as we all know, Europe is a single, homogeneous country). “Let us…keep our American dream, thank you,” she exclaimed.
At the same time, the former Ukip MP and Brexiter Douglas Caswell, He now leads a conservative think tank in Mississippi, Tweet: “If Americans live like Europeans, the world will still use Nokia, printed encyclopedias, diesel cars, wait for the Covid vaccine, and let Russia at the mercy of Russia meet energy needs. The world becomes better because the United States is not like Europe. .” (The supply chain may be messed up right now, but congratulations to the UK for successfully managing the export of a toxic politician.)
The American right-and the British who joined them like Caswell-often seize every opportunity they can find to portray Europe as a Socialist nightmareThey want us to believe that America is the land of choice and prosperity. But, as Caswell probably discovered when he moved to the United States, free markets generally work better in “socialist” Europe.
I live in New York, where I pay Way more For my mobile phone plan and the Internet, I don’t have similar services anywhere in the UK or Europe. In fact, I can choose two companies for my (quite mediocre) home Internet, and they cost around $80 (£60) per month.That’s because of the deregulation of characters like Carswell Generate little competition In the US broadband market.
If Americans live like Europeans, they don’t have to “learn to do nothing” as Bloomberg puts it; they will learn that they don’t have to pay some of the highest prices in the world to get basic necessities.If Americans live like Europeans, their life expectancy May be higher: A recent study showed that Americans live shorter than Europeans in similar situations.If they live like Europeans, they may not have The highest maternal mortality rate In developed countries. If they live like Europeans, they may be much happier than they are now.Even if their refrigerator Smaller.
