Societas

[juuro]

xiphias continues the reporting of the recent European visit he did with his spouse.

[As] American liberals from perhaps the most liberal state in the United States, it does mean that we're more conservative than most of the people we were talking to[.]

I was profoundly satisfied in seeing this remark. It has bothered me considerably that whenever I see U

Comments

[rimrunner]

I've noticed that, too. Not so much from visiting; in Hungary there was a profound language barrier, though I did glean a bit of such an impression when visiting France. Since I speak French it was easier to converse casually with people. (Of course I want to come back and visit many other places.)

But, also from reading various European news sources and talking with people from various parts of Europe.

What troubles me most is that what I grew up calling "New England conservatives"-people who are fiscally conservative and socially liberal-seem to be a dying breed. Or maybe it's just where I live now; with unfortunately few exceptions, most of the conservatives I've met out here have been genuinely scary people.

[juuro]

Over the recent 20ish years, it has been my impression that the U.S. political spectrum has grown more sharply polarized.

[juuro]

I grumble about my taxes, of course. But I also recognize the services they bring to me, both personally and to other members of the society. Despite my recent illness, during which I have enjoyed the payment-free services of a therapist and a psychiatrist, I still am a net payer to government. Some of my colleagues who have families, I am supporting them in a way. I would not do it directly, but via taxes it doesn't feel so awkward. The bureaucracy does bring a significant cost overhead, but I am not entirely willing to believe that it would work as a profit-driven industry, either.

As for attitudes and mores, the people, as a whole, set the norms, of course. Those norms can change over time, but usually only by constant pushing at the borders. The intelligentsia you mention obviously have trouble appreciating how slow the change has to be to be workable.

[zaimoni]

It depends. What most people don't get about the pension part of Social Security in the U.S., is that the overhead is about 1/4th that of a private sector analog (0.25% rather than 1% of total cashflow).

And OASDI...excuse me, total FICA taxes are less than the practical value of the disability insurance. If the pension program's going to trigger hyperinflation, just trim it to non-hyperinflationary levels and keep OASDI intact.

[rimrunner]

Then, too, there is the whole misunderstanding of "no taxation without representation" thing - well, not so much a misunderstanding, as a wholesale leaving off of the everything after taxation, actually.

Unless you live in Washington D.C., in which case you put the phrase on your license plate. :)