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Please consider not describing your opinion as if it represents Europe. I'm sure there are a lot of people in Europe who disagree with you (and a lot of people

by _cs2017_ 8y ago

Please consider not describing your opinion as if it represents Europe. I'm sure there are a lot of people in Europe who disagree with you (and a lot of people in America who agree). Grouping people together by some vague concept of nationality or ethnicity, and then claiming that your opinion is intrinsic to that group, invites some rather unpleasant associations.

krn 8y ago
> Grouping people together by some vague concept of nationality or ethnicity It's neither nationality, nor ethnicity. I explicitly raised the question of history, and how it forms different values in the society. Why doesn't the US have the equivalent of GDPR?
- adrianmonk 8y ago
  The US doesn't have GDPR because of the gigantic chasm because the European and American philosophies of what the government's role in society should be. Europeans are more inclined to think that if there's a problem, it is very logical for the government to step in and solve it because that's government's function after all. Americans are more likely to think private citizens should solve it if possible because government should be small whenever possible. When it comes to privacy, an American might value privacy but think the best solution is a buyer beware approach. Such as, if you don't want to risk Amazon / Alex spying on you, don't buy an Echo. To many Americans, having to take on the entire burden of being responsible for their own privacy is the lesser of two evils because government intervention is to be avoided. As an analogy, consider attitudes towards medication. Some people dislike taking any medications at all if they can avoid it. If they have a headache, they will usually just deal with the pain instead of taking a pill. If their doctor wants them to go on prescription medication for high blood pressure, they will hope to find a way to manage it without drugs. Then there are other people who have a more balanced approach and have zero problem taking medications as long as they have been studied well and found safe. Americans are more like the people who avoid medications whenever possible. Sometimes they avoid things which could actually have been pretty beneficial. But they don't avoid them because they think the problem isn't a problem. It's because they don't like that type of solution.

krn 8y ago

> Grouping people together by some vague concept of nationality or ethnicity It's neither nationality, nor ethnicity. I explicitly raised the question of history, and how it forms different values in the society. Why doesn't the US have the equivalent of GDPR?

adrianmonk 8y ago
The US doesn't have GDPR because of the gigantic chasm because the European and American philosophies of what the government's role in society should be. Europeans are more inclined to think that if there's a problem, it is very logical for the government to step in and solve it because that's government's function after all. Americans are more likely to think private citizens should solve it if possible because government should be small whenever possible. When it comes to privacy, an American might value privacy but think the best solution is a buyer beware approach. Such as, if you don't want to risk Amazon / Alex spying on you, don't buy an Echo. To many Americans, having to take on the entire burden of being responsible for their own privacy is the lesser of two evils because government intervention is to be avoided. As an analogy, consider attitudes towards medication. Some people dislike taking any medications at all if they can avoid it. If they have a headache, they will usually just deal with the pain instead of taking a pill. If their doctor wants them to go on prescription medication for high blood pressure, they will hope to find a way to manage it without drugs. Then there are other people who have a more balanced approach and have zero problem taking medications as long as they have been studied well and found safe. Americans are more like the people who avoid medications whenever possible. Sometimes they avoid things which could actually have been pretty beneficial. But they don't avoid them because they think the problem isn't a problem. It's because they don't like that type of solution.