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>It's not about what's European or American. In fact, it is. We have very different ideas about how to achieve outcomes (i.e. Old World vs. New World) we commo

>It's not about what's European or American. In fact, it is. We have very different ideas about how to achieve outcomes (i.e. Old World vs. New World) we commonly share as goals. I absolutely disagree that "the solution is government." Europe hasn't achieved GDP growth over 1% for 20 years, and one has to wonder if it's because they over tax their middle class. I do not discount your sovereignty, only your right to assert it over our sovereignty. One size does not fit all, and many Americans are being fooled by the subsidies others receive. I appreciate your civility, and contributions to HN over the years, but also recognize the unAmerican nature of your ideas. What concerns me is that your ideas are infecting our young people. I recommend Democracy in America written by Tocqueville in ~1840. It's available for free on the internet. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_in_America

TeMPOraL 7y ago
> I appreciate your civility, and contributions to HN over the years, but also recognize the unAmerican nature of your ideas. What concerns me is that your ideas are infecting our young people. Call that payback for American ideas infecting whole generations on the "old continent" :). My generation grew up watching US television shows. Seriously though, HN may hosted by a US company, but the community is thoroughly international. Ideas from all around the world are present here, and are free to mix. That's, in my opinion, for the better. Neither Europe nor the US are perfect places, so one shouldn't be too attached to their current form and tradition. I believe that the job of each generation is to try and make the world better for next generations, and that involves exploring ideas to see if some may work better than the status quo. BTW., while you say I have European perspective, and I can't deny having some European bias by virtue of living there, the ideas I'm pushing I developed reading American thinkers. I really don't read much of our "domestic" stuff, and probably 90+% of my media and knowledge consumption is American. So you may be surprised that many of the things I say are already considered by people in your country. They're not "European" in nature. If I can take this chance to infect your mind with another idea, consider this: as an American, you care about your freedom (particularly the so-called "negative liberty"). But the free market doesn't care about your freedom at all. It cares about profits, and optimizes very strongly for that. It's not guaranteed that letting the market maximize profits unencumbered also maximizes the liberty of US citizens. The market doesn't care, and will just as happily give you liberty as it will take it away.

TeMPOraL 7y ago

> I appreciate your civility, and contributions to HN over the years, but also recognize the unAmerican nature of your ideas. What concerns me is that your ideas are infecting our young people. Call that payback for American ideas infecting whole generations on the "old continent" :). My generation grew up watching US television shows. Seriously though, HN may hosted by a US company, but the community is thoroughly international. Ideas from all around the world are present here, and are free to mix. That's, in my opinion, for the better. Neither Europe nor the US are perfect places, so one shouldn't be too attached to their current form and tradition. I believe that the job of each generation is to try and make the world better for next generations, and that involves exploring ideas to see if some may work better than the status quo. BTW., while you say I have European perspective, and I can't deny having some European bias by virtue of living there, the ideas I'm pushing I developed reading American thinkers. I really don't read much of our "domestic" stuff, and probably 90+% of my media and knowledge consumption is American. So you may be surprised that many of the things I say are already considered by people in your country. They're not "European" in nature. If I can take this chance to infect your mind with another idea, consider this: as an American, you care about your freedom (particularly the so-called "negative liberty"). But the free market doesn't care about your freedom at all. It cares about profits, and optimizes very strongly for that. It's not guaranteed that letting the market maximize profits unencumbered also maximizes the liberty of US citizens. The market doesn't care, and will just as happily give you liberty as it will take it away.