Yes. As a European transplant to the US, my meta-observation about social issues as discussed in largely US-centric communities is that Americans tend to quickl

Yes. As a European transplant to the US, my meta-observation about social issues as discussed in largely US-centric communities is that Americans tend to quickly dismiss issues related to unionization, inequality, healthcare and so on with a set of regurgitated generalizations. The discussion ends before it begins, so to say. In some cases, social problems that are glaring in the US have been eliminated decades ago elsewhere, and yet there’s a collective belief that it’s an unsolvable problem in the economic powerhouse of the world. I can understand the political differences, but there’s something else at play here. The American ethos of “anything is possible”, which is very much alive in the private sector, stands in stark contrast with the collective civic apathy. So if not for a lack of imagination and creativity, it must be something else. Bootstrapping myths? Unawareness of how bad these issues really are? Helping the poor means less money for oneself? The poor needs to be punished for being dumb? A need to feel better about oneself relative to the poor? Fear of socialism? Lack of trust in government? Exhaustion from a perpetual two-party stalemate? The US is a country that I love dearly but keeps harming itself in ways I can’t understand.