Sort of tangentially related to this is a rather fascinating look at Holland from the vantage point of a US ex-pat: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/0

Sort of tangentially related to this is a rather fascinating look at Holland from the vantage point of a US ex-pat: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03european-t.html?_r=1&em http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03european-t.html... Lots of interesting notes on our contrasting social systems and cultures. One of the main points that I took away from the article is that we tend to have an falsely dichotomous view of european countries generally. They're either lampooned as socialist nightmares where all of your money is confiscated by the government and nobody wants to work, or utopias where the government cares for all of your needs and you get 6 weeks vacation. the truth is rather more complex.