[ghusto]

This is an American sentiment. Please look abroad.

Nobody anywhere would argue with "people do bad things", but people where I am would be puzzled if that was your only assessment.

We do things here for the betterment of society not just because it's "the right thing" morally, but because it's the right thing practically. It benefits _us_. We're part of society.

This kind of pragmatic morality is smeared as socialism by the USA, by the people who stand to lose their near total control of the country.

And P.S. we're all the same, there's nothing special about Europe. You can have this too, without losing your freedoms (which by the way, we also have!). And we also have bad people, it's just that we see them as the exceptions, not the norm.

[kreutz]

Sounds like idealism to me. I think you'd have a hard time quantifying your perspective. It's not the only assessment. Just statistically likely that it's the majority.

[ghusto]

> Sounds like idealism to me

I hear this a lot from Americans that haven't been here. But I'm talking about Europe _right now_, not some imaginary fairy tale land.

> I think you'd have a hard time quantifying your perspective

I can only talk of my own experiences of course, but the majority of Americans I've talked to who have stayed for more than a month (more than just a holiday) are amazed at how high the quality of life is here, and how friendly people are.

> It's not the only assessment. Just statistically likely that it's the majority.

Perhaps in America — and I'd believe it, I've visited a few times — but not here. Unfortunately, it's also a self-fulfilling prophecy; the more you believe it, the truer it becomes.

[kreutz]

I didn’t say the quality of life was worse or equivalent to America. The improvements to quality of life in Europe are likely largely driven by government policy not for-profit organizations.