Re: How we got on this earth.

On May 27, 9:05 am, Chris L Peterson <c...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Wed, 27 May 2009 03:29:47 -0700 (PDT), wsnel...@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
The US is a republic not a "social democracy." Even most Europeans
don't live as well as most Americans.

In fact, the U.S. is a social democracy. A democracy is a broad term
that describes any form of government guided by majority rule. A
republic is a form of democracy. And we're obviously somewhat
socialized.

Having lived in both Denmark and Germany, I'd argue that the average
person in either of those countries lives better than the average
American. Their systems are working at least as well as ours.

The US has a home ownership rate of about 65% of all households while
Germany has a rate of only 43%. It would appear that the "average"
American family lives in a home that it owns, while the "average"
German family does not. Also even some rather poor people in the US
can scrape together enough cash to buy a car, and we're not talking
about those little two-seater "smart" cars either. Consumer items
such as telescopes seem to be cheaper in the US too. And of course
dark skies are easier to find here than they are in much of Europe.

I don't drink alcohol, and my caffeine intake is only a few milligrams
per day, if that.

That's fine. I was only pointing out that those who would like to use
drugs recreationally are coerced by their government to not do so.
Nobody, under any system, is free of coercion.


.

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