charlabob
“Where in Europe, exactly, are you referring to? Which socialist country is economically stronger than America?”
It, of course, depends on your definition of economically stronger (or who benefits from this “strenth”.) (BTW, lurkers might want to look up the difference between socialism and democratic socialism–and see where your ideas fall.)
Some people would question the economic strength of a country as wealthy as the United States, whose infant mortality rate is 28th in the world. (According to CDC statistics, the US is behind every developed country in North America, Western Europe, and Australasia, as well as Cuba, Hungary, Israel, and the Czech Republic.)
By most definitions, wealth is significant in relation to to what it’s used for. It’s not a stand-alone metric–a dollar amount, regardless of how the wealth is distributed.
Two small examples:
The single payer health care systems in European countries (except Iceland) provide basic care for all citizens. Sometimes that means a longer wait for “optional” procedures, but no one dies because they can’t afford an annual physical or or diagnosis of severe chest pain.
Our health care(sic) system creates wealth (economic strength) for insurance companies and for-profit medical institutions. That’s why health care is unaffordable to so many people here.
Single-payer countries also include a competitive private health care system for those who want and can afford it. Rich people donm’t have to stand online with the unwashed masses. :-) But *everyone* get the basics.
Iceland chose to drink the completely unfettered “free” market kool aid(tm) — Wonder how that worked out?
Bottom line: The European country that most tried to emulate the neocon/neoliberal dream of an unfettered free market for everything is the one country that, by any definition, is worse off economically than we are. They couldn’t afford the total collapse of their monetary system. Actually, imnho, neither can the United States but we haven’t figured that out yet. Since we now have a president who can both think and communicate, we may still get it in time to survive.