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whiddershins

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> People in the South of France buy one espresso or one beer and nurse it for 2 hours while staring at the ocean.

This is currently quite hilarious to read.

Give them one million dollar and I can guarantee you they will still drink one expresso facing the sea for 2 hours.

It is just named being French (or Latin) and has nothing to do with wealth

Time is everything in life. In many cultures, being able to spend it doing nothing or something you enjoy is the greatest sign of wealth. Poor people do not have this luxury: they do have to work to survive.

> Gasoline is more expensive

Because we actually tax it properly

> cars tend to be cheaper models and smaller.

Because cars are less part of the lifestyle and SUVs haven't yet prisoner's dilemma'd us completely.

Your other anecdotes are also basically "not spending unecessarily on stuff that is bad for the climate = poor"...

Here's another factor: Europeans need to save up money for our five week vacations, do you think travel is free or something? Hint: that stuff costs way more to do regularly than AC and a redone bathroom. Pah.

You seem to be confusing wealth with excess. I don't think conspicuous consumption is a virtue.

People in the South of France buy one espresso or one beer and nurse it for 2 hours while staring at these ocean.

Down voted for being ridiculous. The inequality in America is wild too.

Citations needed. Many citations.

A lot of what you mention is related to energy useage: smaller cars/houses, keeping houses cold in winter, less consumption overall. Perhaps the Europeans are on the right track here and we in the US are on the wrong track when taking climate change into consideration?

As youve identified, energy cuts across everything. It is a very broad indicator of wealth. Energy austerity is still austerity even if you think its better for the environment.

> If we are doing anecdotes, I can do this all day.

meanwhile no-one in Europe dies in medical bankruptcy or has to worry about health insurance premiums/deductibles, or daily mass shootings

I'd rather have a slightly smaller steak

This is the worst aspect of American politics. Our government represents seriously argue we want the right to be bankrupted by illness.

We had to bail out the auto-industry during 2008 because their competitors existed in public healthcare environments. Nobody talks about it but follow the money.

I'd prefer to have access to free healthcare and social safety nets than having espresso.

You clearly haven't been to the US but there are a lot of poor people here.

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