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Comment by jncfhnb | Hacker News Reader

Seems like it’s about 3/4ths of the way through the Tortoise and the Hare if you ask me though. Bragging about current state benefits when the trajectory of things suggests significant loss is not great. Europe is in decline.

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The American would be the hare in this story.

Europeans bragging about lifestyle benefits is the thing that I find a bit ironic.

There’s a lot of luxuries to European life that folks insist are a basic dignity. Maybe that’s fair, maybe that isn’t. The ones to ask if that makes any sense isn’t the current gen Americans but the future gen Europeans.

I can’t help but imagine future generations will think extremely poorly of current gen Europeans for the plate their being handed.

Unions, social security, get healed at the hospital without having to raise a mortgage, laws protecting minimums... Yeah sure, you don't need those if you are wealthy enough. But if you're not rich, what is guaranting you this decency in America ?

These are good things and I think America could do better on all of these that you have listed. But again, the question when it comes to making claims about “decency” and “dignity” should not compare to the US, but to Europe’s future. I find it utterly nonsensical and non decent to suggest that the European way is net wiser when it’s actively declining and it’s children will be worse off.

I don't quite understand your point, you seem to imply the future Europe will have less good things than today's America ?

Maybe you're right, I can't predict the future.

So you don't care about living without good things today and seem to be satisfied with the only fact that Europe's future will be worse than US' present.

Luxury != decency

My point is that in the parable about Americans bragging about economic achievement while the European auto replies while on vacation we are to assume that the European has the wiser and more worldly lifestyle. But if this parable ends with the Europeans grandkids have markedly worse opportunities in life because the elder generation chose leisure, then it’s not really wisdom they were invoking but some mix of selfishness and / or hubris about the sustainability of it.

Europe is trending down.

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