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Comment by Geezus_42 | Hacker News Reader

So if they don't let corporations trample all over people then their society will obviously collapse?

It's genuinely disturbing to see how many here apparently favour GDP over human development indices and quality of life metrics.

Who expressed favoritism? This is just a description of life as it is. I suspect that most people will favor whatever society they were raised in, and many who don't will move. Silicon valley is full of immigrants, who apparently hate life?

The above said that the markets in Europe don't operate. A sibling post refers to Europe as the laughing stock of the world. Multiple people are saying it would be impossible for Europe to build alternatives to foreign services because they have consumer protections.

Europe is full of immigrants too, are they all rushing to live in a stagnant society on the verge of collapse, knowing their families abroad are just laughing in astonishment at their decisions?

I'm not sure it comes down to where you were raised. I was in a car with a Texan and a Californian at the weekend, driving up to Amsterdam, and they were laughing all the way about how safe the roads were, how friendly the police were and how considerate the other drivers were. Like, "they actually tell you where the speed traps are!? The cops aren't out to get me!?"

Well, on this website you are being exposed to people who didn't choose to be in Amsterdam.

Indeed, hence my comments above.

It’s also disappointing how people make the assertion that the two are adversarial to each other with no proof at all. Says who?

Not me anyway, but many people in this thread have asserted that Europe will never be able to compete because of things like consumer protection regulations. I'd encourage you to take it up with them.

If USA growth was 1% lower per year over the past 50 years, we'd be as poor as Tunisia.

GDP growth is very very important.

Stopping the stiffling of innovation does not mean trampling over people. Europe has outsourced defense to the US, and in return theyve gotten nothing but a slowly crumbling relevance in the world stage. As a person that believes in Europe and is incredibly thankful for the historic contribution to the western intellectual canon, it saddens me.

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