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There are two types of freedom — and the US optimized for the wrong one.
Measured in dollars, the US is the wealthiest country in the world by quite some considerable margin. If only it knew the value of empathy and true freedom as well.
I grew up in Europe (the Netherlands, Norway, and the UK) — but I’ve spent a lot of time in the US. A year as an exchange student in the 1990s and six years or so here in California. In my time here, I’ve been struck by some profound differences between Europe and the US: Empathy and Freedom.
Intergenerational Empathy
Life is hard. Life has always been hard. And “Life was so much harder when I was young” is a phrase that is not without fault. The difference between the US and Europe is what you do with that information. I like to think of it as inter-generational empathy. Not in a specific sense: Of course, parents want the best for their children, and they are willing to do everything they can to help their children along. In a general sense, however — on a societal level — there’s a huge gap.
In my mind, the European way of looking at things boils down to “I had a terrible time getting through this, so I am going to make sure nobody else has to.” In other…
