Why do I end up defending the US welfare state?
November 22, 2006I’m not sure why, but I always end up defending the US welfare system when discussing politics in Denmark. I think the US welfare system is wrong and a great and damaging con on both recipients and the many robbing victims.
Nonetheless, Europeans have this really distorted view of the US. They think that there are no social programs at all, while the US has a hugely bureaucratic and idiotic collection of welfare programs almost able to rival the idiocies of many European countries.
Comments:
I remember this happening to me way back during the Vietnam War, where I found myself not exactly defending the war, but understanding to some degree how the US wandered in to it.
I was also somehow as an American held responsible for bad environmental practices (in the early 70's the US had more environmental initiatives than Denmark), McDonald's, etc.
Often this hurt, because I considered myself a liberal American at the time - anti war, pro environment, etc. - but people were really taking the US government position out on anyone who happened to be born in the US.What really amused me was that all those people on the left who were blaming me for my country's problems were all wearing American clothing - blue jeans and sweatshirts, albeit with clogs rather than sneakers back then!
Posted by: Bonbayel at November 25, 2006 06:49 PM
