De-Yankification

...the yanks don't think they have a cost of living crisis.... Manifestly untrue, and an ironic claim in a post supposedly devoted to correcting misconceptions. Even Trump does not deny there is a cost of living crisis -- I am tempted to say no one here denies it, but I will settle for saying hardly anyone does. Trump blames it either on the previous administration or, alternatively, on the war, in the latter case claiming it is temporary and will go away as soon as the current war is over. (This is pretty clearly another of the forever wars he campaigned against, but he will either die or leave office before he admits that.) You have said your yank obsession is not yours alone, and perhaps it is widely shared over there. I agree that US imperialism drives war and inequality. But blaming the US for all the world's problems falsely suggests that a healthy dose of European social democracy would cure all ills. It wouldn't. European social democracy was (and is, to the extent is survives) utterly dependent on extracting resources, and limiting immigration, from the rest of the world. The US is merely the police force that makes that possible. If, as seems increasingly likely, the next UK government is led by Nigel Farage, that will in part reflect the fact that large segments of the electorate do not believe Andy Burnham or Zack Polanski have real solutions to their problems. If what they are proposing is nothing more than de-yankification, this skepticism is justified. hugzu ;-p