My wish for all Americans; IAmsterdam life

[Yavin4]

3. The D-Day commemoration sparked a thought in me.

The U.S. was the lone industrial nation that did not physically feel the effects of WWII. Yes, we lost servicemen who fought abroad, but we weren't bombed. No foreign soldiers patrolled our streets. We didn't experience it on the same level as many nations in Europe did.

Europe learned the very hard lesson that building a vibrant middle class was the key to stopping wars on their continent. People are less likely to follow extremist leaders if their basic life needs, food, housing, healthcare, education, were taken care of at birth.

For 35 years, we followed that same path after the war, but the anti-war and social movements of the 1960s gave our right wing a means to attack government as the enemy. Starting in the 80s, the right used racial and sexist resentment to attack social programs that helped everyone. The end result is that we have lost our middle class, but Europe still has theirs. As the article points out, the right wing movements of Europe don't attack social programs. Yes, they're nativist but they also remember what happened in WWII.