General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: This is the real reason most Americans file for bankruptcy [View all]Caliman73
(11,730 posts)You have to remember that most of those advanced countries are in Europe, and most of them suffered through two horrific wars in the span of 40 years that almost literally burned their societies to the ground. They had to figure out a better way in which the governments and people were going to interact around basic needs. They had to make changes that would provide some kind of security by their populations to avoid wars and uprisings. Most of them operate under some type of Social Democracy, where Capitalism is still the primary economic system, but it is regulated and bent toward providing some basic well being to the population.
In the US, although we made our own sacrifices during the wars, we were never really touched by the devastation, and thus we never learned the lesson of collective action to provide for our people. For us Capitalism won the war. Industry and individuals pulling together for mutual benefit. That heady feeling and economic boom from having to help rebuild the world, led to the US rejecting Social Democracy in favor of free market solutions. Whereas European countries had full blown leftist movements which helped to shape social policy, the US was busy laughing out Henry Wallace once Roosevelt died. Roosevelt had intended to institute a Second Bill of Rights which included a more Social Democratic ideal of providing for people before his death. What happened after that was a right wing reaction that began pushing back on all of the gains made during FDR's terms in office. While the Democrats managed to stay in office and in power throughout most of the time after WWII any agenda toward a more Social Democratic ideal was pushed out by the Red Scare and the various problems throughout the Cold War.