Reply #10: Yup. I lived in the Netherlands from 76-79 and it sure opened my eyes - I realized

[LiberalLoner]

there was a much more humane way of organizing society. I've been a "socialist" really since then. It's depressed me that ever since then it seems like we are going in the wrong direction most of the time as a country.

I still dream that we can be more like those countries though. I think they are better off than we are.

I kind of enjoyed watching my extreme right-winger acquaintance's head explode after she visited some of her hubby's relatives in the Netherlands. It was her first time out of the country. She comes from very old money, from a family that hated FDR with a passion because he took away their fortunes. She's been a staunch Con all her life. She just couldn't figure out how on earth a socialist country could have such a high standard of living.

I just stayed silent. No sense trying to argue with her - she's basically a bully in that sense. But I could just see the cognitive dissonance making her head explode. She saw a higher standard of living, more happiness, in a socialist country than what we have here in the U.S.