Friday, March 26, 2010

American Exceptionalism in the Obama Years

Indiana Governor Mitch McDaniel baits Obama by saying that Americans are now "good Europeans" after passing health care.

That's ridiculous.

In relation to health care, we're uniquely American in a bad way. Europe has socialized medicine. They're better on almost every measure than us and they're going to stay that way after we adapt ObamaCare.

But the Obama years do hold the promise of a good kind of American exceptionalism. We can remake ourselves into a strongly multicultural society that embraces the full value in all the groups in our mosaic.

We're far from being there and the Tea Parties are a good measure of the white nationalist reaction against Obama.

But if we become a fully multicultural society, we would certainly be distinct from Europe.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

From the Lancet. American women 5 year survival rate after diagnosis in America is 63%. European women 5 year survival rate is 56%. American men 66%, European men 47%. These figures are not only for Americans with private health insurance, but all Americans.
Putting aside the thought that this is most likely unconstitutional,I would like to know how we are going to pay for this health care. I guess we are going to tax the shit out of the rich corporations and top 5% and then everything will be fine. Not so. These corporations will pass the extra tax costs onto the consumer (hidden tax hike), cut benefits to employees and retirees (the corporations will lose tax benefits for retirees), and/or move jobs to places where costs are lower (higher unemployment).
Europe has unemployment rates that are typically in the 8%-10% range. I think that we will be in that range for many moons if the progressives have their way.

Don't give us that "white nationalist" crap about the Tea Parties. Because we do not agree with the dismantling of our Constitution and traditional American culture, does not translate to hating someone because they are black. There are crazies on both sides Remember the black SEIU union thugs assaulting a black Tea Party member selling flags, asking him "What kind of nigger are you?

Multicultural society? How much more multicultural can you get than America. We were born as a multicultural nation. There is not a more diverse society on this planet. People from all over the world are still clamoring to become part of this unique American experience. This is part of what makes us unique and successful. Let us keep in mind that the policies and principles that we have embraced for 200 plus years have produced a standard of living and personal freedoms that are unequaled. We are about to change all of that. We are headed for bankruptcy as a nation.
The standard of living in Europe is decidedly less than ours. European people have 20%-30% lower purchasing power.
I found this in an article:
"If France became a U.S. state, it would rank No. 48 out of 51 by per capita [gross domestic product], just barely ahead of America's two poorest states, West Virginia and Mississippi.... Belgium, Finland, Britain, Germany, and Spain would rank in the bottom 20 percent of U.S. states by per capita GDP, just barely ahead of Arkansas but below Kentucky."
America does not want to go there. Vote in November.

Todd Mayo said...

Neal, I don't have time to respond to your tired old radical-right talking points on health care. So I'll leave that job to someone who knows more about the subject than either of us could ever hope. Here's the link. Watch and listen:http://www.house.gov/mcdermott/pr080715c.shtm