Periodical Political Post *57

Two comments:

1. You can make a good argument that Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Netherlands, as well as the other northern European countries, France, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand have a higher true standard of living than the United States, even though they are more highly taxed. The usual measure of the standard of living, average personal income, does not take into account the high health care costs of the United States, or the incredibly inequitable distribution of income. Also, while we have cheap gasoline, we also have inefficient vehicles, longer distances to travel (well, longer except for Canada and Australia), and poor public transport, so we end up spending as much or more of our income on basic transportation costs. While much of the U.S. has cheaper housing than Europe, but not necessarily cheaper than Canada, Australia, or New Zealand, the crowded areas of the Northeast Corridor (from Washington D.C. to Boston) and California have comparable housing prices to Europe. Even though the U.S. is the least taxed of Western industrialized countries, we do not necessarily have a higher standard of living because of that. Try telling that to your typical Republican (and most Democratic) voters, however.

Two: The United States should be one of the countries where same-sex marriage is legal, since it is legal in some states and Washington D.C. and some other states recognize those marriages. Because marriage laws are determined by the state governments, instead of the federal government, it will probably take many years until same-sex marriage is legal in the entire United States.

In Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington, D.C., marriages for same-sex couples are legal and currently performed. It’s not the entire country. But it’s getting there.

The judges putting kids away for profit should be sent to prison themselves with a guarantee of a daily ass raping.

Very interesting set of articles. Thanks!