There are times when it seems to me that the United States has lost it's way, that the only thing it prioritizes anymore, at least politically, is the de facto profit of the elite few, at the expense of the many. And it seems that all of our political thinking, which the rest of the world looks at as bizarre and country to conventional wisdom, is in some way or other serving the desires of these elite few, at the expense of the many. Americans themselves, both to the left and to the right, often get offended when the rest of the world criticizes this uniquely American mode of political thinking, but it stands to reason that it should be scrutinized, for better or for worse.
Here are some things that, it seems to me, make Americans stand out, and often for the wrong reasons, with their political thinking:
The wealth gap keeps growing wider and wider, and politically, most keep making arguments that basically accept this as normal, when it damn well is not, but orchestrated. Our desire for cheaper gas outweighs environmental concerns, particularly climate change, which tens of millions of Americans seem to dismiss as a conspiracy theory, particularly aimed at undermining American economic interests, despite mountains of scientific evidence from around the world to support the climate change "theory." Affordable, quality healthcare is not regarded as a right, as it is in basically every other nation with an advanced economy. Rather, it is seen as a privilege. And even though every other advanced economy has a seemingly fairer healthcare system that does not literally bankrupt many people, like it does here in the United States, and despite the clear and hardly secret knowledge that we have the highest healthcare costs of any country in the world (again, by far), we still refuse to seriously change the healthcare system, often because many of the people opposed literally believe that such a move will be the last step to an inevitably brutal dictatorship (even though this has not happened in any other country that has implemented fairer healthcare systems). Despite Guns have become more common and more numerous, and we have far and away the most guns both straight up and per head of any country in the world, yet somehow, this is never connected to the seemingly rampant gun violence that this country sees, which is far and away the highest levels of any country with an advanced economy in the entire world, and which had long been the case now. Many opposed to any kind of restrictions on gun access - even for the very deadliest arms - feel that, like healthcare, this is a last step before an inevitably brutal dictatorship takes over and imprisons and/or enslaves pretty much all respectable, honest, hard-working citizens, even though this has not happened in any other countries in recent decades that have responded to horrific mass shootings by passing what most seem to feel are sensible, even commonsense, gun control regulations, such as background checks and obvious restrictions for those among us with the most violent personal history.
Here in the United States, we seem to politically turn to economic elites who advance their elitist interest by attacking so-called cultural or intellectual elites, often demonizing them, blaming them for many of the society's problems. Here in the United States, we believe con artists turned politicians, who themselves often have shown nothing but unbridled selfishness and no real signs of actual patriotism or team spirit, and we look for these elites to guide us from the problem of runaway inflation, which itself sure seems to be a product of too much unchecked corporate greed. In other words, we empower the greediest among us to keep the greediest among us in check. Then, we act shocked - Shocked! - when these problems not only persist, but grow worse.
Probably, there are some that I am not remembering. But I do know that in many other countries, particularly in Europe and Japan, there are subtle differences in the way of life in those countries which many people felt make more sense. Much better public transportation, which again, benefits people with less money, as well as the environment. Far cheaper healthcare and childcare, which tends to benefit people with less money, as well. Smaller, more gas efficient cars, which tends to benefit people with less money, as well as the environment.
Well, the European Union also just passed legislation which, likewise, also seems to me to make more sense than what often unthinkingly passes for normal here in the United States. Cellphone charging ports will be standardized, which means that people there will not have to pay for several different kinds of chargers, allowing companies to rake in a bit more money. The technology is there, yet it seems that each computer and phone company tries to have their own portals and apps too often only compatible with their products, forcing customers to buy more of their stuff.
It always seemed to me strange that these subtle differences should be considered normal. It feels like many of these things have been allowed for a long time, and for no particularly good reason or logic. Remember how VHS cassette tapes from Europe could not be played in North America, and vice versa, and ditto with the Far East? And the same phenomenon popped up with DVD's, with each region of the world having their own unique DVD code, and DVD's from other regions simply would not play? What was the point of that, anyway? It seems to me obvious that companies were being empowered to perhaps dramatically increase their profits by making certain DVD's only available in certain regions and not others. To me, it made basically no sense whatsoever.
These subtle changes were not designed for the best interest of consumers. That much seems clear enough. And the European Union is forcing companies to standardize their portals to serve the best interests of consumers. I agree, and applaud this effort by the European Union. Frankly, I also wish that we here in the United States could better learn from the example of other countries - in this case, the European Union - when they clearly seem to be doing some things better than we ourselves do them.
Please click on the link below for more details on this particular story:
The EU will soon require all cellphones to have the same type of charging port by Shauneen Miranda, June 7, 20221:
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/07/1103493025/european-union-to-require-mobile-devices-to-have-usb-c-ports?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&fbclid=IwAR0HPgA3N6U34Oszt8iT2K3lEilmO2TosQ-UqZdKo-pHmAxSM4dYvxGfwhw
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