[snake_doc]

Would you be able provide some evidence to the contrary when it comes to the topics discussed in the letter?

On industrial infrastructure

On technology innovation

On internet regulation

On central planning

Otherwise, your comment becomes an anecdote supporting the common stereotypes (assuming you’re from Europe).

[keiferski]

I’m responding to comments like this in the article:

So I am betting that the US and China are more compelling forces for change. Stalin was fond of telling a story from his experience in Leipzig in 1907, when, to his astonishment, 200 German workers failed to turn up to a socialist meeting because no ticket controller was on the platform to punch their train tickets, citing this experience as proof of the hopelessness of Germanic obedience. Could anyone imagine Chinese or Americans being so obedient?

This isn’t a serious analysis of German culture. It’s perfectly fine to argue that certain countries are economically or industrially problematic, but when you throw in comments like this, it really doesn’t help your argument.

And I’m not from Europe, but I have lived here for years. The constant clueless comments by my fellow North Americans about the somehow monolithic entity of “Europe” are irritating.

[enraged_camel]

>> This isn’t a serious analysis of German culture.

Who said it’s meant to be a serious analysis? This is an essay that shares anecdotes and personal opinions, not a PhD dissertation.

[throwaway132448]

I mean, you only have to quote the letter itself:

"I have a hard time squaring the poor prospects of Europe over the next decade with the smugness that Europeans have for themselves. I spent most of the summer in Copenhagen. There’s no doubt that quality of life in most European cities is superb, especially for what I care about: food, opera, walkable streets, access to nature. But a decade of low economic growth is biting. European prices and taxes can be so high while salaries can be so low."

This particular kind of American perspective on Europe always falls into the same trap: Not understanding a world where economic performance is _not_ the be-all-and-end-all, not understanding the connection between the benefits of such a world (things that consider externalities - not individuals - in order to exist) with the costs of such a world (taxes).

[snake_doc]

What exactly is wrong with Americans or for the most part the rest of the world valuing economic performance as a measure of prosperity and progress?

Your comment is again another anecdote confirming European stereotypes. It’s not a “trap”, it’s a different world view.