False comparisons and straw men

One of the biggest intellectual frauds some try to perpetuate is comparing the US to other nations.  Usually, it's done as a means of suggesting one more area where govt can infiltrate your life.  Well, just one small problem with comparing America to European or Asian societies, and it is a problem so obvious one has to wonder why it is missed.  Then again, because it is so obvious, the greater likelihood is that the issue is not simply overlooked, it is purposely ignored. 

That problem/issue/factor is culture.  What the cultural relativists among us refuse to accept is that, culturally speaking, the US is light years apart from other societies.  Here is the simplest test - go to Europe, Asia, or Africa and I guarantee that you will look out of place in at least one of those continents, if not all three.  By contrast, no one looks out of place here.  At first glance, it is impossible to tell whether the guy in the convenience store or the girl at the counter has been here for five generations or five minutes.

There is a secondary aspect to culture.  The govt programs in place overseas, the type of social welfare initiatives many here want to see implemented, work because of universal buy-in among those populations.  In fact, one big problem in Greece is that, for too long, a large segment has shirked its responsibility to contribute toward benefit programs by either being paid under the table and avoiding taxes or not paying them altogether.  But in places like Germany, Denmark, and Japan, where the system works relatively well, everyone understands that s/he has a responsibility to put money into the kitty. 

There is no politically-perpetuated permanent underclass in those societies.  There are no 3rd or 4th generation welfare recipients.  There are no programs that incentivize bad behavior as there are here.  But, it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge this malicious truth.  As it is, nearly half the American population has zero federal income tax liability; a high percentage of folks get back more in benefits than they ever kick into the system.  Does anyone believe that such a system can work forever?  Please. 

Of course, facing this reality makes some people uncomfortable.  They hope you won't recognize that a govt which takes from Peter to give to Paul can always count on Paul's support, and we are reaching the tipping point where the number of Pauls outnumbers the Peters.  As a wise man once said, democracy works just fine until people figure out that they can vote themselves the money of others.  In the book Atlas Shrugged, the Peter class eventually went on strike.  In reality, the creative class is not likely to up and quit and political opportunists know that.  By the same token, you should know many of them are being intellectually dishonest, which is hardly a novel concept, but it bears remembering when you are faced with a round of intellectual dishonesty.