01-13-2010, 02:23 PM
The "European system" is itself a misnomer, since there are all sorts of "systems" across Europe: thus, there is no single answer.
So a different way to look at it is this: Why do many Americans believe the society should be the servant of the economy while many Europeans believe the economy should be the servant of society? I think there is no simple answer, but one clue is the very high level of property ownership in America compared with many European countries. In 1800 or so, a large number of Americans, though incredibly poor, owned some property; in Europe, ownership was much less widespread. This remained true when the U.S. developed big capital in the later 1800s: even early union activists were wary of interfering too much with the rights of owners, because many of the members owned some property. This, even now, leads a lot of people to fear government intrusion into property rights, even when they benefit by doing so.
So a different way to look at it is this: Why do many Americans believe the society should be the servant of the economy while many Europeans believe the economy should be the servant of society? I think there is no simple answer, but one clue is the very high level of property ownership in America compared with many European countries. In 1800 or so, a large number of Americans, though incredibly poor, owned some property; in Europe, ownership was much less widespread. This remained true when the U.S. developed big capital in the later 1800s: even early union activists were wary of interfering too much with the rights of owners, because many of the members owned some property. This, even now, leads a lot of people to fear government intrusion into property rights, even when they benefit by doing so.