Europe is in a much worse condition than the USA due to its ridiculously high levels of socialism
I am of a pragmatic bent. Rather than blame ideology I prefer to observe mechanics. I think you, AnonyMint, often miss opportunities to usefully educate because
you over-use polarizing category language, to which most minds are hardened. I am sure that Deng "Little Pheonix" would back me, in that it doesn' t matter whether the debt-backed fiat-slavery regime and socialization of losses are imposed by a dictatorship of the proletariat or by the regulatory capture of crony capitalists, if the outcomes are similar.
The whole planet is subject to common driving forces these days, due to increased interlinking bandwidth on all levels of organization, from material goods to physical/ chemical energy, to financial flows, to informative signals, to emotive zeitgeist -- even genetic transmission and familial ties are global now. This results in a remarkable synchronization. North American, European, East Asian and even Australian economies and societies share similar liabilities of energy-draining rentiers, compliant brainwashed and transfer payment co-opted masses, captive rigidly ossifying regulatory regimes, and exponential debt explosion. Japan and China face the same end-game now. Japan is likely to be the first to feel the brunt, and China may be the last.
The lesser rigidity and inertia of smaller, more isolated, and less developed polities will make them relative havens. I think of Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America here - but even there the implosion of Kissinger's dollar system will make itself unpleasantly felt. I consider Chile a pretty good bet, among the nation-states.
I have enjoyed reading AnonyMint's posts, but you hit the nail on the head with my bolded comment. That is the problem I have with his posts (and I'm not saying this in an attacking way.) but when we break a complicated thing called life into just a few groups, we are missing the picture. There is still a lot of information and truth in his posts, so I take a J. Krishnamurti approach of "seeing the truth in the false", so to speak.
Further, polarized thinking makes us rather predictable, non-creative, non-free thinking, followers, easy to direct/control and on and on. I mean it takes away the dynamic nature of being a human BEING. It makes us into the very dichotomies of those that create them. (A bit hard for me to English this.) It is like culture, religion, tradition, "education", language, etc. Use all of what we are...
Appreciate your posts on XMR,
Its about sharing