Two Septembers ago my wife and I spent ten days touring Spain, France and Italy. Everyone (natives and tour guides included) we had spoken with complained of having to drive small old cars or motorbikes, of living in mediocre apartments instead of owning their own houses, and the Europeans also grieved about having 70 to 80 percent of their wages going to government taxes. The inhabitants we had met all wished that they could live in the USA where they believed upward social mobility and economic opportunity was still possible.
   It is beyond my comprehension why any American or American politician would be looking to Europe for enlightenment (and national solutions) when virtually everyone in Europe wishes that they could live in this last fading bastion of world capitalism, the United States of America.