America's Big Stumbling Block.

My YouTube recommendations contain very many examples of why Europe is a much better place to live than the USA. Most of the channels are operated by Americans who have either spent time in Europe or actually upped sticks and moved here permanently. And, as you would imagine, the whole picture is obviously biased to suit the national identity of a European YouTube user.

 

I would agree that Europe does have one big advantage over America in that it can trace its modern cultural roots back 2,000 years or more, whereas the USA is a mere 250 years old. That much is obvious, as is the propensity among many Americans to flaunt American exceptionalism (which is irritating to us Europeans, but we tend to forget that west and south European exceptionalism was the norm for approximately 300 years.) Nevertheless, there is obviously good and bad in both regions.

 

And so let's all agree that my YouTube recommendations are out of balance. Good. But there is one feature of the USA that does give cause for serious concern and places it pejoratively out of step with most of the rest of the world, and that's its principle religion. And I'm not talking about Christianity here. Americans seem possessed of the notion that theirs is the most Christian country on earth, but from everything I've seen and heard -- and not only on YouTube -- the American version of Christianity bears little resemblance to the purported teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. They're a country mile away, and often completely at odds with what Jesus apparently taught.

 

No, what I'm talking about here is America's true religion: the dedicated worship of mammon and the symbiotic relationship between  wealth and power. Power attracts money; money buys power.

I read today that Elon Musk has contributed nearly half a billion dollars to the cause of reversing the anti-Republican voter trend ahead of the midterm elections. No doubt it's intended to buy power for those who favour and reward the rich and privileged to the detriment of the poor. I suspect he's probably too late this time, but that isn't the point. The point is that here in the UK (I can't speak for other European countries) we place a strict and very small limit on the amount of money that can be spent on electioneering, simply because we don't think that the result of elections should be bought by the side which has the most money. That would be seriously detrimental to the whole democratic principle. But in America, being the foremost disciple of the great god Mammon, it's allowed. 

And that's disappointing because I've known enough splendid Americans to realise that the USA has the potential to be the greatest mover for good in the world. But as long as it retains this one major fault it might well remain powerful, but it will never be great.