Russell Shorto, the author of the recently published "Descartes' Bones," has written a thoughtful little piece for the New York Times on his experience living abroad. In the article, he compares and contrasts a European social model, in this case Holland, with his experiences back home in the states. His argument isn't particularly novel. T.R. Reid makes similar assertions in "The United States of Europe," and there are similar sentiments in Adam Gopnik's "Paris to the Moon." But I think that Shorto's piece is still worth reading, not only because of its brevity, but also because I think the author does his best at an even handed approach.
Given how often the word socialism has been tossed about by the right and left, I think it's worth our time to consider the implications of America's social model as it stands at the beginning of the 21st century. Shorto's article is an excellent introduction.
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