alt Hacker NewsWe don't have a huge immigration problem. The immigrants are blamed for everything by the fascists, just like in America. Yet their numbers are far too low too explain that.
We have serious issues like housing shortages but if we kicked out all the immigrants (which we shouldn't because they are helping our economy by doing jobs we don't like!) we still would have that problem, just a few percent less. This is the fallacy in that narrative.
And life isn't all about who has the most money, that's a US-Centric view. The poorer countries in Europe are better places to live at the moment and cost of life is lower there too. Besides, those 'entitlements' really add to our quality of life. We don't have to worry about going bankrupt over a medical issue. That's much more important in my life than being able to buy a new iPhone every year and pollute the world.
It's very telling of the US to always consider everything some kind of race or competition. Whereas we're not trying to win but to live together. Really if I make enough money to live comfortably without having to waste all my life at the office I'm doing well. Life is a balance of work and personal life. The US has never had this kind of balance. Everyone's in a race to make it 'to the top' but most people never do. I hear of people in the American big cities having to take side jobs because cost of living is so high. Our American-centric HR is always pushing me to 'challenge my career path' and move up into management but I would utterly fail there due to just not having those skills and talents (Peter principle). I'm just happy being a top technical expert for the rest of my life. I would detest being a manager and I would suck at it.
If anything Europe is getting too American. Too few people are holding too much of the wealth, this is why people are protesting.
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> We don't have a huge immigration problemq
My Bangladeshi parents were in London in 2023 and they were shocked by the number of immigrants. My mom was very upset because it blew up the idea that the immigrants would act and talk exactly like British people who just happened to be less sensitive to the sun. They’re retaining their differences, they’re participating in politics in ethnic blocs, they’re raising their kids with their own culture and values. It’s the opposite of what her generation had hoped for—London becoming more like Dhaka instead of Dhaka becoming more like London. This is because you’re letting them in too fast, in groups that are too large.
You’re also letting in the wrong kind of immigrants. You want immigrants who dislike their home countries and want to leave and westernize. You don’t want to take refugees, who are generally people who are forced by external circumstances rather than internal motivation to leave their homelands.
I'm afraid you might have misunderstood the point I was making about immigrants. I am a legal immigrant myself and do not propose kicking out (legal) immigrants.
Restricting immigration to those with skills the country requires at the time is sensible policy. Allowing millions into the country in an orgy of performative empathy with no plan for integration or converting them into productive members of society isn't.
My point is that there is a cost associated with this, and the EU is paying it in spades. The money spent addressing these issues comes at the expense of investment in things that make the country more innovative (education, trades, streamlined regulatory structures...), or have a stronger defensive posture.
Self-evidently, life isn't exclusively about WHO has the money. Having options, however, IS exclusively the result of who has the money. When the EU have restricted their options through these voluntary and unwise choices, they have to depend on someone else's help. That someone is going to want their pound of flesh.
"Fascist" seems a little over the top to describe these views.
Not wanting to work very much, yet feeling entitled to a share of what other people work for, doesn't sound like a workable system.
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I really really like Europeans. I love their zest for life. Their focus on supporting people as a basic human right. But in order to do these things, you need money and you need muscle. Unfortunately both of those things are obtainable on a scale of difficulty approximated by the most competitive global players, which are currently the US and China. Unfortunately that means you have to work a lot harder or spend a lot less on social programs or some mix of both.
I don’t see a way around this and Europe is suffering because they don’t seem to want to accept this reality.