Re: CLASS in Europe and America

On 8/10/26 08:35, Lars Poulsen wrote:
>> On 8/9/26 10:10, Lars Poulsen wrote:
>>> As an immigrant from Europe (Denmark) I see much more class 
>>> entrenchment in the USA than in the parts of Europe that I am 
>>> intimately familar with. Americans TELL themselves (or each other) 
>>> that they have high social mobility, but it is FAR easier to start a 
>>> new business in most of Europe. Universal health care is one huge 
>>> reason.
>>
> On 2026-08-09 20:59, c186282 wrote:
>>    The UK is still probably THE worst in the
>>    vicinity about 'class'. You're either "born
>>    to" whatever or you'll get squeezed out,
>>    never be seen as a real "peer".
>>
>>    It MAY be easier to start a biz in the EU. Never
>>    looked into the details. However I do keep seeing
>>    news from the EU about smaller biz collapsing
>>    under huge tax and regulatory burdens. So "start",
>>    maybe easier, "keep", not so much.
>>
>>    And you don't have to own a biz to "get ahead".
>>    Just don't spend every coin you earn as fast as
>>    you earn it. Persistence in a large biz tends
>>    to pay off as well - alas Gen-Z/A2 don't seem
>>    to GRASP that. If they're not CEO in six months
>>    they jump ship and start over, and over, and over ...
>>
>>    Anyway, USA is about "opportunity" - IF you can
>>    spot it. The original "old money" crowd is pretty
>>    weak and thus things change fast.
>>
>>    "Old money" - grandpa MAKES it, the kids SURF
>>    on it and the grand-kids BLOW it all. That's
>>    the normal cycle in USA.
> 
> That used to be the story, but it is much less so. It is now quite easy 
> for the older generation to protect the wealth and avoid taxation.


   Umm ... no ... you really CAN'T protect wealth
   from clueless useless, spoiled grand-kids. They
   WILL blow it all, fast.  :-)


> Not only are inheritance taxes all but abolished, but once you have 
> enough wealth, you do not even pay income taxes in the accumulation
> phase: Borrow to spend ... and then there is a "tax-free basis step-up"
> upon inheritance.
> 
> Also, US law - or at least its implementation - has been distorted to 
> where "business friendly" is understood as "big business friendly" to 
> the detriment of small businesses. At least in the Nordics, government 
> programs favor mom-and-pop businesses and startups.

   Businesses are Very Important.

   Or are you looking for some kind of medieval
   starving-farmer equation ???