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Old December 31, 2012, 11:33 AM   #266
Spats McGee
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Join Date: July 28, 2010
Location: Arkansas
Posts: 8,819
Having spent ~2.5 years in Germany over the last 25 years, including two stays of a year or longer each, I have some understanding of the European way of thinking. I wouldn't say that Europe is ruled "with an iron fist," as Ben Towe puts it, but there is (IMHO) a much stronger leaning towards collectivist thinking. In Germany, the perspective on the law is often "if it isn't expressly allowed, it's prohibited." By comparison, we Americans often approach it from the other side, "if it isn't expressly prohibited, it's allowed." The Germans have traditionally paid much higher income taxes, but those taxes paid for a much more extensive social net than we have in America.

dutchgunsmoke -- The body of the US Constitution contains the Articles, which are the grants of power to our federal government. The first 10 Amendments to our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, contains limitations on those grants. These are in place for the precise purpose of preventing the majority from overrunning the minority. One of the interesting things about Rights is that they're not always subject to popular vote.
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