Ask500

In the short term the US has no choice but to raise the debt ceiling, as cost cuts and tax raises take month or even years to kick in. At the same time, massive cuts in government spending are inevitable. If the US does not learn to keep its national budget in order, the Chinese (who have financed the US debt by buying treasury bonds) and other investors will soon start asking for a higher return, leading to a debt spiral and finally default. Look whats happening to Greece at the moment to know what this could mean for Americans.

I partly agree with taz101. The French have a fairly socialist and very centralistic approach to politics. That's why Americans (and Swiss) tend to regard the French political system and its approaches quite sceptical. We are used to more individualistic / market based and federalistic approaches. We tend to see state involvment in any way much more sceptical than the French.

So in general, when France adopts a new policy for dealing with - say - the cost explosion in the health system, I think it's wise to think twice before you adopt such a system in another country.

But nevertheless I can still admire French savoir-vivre, art and culture.

Actually in Switzerland right now many new built homes are heated with geothermal energy instead of oil or gas. But guess what: Hydro-extractors need electricity to function. This is a good solution for the heating pollution in Switzerland, because we get 60% of our energy from our dams in the Alps. Nuclear power is a way of doing that for countries that don't have mountains or other geographical opportunities. Same goes for electric cars: they're only good if the electricity used to reduce carbon dioxide is green too.

Of course I prefer wind and solar energy over nuclear. But although these alternative energies are gaining ground fast, they're not fast enough to fill the gap.

Capitalism does not mean that you're not supposed to help others. What jondough wrote about was individual responsibility as a principle of capitalism. Every human being tries to achieve the best for itself and by doing so, we help the society advance both financially and technologically. And yes, cooperation does play a crucial part in that process. And cooperation fits perfectly well into a capitalistic system. What's a (capitalistic) company in your eyes? It's a group of people cooperating in order to produce more or achieve something greater than a single individual could have.

First you're using a funny definition for capitalism. Then I'd agree with dauguy - corruption is where humans are. If at all, I think the relation goes the other way: less capitalistic societies tend to be even more corrupt (i.e. Cuba, North Korea) as they're often unfree which leads to a underdeveloped or nonexistent juidicial system.

I absolutely luuuuv my country (Switzerland). We have a direct democracy, everything works well, few unemployed, beautiful landscape, we're close other major european centers what would you want more?

I am fed up with these American wanna-be scientific documentaries that blame multinational companies for all evil on the planet. These movies may make people feel better because they point their fingers on the scapegoats for global warming, unhealthy diets and the like . But at the end of the day it's our (the consumer's) behavior that destroys the environment and it's us who decide what to eat or where to fly for holidays, not the multinationals.

If multinationals are the sole source of evil on the planet, why do Americans spend twice as much carbon dioxide than the Swiss, although the Swiss are even richer per capita? Are we less influenced by multinationals than Americans? Come on.

An important part of school is socialization. Kids learn social norms, how to interact with peers, build friendships and how to be a part of a group in school. All these things, we will still need in a digitalised world. So, no way.

As you said, the Greek government has vowed to reduce deficits(at times when surpluses would be desperately needed). These vows mean nothing, they need results. now.

The real problems in both countries are mainly caused by corruption and inefficient institutions. It doesn't matter whether it's a socialist or a conservative government - both can't be successful if people keep cheating their own state.

Who cares what a dictator's puppet says about an elected president of a free country?