Some European politicians are dismayed that the European Union did not drive a harder bargain, but facing the threat of a damaging trade war, officials say they had little choice.
Archive - https://archive.is/4M8vb
Some European politicians are dismayed that the European Union did not drive a harder bargain, but facing the threat of a damaging trade war, officials say they had little choice.
Archive - https://archive.is/4M8vb
I don’t know who you are talking to, but I have never heard a real person face to face say “we are a nation of contracts”. Only tv newsertainment. The only defense I have heard for arbitration was a half-hearted mention that the courts are already jammed.
As for corruption of the judicial system, that was one of the major points of the black lives matter protests. The judicial system give cops preference, allowing them to continue to brutalize minorities.
Here is a gallop poll showing faith in the judicial system at 35%. https://news.gallup.com/poll/653897/americans-pass-judgment-courts.aspx
I’ve been in the jury room, before 2020 even when faith in the system really took a nose dive. One guy wouldn’t vote to convict no matter what because he didn’t believe any part of the system was fair. Others openly expressed how thier lack of faith in the system was impacting thier deliberations. Keep in mind, judges will tell people that both of those actions are illegal and can get you put in jail. No one turned them in or even objected to those opinions.
Most people have come to the realization that the government, especially the judicial system, doesn’t work for the people. They work for the corporations.
The only defenders a person is likely to meet are the ones who profit from the system. People with stock portfolios and such. And even among those many agree the system isn’t fair to people.
I will admit the “nation of contracts” piece is not from a IRL convo, it was a forum convo. That being said I’ve definitely encountered very similar polemics in face to face conversations in the US.
The level of skepticism of oligarchs and government corruption in the US is far less than in any country I’ve lived in (I’ve lived in 5 countries across North America, Europe and Asia, I’ve also visited another ~25 countries, some multiple times).
I am not saying there is no skepticism of either the judiciary or the oligarchic system, but a lot of people (note I never said a plurality or majority, I used the word “large”) actively and aggressively promote oligarchic polemics, corruption and criminality.
In other countries, you almost never have situations (IRL) where someone talks about the constitution or freedom of speech or any such concepts in a random manner. You can have conversation about such topics, but these are defined and focused discussions. In the US, as foreigner, you get the impression and that everyone and their mother claims to be constitutional expert. And the “free speech supporter” polemics (the ones I’ve heard IRL, not internet or media stuff) are extremely shallow, bordering on childish.
And the polemical outbursts almost always leverage standardized copytext. This is very noticeable if you are foreigner and you travel across the US and talk to different people in different environments.
It is not my intention to “shit on the US”, not at all. But it also not reasonable for me to deny my real experience in the US (not one location, I’ve been to maybe ~20 states or so).
I would agree that more defend it than most would expect. And probably more than average compared to other countries… but when the country is the posterchild for capitalism that is a given. And I am not questioning your personal experience, I am saying that mine is different. Lived here all my life. Lived in 4 different states over the years, visited and stayed at people’s homes in at least 10 more. Visited probably another 20 for various lengths of time. So the truth is probably somewhere between our two very different experiences.
That’s a fair take.