Eurotrash

Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent

By: David Harsanyi

Narrated by: Charles Constant

Why should America try to be more like countries that are worse in nearly every way?

Europe has been declining under the weight of its antiquated institutions, economic fatigue, moral anemia and cultural surrender. Yet American politicians, technocrats, academics, and pundits argue, with increasing popularity, that Americans should look across the Atlantic for solutions to the nation’s problems, including on issues like health care, the welfare state, immigration, and a bloated bureaucracy.

In Eurotrash, David Harsanyi argues we are looking in the wrong place. By every economic and societal measure, the United States is more tolerant than Europe. It is more welcoming of immigrants, but also far more successful at assimilating them. Minorities do far better in United States. Our economy is dominant. Only one European company appears in top 10 corporate powerhouses in the world and only seven in the top 50. Americans make up nearly half of the list.

Americans are far more charitable and happier than Europeans. Our slightly lower life expectancy and our slightly higher infant mortality rate are not a result of substandard care, but a statistical misunderstanding based on the fact we treat every life as one worth saving.

In this biting, fast-moving, and well-researched polemic, Harsanyi debunks prevailing notions about European supremacy and makes an unapologetic case for American exceptionalism, offering insight and reasoned arguments to counter current policy prescriptions.

Details on many ways Europe is lacking

Europe is a beautiful place with deep cultures, but their political systems are not something the US should imitate. Americans have high standards of living, are more generous, and have more freedoms. Mr. Harsanyi , as the son of immigrants from a European communist country, elucidates the many ways the US has it better.

Great insights; My experience matches up

I’ve spent a ton of time in Europe as well as the US. Most of what he says I agree with. He convinced me of his broad point that living in the US is better than Europe. I’ve gotten a sense for many years that Europeans are as a whole very pessimistic about the future and that the bureaucracy is everywhere. The folks I know there are great but the country doesn’t seem as vibrant as the US. Young people in particular seem to have it hard.

Towards the end of the book he talks about one or two kids in Europe who died. I won’t talk about the details there, but those stories conveyed to me most succinctly the problems of European bureaucracy. It was horrible. It reminds me of Kafka’s The Trial.

Bad Title, Important Book

We're constantly being told that America should be more like Europe. This is a step by step walk through all the reasons that's a terrible idea, unless you're looking for comfortable deck chairs on the Titanic. The narrator was unusually good. Really appreciated his hard work to pronounce names and words from a number of languages.

Great ideas, would have been more intellectually convincing if he could have kept his tone less sarcastic.

Excellent Read

I really enjoyed this book. The author is very level headed and explains the facts without emotions or opinions just facts. I highly suggest this read

Fantastic

A must read by every EU citizen! But for that it needs to be translated into 27 languages?