re: 1st World Problems

I would have to postulate that [Western] Europe has all that socialist safety net BECAUSE they choose to help one another out. i.e. They are in this way "noble" like the 2nd & 3rd worlders you mentioned. The big difference is that they they can afford it. This because they have, for centuries running, tended to help themselves.

Miller wrote that the first thing American women noticed in Europe was that it was unsanitary. The first thing I noticed there is that almost everyone looks a lot like almost everyone else.

Again, like in those 2nd and 3rd world countries where everybody gets along.