Monday, June 16, 2003

Travel Journal

No, don´t worry, I won´t bore you all with tales from my undisclosed location. I have to admit, though, that after spending a bit of time in Old Yurp, I´m more confused than ever by the harsh antipathy directed at it by most right wing bloggers. Now, I´m not referring to their hysterical responses to genuine political differences but rather the picture they seem to paint of Yurp as one notch above Cuba in its livability.

I´m no Europhile - it´s fair to say I choose to live in the US for a variety of reasons over and above the simple fact that it is where I grew up. But, it´s hard for me to understand how anyone who has spent a decent amount of time in one of the better European cities to not come away with a sense that they´re doing something right and we´re doing something wrong. The reverse is true on other issues, of course, but the point is that to some degree it´s simply a matter of preference. In many ways, it´s hard to beat the urban Yurpean lifestyle.

For all our yammering on about "freedom," it´s difficult to argue that day to day personal freedom is somehow more pronounced in the U.S.