I'm not surprised that Jerome is meeting resistance over there. I appreciate the information in this thread. It's invaluable.

I will say however that since there are so many variables at work in each and every country, that it's hard to make comparisons between, say, union culture in one country as compared to another.

Kos readers are not exactly your actual representatives of the American Left. They are very involved in the Democratic Party, to a degree far beyond that of most people on the Left. If the Left in America comprises say, 10% of the population (about the same as the far right), then the vast majority of America is in the middle. Kossacks comprise a small subsection of that middle: they can be described as political junkies, but they can't be made to offer a serious critique of the Democratic party. Mention Mother Jones or Counterpunch or Pacifica Radio or Amy Goodman to them, and they turn away toward Air America. They resent true leftists because of Ralph Nader and the Green Party. Air America is the perfect forum for them because it is a partisan radio station, whereas Pacifica's Democracy Now is more apt to air a report such as the one Jerome is offering here.

As for being anti-union, anti-consumer or pro-business, I don't think that's a fair assessment. There is a lot of writing on corporate greed. Kossacks are very concerned with the pro-business congress.

But you're also talking about a country that works very differently than European countries. We don't have a social welfare system like you all do. We pay higher taxes than Europeans do (I read a recent report which shows this to be true) but we receive so very little for it. We have vastly different economic systems. Our unions were once tied to our industries which have declined rapidly. Our unions today (I'm actually a union member) are mainly populated by public employees, and in a country with so few social resources, such unions seem anachronistic even to me precisely because people who do NOT have access to health care and proper schools are footing the bill for unions through taxes. In short, sometimes the unions are causing inequities in the US precisely because the country is so screwed up to begin with, socially. Strengthening union membership would actually retard what America needs to do. America needs to strengthen its social programs and educational system. Too often, the unions get in the way.