We’re all democrats in high standing, indubitably, though some more coersively than others.

Hgs nd ksss frm jst nthr mrcn hthn.

I am sure you will be glad to learn that an US worker spend on average 1,877 hours per year at the office while their French counterparts, lazzy bastards,only 1,562, that is about 9 weeks less (35h-week…)[OECD 2000]
In 2002, hourly labour productivity in the US was $38,83 while in France it was $41,85, ie 7% higher I know it’s hurt to hear that those froggies are most efficient despite the stereotypes.

But that’s right that the difference of annual working hours explains only 75% of the difference of GDP per capita. The remaining 25% comes from lower enumployement in the US but also especially from that people retire later, don’t have maternity or paternity leaves (US being one of the only 3 industrialized countries not to mandate it)

But maybe people in the US should even consider giving up their optional 2 week annual break so they could get a bit richer after all.
Do you want to bet that the productivity gap would widen further ?
But we could also discuss the Human Development Index in case you don’t think the material wealth is the only thing that should be taken into consideration. I am not sure you would appreciate the statistics I could show though…

1. They do not generally pepper their attacks on us with the same handful of English words, hackneyed national stereotypes and atrocious puns which have already been recycled ad nauseum by the editorial staff of the Economist.

2. They do not, for the matter, share the Anglo-american belief that the discipline of
Economics is the crowning achievement of modern intellectual life and enhancing GDP growth
the only legitimate aim of public policy.

3. The French education system has a tendency of producing people deserving of the name
“intellectual” rather than the armies of tedious specialists and “policy intellectuals” so
obsessed with the technicalities of their own disciplines they can no longer connect with
the rest of the human race and are also frequently phillistine, illiterate and boring.

4. French wine and beer make life worth living. English wine is non-existent and American
wine is crap. American beer tastes like watered down piss.

5. French women are more attractive then British and a fortiori American women. (Note, to
forestall the inevitable faux outrage: This doubtless also applies to men.)

6. Iraq.

7. France has a fantastic cultural heritage and its people have the time to enjoy it.
American culture is a contradiction in terms.

8. Culture, again.

9. In France it is possible to admit that capitalism may not be perfect and, gasp, debate
the alternatives.

10. The working class French stand up for themselves and are smart enough not to buy into
the political world view which is fucking them up the ass. Probably something to do with not
having been crushed by a system which gives them the “freedom” to flip burgers on pain of
death.

11. Did I mention culture?

etc, etc (I’m not French by the way)

I’m not sure what this has to do with anything. The European constitution (as I understand it) wouldn’t replace or modify any national constitutions, but would only affect the supra-national institutions set “over” these constitutions.

When comparing the successful ratification of the U.S. constitution to the failed (for the time being, anyway) ratification of the European constitution, there are a couple important points to bear in mind.

1. The U.S. constitution didn’t require unanimous ratification. And didn’t get it, at least not at first: one of the original 13 states didn’t ratify until several years after the Constitution had come into effect.

This was only possible because the U.S. Constitutional Convention, though it had been empowered only to propose modifications to the Articles of Confederation, decided to junk the Articles and propose a completely new document with no reference to the old, which was presumably not a practical option for the drafters of the European constitution.

2. The backers of the U.S. constitution compromised with their opponents. Several states only ratified after the backers promised that a Bill of Rights would be added to the Constitution (more accurately, that the first Congress would send the necessary amendments to that states for ratification), and the pro-Constitution side kept their part of the deal, thanks to James Madison’s insistence.

Again, this offer was only feasible because, under the Constitution, amendments would not have to be laboriously negotiatied among all the state governments, and would not require unanimous ratification to take effect.

Of course, there were other major differences between the two situations. But it seems safe to say that, had the U.S. constitution had to jump the same hurdles as the European constitution (unanimous consent with no modification feasible), it would never have been ratified.

#92 – “And of having a strong enemy, the British, who forced them to stay united.”

The British weren’t exactly “enemies” at that point, a peace treaty having been signed several years earlier, but they were certainly rivals. More generally, the U.S. was facing a number of foreign policy crises, and to many people it seemed that the national government created by the Articles was incapable of dealing with them, because it was so weak that foreign governments didn’t take it seriously. Not that that was the only reason why people wanted to replace the Articles, or supported the Constitution.

Single European Act. 1986.

Those hamburger flippers in the US seem to be doing quite well.
GDP Per Capita Rankings

2. United States $35991.96 per person

20. Germany $26214.12 per person

22. France $25888.77 per person

24. United Kingdom $25426.55 per person

On top of these dismal EU GDP numbers, the US economy is growing steadily faster. In fact, the per Capita GDP of most of the major European economies is down there with some of the poorest states in the US.

Try Chicago, those people are work horses. They are fighting each other for the overtime hours offered, whether they are flipping burgers or designing Motorola wireless systems.

I find it amusing when Europeans attempt to belittle the US on economic grounds.

You have a severe misconception about the burger flippers in the US. They are normally teenagers, learning work ethic, or retirees who haven’t figured out how to stop working. I realize in most of your countries, these things are done by imported labor. Hence, France becomes majority Muslim by 2025. Enjoy.

I suspect we’ll end up going to Belgium because my daughter finds the entire concept of the Maneken Pis totally hilarious.