As I see it, the Germans couldn’t fathom Hitler or the Nazi’s either.
They didn’t have much of a problem with death camps either...
Americans historically have had some fundamental ideas about freedom that were dismissed as nonsense in much of Europe, especially the firmly regimented Germany. Americans are not so bent on a quest for utopia that they forget to consider what jolly well actually works the best.
Let Germany have a system like Obamacare if it wants. Somebody has to keep on supporting the cornucopia of medical care capabilities, and that somebody has been the USA.
Advice from a people who really enjoy marching in parades.
They COULD fathom him perfectly well - he called for "solidarity" too and, as with national healthcare, they fell right in line and few spoke out. But, as Thomas Jefferson said, "one man with courage is a majority". Our tradition of honoring the individual over "solidarity" is what has kept us freer than Europe, and out of a dictatorship (for now).
You got that right. SIL is from Germany. I think she’s amused about this country going down the tubes. From what I’ve seen, if it’s FREE, to her it’s GREAT, and she wants it and all of it she can get. - I grew up with my dad having been a WWII combat veteran shell shocked all to heck, so to say the least, having to deal with a German in the family has not been easy. (I’ve had the “mind like a steel trap” thing thrown down at me and my nose rubbed in it numerous times; plus having to walk on eggshells about the “Hitler” thing.)
EVERYTHING that the government has taken over here has been an endless tax pit and a failure, unacknowledged by the government, of course. . Medicare, the Post Office, and a bunch of other stuff too numerous to mention. The government just starts a thing, and the more it fails, the more they double down on doing what they’ve always done.