Jane Galt to Europeans: Don't Be So Smug

In a wonderfully detailed comparison of Europe and the US, Asymmetric Information unveils the European smugness:

Y'all apparently don't even need the "natural" part to produce the disaster. A heat wave that wouldn't even make a New Yorker reach across the sofa to turn up the fan killed as many people in France as the worst-case scenario for American losses to Katrina. They were apparently not saved by Europe's admirably high fuel prices, its finer moral sensibilities about the poor, its stronger committment to taking care of its citizens, or [COUGH] its enlightened attitudes on matters of race and ethnicity.

The entire piece is quite lengthy, but very thoughtful and thought-provoking.