Silverbackman said:
Maybe, but I have always heard and read that Europe is more socialist. I also read that Europe does have Universal Health Care and in some cases Government funded education until graduate school! That is definitely closer to socialism there. I have also read that Sweden (who is a member of the EU I think) is a pretty socialist country, taking more than 75% income tax and what not.
First of all, you shouldn't trust everything you read, especially in the US about the rest of the world (e.g. tax levels in Sweden are more like 50%, not 75% !). Secondly, yes, Europe has good health care and tax-funded education till university, and overall higher tax levels, and in this regard it is more socialist. But this thread is about marriage, and in this regard Europe is much more liberal than the USA.
When I say capitalism I don't mean social conservative, just free market and free business (in Europe I guess economically liberal means free market, correct?). With that is the EU really making things more capitalistic in Europe? I'm sure the union has lowered tariffs quite a bit but has it limited the government's control over the means of production?
Europe is economically liberal and capitalist, and increasingly so with the EU. In fact, Europe has had much more mergers between big companies in recent years than the US. This is a typically capitalist behaviour: free flow of money, internationalisation, forces of the maket acting rather than governments. The US is actually quite protective (like Japan) of its industries, which is why Bush refused to sign the Kyoto Protocol about reducing CO2 emissions, and why the government gives tax cuts to its big companies but not to its people.
Europe is protective of imports when it comes to agriculture, but the US is protective when it comes to applying safety laws (e.g. lack of checks about BSE on cattle for fear of damaging that industry). So you could say that both the US and Europe are very capitalistic, but in different ways. European laws tend to protect consumers first, while American laws protect the industry first. But there are obviously consumer protection laws in the US too, as there are measures to help the industry in Europe.
When you say consumer protection, do you mean protection from fraud? Yes, that really isn't socialist. But anti-discriminatory laws are. For example in the US we have laws against not hiring someone based on religion, ect. However if someone wants to start a business with his own religious beliefs he should. For example if an atheist wants atheist employees, he should have that right. If a hindu wants hindu employees, he should be able to. Or in the case of gender and race, if a Mexican woman wants only Mexican women in her business she should have that right. Are there any laws regarding choosing your employees, customers, ect. in the EU?
Anti-discriminatory laws have nothing to do with socialism or liberalism. They exist in all developed societies, and even in less developed ones - in more "socialist" ones like India, or in more "capitalist" ones like China.
80% in Sweden and 50% in the UK, eh? That is higher than I thought! How do you think the number will be effected if the government got out of the business of marriage?
What do you mean by "the government got out of the business of marriage" ? Do you mean if marriage are not recognised legally, but only by religious institutions ? If that happens, I suppose that almost nobody in Europe (except in religious countries like Ireland and Poland) would get married anymore. Nowadays the main reason couples still get married is that they can get tax cuts or social benefits from the government. If you just want a party, you can do it without being married (many couples do around here).
Technically, marriage is between two adults that love each other. If that is the case then those 80% in Sweden and 50% in the UK are married. They just haven't had a ceremony.
No, that's the opposite. Some people have the party/ceremony (not in church) with their family and friends to celebrate their union, but never actually get married on paper or in church, because they think it's not necessary. That's why I say that such mentality is more liberal, as the government has no business at all in people's love life.