plagued by two philosophies
Slate has been running
a great feature called "Joe Klein's European Listening Tour." To better understand
recent political trends in Europe, Klein is wandering around Europe and talking to people.
All of the segments are pretty interesting, but my favorite quote comes from Fidele Confalonieri, chairman of the Italian PM's media empire:
For years in Italy, we've been plagued by two philosophies that put off happiness into the distant future. The church says it will come after you die. The Communists say it will come hundreds of years from now when everyone is equal. It isn't difficult to compete against such ideas."
This makes immediate intuitive sense to me, but a moment's reflection reveals it isn't quite right. There are places in the world where it's
quite hard to compete with the former.