Cain,

I only meant ìignorant about the USî.

I know for a fact ñ as I grew up there ñ the vast discrepancies between reality of life in the US and how it is perceived in Europe.

Of course, you are also correct in pointing out that Americans are quite ignorant about Europe, but I found that while for the most part the Americans are prepared to listen to Europeans explain their ways, Europeans love to lecture Americans about our political/economical/social inferiority and get huffy when one points out the error. I encountered enough of this BS on my travels and suffer it from my own family. What I found troubling is that very few Europeans even bother to stop and consider that their ìknowledgeî about the US may be outdated or plain wrong.

One more point: on what philosophy is socialism based if not on Marxism?