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Comment by jjjjj55555 | Hacker News Reader

I tend to agree, but then I look at Europe and I say, who is the ruling class here? In the US it's obvious that corporations run everything, but that doesn't seem to be the case in western Europe.

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I won't say this is a good representation of every european country, but in France, basically two bilionary own all mainstream private press media, the rich class basically built Macron to push their agenda, and most important laws anyway come from Europe transpositions where only those that can build a perpetual lobby service can push a topic into a directive.

So yes obviously Europe is a paradise of direct democracy where every citizen bloom thanks to a social structure made to help each of them thrive and reach the best version of themselves acting everyday for an harmonious society free of any anxiety about future that promise only bright shiny days for the masses and their children.

Just because they occasionally legislate USB-C chargers doesn't make them bastions of socialism, lol.

I know they're not socialist, but they're also not clearly dominated by giant corporations the way the US is. Who is the ruling class then?

Means & motive are still largely governed by whether you own things for a living or work for a living. The pay to exist vs get paid to exist dynamic is alive and well over there and the debates are all quite familiar. After all they invented the rules and we just copy-pasted them with a few small modifications. The ownership class just isn't as dominant as it is in the US at the moment, for better and for worse.

Is it possible that they pass USB-C charging and data privacy laws in Europe because the companies affected are primarily American companies not European companies?

Likewise, I imagine they pass anti-fossil fuel laws because there aren't really any major fossil fuel producing countries in Europe besides Russia which is both a pariah and the continent's gas station.

Not countries producing but there's huge oil companies based in Europe (BP, Shell, Total)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_largest_oil_and_gas_...

That's because western europe is the ruling class.

All of the people of western Europe are the ruling class? LOL I doubt any of them feel that way. What are they ruling exactly?

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