The Narcissism of Minor Differences: How America and Europe are Alike

334 Pages·2009·1.73 MB·English

by  Peter Baldwin

THE
NARCISSISM
OF
MINOR
DIFFERENCES
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THE
NARCISSISM
OF
MINOR
DIFFERENCES
HOW AMERICA
AND EUROPE
ARE ALIKE
AN ESSAY IN NUMBERS
PETER BALDWIN
1
2009
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Baldwin, Peter.
Th e narcissism of minor diff erences : how America and Europe are alike / Peter Baldwin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-539120-6
1. National characteristics, European. 2. National characteristics, American.
3. Europe—Relations—United States. 4. United States—Relations—Europe.
I. Title.
D2021.B34 2009
305.809—dc22 2009007226
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
for my sons,
Lukas and Elias,
who negotiate both sides
of this supposed divide
with aplomb
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
INTRODUCTION(cid:2)1
ONE Th e Economy 15
TWO Health Care 40
THREE Th e Rest of the Welfare State 60
FOUR Crime 74
FIVE More Broadly 91
SIX Education and the Higher Pursuits 97
SEVEN Th e Environment 122
EIGHT Civil Society 148
NINE Nationalism 160
TEN Religion and Science 163
ELEVEN Assimilation 176
TWELVE Lumping and Splitting 183
THIRTEEN A Meeting of the Twain? 204
FOURTEEN Separated at Birth? 216
FIFTEEN Th e Post Facto State 227
SIXTEEN How the West Was One 236
SEVENTEEN Acorn and Oak 243
A Note on Sources 251
Notes 253
Figure Sources 285
Index 311
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
i am enormously indebted to Michael Kellogg, a scholar in his own
right, for invaluable research assistance. Without his help, I would still be scur-
rying down the back alleys of the Internet, trying to come up with something
quantifi able on sugar consumption, per capita piano sales, newspaper read-
ership, or who knows what. Yves-Pierre Yani, of the UCLA Department of
Economics, did preliminary calculations for several of the graphs on income
distribution and poverty. Jamie Barron, of the UCLA Statistics Department,
refi ned and improved these calculations where noted, and was immensely use-
ful in helping me sidestep the worst of my statistical mistakes. Th e usual provi-
sos concerning ultimate attribution of fault apply.
Several colleagues and friends were of help with suggestions and leads to
information I had overlooked, as well as wise counsel on how to phrase and
structure matters. Many of them probably disagree with the argument here,
and to the extent that I can, I absolve them of any implication in it. Th ey
were nonetheless too kind just to send me packing. I am indebted to Jens
Alber, Joyce Appleby, Perry Anderson, Timothy Garton Ash, Peter Aterman,
Michael Burda, Gøsta Esping-Andersen, Neil Gilbert, Jacob Hacker, Josef
Joff e, Matthieu Leimgruber, Peter Mandler, Claus Off e, Timothy B. Smith,
Lars Trägårdh, and George Weidenfeld. Frank Castles went far beyond the
call of duty or collegiality. He has read the manuscript in several versions, not
to mention hearing it as a lecture, and has still had the patience to guide me
around numerous pitfalls. I am deeply grateful.
Th e inspiration to write a longish version of these ideas came during the
question period at a talk I was invited to give at Jürgen Kocka’s ongoing sem-
inar on comparative history at the Free University of Berlin in April 2006.
Th e fervor with which the students present insisted that the European social