Joyeux Anniversaire!

I've scheduled this blogpost to post in my absence because at this moment we are headed to Paris to celebrate Ross's 23rd birthday!

Happy Birthday, Ross . . . et beaucoup plus!

If I had a . . .

nickel for every time I've heard this song, I'd have a lot of nickels.

"If I Had a Hammer"

As Ellen Degeneres said . . . that song must have been written for people without hammers.

Written by folk songwriters Pete Seeger and Lee Hays this song was in support of the American civil rights movement and first performed in 1949. It wasn't so well received then (imagine that), but shot up the charts to the Top 10 when Peter, Paul and Mary performed it in 1962.

We took our hammer to Paris a few weeks ago and left it. Since then it seems every time we turn around we need a hammer.

Naturally, this Top 10 hit came to mind. We've been using lines from the lyrics to describe all the things we could do and all the times we could do it, if only we hadn't left our hammer in Paris.

Like, we could hammer in the morning.

We could hammer in the evening.

We could hammer all OVER this land.

I googled dumbest song lyrics and frighteningly, this one did not make the list which tells me one thing . . . there are a lot of dumb and probably wealthy songwriters out there.

Muskrat Love did make the list. What a classic. Written by Willis Alan Ramsey (whoever that is) and performed in 1976 by the Captain and Tennille , it also made the Top 10.

It's hard to believe, but I think this song is, in fact, dumber than If I Had a Hammer.

"Nibblin' on bacon, chewin' on cheese

. . . and they shimmy, Sam is so skinny . . .

And they whirled and they twirled and they tango . . . "

Regrettably, this is all from memory.

I think Jim plans to go by the hardware store this evening and we will again be hammer-owners.

There will be so many things we can do now. And Lord KNOWS what we could do if we had a bell.

Back to School

I have enrolled in another Flemish class that meets every afternoon, 5 days a week, for 3 hours. It's definitely cuttin' in to my sittin' around time, but that's exactly the point.

On the first day, the teacher asked us to introduce ourselves - name, country, married or not, children or not, etc.

The "assigned seat" syndrome I've mentioned before hasn't changed and after only one day, we each sit in the same place.

I am the only American. Others are from Spain, Morocco, France, Turkey, Armenia, Algeria . . .

I've never really been uncomfortable as an American abroad, but for the first time . . . in this class, I feel differently somehow.

Maybe it's because the guy sitting to my right is from Iraq and the woman sitting to my left is from Afghanistan.

They don't even know me, but what do they think of me?

I wonder if even my best effort can change that.

Windmolens

Last weekend we took a drive north into the Netherlands. I'm not exactly sure which towns we drove through and stopped in, but we decided the Netherlands must be absolutely perfect for growing anything. It seems that what is now land used to be water and the whole country is low and fertile.

Canals are everywhere and so are the windmills.

Free range chickens, I presume. I've heard of this, but never seen it until now. I guess this is the good life we keep hearing about and I admit anything is better than a stinky, crowded, hot chicken house.

We must have seen at least six windmills in just a couple of hours.

The new white meat? I guess this farm raises kangaroos for consumption. I'd never seen a white kangaroo and despite being high in protein and only 2% fat, I will not be eating a kangaroo of any color. I think the Captain would not approve. Europe and Russia are the largest importers, but yes, you can eat it in the States too.

All of the windmills we saw were well preserved and beautiful.

Next to the kangaroo farm was a stork farm and we all know what those are bred for :)

Then the best part . . . a flower stand. Every year at this time there are flowers everywhere and cheap too. Tulips - 50 for €10 and they will get even cheaper later on.

We opted for these beautiful roses. They are huge and we got 40 of them for €8!

Nederland

Fourscore

Happy 80th birthday, Pop . . . and many more!

Blogpost title credit: Randi :)

Write it down

Finally . . . . . . our weather has improved so much it's perfect!

Hasselt Weather, Belgium

	Wed, 21 Mar Max: 15°C (59°F) Min: 6°C (42°F) 9mph / 14kph (ENE)
	Thu, 22 Mar Max: 17°C (63°F) Min: 9°C (48°F) 10mph / 17kph (E)
	Fri, 23 Mar Max: 19°C (67°F) Min: 9°C (48°F) 7mph / 11kph (ENE)
	Sat, 24 Mar Max: 18°C (65°F) Min: 8°C (46°F) 7mph / 12kph (NE)
	Sun, 25 Mar Max: 17°C (63°F) Min: 8°C (47°F) 8mph / 13kph (NE)

Pitloos

I buy grapes from time to time. Green or red. We like them both. But sometimes I don't look closely at the label and I am suddenly surprised when I discover they have seeds in them. I know it's my own fault, but there is absolutely no reason for grapes to have seeds. Why are these for sale?

Did you know that a grape-selling company named Thompson has been selling seedless grapes since at least 1872? That's right and they don't have a patent on it either. So are seeded grapes sold simply as a nuisance for the grape eater?

When is the last time you ate an orange with seeds in it? They, too, do not have to have seeds in them. I read that the navel orange came from one tree in Brazil in the 19th century. So every seedless orange today descended from that one Brazilian tree.

Even watermelon has been seedless for nearly 20 years. I have to admit the "seedless" variety often has too many of those tiny white seeds.

Parthenocarpy (virgin fruit) is the natural or artificially induced production of fruit without fertilization. It's all pretty complicated, but any way you look at it, it's worth it!

In the Dark

Yesterday at 11 a.m. I was at the Friday farmer's market when everyone stopped and stood perfectly still. I couldn't figure out what everyone was looking at. Was there some demonstration I was missing? I couldn't see anything going on. Then the church bells tolled and tolled. As I rode my bike home, I noticed the flag at the fire station was at half mast.

I learned only later it was a moment of silence to pay tribute to the 28 people killed in a bus crash this week in Switzerland. Of the dead, 22 were 11 and 12 year old children from Belgium returning from a ski vacation.

Their parents were flown in military planes to Switzerland to identify their children. Unimaginable really. How many times have our own children boarded a bus for a school trip? Returning home safe and sound.

At 11 a.m. today, the two C130 planes landed in Brussels with all of them returning home. And a moment of silence was observed across the country. I read that trains even stopped in their tracks.

Apparently the coach the children were riding in slammed head-on into a tunnel wall. Some say the design of the tunnel may be to blame, some say human error, but it may never be known for certain. Speed and alcohol have been ruled out. The driver did not survive.

I wish I had known about that moment of silence, but that's how it is sometimes for me here. I'm not always aware of what's going on around me like I might be in the States. In the dark.

There's tragedy every day, I know. I didn't know about that moment of silence, but I know it now.

Purloined Paraplu

Umbrellas and bicycles. It's all the same.

Early in our stay here in Belgium, Randi and Josh gave us an umbrella guaranteed to withstand wind. It worked quite a few times, but I wish you could have seen the day it didn't. I remember it well because we were walking from our car to the pub where they sell Westvleteren beer. The wind not only turned that umbrella inside out, it blew enough rain that we were completely soaked. It rains alot here, but never like that.

Ross also gave us a really nice golf umbrella as a gift. It is still intact probably because we keep it in the trunk of the car for those unexpected showers coupled with our lapse of memory to bring an umbrella.

Last year we happened upon a booth at the horse market selling really nice, lightweight umbrellas. No connection between the horses and the umbrellas. Just coincidence, I guess. So we forked over €25 and have thoroughly enjoyed our purchase. It is light blue with a dark blue plaid and a wooden curved handle.

We also own several not-so-nice umbrellas. Each with at least one broken rib and all the ribs are rusted. But they are collapsible and easy to take everywhere since that's what we do . . . take them everywhere.

Since we always have it with us, on more than one occasion, we've left our nice plaid umbrella at a restaurant. We remember it about halfway home, but we return the following day and there it is, right in the paraplubak where we left it.

So recently, Jim went to dinner with work colleagues and he left our good umbrella at a very nice restaurant here in Hasselt. Okay, for those of you who are locals - it is Goei Goesting. For those of you who are not locals, that means something like "good enthusiasm".

I've eaten there only once and I am not as good or enthusiastic as most people seem to be about this restaurant. Here's why. The food is pretty, unidentifiable, and mostly raw.

This picture is taken straight from their website. That's probably one magnified new potato, 1/8 of a bell pepper and warm pigeon or pony.

So back to the paraplu . . . Naturally, he (Jim) went back the next day to retrieve it (our nice plaid umbrella) and it wasn't in the paraplubak where he left it. Of course it was still there. Somewhere. He asked a waiter if the paraplus were somewhere else. He said "no, it should be right there in that bak".

Well, it wasn't. Someone from this nice restaurant stole our plaid umbrella. Who does this? Pigeon and pony-eaters?! It wasn't even raining! And don't think I won't know that umbrella when I see it on the street!

I fear it will probably be just like our bikes - never seen again.

Perhaps all our paraplus should come from here. Slechts €2 (Only 2 euro)

Plotse regen? Neem hier jouw paraplu. (Sudden rain? Take your umbrella here.)

Maybe this line should be added . . . Plotse regen of dief? Neem hier jouw paraplu dat niemand zou denken van stelen. (Sudden rain or thief? Take your umbrella that no one would think to steal - here.)

Unbelievably, the annual horse market is tomorrow! I guess €25 per year for a really nice plaid umbrella isn't so much. And as long as it doesn't get left at Goei Goesting, it could last even longer.

No Brainers

I'm not an organ donor. According to my driver's license, that is. Well, actually my driver's license is in the custody of the Belgian government at the moment since I have an International Driver's Permit for the duration of our stay here.

But on my Texas driver's license, I checked "no". Here's why. I think organ donation is noble and maybe even necessary, but I want my family to make that decision and preferably after consulting with more than one trusted physician that I am absolutely, positively, without-a-doubt, categorically dead.

I read an article in the Wall Street Journal which made me . . .

well, you decide what is best for you and yours before you really have to.

________________________________________

What you Lose When You Sign That Donor Card

by Dick Teresi

The last time I renewed my driver's license, the clerk at the DMV asked if she should check me off as an organ donor. I said no. She looked at me and asked again. I said, "No. Just check the box that says, 'I am a heartless, selfish bastard.'"

Becoming an organ donor seems like a win-win situation. Some 3.3 people on the transplant waiting list will have their lives extended by your gift (3.3 is the average yield of solid organs per donor). You're a hero, and at no real cost, apparently.

But what are you giving up when you check the donor box on your license? Your organs, of course—but much more. You're also giving up your right to informed consent. Doctors don't have to tell you or your relatives what they will do to your body during an organ harvest operation because you'll be dead, with no legal rights.

The most likely donors are victims of head trauma (from, say, a car or motorcycle accident), spontaneous bleeding in the head, or an aneurysm—patients who can be ruled dead based on brain-death criteria. But brain deaths are estimated to be just around 1% of the total. Everyone else dies from failure of the heart, circulation and breathing, which leads the organs to deteriorate quickly. The current criteria on brain death were set by a Harvard Medical School committee in 1968, at a time when organ transplantation was making great strides. In 1981, the Uniform Determination of Death Act made brain death a legal form of death in all 50 states.

The exam for brain death is simple. A doctor splashes ice water in your ears (to look for shivering in the eyes), pokes your eyes with a cotton swab and checks for any gag reflex, among other rudimentary tests. It takes less time than a standard eye exam. Finally, in what's called the apnea test, the ventilator is disconnected to see if you can breathe unassisted. If not, you are brain dead. (Some or all of the above tests are repeated hours later for confirmation.)

Here's the weird part. If you fail the apnea test, your respirator is reconnected. You will begin to breathe again, your heart pumping blood, keeping the organs fresh. Doctors like to say that, at this point, the "person" has departed the body. You will now be called a BHC, or beating-heart cadaver.

Still, you will have more in common biologically with a living person than with a person whose heart has stopped. Your vital organs will function, you'll maintain your body temperature, and your wounds will continue to heal. You can still get bedsores, have heart attacks and get fever from infections.

"I like my dead people cold, stiff, gray and not breathing," says Dr. Michael A. DeVita of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. "The brain dead are warm, pink and breathing."

You might also be emitting brainwaves. Most people are surprised to learn that many people who are declared brain dead are never actually tested for higher-brain activity. The 1968 Harvard committee recommended that doctors use electroencephalography (EEG) to make sure the patient has flat brain waves. Today's tests concentrate on the stalk-like brain stem, in charge of basics such as breathing, sleeping and waking. The EEG would alert doctors if the cortex, the thinking part of your brain, is still active.

But various researchers decided that this test was unnecessary, so it was eliminated from the mandatory criteria in 1971. They reasoned that, if the brain stem is dead, the higher centers of the brain are also probably dead.

But in at least two studies before the 1981 Uniform Determination of Death Act, some "brain-dead" patients were found to be emitting brain waves. One, from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in the 1970s, found that out of 503 patients who met the usual criteria of brain death, 17 showed activity in an EEG.

Even some of the sharpest critics of the brain-death criteria argue that there is no possibility that donors will be in pain during the harvesting of their organs. One, Robert Truog, professor of medical ethics, anesthesia and pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, compared the topic of pain in an organ donor to an argument over "whether it is OK to kick a rock."

But BHCs—who don't receive anesthetics during an organ harvest operation—react to the scalpel like inadequately anesthetized live patients, exhibiting high blood pressure and sometimes soaring heart rates. Doctors say these are simply reflexes.

What if there is sound evidence that you are alive after being declared brain dead? In a 1999 article in the peer-reviewed journal Anesthesiology, Gail A. Van Norman, a professor of anesthesiology at the University of Washington, reported a case in which a 30-year-old patient with severe head trauma began breathing spontaneously after being declared brain dead. The physicians said that, because there was no chance of recovery, he could still be considered dead. The harvest proceeded over the objections of the anesthesiologist, who saw the donor move, and then react to the scalpel with hypertension.

Organ transplantation—from procurement of organs to transplant to the first year of postoperative care—is a $20 billion per year business. Average recipients are charged $750,000 for a transplant, and at an average 3.3 organs, that is more than $2 million per body. Neither donors nor their families can be paid for organs.

It is possible that not being a donor on your license can give you more bargaining power. If you leave instructions with your next of kin, they can perhaps negotiate a better deal. Instead of just the usual icewater-in-the-ears, why not ask for a blood-flow study to make sure your cortex is truly out of commission?

And how about some anesthetic? Although he doesn't believe the brain dead feel pain, Dr. Truog has used two light anesthetics, high-dose fentanyl and sufentanil, which won't harm organs, to quell high blood pressure or heart rate during harvesting operations. "If it were my family," he said, "I'd request them."

—Mr. Teresi is the author of "The Undead: Organ Harvesting, the Ice-Water Test, Beating-Heart Cadavers—How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death."

Where there's hope

Perhaps you noticed a link on the right side of my blog to Help Kelli Kick Cancer.

So you may be wondering . . . who is Kelli and how do I know her? Well, she's a young woman who just turned 30 and I really don't know her . . . personally. We're not exactly related, but let's just say there are less than six degrees of separation between us.

From the website you can learn more about her and her hopes and dreams for the future.

Kleindochter of kleinzoon?

We don't know yet, but we do know it's all good :) To share our good news, click here.

Gimmick or genius?

As you may have noted on my weather gadget, our weather is finally improving! Now, the low is 32F rather than the high! This is our 3rd winter here and I'll admit it has taken a bit of a toll on me, but that's that and Spring is right around the corner. The crocus are blooming and me and the hondje are walking a little farther now.

There was an article recently in the BBC, written by Dr. Michael Mosley, entitled "Can 3 minutes of exercise a week help make you fit?". It's about a study on high intensity training (HIT).

Basically, you get on an exercise bike and pedal as fast as possible for 20 seconds, rest a couple minutes, do it again, rest and do it again. Total 1 minute. Do this 3 times a week for 4 weeks and it is possible to measure your improved fitness. In some people, the improvement is significant.

Now, this doesn't work for everybody as genes apparently play a big role in whether or not you will respond and I would personally fear a heart attack if I did anything similar, but it's interesting just the same.

So, the other day Jim sent me a link to this video. A guy he works with suggested it is a nice alternative to Powerpoint. If there was ever a way to ensure a nap during a mid-afternoon meeting, it is with a Powerpoint presentation, so I couldn't agree more.

I think the video is worth sharing and if you have 9 minutes, it is engaging. If you're not up for HIT, perhaps this is the next best thing.

Click here for the article and video on HIT.

Touristy

We've experienced a not-so-nice American tourist from time to time, but I think it may be because we can understand what they're saying as opposed to say, a rude Beijingite. Maybe I've even been a not-so-nice American tourist, but I try to refrain from doing this . . .

Once when we were in the hellhole known as Delft, Netherlands (inside joke). Actually Delft is a really nice, quaint, city with canals and bagels. Win, win.

We were at this cafe' and could overhear an American woman trying her best not to be pretentious and doing a very good job of just the opposite when "asking" the waiter about the coffee she was drinking, but was clearly dissatisfied with.

In her best "I'm-really-not-pompous" voice she asked the waiter (who, by the way, spoke perfect English - and probably perfect Dutch, French and German) . . . if, in the future, she wanted to order a cup of "American" coffee, what exactly should she order? She had obviously ordered something short of her expectations when it came to a cup of coffee.

I feel her pain. I drank cup after cup of something short of my expectations in Rome. So I did the logical thing - quit ordering coffee and ordered wine instead. Win, win.

I'm sure he (the Delft waiter) wanted to say something like "Perhaps you should order American coffee in America." or "Did you know espresso doesn't have an 'x' in it?", but instead he graciously tried to appease her, gave her a quick Starbucks lesson on every kind of coffee ending in a vowel and offered to give her something else.

My first thought was a quote by James A. Michener I found a long time ago that all travelers - even us Americans - should probably consider:

If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.

Turns out, according to a recent survey by Living Social and Mandala Research of 5,600 people in 5 countries, Americans are considered the worst tourists - and this is coming from their own countrymen! Americans think Americans are the worst tourists. Well, and Australians and Canadians also voted Americans the worst tourists.

Oh, and 4,000 (70%) of those polled were American.

The survey was a bit limited since the 5 countries were the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and Canada. I wouldn't expect to see Belgium in the list, but since Paris and Rome are two of the top destinations for tourists, especially Americans, perhaps France and Italy should have made the short list.

I don't know what the Italianos would say, but I'm pretty sure the French might have a similar response as the Canuck and the Aussie.

I probably should add the Netherlands, specifically Delft, to that last response too.

Ikeadom

I'll be damned! Somebody always steals my best ideas! And probably those of everyone else who has ever stepped into an Ikea.

Every time we go to Ikea - and that would be a lot - I've wondered why Ikea doesn't provide a house planner so one could plan a house similar to their showrooms. They're always so cozy with perfect lighting and efficient to a fault. Not to mention - one stop shopping.

I've actually gotten on their website to see if "design your own room/house" is possible. Turns out in the U.S., it is not possible, but on the Belgian website it is. Best I can tell you can only design a keuken (kitchen) and not an entire house.

Well, that concept is right around the corner. Ikea has partnered with an architectural firm in Oregon called Ideabox. Together they will sell a line of pre-fab homes called Activ (that's Swedish for Active). Clever, huh.

For about $86,000 you can own a one bedroom 745 sq ft rectangle complete with Ektorps, Malms, and Svelviks. The image of a "trailer" may come to mind, but this plan appears to be "minus the wheels". Parking and outdoor barbecuing may be limited, but hey, the price is right.

Check it out. Ideabox

The Roaring 20's

The Great Gatsby written by F. Scott Fitzgerald is a novel that takes place after WWI and during a time of prosperity in America.

The Great Gatsby Curve is a phrase coined by Alan Krueger, present chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors (a 3-member council that analyzes and interprets economic developments and advises the President).

I enjoy reading articles from foreign newspapers and find their perspective on world affairs interesting. The article below is about the "American Dream" and was published in Le Monde.

Le Monde (The World) is a French daily newspaper started in 1944.

Here is the article in French, if you read French.

Obsolète le rêve américain ? La promesse qu'un homme de rien puisse, aux Etats-Unis, plus que nulle part ailleurs, nourrir les espoirs de fortune les plus délirants, n'est-il plus qu'une chimère ? Le constat cruel, presque déshonorant pour la première économie mondiale, a été dressé par les équipes mêmes du président américain, Barak Obama, mi-février. En page 177 du rapport économique annuel du président remis au Congrès figure ce qu'on appelle "la courbe de Gatsby le Magnifique". Le roman de Francis Scott Fitzgerald, peinture de la vanité bourgeoise de l'Amérique des années 1920, donne son nom à un graphique où se croisent, sur un axe horizontal, les données mesurant le degré d'inégalité des revenus et, à la verticale, le lien entre le revenu du père et celui de ses descendants, baromètre de la mobilité sociale.

Que nous dit cette courbe ? Quel que soit l'angle sous lequel on l'observe, les Etats-Unis sont les plus mauvais. Les inégalités de richesses se mêlent à un immobilisme social que l'on pensait réservé à la Veille Europe. L'Amérique de Paris Hilton se range ainsi loin derrière les pays nordiques, mais aussi derrière la France, la Nouvelle-Zélande, le Japon et le Royaume-Uni...

L'ampleur et la distorsion des richesses outre-Atlantique ont déjà été démontrées par les travaux de l'économiste et historien français Thomas Piketty. Mais abordercette question avec un Américain et il vous sera répondu que "les riches sont riches parce qu'ils le méritent". Que l'idée quasi communiste qui consisterait àprendre aux fortunés pour donner aux plus démunis n'est pas une juste récompense du talent. A force de pugnacité, un citoyen américain ne doit-il pas un jour ou l'autre être en mesure d'atteindre le haut de la pile ? "No pain, no gain", entend-on. La "courbe de Gatsby le Magnifique" offre un démenti cinglant à cette théorie. Et aux Etats-Unis comme ailleurs le "talent" se résume bien souvent àhériter.

Le système éducatif américain, autrefois considéré comme le meilleur "égalisateur de société", est partie responsable. Une étude récente du Michigan, citée par le New York Times, révèle que l'écart de performances entre les étudiants riches et pauvres a bondi de 50 % depuis les années 1980. Plus que la race, la richesse fait aujourd'hui la différence à l'école.

Et ensuite ? L'espoir de la bonne fortune d'un ouvrier américain s'amoindrit aussi. La crise et le chômage qui tendent l'un comme l'autre à comprimer les salaires n'expliquent pas tout. Car en page 65 du même rapport figure "l'autre graphique le plus commenté" par les experts : une courbe démontrant que, depuis les années 2000, le travail d'un Américain est de plus en plus mal rétribué alors que les entreprises amassent de plus en plus de bénéfices. Résultat, les profits des compagnies américaines à 13 % du produit intérieur brut sont historiquement élevés, observe Evariste Lefeuvre, chez Natixis à New York.

Le sujet du rapport économique, remis en pleine année électorale, ne doit rien au hasard. En insistant sur les inégalités sociales, le document offre des arguments censés être imparables aux démocrates pour défendre l'idée d'une fiscalité plus redistributive. Quitte à surfer sur le populisme.

Après avoir vanté la "Règle Buffett", du nom du milliardaire américain Warren Buffett appelant à taxer davantage les super-riches comme lui, le président a lancé, mercredi 22 février, une salve contre les profits des entreprises. Une initiative audacieuse et dangereuse dans un pays où la liberté d'entreprendre est sacrée. Pour ne pas choquer, l'idée a consisté en façade à réduire le taux d'imposition sur les bénéfices de 35 % à 28 %. En façade seulement, car le dispositif vise aussi àsupprimer la plupart des niches fiscales utilisées par les multinationales. Le projet mort né - il n'a aucune chance d'être adopté par un Congrès où la chambre des représentants est à majorité républicaine - a néanmoins permis de démontrer que les compagnies américaines ne payaient presque jamais le taux plein. De quoinourrir des rancoeurs inédites ? Quelques jours plus tard, le 24 février, le quotidien USA Today titrait sur l'explosion de l'extrême pauvreté aux Etats-Unis, indiquant que le nombre de familles vivant avec moins de deux dollars par jour avait plus que doublé en quinze ans, passant de 636 000 en 1996 à 1,5 million en 2011.

Mais l'argument le plus favorable à Barack Obama se trouve peut-être tout simplement chez son adversaire, le candidat républicain Mitt Romney. Ancien patron de la société de capital investissement Bain Capital, l'homme est à lui seul une démonstration de l'injustice fiscale américaine. Sa petite fortune engrangée grâce à son fonds d'investissement est taxée à hauteur de 15 % comme tout revenu du capital. De quoi ranger le candidat dans le camp de ces hommes d'affaires moins imposés que leur secrétaire puisque les revenus du travail, eux, sont taxés entre 10 % et 35 %.

Quelques mois après les manifestations des Occupy Wall Street opposant les 1 % de privilégiés qui continuent imperturbablement à s'enrichir aux autres 99 %, le débat que tente de faire naî Barack Obama peut avoir un parfum de lutte des classes. Inadéquat avec la culture américaine ? Un sondage publié par le New York Times et la chaîne de télévision CBS News soulignait, en octobre 2011, que 66 % des Américains pensent que la distribution des revenus et des richesses aux Etats-Unis devrait "être plus équitable".

___________________________________________________________________________

But is you're like me and your French vocabulary begins and ends with r.s.v.p., here it is in plain English.

FROM NEAR AND FAR, BIDDING FAREWELL TO THE AMERICAN DREAM

By Claire Gatinois
LE MONDE/Worldcrunch

Is the American Dream obsolete? Has the promise that people can “make it” in the United States better than anywhere else on the planet become nothing more than an illusion? That cruel conclusion, which seems almost to dishonor the world’s biggest economy, was punctuated this February inside Barack Obama’s White House.

On page 177 of the President’s annual report to Congress on the state of the economy, there is mention of the “Great Gatsby Curve.” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, which so masterfully paints a picture of bourgeois vanity in 1920s America, has given its name to a graph on which data measuring the degree of income inequality is charted on the horizontal axis, and the link between a father’s income and that of his descendants – a barometer of social mobility – on the vertical.

What does this curve tell us? No matter what the frame of reference of the person examining it, its bottom line is unambiguous: the United States – not supposedly fusty Europe -- rates lowest in terms of this relationship in the distribution of riches and social mobility. Yes, Paris Hilton’s America ranks way below the Scandinavian countries, but also below France, New Zealand, Japan, the United Kingdom, and others.

French economist and historian Thomas Piketty has already demonstrated out how America’s wealth is as distorted as it is vast. But should you discuss this particular matter with an American citizen, you will be told that “the rich are rich because they deserve it.” The quasi Communist idea of taking from the rich to give to those in need is not a fair reward for talent.

If an American is tenacious enough, shouldn’t he or she be able some day to make it to the top of the heap? "No pain, no gain," as they say. But the Great Gatsby Curve says No. So much so that in the United States, as elsewhere, “having talent” may just be another way of saying "having inherited money."

The American system of education, at one time considered to be “the great equalizer,” is partly responsible for this state of affairs. A recent study conducted in Michigan and quoted by the New York Times shows that the discrepancy in performance levels between rich and poor students has risen by 50% since the 1980s – which means that wealth, more than race, is what makes the difference in school.

What now? The hopes of American workers of “making it” are waning. But the crisis and high unemployment, both factors that have a compressing effect on salaries, cannot explain everything. On page 65 of the President’s report is the “other most commented-on graph”: a curve showing that, since the 2000s, American workers are being increasingly badly paid as businesses amass larger and larger profits. The result, as Evariste Lefeuvre of the Natixis corporate and investment bank in New York points out, is that the profits of American companies amounting to 13% of GDP are at a historic high.

That this subject is addressed by the President’s report in an election year is no accident. By focusing on social inequality, the document offers supposedly irrefutable arguments that open the door for the Democrats to push a redistributive fiscal agenda that flirts with populism.

After praising the “Buffett Rule,” which takes its name from American billionaire Warren Buffett's call for the super-rich like him to be taxed more, President Obama goes on to attack high business profits – an audacious, even dangerous thing to do in a country where freedom of enterprise is sacred. So as not to make it too much of a shock he put another face on it, so it looked like a reduction of taxes on profits from 35% to 28%. What’s actually behind it, however, is a plan to get rid of most of the fiscal loopholes used by multinational companies to pay less taxes.

While this plan has no chance whatsoever of being approved by the Congress, with its Republican majority in the House of Representatives, it has however managed to reveal that American companies hardly ever pay their full tax share – a revelation certain to unleash its share of bitterness. And indeed: just two days later, on February 24, the USA Today daily published a feature on extreme poverty in the United States, reporting that the number of families living on less than $2 a day had more than doubled in 15 years, going from 636,000 in 1996 to 1.5 million in 2011.

But the argument most favorable to Barack Obama may well lie with the man he could be facing in the general election: Republican candidate Mitt Romney. A former bigwig in the investment firm Bain Capital, Romney is a walking example of American fiscal injustice. He pays 15% tax on the fortune he made thanks to his investment fund – which puts him in the category of businessmen who pay lower tax rates than their own secretary.

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February 29th, 2012 - 10:02Want to know more about the Great Gatsby Curve? Here you go.