General Discussion

I like parts of the following quote:

when badly regulated, or when nobody trusts the regulators, or when people are entering the contest from very different starting points. Sooner or later, the losers of the competition were always going to challenge the value of the competition itself.

The first part I agree with. I don't like the term "Loser" especially in a system where there are absolutely "different starting points" meaning that some people start 10 feet from the finish line, others from the middle of a relatively smooth track, and others from the beginning of the steeple chase course. How is it even a race or competition where "winners" and "losers" be considered when the terms and the rules of the race are made by those who just happen to be in the best position to win?

Also, we don't need a warning from Europe per se. We have plenty of evidence from our own history if we care to look at it CRITICALLY instead of believing the mythology that conservatives always want to push.