Socialism is an idea that offers a lot of promise. The political ideology here is simple: that a ‘dog eat dog’ Darwinian economy is not the most desirable solution, and that we should instead aim make it a priority to look after one another. Thus taxes are increased to fund social benefits, levelling out the distribution of finances so that there aren’t the same extremes. In essence Robin Hood was a socialist – robbing from the rich to give to the poor. Left wing political parties offer the same thing but to a lesser extent. The US is a capitalist country. While Democrats are currently in power, the country as a whole still remains right wing. This is not as true in Europe, where socialism is much more popular – and even ‘winning’ in some countries. The question is then, is this a good thing? Or does it threaten to destroy Europe? Why Socialism Works When socialism works, it can be a great tool for change, and that’s what the French are hoping for having put the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande in charge last year. Of course there are many benefits to socialism – with reduced poverty and homelessness being [...]

There are many reasons you might go to Europe. Some will go for the culture no doubt, others for the history. Then there’s the sheer variety of scenery and climate and the relaxed way of life. Plenty of reasons then. But in case you needed just one more, to seal the deal as it were, how about the chocolate? Yes, Europe is well known for its fantastic selection of chocolates and is home to some of the best chocolates in the world. Just as Europe is great for food and drink in general, it also excels when it comes to rich coco. So if you want to explore the continent for another reason, and particularly if you have a sweet tooth… go for the delicious chocolate. But of course Europe is a big continent and some destinations in particular are better than others. Now you know to go to Europe for the chocolate, it’s just time to decide which country based on which supplies the very best treats. Here then we will look at which European country has the best chocolate of all… Switzerland Switzerland is well known for a few things, such as Swiss cheese and… apathy… but another [...]

If you want to see a chunk of Europe while cutting out all the walking, traffic jams and waiting around, then European cruises might be just the ticket for you. The brilliance of cruises in Europe is that you can see any number of the big sights and taste a whole variety of cultures in a single holiday. You’ll turn up at incredible places like Rome or Barcelona, and the rest of the time you’ll just be able to lie around on a beautiful cruise ship enjoying great food, great entertainment and no doubt a wealth of activities. In fact, this is the perfect holiday for many people in that it combines the relaxing in the sun that you might expect from a pool holiday, with the sightseeing and variety that you could want from a more adventurous trek. But with so many European cruises to choose from, how do you go about picking the best one for you? Here we will look at some of the best European ports, to help you create your cruises in Europe. 10. Rome Rome is a fantastic destination for countless reasons. If it’s history you love then you won’t be disappointed thanks to [...]

By most standards, the 2013 Olympics in England were a hit. The opening ceremony by Danny Boyle was a hit, London’s transport managed to hold up in the face of inflated tourism and nothing went drastically wrong (perhaps the biggest surprise was that England also managed to win some medals of their own). Like all good things though, the celebrations had to come to an end and Boris Johnson (London’s mayor) had to hand the baton over to Rio (quite literally) for 2016. Can Rio live up to the standard set by the UK? Well that’s a question for another day, before that we have the Winter Olympics of 2014 to look forward to taking place in Sochi, Russia. So how is that one likely to fair? Well, on the one hand Russia might seem like a good place for Winter Olympics – much of it being rather frosty (images of Rocky 4 come to mind), but at the same time Russia isn’t without its problems (see ‘Pussy Riot’…) and the whole process so far hasn’t exactly gone smoothly. In fact it seems that scandals are hitting the 2014 Winter Olympics one after another. Could it be that this is [...]

If you’re looking at travelling to Europe this year, then you will have a few choices to make with regards to where you’ll stay and what you’ll do while you’re out there. One of the earliest decisions you’ll need to make though, will be which airline you want to travel with and here you will have a large number of options. Part of the reason that you have so much choice here, and part of what makes this decision so difficult, is the fact that you’ll be able to choose from both American and European airlines. So the question is then, how do the two differ? And which is ultimately the better choice? Here we’ll examine the answers to those questions as well as looking at what those larger choices tell us about the differences between Europe and the US more generally… The Differences Between European and American Airlines – It’s Complicated… While there are a lot of differences between America and Europe in general, it would be an exaggeration to say that there were any huge differences between American and European airlines across the board. Of course the reason for this is that both America and Europe have a [...]

For Americans, European politics can make entertaining viewing. Europe is a colourful continent rich with cultural and ethnic diversity and a wealth of different languages and ways of life. Of course international politics then are going to be sometimes heated and the idea of a central governing body for so many different countries is going to be one faced with some challenges. Just take a look the UK where they can’t decide whether they want to be involved with the EU or not, or Turkey which was recently refused entry only to grow lukewarm on the whole idea anyway. But what if Americans weren’t watching Europe from afar, what if we got stuck in there and actually joined the EU? Of course it could never happen seeing as the US isn’t anywhere near Europe quite apart from anything else, but let’s say it did. What would it be like to be a part of all that drama and controversy? The Good News Right from the start there would be some great benefits to being a part of the EU. If you wanted to go on holiday for instance then it would be much easier, and you could even move to [...]