Americans were horrified to be told to live like Europeans. Is it longer life expectancy they mind? | Arwa Mahdawi

An article suggesting US citizens could learn something from a Europe racked, it said, by goods shortages has caused predictable outrage on both sides. But not all is better stateside

I do hope European readers are going to be able to access this article. Do you have computers where you live? What about electricity? Are there shops where you can buy newspapers? I vaguely recall seeing such things during my travels on the pale continent, but perhaps I was mistaken. A recent Bloomberg op-ed, titled Americans need to learn to live more like Europeans, suggests Europeans live deprived lives with limited access to modern conveniences - and argues that, owing to supply-chain issues, Americans may have to get used to doing the same. Store shelves are emptying, and it can take months to find a car, refrigerator or sofa," the article opined. If this continues, we may need to learn to do without - and, horrors, live more like the Europeans." The horrors, indeed!

I'm not sure whether the Bloomberg headline was explicitly designed to trigger transatlantic anger and start an online culture war, but that's exactly what it did. To be fair, it doesn't take much to make the internet irate. You can write a light-hearted article about how you like cheese and, whoops, you've started a no-gouda, very bad culture war. Someone on Twitter will explain that your joke about brie was classist; someone else will say that your omission of cheddar was a violent act of erasure, and someone with a username like @DairyPatriot69 will tell you to go back to where you came from and eat whatever horrible cheese they make there. And if your article is somewhat more serious? If your article should suggest that Americans might learn a thing or two from other people? Well, the Maga crowd will track you down and denounce your opinions with all-caps inanities.