FreqFlyer,
Since you asked, America ought to be looking at its own history as a guide for the future. Despite the retarded claims to the contrary, America was made great by the history which is unique to the US. Not all of it was pretty, but it certainly turned out a great country that most people around the globe would love to live in today. Obama is trying to make us more like the rest of the Western world, and I want no part of that low growth, high tax and entitlement model which is threatening to break portions of Europe right now. The Ozzies and the Canucks would be no better off were it not for their resource rich economies. Socialism makes the pie smaller and the tide lower. That ought to be obvious by now.
Sorry lady pilots, we digress...