If I am not mistaken, carmenm and Cristobo Carrin are the same person who changed his name in order to avoid whatever personal component that may be involved in the discussions, anybody can tell things sometimes get personal. I personally cannot care less since the views were exactly the same and I could tell it was the same person. A different story would be that he had created a nick to support his views, so I dont think it is fair to say that Carmenm lives in a different world from Cristobo or always remind him of the change in nicks! Other attitudes are more reprobable and nobody seems to care!

Gazpacho, it is great to be proud of your country, but easy to talk from the position of somebody with economic security. You live in a great country with great things, but things are not perfect, neither in the US or in Spain or anywhere. Just take the time to look out of your window to poor neighborhoods, homeless people and not so poor people trying to get a proper treatment for their illnesses bc their expensive medical insurances do not cover anything!

I cannot remember how many times I have heard the statement: 'nobody wants to be poor anywhere, but much less in America'. I have heard it mainly from europeans and not because we are anti-american or believe that we are better, that would be childish reasoning, but because maybe our systems are more concerned about welfare and social needs, but we are also aware that our systems are not perfect and that we do not manage to cater for the needs of all.