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one big difference between the US and the EU is the latter has a more functional regulatory state and i really have to wonder if this is related to the other big difference, that the average EU citizen has no idea how the EU works
maybe it's so functional because Europe collectively refuses to have a government that feels like a government. the EU gets to handle all the boring but very important technical legislative stuff and leave the exciting stuff to the member states
this is kind of why Brexit was such a mess. the EU isn't exciting to most people, who cares if you're in or out. but joining or leaving it means throwing your country's entire bureaucratic apparatus into the hell pit of burning fire for ten years and nobody appreciated this
@hikari I wish I remembered the full context or which podcast I heard it on, but apparently part of it is that in the US, corps begrudginly accepted regulations as long as it was the individuals harmed suing them and not the gov't. That means there's rules and you can sue 20 years down the line when you get cancer from lead in your yogurt, and in practice, good luck. Meanwhile in the EU, you can have an inspector at the end of the production line proactively going "wait, is that fucking lead?"
@hikari I just remembered, it's the You're Wrong About episode on the McDonald's coffee burn lawsuit! https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/youre-wrong-about/the-mcdonalds-hot-coffee-case-PnSmH71wf54/