>I Think it was Jeremy Rifking saying that americans search happiness in personal freedom (through personal wealth) while europeans search happiness in embeddiness. The latter makes more sense to me.

The time I spent in Europe bears that out.
Yes, the people I saw there were much more integrated into the patterns of the culture at large.
It was nice, but I prefer the good old cuthroat ways here.
Things get messy here when the playing field is heavily tilted toward the wealthy and priviliged as it has become during the past few decades.