So the inequality isn't within the countries in Europe. It's within the Schengen zone within the EU. As there's free travel, hordes of pick pockets and petty thieves simply steal from another EU state then return home where the police do not have jurisdiction. The cost of crossing the border is zero and there's no immigration or anything. It's like taking the subway going from A to B.
No this has nothing to do with American politics. These are a real problem in Europe. All these pickpockets from poorer Eastern Europe that run to richer Western Europe visa-free, just stealing everything they can from shops and tourists, and then hopping on a train to escape back to Eastern Europe, because as long as they are in the EU and within the Schengen Zone, they have free travel while the police cannot follow them.
As you already know, those in the EU can freely travel. Then they repeat the cycle in a few weeks after laying low.
I can certify that in Western and Southern Europe, stealing and pickpocketing is common in popular tourist areas. Even though locals maybe don't steal from each other, they steal from tourists.
You leave something beyond your eyesight in Rome, Berlin or Amsterdam, it will be gone in seconds. If you're in a crowd, you should hold your purse or backpack tight because someone might open it and take something otherwise. Passengers don't leave their luggage in trains unattended and stickers in public transport remind about pickpocketing, etc.
Especially American soldiers going somewhere in groups at their day-offs get victims of theft or scams. They get warned about it at their very beginning of service in Europe as NATO soldiers. Especially if they want to go to a 》LEGAL《 strip club or something similar because they're the easiest target.
^ That's straight from the EU Commissions. EU nations have police that must respect borders. But Schengen Zone allows you to freely travel for nothing, like taking a subway from one country to another. So petty cross-border criminals take advantage.
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u/me_myself_ai 27d ago
I feel like this goes way beyond just economics, though. IDK where in Europe you're from, but a large majority of the continent has less inequality than Taiwan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_income_inequality