Every cloud has a silver lining
David Brooks, in The New York Times
Forgive me for making a blunt and obvious point, but events in Western Europe are slowly discrediting large swaths of American liberalism.
Most of the policy ideas advocated by American liberals have already been enacted in Europe: generous welfare measures, ample labor protections, highly progressive tax rates, single-payer health care systems, zoning restrictions to limit big retailers, and cradle-to-grave middle-class subsidies supporting everything from child care to pension security. And yet far from thriving, continental Europe has endured a lost decade of relative decline.
What success the European welfare states did enjoy was possible because the US shouldered most of the cost of defending Europe against the Soviet Union. Demographics are catching up with Europe, and the welfare states are starting to fall apart. The bright side is that (perhaps) in another decade or two we won’t have to hear about the wonders of socialism any more.
Posted on June 2nd, 2005 by pwyll
Filed under: General
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