Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Recapitalize the commons
The rightroots are crazed with worry that the Obama administration is going to drive us toward European-style socialism that will be very difficult to reverse. And with justification. But there is also the possibility that the fiscal crisis in the states will drive private solutions to public problems, such as in the management of the parks. Not saying that will make up for trillions in incremental national debt, but it would be something!
9 Comments:
By 
, at
Tue Mar 03, 09:28:00 PM:
Why are righties so afraid of "european-style socialism?" Are they subconsciously afraid it might work better than "American-style market-driven capitalist copycat greed?" We moderates all know that just is not true.
Tom
By 
TigerHawk, at
Tue Mar 03, 09:39:00 PM:
I'm afraid of it because it is attractive to people who need help from the state because they cannot help themselves -- which is what gets it enacted in the first place -- and it is extremely difficult to get rid of even long after its corrosive nature becomes obvious.
Look, the United States is the last place in the West that has not been handed over to the statists, or had not been until recently. Can't there be one place in the West where economic freedom -- low taxes, enforceable contracts, fluid labor markets, and free trade -- is the default position?
By Dawnfire82, at
Tue Mar 03, 11:00:00 PM:
"Are they subconsciously afraid it might work better than "American-style market-driven capitalist copycat greed?"
No, they are afraid because that system leads to the death of nations. Europe is in a demographic death spiral; absurdly high pension and entitlement costs that make California look like small potatoes (think 15% of GDP) matched with an over-regulated business climate that slows or stifles innovation and independence and is generally hostile, (mandatory 6 weeks paid vacation for all workers? maximum 35 hour work week? illegal to fire people? need special permits to expand your business? pick your poison...) and birth rates below the 'minimum bar' from which no civilization has ever recovered in all of history all set the stage for disintegration. The only way to sustain this aging population which depends on the state's largess is to bring in foreign workers and tax the hell out of them.
Unfortunately, their readily available pools of migrant labor happen to be (mostly) Arab Muslims, who seem to be having a horrific time integrating into European society; that is, when they show any interest in integrating at all. So to sustain their entrenched welfare states, they have to invite in people who actively want to supplant them. It's only a matter of time before they are not only outnumbered in their own countries, but also outclassed because their own populations will be mostly older people. There are already 'no go' areas in major cities that are dominated by foreign ethnic gangs that the authorities seem unwilling or unable to bring under control.
Even if they started reproducing like rabbits, it would likely be two generations before a full recovery could be effected. (not only do today's adults have to mate and mate and mate, but their kids have to grow up and become skilled workers and continue the mating trend, else we end right back up where we are now, like Russia) In the same amount of time, Iraq (for example) could more than double their population. With a birth rate of more than 4/woman, each couple replaces themselves *and* adds another couple to the mix, who will then have 4-ish kids, doubling again. Even counting factors like a higher mortality rate. (because the birth rate is >4/woman)
Modern Europe's addiction to the welfare state (and its associated side effects) is literally killing them.
They'll either be smothered beneath the weight of foreigners and be assimilated into the umma, drastically change their system soon and launch a fighting recovery, or put everything off until the last possible moment before turning to violence in a last, desperate attempt to stave off oblivion.
I bet on the latter. A few people can smell the danger coming, but they are written off as a lunatic fringe, and are labeled 'xenophobes,' 'Islamophobes,' and 'reactionaries.' Europe is going to get really ugly in a few decades. Like Balkans warfare, concentration camps, and massacres ugly.
By , at
Wed Mar 04, 08:37:00 AM:
European countries are built around a single ethnic identity -- so the idea of a collective "we're all in this together" has a biological grounding we lack. Interestingly, Germany has capped the percentage of spending that goes to its elderly ... so as not to unduly burden its younger generation. That's the kind of collectivist "what's best for all of us" decision I fear we can't make. We just have pigs at the trough -- two competing enablers in the Repubs/Dems -- and few who care about the collective good.
Link
By , at
Wed Mar 04, 09:24:00 AM:
You're missing the point of Obama's style of government TH: he wants to abandon pluralistic federalism and centralize power in Washington. There, messy obstuctionism to fair tax and governance policies on a local level can be overcome once, rather than expending energy fighting a thousand fights in a thousand towns and counties. By the way, if ever a word deserved to be expunged from the languages of man, it's the word "fair". Fair has been abused by politicians to the point of being meaningless, and anyone who uses the word should immediately be viewed with suspicion.
By MTF, at
Wed Mar 04, 10:30:00 AM:
Your president wants to hear from you! Any touching stories of your own or your family's economic struggles are welcome. Oprah will host the next State of the Union presentation show, and your story, yes yours, could be highlighted!
By , at
Wed Mar 04, 11:54:00 AM:
Here's my submission:
Oh Obama, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends.
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So Obama, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
Oh Obama, won’t you buy me a plasma TV ?
Dialing For Dollars is trying to find me.
I wait for delivery each day until three,
So oh Obama, won’t you buy me a color TV ?
Oh Obama, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?
I’m counting on you, Obama, please don’t let me down.
Prove that you love me and buy the next round,
Oh Obama, won’t you buy me a night on the town ?
Everybody!
Oh Obama, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends,
Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends,
So oh Obama, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz ?
Apologies to Janis
By , at
Thu Mar 05, 08:34:00 AM:
Dawnfire: No, they are afraid because that system leads to the death of nations.
Good point. But it assumes that the welfare state causes low birth rates, which leads to nation-death. But: are all low-birth rate nations welfare states? Is Russia a welfare state? last time I looked, it was greedy capitalist. So where does that leave the argument? Tom
By Dawnfire82, at
Thu Mar 05, 10:20:00 PM:
"last time I looked, it was greedy capitalist"
Look again. The wealth of the nation is controlled by 1) the state and 2) oligarchs who are in bed with the state. At best, it's corporatism.
And Russia was communist for what, 70 years? Pretty much the definition of welfare state, isn't it? And their birth rates did indeed collapse. They got a bump in the 80s after perestroika, but they fell again afterwards. The Russian government has started offering incentives to have children, but it seems to be too little, too late. Some people are predicting the eventual collapse of the Russian polity as a result because there won't be enough people to sufficiently populate and defend that gigantic territory. (because of other factors, like population pressures in E. and Central Asia, and potential Chinese aggression)
"are all low-birth rate nations welfare states?"
That's the wrong question. It should be, 'do all welfare states have low birth rates.' (because other places can have low birth rates for other reasons... China's one child policy comes to mind) The answer, as you'd see if you visit the link I provided, is yes. 2.1 is considered the replacement rate for a relatively advanced and safe country. That's for a static population. Little or no growth, aside from immigration. The US is spot on at 2.1.
Not one single European nation is above 2.1. Albania, of all places, is the European country with the highest birth rate, at 2.02. Lithuania is lowest, at 1.22.
