The Europeans, to include the Germans, are just too enamoured with socialism to break away from it. No matter the evidence that marxist/socialist economics are a disaster, the Europeans just can't pry themselves away from the dream.
Europe is in serious decline. A selfish, live for today attitude tied with an unwillingness to confront Islamic radicalism or any potential foe for that matter, means Europe as a Western power is finished. Unfortunantly, this means things will continue deteriorating with the Europeans utterly unwilling or unable to change course. The reaction will be that extreme parties will start to make headway - both right and left.
Socialism as an economic and social model is poison to the human spirit. It's draw is like heroin - to both intellectual classes and the ingorant masses. It should very specifically be written out of our, and every other, constitution.
"The Europeans, to include the Germans, are just too enamoured with socialism to break away from it."
Not really, only in France and Germany. The rest of Europe left socialism a long time ago. Check out the Heritage foundations "Index of economic freedom", most European countries score pretty high (In many cases higher than the US), but France and Germany are still relatively socialist.
"Europe is in serious decline. A selfish, live for today attitude tied with an unwillingness to confront Islamic radicalism or any potential foe for that matter, means Europe as a Western power is finished."
I agree with that, but it's not just the socialist parts. Even the liberal (in the european sense) capitalist countries there are weak and in decline (though not economic).
"Socialism as an economic and social model is poison to the human spirit."
I couldn't agree more. And couldn't have said it better myself.