[bedolido]

they have to stop naming men after great ships.

[txzman]

"With social policy becoming ever more comprehensive, it has turned into a severe and suffocating burden for the economy. The boon—however great or small it may have been in its early stages for a specific group—has turned into a massive plague. Now, the dismantling of the welfare state emerges as the major policy challenge of the 21st century."

And liberals in this country continue to spend and demand "rights" out the wazoo. They are living in a bizarre, socialist, self-centered wonderland.

[Alberta's Child]

Very good article. Ironically, it is nothing other than globalization that is going to spell the doom of this kind of state-sponsored socialism.

In my opinion, the official "beginning of the end" of modern Germany effectively began in the late 1990s when BMW and Mercedes opened new manufacturing facilities here in the U.S. The U.S. is generally perceived as a high-cost country for manufacturing, so you can imagine how dismal the business climate must be in Germany for these two companies to open major plants here.

[arete]

Social security has served as a formidable instrument in the hands of governments to obtain popular loyalty and the allegiance of special groups. Under democratically elected governments and dictatorships alike, the temptation has been the same: expanding schemes of social security has been the effective instrument in search of political power and presumed legitimacy

Bismark discovered that if you could make the masses dependent on the State, you could control them and count on their support regardless of the consequences to personal freedoms. Unjust wars and outright abuse of the population would be tolerated as long as "the government check was in the mail". Geez, now where else could this be happening?

Richard W.

[blam]

"Step by step from then on, social policy grew into a veritable avalanche, particularly in the 1970s. By explicitly adopting the criteria of "social progress" as a state function, almost each and every aspect of human existence became to be regarded as a social problem and a seemingly legitimate reason for state action to do good."

Does this sound familiar? Chip, chip, chip.

[blam]

Germans Go West In Search Of Jobs And Prosperity

[headsonpikes]

Bismarck would have described the progressive German State's ethos as 'sorge', concern for 'its' people.

[palmer]

The coverage of old age, sickness and unemployment insurance, along with social aid, and disability insurance and with all the numerous special branches of social policy have turned Germany into an Eldorado for those seeking a free ride.

Health is the achilles heal of technological democracies. People like cheap sugary foods with their televised entertainment and when they finally drag their bloated carcasses out of the couch to visit the doctor they expect technological and medical miracles. They refuse to take responsibility for their own health. They expect the insurance company to pay the drug company for a magic pill that so they can continue their unhealthy lifestyles. Now the government has proposed taking over that system, which will hasten its ultimate downfall.