Because Europe matters. Or at least, it used to. Daniel Henninger, Wall Street Journal.
One problem with peace, especially in handsome Europe, is the illusion of economic prosperity. Life looks good. The restaurants are open. Nice clothing is available. If amid this seeming plenty, a profligate young man dissipated his life into ruin, all would call him a wastrel. Centuries of European schoolchildren once learned virtue and self-discipline from the fables of Aesop or Fontaine. "The Emperor's New Clothes" comes to mind. Alas, no one writes fables for nations, and so a whole continent can dissipate the productive wealth of its people year after year on wastrel public spending and no one will notice.
[...] One may ask: Would a European electorate, if given an honest chance to choose self-salvation rather than the bleed-to-death choices they've been given the past two years, vote to save themselves?
Mark Steyn might argue that, demographically at least, they made that choice long ago. Once you've turned your back on fecundity, austerity is all that remains, in every (pardon the term) conceivable sense.
No comments:
Post a Comment