Washington Times
May 31, 2010
The near-collapse of Greece is a warning buzzer for all of Europe; the welfare model is on a collision course with forces much stronger than Europe's embrace of the utopian promise. The ensuing clash will be between those who demand that the state continue to provide much of its citizens' needs and those who argue that it can't. As the conflict plays out, Europe will have two choices. One will be to adhere to its cradle-to-grave entitlements; the other will be to replace them with efficient, market-based solutions. Which path it takes not only will form Europe's future, it also will determine ours to some degree.
The welfare model was born of the Industrial Revolution. With its premium on the strength and endurance of labor, this 19th-century economic advance devoured human resources. In response, mutual-aid societies, church groups and public/private enterprises emerged to benefit those too weak to work. These micro-responses, which sprouted in many European countries, were trumped ultimately by large government programs. Germany, for instance, introduced the Sickness Insurance Law in 1883. It added the Accident Insurance Law one year later and then in 1889 the Old-Age and Disability Insurance Law, the beginning of Social Security. It was decreed that the government must step in and protect its citizens from the difficult vagaries of life.
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