Europeans Fear Crisis Threatens Liberal Benefits

[slackmaster]

PARIS — Across Western Europe, the “lifestyle superpower,” the assumptions and gains of a lifetime are suddenly in doubt. The deficit crisis that threatens the euro has also undermined the sustainability of the European standard of social welfare, built by left-leaning governments since the end of World War II.

Europeans have boasted about their social model, with its generous vacations and early retirements, its national health care systems and extensive welfare benefits, contrasting it with the comparative harshness of American capitalism.

Europeans have benefited from low military spending, protected by NATO and the American nuclear umbrella. They have also translated higher taxes into a cradle-to-grave safety net. “The Europe that protects” is a slogan of the European Union....

...According to the European Commission, by 2050 the percentage of Europeans older than 65 will nearly double. In the 1950s there were seven workers for every retiree in advanced economies. By 2050, the ratio in the European Union will drop to 1.3 to 1....

Ruh-roh.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/world/europe/23europe.html?ref=world

[dipsydoodle]

1. I think you might find

that the low ratio of 1.3 to 1 may also apply to the USA. It's a worldwide issue.

[SocialistLez]

2. If they need workers.....Here is one!!

I love the French and German health care system.

[socialist_n_TN]

3. I'm convinced it's all part of the "Shock Doctrine"

They tried it out in Latin America, but the goal was ALWAYS the social democracies of Europe. The Economic Royalty HAS to destroy any vestiges of any sorts of social safety nets in order to have a ready supply of cheap labor.