Journal antirelic's Journal: First Greece... soon the EU 1
"But if national health care were indeed the cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union as you appear to be trying to hypothesize, then all of Europe should have collapsed by now, as well as Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and Canada, to name a few." Darn_Registrar
Living in Northern Virginia in the autumn of 2006 is much like discussing the fate of the socialist states of Europe today... right now. The housing market would never bust. Housing prices would never decline, only stabilize. The far right "cooks" were screaming from the roof tops "the markets going to explode", but the shmarmy intellectual elites on the left and in the main stream media dismissively claimed, "The market will just flatten out".
By the end of the fall of 2006, the US housing market began to crumble. No, it didnt crumble in grand Glen Beck style. It crumbled like an ancient coliseum built over a fault line. The ponzi scheme was running out of witting participants, but there were still to many people waiting for their remittance. Too many big players calling the scam a legitimate scenario. Big business, Big government, and Quasi-Government Businesses all repeating the same, well orchestrated song: "The bottom of the market is nigh." Drawing in unwitting risk takers both medium sized and small into a deepening and widening pit that continues to grow to this day.
The pattern of denial which can still be seen surrounding the global economic crisis should be sending shock waves down the spines of any European with internet access. At the moment, Greece is in the throws of societal collapse. Have no doubt about it. 14% of the population of Greece work for the government which is about to cut salaries, benefits, and pensions. 40% of the GDP is consumed by the government, which means that the people of Greece largely rely on public sector services and benefits. On top of that, in order for Greece to receive its Oliver Twist style "more sir" hand out, it will be forced to increase taxes on consumer spending. This will only amplify the problem by making Greece a more expensive place to do business (and more expensive for tourists, a major economic engine).
Here is the real kicker. The bail out from the EU will only make things worse. Thats right. Worse. Just like Greece, the denziens of the EU have a sense of entitlement that would make a Chicago community organizer blush with shame. With the bail out money in hand, and a society steeped in Marxist ideology, Greece will maintain its business and investment unfriendly regulations and practices.
The bigger question is, who is going to bail out England, Germany and France when their economies topple. You might be laughing at how strong the economies of Germany, France, and England are at the moment. But let us not forget that Spain, Portugal and Ireland are next up on the bail out board. How many more bail outs are the three pillars of the EU going to be able to support before the numbers begin to add up? When will the self centered nature of Marx based ideology kick in and force the major EU players to decide: better them than us, and bail out on the bail outs? Who will be left footing the bill? The failed states remaining in the EU?
I always wondered what happened to the unpaid debts of the Soviet Union....
Not to worry... (Score:2)
... its coming to the US as well. We also have our third-rail government spending we refuse to give up. Look what happened to Bush when he just wanted to reform Social Security, not kill it. He was pilloried over it.
Entitlement programs are eventually going to kill this country.