Saturday, March 12, 2016

The Progressive Myth of European Socialism





I had a memorable conversation with a millennial on the economy and politics in general.  He basically declared the United States was a hellhole and he was stuck living here.  I was somewhat taken aback considering his mother is a legal immigrant from Jamaica.  So I commented there isn’t a utopia and pointed out all of the illegal aliens that were working in the subdivision.  These people, I emphasized, violated our laws and sovereignty to have a better life; yet, you’re unhappy in a country that millions risk life and limb to get to.  I then asked him, what country would he consider moving to?  He declared, Spain.

I’ve had many conversations with pie-in-the-sky socialists, many of them way older than this kid.  When I ask this same question, I’ll get the usual sarcastic response, ‘America, love it or leave it.’  At least this kid gave me an answer.  So, I informed him that Spain has a 20% unemployment rate and they have two separatist movements.  He then walked away. 

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard teat squawkers glorify European socialism.  Even our own president wants to emulate them.  To that I say, we are Americans not Europeans.  If you want to be a European get on the next boat and don’t let the waves lap your ass.

This whole European socialist paradise is a myth.  If you take the median income of each country and couple that with purchasing power, few European countries would rank above Mississippi, the state all liberals look down their noses at.  Here is an excerpt from Mises:

With the exception of Luxembourg ($38,502), Norway ($35,528), and Switzerland ($35,083), all countries shown would fail to rank as high-income states were they to become part of the United States. In fact, most would fare worse than Mississippi, the poorest state.


For example, Mississippi has a higher median income ($23,017) than 18 countries measured here. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom all have median income levels below $23,000 and are thus below every single US state. Not surprisingly, the poorest OECD members (Chile, Mexico, and Turkey) have median incomes far below Mississippi.


Germany, Europe's economic powerhouse, has a median income ($25,528) level below all but 9 US states. Finland ranks with Germany in this regard ($25,730), and France's median income ($24,233) is lower than both Germany and Finland. Denmark fares better and has a median income ($27,304) below all but 13 US state.


And that doesn’t take into account Mississippi’s low cost of living.  But we all know facts and figures don’t make a difference to liberals.  They’ll keep pining for a socialist paradise that doesn’t exist and never will.

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