Our own Greek tragedy

BY Mark Steyn Washington Times February 26, 2010

While President Obama was making his latest pitch for a brand new, even more unsustainable entitlement at the health care "summit," thousands of Greeks took to the streets to riot. An enterprising cable network might have shown the two scenes on a continuous split screen - because they're part of the same story. It's just that Greece is a little further along in the plot: They're at the point where the canoe is about to plunge over the falls. America is further upstream and can still pull for shore, but has decided instead that what it needs to do is catch up with the Greek canoe. Chapter One (the introduction of unsustainable entitlements) leads eventually to Chapter 20 (total societal collapse): The Greeks are at Chapter 17 or 18.

What's happening in the developed world today isn't so very hard to understand: The 20th century Bismarckian welfare state has run out of people to stick it to. In America, the feckless insatiable boobs in Washington, Sacramento, Albany and elsewhere are screwing over our kids and grandkids. In Europe, they've reached the next stage in social democratic evolution: There are no kids or grandkids to screw over. The United States has a fertility rate of around 2.1, or just over two kids per couple. Greece has a fertility rate of about 1.3: 10 grandparents have six kids have four grandkids - i.e., the family tree is upside down. Demographers call 1.3 "lowest-low" fertility - the point from which no society has ever recovered. And compared to Spain and Italy, Greece has the least worst fertility rate in Mediterranean Europe.

So you can't borrow against the future because, in the most basic sense, you don't have one. Greeks in the public sector retire at 58, which sounds great. But, when 10 grandparents have four grandchildren, who pays for you to spend the last third of your adult life loafing around?

By the way, you don't have to go to Greece to experience Greek-style retirement: The Athenian "public service" of California has been metaphorically face-down in the ouzo for a generation. Still, America as a whole is not yet Greece. A couple of years ago, when I wrote my book "America Alone," I put the Social Security debate in a bit of perspective: On 2005 figures, projected public pensions liabilities were expected to rise by 2040 to about 6.8 percent of GDP. In Greece, the figure was 25 percent. In other words, head for the hills, Armageddon, outta here, The End. Since then, the situation has worsened in both countries. And really the comparison is academic: Whereas America still has a choice, Greece isn't going to have a 2040 - not without a massive shot of Reality Juice.

Is that likely to happen? At such moments, I like to modify Gerald Ford. When seeking to ingratiate himself with conservative audiences, President Ford liked to say: "A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have." Which is true enough. But there's an intermediate stage: A government big enough to give you everything you want isn't big enough to get you to give any of it back. That's the point Greece is at. Its socialist government has been forced into supporting a package of austerity measures. The Greek people's response is: Nuts to that. Public sector workers have succeeded in redefining time itself: Every year, they receive 14 monthly payments. You do the math. And for about seven months' work - for many of them the workday ends at 2:30 p.m. When they retire, they get 14 monthly pension payments. In other words: Economic reality is not my problem. I want my benefits. And, if it bankrupts the entire state a generation from now, who cares as long as they keep the checks coming until I croak?

We hard-hearted, small-government guys are often damned as selfish types who care nothing for the general welfare. But, as the Greek protests make plain, nothing makes an individual more selfish than the socially equitable communitarianism of big government. Once a chap's enjoying the fruits of government health care, government-paid vacation, government-funded early retirement, and all the rest, he couldn't give a hoot about the general societal interest. He's got his, and to hell with everyone else. People's sense of entitlement endures long after the entitlement has ceased to make sense.

The perfect spokesman for the entitlement mentality is the deputy prime minister of Greece. The European Union has concluded that the Greek government's austerity measures are insufficient and, as a condition of bailout, has demanded something more robust. Greece is no longer a sovereign state: It's General Motors, and the EU is Washington, and the Greek electorate is happy to play the part of the United Auto Workers - everything's on the table except anything that would actually make a difference. In practice, because Spain, Portugal, Italy and Ireland are also on the brink of the abyss, a "European" bailout will be paid for by Germany. So the aforementioned Greek deputy prime minister, Theodoros Pangalos, has denounced the conditions of the EU deal on the grounds that the Germans stole all the bullion from the Bank of Greece during the Second World War. Welfare always breeds contempt, in nations as much as inner-city housing projects. How dare you tell us how to live! Just give us your money and push off.

Unfortunately, Germany is no longer an economic powerhouse. As Angela Merkel pointed out a year ago, for Germany, an Obama-sized stimulus was out of the question simply because its foreign creditors know there are not enough young Germans around ever to repay it. Over 30 percent of German women are childless; among German university graduates, it's over 40 percent. And for the ever dwindling band of young Germans who make it out of the maternity ward, there's precious little reason to stick around. Why be the last handsome blond lederhosen-clad Aryan lad working the late shift at the beer garden in order to prop up singlehandedly entire retirement homes? And that's before the EU decides to add the Greeks to your burdens. Germans, who retire at 67, are now expected to sustain the unsustainable 14 monthly payments per year for Greeks who retire at 58.

Think of Greece as California: Every year an irresponsible and corrupt bureaucracy awards itself higher pay and better benefits paid for by an ever-shrinking wealth-generating class. And think of Germany as one of the less profligate, still just about functioning corners of America such as my own state of New Hampshire: Responsibility doesn't pay. You'll wind up bailing out anyway. The problem is there are never enough of "the rich" to fund the entitlement state, because in the end, it disincentivizes everything from wealth creation to self-reliance to the basic survival instinct, as represented by the fertility rate. In Greece, they've run out Greeks, so they'll stick it to the Germans, like French farmers do. In Germany, the Germans have only been able to afford to subsidize French farming because they stick their defense tab to the Americans. And in America President Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are saying we need to paddle faster to catch up with the Greeks and Germans. What could go wrong?

A blueberry in the pancake

Job approval for Congress is now at one of the lowest points on record. The RCP average is 18.8% approval, with Fox at 14%, NYT at 15% and Gallup at 18%. Ratings for both parties are flat as a pancake.
I find the recent hearings of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee particularly contemptible. Last week they verbally flogged the CEO of Toyota, the latest of many public spectacles where corporate executives (job creators) are raked over the coals by a Congress that can’t see the log in their own eye. No one has caused more misery in this country than Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, but don’t hold your breath for their much deserved comeuppance.
One Congressman who stood out like a blueberry in the pancake last week was Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan. While Obama and the Dems continued their tired campaigning for government takeover of health care at the “summit”, Ryan gave a six minute summary of clear facts that should put the whole bungled bill to rest.
Congress should serve and protect the American people, but first they need to get their own house, and Senate, in order. November will be here soon.

The Hair Cut

One day a florist went to a barber for a haircut. After the cut, he asked about his bill, and the barber replied, "I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week." The florist was pleased and left the shop. When the barber went to open his shop the next morning, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen roses waiting for him at his door.
Later, a cop comes in for a haircut, and when he tries to pay his bill, the barber again replied, "I cannot accept money from you, I'm doing community service this week." The cop was happy and left the shop. The next morning when the barber went to open up, there was a 'thank you' card and a dozen donuts waiting for him at his door.
Then a Congressman came in for a haircut, and when he went to pay his bill, the barber again replied, "I can not accept money from you. I'm doing community service this week." The Congressman was very happy and left the shop.
The next morning, when the barber went to open up, there were a dozen Congressmen lined up waiting for a free haircut.
And that, my friends, illustrates the fundamental difference between the citizens of our country and the politicians who run it.

Email blast from a friend, author unknown.

Unsustainable spending

Let’s say you make $100,000 a year and buy a house with a $180,000 adjustable rate mortgage. You promise your kids that they can attend expensive colleges and assure your parents that they will enjoy a comfy retirement for life. You agree to support your unemployed brother-in-law, but don’t cut back on a fancy lifestyle that maxes out your credit cards.
Sounds reckless, doesn’t it?
That’s how Washington is managing the US economy. Debt and promises are many times annual income. In fact, each taxpayer’s share of the $59 trillion national debt (including unfunded liabilities) is over half a million dollars.
The big spending politicians in DC find economic experts to sing Hakuna Matata. Special interest groups and people on the receiving end of taxpayer dollars shriek at any mention of slowing down the gravy train. The media fails to sound the alarm.
A rising number of bankrupt states and cities preview what may happen to the US. Republicans won’t raise taxes and Democrats won’t stop spending. Foreign investors may stop buying US notes. Printing money will only cause a future hidden tax - hyper inflation.
It’s frightening to see the strength and prosperity of the US slip away while Washington continues to spend money they don’t have on loaded welfare, wasteful earmarks, benefits to illegal immigrants, expanded health benefits and premature alternative energy investments.
The first rule when you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.

Good intentions

A man found the cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared.
He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to squeeze its body through the tiny hole. Then it stopped, unable to go any further.
So the man decided to help the butterfly by snipping off the remaining bits of cocoon with scissors. The butterfly emerged easily, but had a swollen body and shriveled wings.
The man continued to watch it, expecting that any minute the wings would enlarge and expand enough to support the body. But neither happened. In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around, never able to fly.
What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required by the butterfly to get through the opening was a way of forcing the fluid from the body into the wings so that it would be ready for flight.
Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our lives. Going through life with no obstacles would cripple us. We will not be as strong as we could have been and we would never fly.

Washington getting louder and funkier

We have some serious policy disagreements in this country, and Washington is only obfuscating the issues. Several things I read this week make the same sad point.
An ER doctor sent the President a letter expressing how he’s fed up with treating patients with expensive clothes and jewelry, tattoos, fancy phones, who smoke, drink… and receive Medicaid. Another doctor added that he’s weary of giving up his Wednesdays to treat these patients for free. The rising realization is that we don’t have a health crisis, we have a cultural problem where people do what they want and expect to be taken care of for free. Personal responsibility for one’s health is fast becoming the state’s problem.
On the manmade climate change front, I’ve listened carefully to explanations of how greenhouse gases warm the planet to cause this year’s record cold and snowfalls. I don’t get it.
In addressing the economy, health care and environment, the Democrats in Washington continue to press legislation that - when you strip away the spin - do not fix the problem as much as they significantly increase taxes, debt and regulations. There’s way too much class warfare and far too little understanding of how free market capitalism built the resources that this nation now takes for granted.
I can’t watch President Obama without thinking of the old marching band analogy – the drum major grabbing all the attention as he struts around the field, while the guy on the ladder on the sideline quietly does the real work of leading.
The third of Americans on the left and third on the right may never agree on the role of government. But can we agree that when your car goes into a skid on a slippery road, the first thing you do is take your foot off the accelerator?