On Mar 3, 2010, at 11:49 PM, ShempMcGurk wrote: > However, the study alerts us to something that is much more important, and > that is that the European welfare states are not making their citizens > wealthier.
Says who? This article does not quote one reputable source or statistic. And anyway, that isn't the function of good government--its function is to provide for all its citizens, so that people don't go homeless, hungry, and have good schools, roads, medical care, etc. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about this wonderful organization Shemp cites as his authority (note its place of origin--quelle surprise) "The Ludwig von Mises Institute (LvMI), based in Auburn, Alabama... Its scholarship is inspired by the work of Austrian School economist Ludwig von Mises." Hmmm...let's see now--an organization in the heart of the Deep South founded by a quasi-white supremacist born in the Victorian Age...that's Shemp's idea of scholarship. "The Institute is generally critical of statism and democracy, with the latter being described in Institute publications as "coercive"[5], "incompatible with wealth creation"[6] "replete with inner contradictions"[7] and a system " of legalized graft." Lovely. He then goes on to offer completely anecdotal "evidence" of how Germany's dental-care system is so much worse than in the US, based entirely on how an office "looked." Strangely enough, he never provides any statistics on either the dental or medical system in the US that would bolster his argument. "While East Berlin was likened to being the "Paris" of the then-communist world, it was more like a huge time warp in which one was placed back in 1948. The entire city was shabby, and what new construction there was had the appearance and attractiveness of a typical American public housing project." Apparently he's never been to Chicago, Detroit, Birmingham, etc. This genius is the best you can do, Shemp? Sad. Sal
