Sponsored Content
« Virtual Insult: French Rip America Yet Again Over Foreign Policy | Main | Salon: A Little Reminder: Roman Polanski Drugged, Raped, and Sodomized a 13-Year-Old Girl, In Case That's Still a Crime »
September 29, 2009

NY Times: "A Specter Is Haunting Europe — The Specter Of Socialism’s Slow Collapse"

They seem really sad about it too. Almost like it's unfair.

Unfortunately the rest of the story doesn't back up what is supposed to be a scary lead.

Europe’s center-right parties have embraced many ideas of the left: generous welfare benefits, nationalized health care, sharp restrictions on carbon emissions, the ceding of some sovereignty to the European Union. But they have won votes by promising to deliver more efficiently than the left, while working to lower taxes, improve financial regulation, and grapple with aging populations.

Europe’s conservatives, says Michel Winock, a historian at the Paris Institut d’Études Politiques, “have adapted themselves to modernity.” When Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Germany’s Angela Merkel condemn the excesses of the “Anglo-Saxon model” of capitalism while praising the protective power of the state, they are using Socialist ideas that have become mainstream, he said.

Really what the Times and Euro lefties are upset about is they've been co-opted by what passes for "the right". In fact that actually reflects an important victory for the left, the permanent acceptance of their most cherished principles.

Europe's political battles are fought over the ground ranging all the way from the left to the really, really far left. We haven't gone down that path, yet.

This is one of the reasons I would have supported Hillary over McCain. As it is we concede far too much ground to the left in this country as a given in terms of government's rightful role. A win by Maverick would have gone a long way to moving the political gravity of the country to the left and once things start moving in that direction, they are hard to reverse (see FDR and LBJ).

It's why defeating health care in general and a government option in particular is so important. Once people turn their very lives over to the beneficence of government, it's game over.

As for Europe, yes, Merkel in Germany and Sarkozy in France are improvements but they aren't enough to make an American conservative jump for joy. Merkel is already talking down promised tax cuts and the French have not exactly embraced reality yet when it comes to basic economics.

So as for the death of socialism in Europe, let's just say that unfortunately it's demise is being greatly exaggerated.


digg this
posted by DrewM. at 12:15 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
Skip: "Bought goat cheese few weeks ago, it was OK but on ..."

Skip: "FOODIES NOOD ..."

Skip: "Pie fight! ..."

gp Sets In Motion Various Apparatuses: "nood ..."

gp Sets In Motion Various Apparatuses: "210 These days, I feel immense gratitude when any ..."

PabloD : "Big rug, not big run. Autocucumber... ..."

PabloD : "If I secure the big run by the front door, then it ..."

Daddy, why are muffin pans made with twelve spaces instead of five?: "It's weird how "hardwood" started becoming mainstr ..."

From about That Time: "Been eyeballing dumpsters and pickups for ropes, n ..."

AZ deplorable moron: " the carpet was concealing. Posted by: Duke S ..."

From about That Time: "FWP swapped out pants before heading to India poin ..."

Daddy, why are muffin pans made with twelve spaces instead of five?: "ordered two point rugs from Amazon. They sent me a ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64