Mark Steyn brings us this gem:
Back in 2008, when I was fulminating against multiculturalism on a more or less weekly basis, a reader wrote to advise me to lighten up, on the grounds that “we’re rich enough to afford to be stupid.”
Two years later, we’re a lot less rich. In fact, many Western nations are, in any objective sense, insolvent. Hence last week’s column, on the EU’s decision to toss a trillion dollars into the great sucking maw of Greece’s public-sector kleptocracy. It no longer matters whether you’re intellectually in favour of European-style social democracy: simply as a practical matter, it’s unaffordable.
How did the Western world reach this point? Well, as my correspondent put it, we assumed that we were rich enough that we could afford to be stupid.
As they say, read the whole thing. The bill for our grand stupidity is coming due. Will we be able to afford it? My answer is “No!” I don’t want to pay for the cable bills of hookers hangin’ in their crib with their pimps and a couple of the “price of doing business”, if you know what I mean. Enough! We are Taxed Enough Already! Instead of promising more things to more people, I want a government that will let me keep what I earn, and let my business thrive without complete oppression from the State. I don’t expect to get rich, but I’ve worked hard to get to where I am. Excuse me if I think others might ought to expend a bit for themselves as well.
Tags: government, Mark Steyn, Welfare
