Great Moments In Socialism

Wellllll....he could teach most of them how to grow their own dope. If he does succeed,short of a revolution,he will go down in history as the only guy who actually knows how to unicorn farts and pixie dust.

It's a start! Cheers;

Good luck with that is right. The Netherlands is just as steeped in socialism as Greece is, and according to the article not much behind in collapse mode. The king is just a mouthpiece for the government. To be fair though, while not enough cutting is occurring, it does appear that the government does recognize that the all inclusive nanny state is unsustainable.

I found the following last paragraph interesting, "Geert Wilders, whose far right Freedom Party currently tops popularity polls, called Rutte's budget the equivalent of "kicking the country while it's down." Wilders is aware of the dangers of Islam, but seems squishy on fiscal issues.

The 'participation society'

What a slimy way to indroduce the real agenda. Suvival of the fittest, except of course Islamic colonists.

After decades of creating a State dependent electorate. The Government now thinks that its can change overnight. Still keeping its over taxing regime. Which will destroy any recovery before it begins. While instead of giving a helping hand to people over the decades, have allowed sections of society a free fall into indolence.
Yes Kate good luck with that. The entitles are entailed to their entitlements.
What of the Imams with tier 4 wives on we fare. The endless parade of alien colonists. How will they react?
This is a concoction that will blow-up in their faces.
Not complaining though. Maybe now reality will set in.
I figure though what really panics them is that the civil service has figured out they will unless jettison the underclass. Will not be getting the pay raises they are accustomed to or the perks.
You can bet no one taxes will be lowered. The upper class just wants to keep its privileges. So some people are disposable now.
In the end i hope this sounds such a frantic note that real change will occur.

Britain's politicians look to Canada for economic inspiration.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21894316

I wish him luck and ultimately he is correct for it will end because it mathematically has to. But trying to pry those benefits out of those who have shaped their entire lives around them will be a Herculean task.

"The shift to a 'participation society' is especially visible in social security and long-term care," the king said, reading out to lawmakers a speech written for him by Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government."

These aren't the Kings words; it's a Throne Speech, people. We don't know Willem's own thoughts on the matter, anymore than we do the thoughts of our own GG when he reads a Throne speech here.

And it looks like maybe, just maybe, the Dutch PM has a clue. Good luck to him.

Have another beer, yer Maj...

Based on the size of his chair, I'd mistook him for one of the little people.

A Dutchman said whaaaat?

Is there anything that a decades-long economic crisis brought on by an undeserved sense of entitlement can't fix?

Well, hallelujah! But isn't it a little late?

When Europe was unashamedly Judeo-Christian, it was a "participation society," as was Canada and the U.S.A. Socialism, feminism, Marxism, multiculturalism, ruined all of that.

Now, there's an acknowledgment of what every common-sense person has known their whole life: that the buck has to stop somewhere and money doesn't grow on trees -- and that it's foolhardy to give other people's money to people who've made poor life choices. A social "safety net" is one thing when hard-working people hit a rough patch, but money for life via welfare and food stamps with no disincentives is a recipe for disaster.

I like Mike Harris's line: a safety net, yes, not a hammock.

Meh - seems the soggy Netherlands are approaching the final stage in sociaism's natural course of dysfunction.

There are 3 stages to socialism, socialism is the mechanism which transforms government from its noble role as a protector into a predator and, since the citizens of our own naive country seem determined to plow through socialism to its bitter end, we should examine the social and governing mutations to which these three degenerative steps lead.

The journey to unicorn rainbow land -
– One of the great dangers of any government by the people is that sooner or later their politicians discover they can buy votes with public funds. Their first experiment at this bold new kleptonomic governance invariably revolves around social programs enacted in the name of "social justice" and the "greater good" or even solving some concocted crisis. Who could oppose that?“ After all, it will be argued, “don’t you care about people, or the welfare of the country, or the environment?” The lure of this argument has been irresistible from the Roman Empire to the French and Bolshevik revolutions to Socialist Parties on both sides of the house in the US and Canada today.

STAGE ONE – THE MORAL ARGUMENT TO RATIONALIZE A PROMISE OF SOMETHING FOR NOTHING
The baby dragon is hatched and it has a ravenous appetite for tax revenues, fiat money and micro managing the entitled.At first the rich are the only ones asked to pay more of their “fair share.” and everyone seems happy, except for those nagging voices still warning of dire consequences ahead; the ones the gentle legislators wish would just shut up. Ah but time rumbles onward, and the number of people dependent upon these programs swells along with the number of “free” government programs. Free things do sell, and that’s what politicians want to do: sell their programs.
As the programs swell, they become unwieldy, requiring large bloated bureaucracies to administer them to ward off the inevitable fraud and corruption, consuming an ever greater part of the tax booty and servicing less to the originally intended recipients.

STAGE TWO: SILENT WAR BETWEEN GOVERNMENT AND ITS CITIZENS
At some point, the unwashed masses suspect their politicians aren’t really gentle philosopher-kings any more, much less benevolent. This is where a silent war between government and people erupts. It’s a blurry transition through never-never land when the politicians still claim to be kind and benevolent but the people sense that they have gone from being protectors of the public good and private property to a plunderers of it; from morality to immorality. . In the end, the rich (political/insider class) are never soaked, the middle class is destroyed and the poor discover that there is no free lunch

STAGE THREE: DAYS OF WRATH AND MOURNING, FEAR AND LOATHING
Ultimately the "dragon" cannot keep its promises. This last stage is where events turn ugly. It is a dangerous time. The political class are perceived as ravenous wolves. Blame and finger-pointing frenzies among kleptocrats erupt to dodging responsibility for the chaos they have caused as they attempt to hold onto their privileged status.
Faith in government dissolves along with faith in the currency. Widespread flouting of law is common and tax payments quit. If it gets bad enough, - order breaks down crime flourishes, both organized and random. The domestic economy collapses into a depression and the currency just collapses. One of the great ironies of history is that those who started the mess and profited from it politically and economically are rarely ever indicted to pay for the crimes and carnage they caused, mostly they skip the country to havens they have padded with state procured booty.
Finally the dragon dies.

POST MORTUM:
From currency inflation, to war-making for economic sustainability, to energy scares/profiteering to property rights and individual freedom, issues today are clouded with so much media spin and partisan subterfuge that the average person has little real comprehension of the decay of state and society that is taking place. Frequently Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals blame each other when often they’re both responsible for fiddling while Rome burns.

North America and Europe are at an economic and moral crossroad, having already started into Stage Two of the bitter road to socialism. Whether or not we plow through all three stages remains to be seen. It takes great moral courage to come forward to prevent this but politicians tend to be neither moral or courageous so it is best that those who are aware prepare to survive the collapse - as the socialist super class has done.