Death of the 'European Model'

France is ablaze with violent protests, Greece is broke, and the British government is going to lay off half a million workers. Missed from the headlines is the biggest casualty in all of this: the death of the “European model.” For at least two generations now, “progressives” and liberals in the U.S. have looked at Europe with fluttering hearts and envy, convinced that if we could only see things clearly we would abandon the American model and become MORE LIKE THEM. The German social safety net, the Scandinavian sense of tolerance, and the French commitment to long paid holidays. How great our lives would be if we just did it their way.

Fortunately the common sense of the American people led them to resist most of these socialistic overtures. The pure and clean American idea “you can’t get somethin’ for nothin'” saved the day. And now we see the results. Europe is in chaos, struggling to step back from the abyss. In Germany, the Chancellor has rightfully declared that multiculturalism has failed. The government is rightfully moving away from big government and toward austerity. (How far the unions will let them go is another story.) In Great Britain, there are massive layoffs which will probably be a down payment on further reform.

France is burning. America is not. The European model is officially dead.