Hey, some chicks dig poetic types. We’re thinking of asking Antarctica out on a date.
Asia told me that Antarctica is a tease and she never wants to go Dutch.
I think we should have a crack at S. America. Go ugly early that’s my motto 
Antarctica is frigid.
Hey, someone had to go for the obvious joke…
Yeah, I’ve seen for my fucking self, and on the Continent at least, every day is an adventure because you don’t know which public employee union will shut down the country’s transportation system by going on strike, or which monuments will be sealed off by demonstrators protesting that the government might make ever-so-small cuts in pension or welfare benefits. Meanwhile Ireland stands out as a shining example of the benefits of downsizing government. I wish the United States would follow her example.
You are actually arguing the benefits of a politically passive society vs an active one. I hear they vote more too, the lousy commies.
Funny you should say that, because I actually live in Ireland, and I think it’s a mess, and getting worse and worse under the right-wing Fianna Fáil/Progressive Democrats coalition. A horrendous rich-poor disparity (the worst of any country in the western world save one - and no prizes for guessing which one that is), astronomical inflation, devastating layoffs, piss poor infrastructure and a two-tier health system in which beds in private hospitals go empty while hundreds of public hospital patients have to be treated on trolleys in parking lots - well, it’s a shining example of something all right :rolleyes:
milum, your comments are blinkered, ignorant, and bigoted. They don’t do you any favours. Nor, in fact, has any other comment you’ve made on these boards. - jjimm
Hmmm,** jjimmbboybbaby**, do I detect a wee hint of displeasure in your opinion of my comments to this board?
Funny. I find your comments quaint.
Damn. We’re still in GD…
Correct me if I’m wrong, EuroDopers, but hasn’t the welfare state in many European countries been cut since the 1970’s?
Gotta agree with the girl. Ireland managed to be one of the most successful countries in the world over the last 10 years and yet we’re still fucked due to mismanagement and short sightedness.
Anyone out there able to answer my question? Anyone?
This is far too complicated a matter (and I’m not competent to speak about all European countries) to give you a clear and simple answer. Generally speaking, AFAIK there have been cuts in the amount of spending on ‘welfare’ (i.e. health care, unemployment allowances, basic subsistence allowances) in most Western European countries, but the basic framework is still intact.
I do not know the specifics of all regulations, least of all the way things are arranged comparitively in the U.S. But it is my understanding that Europe is still way above the level of the U.S. And if I read public opinion correctly, support for this basic framework is still high. People may dispute the specifics of the rules (i.e. who gets how much in which circumstances), but the basic principle is still that people in need without any fault of their own should receive help. None of that ‘I do not have an obligation to support strangers’ that seems to be rampant in the U.S., if discussions on this board are anything to go by.
This is something that will take a lot of digging to document, but I think that you’ll find, at least for the Scandinavian countries, that the amount used to fund the welfare state has risen every year single since the beginning of the 70’s - both in absolute numbers and as a percentage of the total GNP of the nations.
Rune
Here is government spending as a percentage of GDP for all major developed countried between 1965 and 2000. Of course, there is no one perfect statistic, and these figures only measure whether government spending or GDP was growing faster over each five-year period. In many (not all) countries you’ll see a pattern where spending rose as a percent of GDP between 1990 and 1995, and then fell between 1995 and 2000, not because of any change in government policy, but because the latter years saw more robust economic growth.
In general, government spending as a percent of GDP in developed countries has held steady over the last 20 years. The usual pattern has been for aging populations and expensive medical care to drive spending upward, while the government cuts around the edges of the welfare state to keep costs down.
If you are a liberal, you will see this as evidence of chintzy voters electing uncompassionate governments hell-bent on destroying the social safety net. If you are a conservative, you will see chicken-livered governments unable to stop, much less reverse, the long-term drift toward a socialist entitlement state. This accounts for the spirit of cheery good will invariably found on all sides in this forum.