Europe's Dreaded Affliction

I could not believe when I read this article in the Washington Times (ARTICLE BELOW). This nut case (as well as those like him) are now scrambling desperately to rally the people away from changes to capitalism and the free market by tapping into their "Christian religious beliefs" to justify their "God-given rights" to economic freedom and claiming that the Muslims are threatening that freedom! I mean is there no end to this Crusade? We don't need to add religion to the mix..the greed factor is big enough.

See the guy has the audacity to argue that Europe is failing, (not true) because the European Union makes sure that ALL of their citizens have access to health care regardless of financial status, that all can get an education. And apparently to the author educated, healthy people who have these basic human dignities guaranteed to them are LAZY and a big failure.

If they are so unsuccessful compared to the USA system then please tell me why the USA has a higher infant mortality rate than most other Westernized countries, or why we don't live as long as people of other nations, or why 40% of the families in the USA are living at the poverty line. If our system is so wonderful here why is it that our people are dying earlier, dying soon after birth, and nearly half of our country is living in poverty? God's got nothing to do with it. That is like saying to the 40% poor that "God will provide" but apparently he doesn't like you. At least the EU steps in and takes care of their people's basic needs and they are not even nearly as rich as the USA. We should be ashamed in this country to have statistics like above. We should be ashamed to put a higher value on economics than human life and well being. And the author should be embarrassed to have even considered making this a problem that has anything to do with God with the intent of trying to frighten innocent people into further loss of economic security who are doing all they can just to get by already.

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Published August 1, 2007
By Paul Belien

Liberal politicians, like Hillary Clinton, envy Western Europe for its welfare state. They tell U.S. voters that a European-style welfare state is needed to help the poor. In reality the motives of liberal politicians are not altruistic, but egotistical. Welfare makes people dependent on the state. It is not a coincidence that liberalism and secularism are almost synonyms. Liberals want to replace God by the state.

The difference between Americans and Europeans is the state-dependency of the latter. Contemporary Europe is in crisis. Its welfare systems are running out of money. Its moral and legal order is breaking down, while the influence of radical Islam is growing. Its nation-states are being undermined by the European Union. Most Europeans look on passively. After three generations of welfare dependency, they have lost the ability to take their fate into their own hands.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, North America was colonized by freedom-loving people. They had left Europe because they wanted to live according to their own conscience instead of submitting to the centralist absolutist rulers of the new age that was sweeping across Europe from the 16th century onward. Their traditions were rooted in the late Middle Ages and the Aristotelian philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas, which was centered on the individual. God had called man to be free from sin, but in order to be free from sin he had to be virtuous, and in order for virtue to have any value it had to be voluntary, implying that the virtuous man had to be free in every aspect of his life, including his economic activities.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...