Swedish Meatballs

The only good thing to come out of Sweden, into the U.S., is Swedish meatballs, and even those are of dubious quality.  In a very interesting read, Allan Carlson details the failure of Sweden’s socialist welfare state, a state of affairs that U.S. politicos are bent on pursuing even though the evidence from Sweden already shows the futility of this path which leads to the cliffs from which lemmings proverbially throw themselves.  Carlson offers a solution in his piece, which I heartily approve of.

"The agenda here is simple, radical and pragmatically anti-bureaucratic:

1. end state-mandated and state-controlled education, leaving the training and rearing of children up to their own parents or legal guardians;
2. abolish child-labor laws, again reasoning that parents or guardians are the best judges of their children’s interests and welfare, vastly better than any combination of state bureaucrats;
3. and dismantle the Social Security system, leaving protection or security in old age to be provided, once again, by individuals and their families."

Carlson then points to the Amish as an example of individuals succeeding without the state, with the caveat "that relatively few contemporary Americans would choose to live like the Amish, given a true freedom of choice." But embracing individual success and self reliance would not entail people living like the Amish.  And, more importantly, pointing to the Amish as an example for success actually does more harm than good when attempting to enlighten people to be self reliant, since many individuals look at the Amish simply as sturdy, backwards folk who thump Bibles, rule patriarchily and are in bed at sundown.  So using the Amish as an example is more of a disservice than an incentive when encouraging individuals to live free or die.

Socialism, the welfare state, unfortunately, is alive and well here in the U.S.  Like a python it is entwining itself around us, sucking us in to be digested one by one.

Via Astropolis.

Posted by on 01/05 at 07:14 AM

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