“Greeks aren’t Germans”

Why does the painfully obvious so often elude the grasp of otherwise intelligent and well-educated people? Theodore Dalrymple explores the phenomenon as it manifests itself in the context of the current economic and political situation in Europe.

In short, the incontinent spending of many European governments, which awarded whole populations unearned benefits at the expense of generations to come, has—along with a megalomaniacal currency union—produced a crisis not merely economic but social, political, and even civilizational. The European Union that was supposed to put an end to war on the continent has resuscitated antagonisms that might end in bellicosity, if not in outright war. And the European Project stands revealed as what any sensible person could have seen it always was: something akin to the construction of a massive, post-Tito Yugoslavia.

Of course, we in the U.S. certainly have little or no right to look down our noses and scoff at the Europeans. Given our own fondness for the mirage of something-for-nothing, and our persistence in electing politicians who believe reality is like a set of Tinker Toys that can be put together any way we like, it’s no wonder that we’re now facing the prospect of economic and social collapse. In the last few national political contests, it seems as if we’ve only been one election away from disaster; now we’re one election away from actually committing national suicide. Except, perhaps, it’s not really suicide because the intent is not self-destruction; unfortunately, there are just large numbers of idiots who think that sitting in Obama’s closed garage with the car engine running is a great idea. I hope that they can be spared this fate – not from altruistic sentiments, but because I don’t want to be trapped in there with them.