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Earl Aagaard’s opinions about everything that interests him. Og also enjoys gardening, travel, reading, woodbutchery, and lots of other stuff.

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AH, YES…...LET’S MAKE THE UNITED STATES MORE LIKE EUROPE.

You hear the cries all the time, don’t you? The United States is so individualistic, so capitalist, so selfish….....if only we would soften the edges a bit; if only we’d move over toward the “European model” of caring for people who aren’t as capable as the rest of us.

Of course, some of us recognize that if money were somehow available to keep us from feeling any pinch when we didn’t go to work every day, we might actually be tempted to “pamper” ourselves a bit when we aren’t feeling in tip-top shape. No? Who hasn’t felt the desire to stay home and do the “important things”, rather than schlep off to the office to do what we have to in order to bring home the paycheck? If you’re saying “Not me!”, I think you’re in a distinct minority.

Anyhow, now and then a story leaks out that epitomizes the problem…..

Régnier applied for and received the status of an invalid from Wallonia’s generous welfare authorities. He consequently receives a welfare check of over €1,000 a month. His three wives are all unemployed. Hence, they each get €800 in unemployment benefits. On top of this the family receives €4,000 in child allowances. This makes a grand total of more than €7,400 a month ($9,700 or £4,960) – all of it provided by Belgium’s taxpayers. All the money matters in the household are taken care of by Serge. His wives are only interested in children. They have told the press that they each hope to have another baby in 2007.

This “family” of 34 isn’t even the worst example of Belgian welfare fecklessness. That distinction goes to (perhaps - we don’t have complete information) this case:

Ten years ago Belgium was shocked by the paedophile murders of Marc Dutroux, another Walloon. Dutroux also lived in Marcinelle. He had installed dungeons in his cellar, where for many months he imprisoned little girls whom he had abducted, and kept them as his sex slaves. Dutroux raped and finally murdered them. He, too, had been recognized as an invalid. The welfare officers granted him, and his wife and accomplice Michelle Martin, to cash a monthly check of €2,000 in welfare benefits. The reason why Dutroux was granted invalid status was because he was said to have suffered psychological damage during a previous spell in prison (for raping underage girls and boys and torturing an elderly lady), which made it impossible for him to work for a living.

I’m not suggesting that these cases represent the average situation, of course. But, that these egregious injustices make it through the bureaucratic maze that is the Belgian welfare “system” suggests either that those running the show see these guys as worthy of taxpayer money, or they don’t care, or the whole thing is so broken that no careful distinctions are being made.

And that’s (inevitably) how it’s going to be — since the incentives will always be on the side that produces this kind of thing. I want less socialism and more capitalism in the United States — public welfare never made any country free or great!!

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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 01/05 at 11:14 AM

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