The End of the Nanny State

 Just another day in the streets of Athens.

The above picture of firemen stopping traffic in Athens, Greece says it all...the end of what these folks have known for their entire lives in OVER. And what have they known all their lives?  That their government and the European social model will take care of them from cradle to grave regardless of rank, skill or education. 

And what do they know now?  Austerity.  And they don't like it.  So, they block traffic and riot in the streets.

Well, Greeks, welcome to the real world.  You have been living in a wonderland for generations and the party is over.  No money, you see.  Your government spent it all on you for doing not a whole helluva lot. The cradle to grave "we'll take care of you" welfare model is broken.

The only lifeline Greece has after years of profligate living is Germany.  Germany, the only country in the European Union (EU) that has any money left to loan to spendthrift prodigal countries like Greece, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and others. And what happens if by some oft chance Germany can't be the EU's line of credit bank anymore?  Then what?  USA?  Fuhgeddaboudit!  We have our very own Greek chop tenderizing in the crock pot of Obamastew.

If you were Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany and the EU's main loan officer, would you lend any more Euros to Greece, now at $270 BILLION?  Looks like a black hole to me. Frankly, by the looks of the picture above, those boys don't look too reformable to me. They like collecting those EU checks.  For they know the EU money is bankable, for now, unlike their obsolete drachma which is worthless on planet earth.

And guess who owns the majority of Greece debt now at $450 BILLION?  FRANCE.  And what did France just do against this Euro fiscal cliff backdrop? The voters hired a welfare advocate Socialist to run the country, Francois Hollande.  And what did he do as one of his first duties as President?  Lowered the legal retirement age from 62 to 60. Had to make good on one of many of his many crazy campaign promises. Next up more spending and higher taxes on the remaining producers, many have fled already, to pay for it all.  What a novel approach by the liberal junta! Sound familiar America?  C'est la vie!!! 

So, goodbye Nanny State (except for France and maybe USA)...good riddance and hello to Clockwork Orange in the 21st Century...good Lord and buy lots of plywood for the windows!