Greece’s crisis may come here

Michael A. Walsh:

Welcome to the beginning of the end of the welfare state.

Since the Marshall Plan, which got the war-torn continent back on its feet, Western Europe has lived in a bubble. Shielded by US nuclear arms and guarded by hundreds of thousands of American troops, Europeans have been free to create their quasi-socialist paradises.

It was fun while it lasted: Spend the first 30 years of your life as a “student,” enter the workforce late, retire early, get six-week vacations at taxpayers’ expense and lavish 30-year pensions — la dolce vita had nothing on this.

The welfare-state mentality reached its zenith with the creation of the European Union and its currency, the euro, which yoked countries as disparate as Ireland, Estonia, Monaco, Germany and Greece. Ever since, legions of Eurocrats in Brussels have spent their days churning out endless miles of choking red tape as they perfected their cradle-to-grave cocoon.

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