June 2, 2005
WEDDED TO THE SECOND WAY:
Europe's balancing act: The 'social model' is fraying, but the Continent is wary of raw capitalism. So now what? (Peter Ford, 6/02/05, The Christian Science Monitor)
For decades, European leaders have proudly offered their "social model" as a beacon to the world, marrying free markets with strong welfare systems to guarantee their citizens both prosperity and security.But as the Continent ponders its future in the wake of voters' rejection of a European Constitution that sought to balance those two goals, the European model is fraying at the edges. Profound disagreement exists over how to make it meet the demands of a rapidly changing world. [...]
One constitutional phrase, guaranteeing "free and unfettered competition" across the EU economy, generated especially strong hostility in France.
Jeremy Rifkin, author of "The European Dream" and adviser to European Social Democratic governments, worries that the debate has been limited to a contest between unfettered market capitalism and democratic socialism. "Europe has lost sight of the need for a model that stimulates the market and understands its failure to distribute wealth fairly," he argues.
That was exactly what the "social market model" was meant to do. But under the pressure of global competition, it is under fire from both right and left, for being either too social, or too market oriented.
The core human conflict is, has been, and will always be, between security and freedom, but the notion that the modern Anglo-American model involves some kind of raw Social Darwinism, with the economically unfit left for dead, is simply deranged. Posted by Orrin Judd at June 2, 2005 12:00 AM
Jeremy Rifkin has been on the wrong side of every argument I've read about since the 4th grade. If he's advising the Social Democrats, there's hope yet for Europe.
Posted by: Steve White at June 2, 2005 12:36 AMMay remind us that ". . .raw Social Darwinism, with the economically unfit left for dead. . .," is maladaptive. Such a system discouages risk- taking and innovation, the risk of failure having become too extreme. As always the most successful system is somewhat mixed, with civil society ameliorating competition.
Posted by: Lou Gots at June 2, 2005 8:26 AMThe wealth of the surviving aristocracy of Western Europe is the ghost in the closet when "raw (liberal) capitalism" is contemplated. A lack of mutual trust between social classes seems endemic in Europe and will condemn all thought of reasonably unrestricted freemarket economies until that simple attitude of mutual trust can be established and maintained. It really is a shame.
Posted by: Genecis at June 2, 2005 9:39 AMthere was a study published recently that showed that americans are far and away much better off materially than europeans. this was also my experience while living in the u.k. most of those high taxes go to pay for a gigantic beuracracy that delivers little real value.
Posted by: cjm at June 2, 2005 10:06 AM