Creating Larger Entitlement Attitudes Domestically and Abroad

At left, French rioters try to wrestle a video camera from a journalist during a continuing national protest by students and unions, demanding that the French government scrap a contentious youth jobs law, during a demonstration in Paris on Tuesday.

In Britain, almost two million local government workers went on strike Tuesday, closing thousands of schools and disrupting travel. Eleven labor unions combined to stage the 24-hour protest which, they said, would be the biggest strike since 1926.

UK workers are demonstrating against a plan to force some public sector employees to work longer, or face a reduced pension if they retire at 60.

Though Bill Clinton says that Britain's government, economy and social system is the envy of the United States, Britain's state and private pensions system is straining from the rising cost of an aging workforce. The UK faces a 57 billion pound ($100 billion US) shortfall in retirement savings which is around five percent of the country's entire Gross Domestic Product.

Here, protests are still occurring over the illegal immigration issue, though the Senate Judiciary Committee panel broke with the House's "get-tough" approach to illegal immigration on Monday and sent to the floor a broad revision of the nation's immigration laws that would provide lawful employment to millions of illegal workers while offering work visas to hundreds of thousands of new immigrants every year -- ending up with a granting of citizenship if the immigrant does in fact have a job, can pass a criminal background check, learn English and pay fines and back taxes -- essentially what President Bush has proposed.

Republicans are widely split on the issue. Only 4 of the 10 Republicans on the committee supported the bill. They were the committee chairman, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Mike DeWine of Ohio and Sam Brownback of Kansas. All eight Democrats on the committee voted in favor of the legislation.

In all, citizens of many western nations, the United States included, believe they are due certain inalienable rights, to include:

• The right to cross into any nation and become a lawful citizen by dint of feet on soil;
• The right to enjoy any and all benefits of that nation, as any other naturalized citizen;
• The right to proclaim no allegiance to the nation inhabited;
• The right to refuse to assimilate;
• The right to complete healthcare, a "living wage" equal to that of any middle class tenured employee;
• The right to obey only those laws one wishes, whenever one wishes;
• The right to be assured of a job and not be fired, even for cause;
• The right to be catered-to throughout one's lifetime by government;
• The right to owe nothing to the government or surrounding taxpayers for largesse enjoyed;
• The right to change these rights at any time and, of course, to always demand more.

People, all I'm seeing is this:

Screeching masses demanding more. More. MORE.

And government having the temerity to actually consider not granting these demands.

Woe be to us all when governments cave, for this does nothing but imbue these governments with their primal fuel: power.

And then we will well and truly be lost and adrift.

BZ

(An aside: you think the Balkanization of the US, BTW, isn't pondered? Go here.)