Tom...as in Morgan

The signals from Europe are ominous. At some point we will probably have to rescue some of the Europeans again.

1. Most European economies are stagnant. France and Germany’s in particular. Huge portions of their young people are idle. Millions have been without work for years.

2. The standards of living have fallen way behind those in America. Americans average 40% more annual income than most Europeans. And the gap is widening.

3. The European governments dole out benefits galore. They have created huge welfare states. The voters are on the take. Being on the take they refuse to vote in governments that would fire up their economies. Because such governments might cut their welfare payments. And make them work. They would crucify Newt Gingrich.

4. Meanwhile, their governments cannot afford to keep up the payments. They already confiscate huge chunks of the economic output to pay for the dole. They will need to raise taxes again. This will be ruinous.

5. Since 1970 we have created 57 million new jobs. The Europeans, 4 million.

6. Tens of thousands of Europe’s best minds are fleeing. And most European societies are so filled with fear and loathing of the future they cannot reproduce enough to sustain their populations.

7. Various surveys reveal a lack of confidence among Europeans. Particularly among the Germans, who have bleak outlooks. Few are satisfied with their lives. (Most Americans are.) Big majorities believe their success will be determined by forces outside their control. Americans tend to feel the opposite. Majorities of Americans believe we control our own destinies.

8. The Europeans cannot even afford to defend themselves. Their armies are piddly. A million Muslims with broomsticks could take the continent. And the French would probably buy the broomsticks.

If you want a sure sign of malaise, ask the Europeans who is to blame for this. Many will tell you that we are. Not "we" as it applies to them. "We" as it applies to us.

They blame us. They say we work too hard. They accuse us of being obsessed with money. They point fingers at our free market and call it "Cowboy Capitalism". People addicted to welfare blame those rich people who support them. The French and Germans blame us. And we will probably be supporting them again some day.

Europe has been declining for 150 years. And we cushioned that decline.

For decades we took in Europe’s poor. It’s wretched refuse yearning to breathe free. For those many millions Europe failed.

Then, of course, we rescued the Europeans from their miserable wars. Especially from the scourge of Nazism that many - including the French - embraced. For a few hundred million souls, Europe had failed.

Next, we rescued them from disaster following the last war. We pumped in countless billions. Because Europe was failing.

Next, we spent incredible amounts protecting them from the Soviets who wanted to enslave them. Those on the far left scoff at this today. They have always re-written history, no matter how outrageously. And so they are not ashamed to say in their latest propaganda that the U.S. created the Cold War. It is one of their most outrageous lies.

And today we still prop up parts of Europe. In the last three years 700,000 immigrants have moved to the U.S. from European nations. Over 400,000 EU science and technology grads live in the U.S. Only one in seven intends to return to Europe. These people don’t work in Europe because Europe fails to provide the jobs for them.

(If you want to get a full picture of the European malaise, get the great October issue of The American Enterprise magazine. Or go to its website theamericanenterprise.org.)

Europe is headed for greater problems over the next decade or two. And guess who will be expected to rescue the sorry Europeans? You guessed right. Those Americans who they love to hate.

From Tom...as in Morgan.