In the post-World War 2 era, most industrialized nations have adopted the same basic superstructure of liberal democracy:\u00a0 multi-party elections, labor protections, civil rights, and a safety net.<\/p>\n
Europe has taken the model farther, faster than most other nations, enacting employment-for-life rules, building vast public sector industries, and building universal education and health care programs.<\/p>\n
Democrats and liberals in the US have followed a different course, but the basic blue print — their vision for a better America — is much the same.<\/p>\n
It’s worth noting as an aside that this doesn’t all amount to socialism.\u00a0 Socialism, broadly speaking, envisions public or worker ownership of most of the economy.<\/p>\n
Liberal democracy even in Europe has followed a different path, harnessing (through taxes an jobs) the strengths of capitalism, while seeking to rein in its excesses (through labor standards and regulation).<\/p>\n
The problem of this system is that The People — taxpayers, voters, citizens — have steadily demanded more and more from their governments.<\/p>\n
When the economy tanks, we blame Washington.\u00a0 When people get sick, we want them to be cared for, even when they can’t afford it.<\/p>\n
We want our roads plowed, our food inspected, our elderly parents cared for, our farms subsidized, our arts organizations (and church charities) funded, and on and on.<\/p>\n
Two governments in particular have waded deep in this seductive mire:\u00a0 Greece and New York state.<\/p>\n
In Greece, the national government is so far in debt that their bonds have been reduced to junk status.\u00a0 And yet government workers continue to march in the streets refusing to grant even modest concessions.<\/p>\n
In New York state, government accountants predict that the state will run out of money in June.\u00a0 State workers have not only refused to make pay concessions; they are insisting on the 4% raise promised to them before the state economy fell off a cliff.<\/p>\n
Greece is still hoping for a bail-out from other European governments.<\/p>\n
But New York state already had its bail-out, in the form of the Federal stimulus.\u00a0 That bought us a year to resolve this fundamental challenge to our definition of good government.<\/p>\n
Some might argue that the solution here is simple:\u00a0 raise taxes.<\/p>\n
But even Governor David Paterson — a liberal Democrat — is convinced that the capitalist engine at the heart of New York is already over-taxed.<\/p>\n
In the medium and long term, answering this test, defining what a responsible government should look like, is the fundamental challenge of our time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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