Right-wing Exploitation of Europe's Decline Ignores the Complexity of Its Problems

The May 23, 2010 front page of the NY Times features an article that gives momentum to a building ideological shift in Western Europe: the imperative to move away from generous welfare state systems that are products of left-leaning governments from the post WWII era. The gist is this: birth rates are declining, Baby Boomers are retiring, the Greek economic collapse has put a strain on the euro and the economies of the countries that use it, and the diminishing ratio between younger working adults and older retired workers makes the welfare state and its universal health care, early retirement, limited work week, and extensive vacations unsustainable.

Here's the problem: the welfare state itself is not the primary cause of Europe's problems. In fact, the welfare state is responsible for the unprecedented prosperity the continent has enjoyed over the last half century. Europe's current problems are largely the result of right-wing policies, not left-leaning government.
For starters, much of Europe's current problems are the result of the worldwide economic collapse of late 2008, the epicenter of which was Wall Street's criminal greed and right-wing policies that deliberately steer wealth upwards toward the rich and provided a safety net for the financial banks who were not allowed to fail according to free market principles. Second, the euro currency is a major culprit in Europe's problems. Poorer countries like Greece, Spain, and Portugal do not have the flexibility to adjust their individual currencies through deflation to increase exports. The stronger European economies in turn are weakened by the burden of sharing a currency with weaker euro members. France and Germany bailed out Greece because French and German banks hold Greek bonds. The motive of the euro was a departure from the original change of the European Union, which was to make Europe's economies collaborative to promote good relations and stop the on-going wars that ravaged Europe through much of modern history. The euro did not come into existence to promote the EU's mission; it came about so that Europe could become the next economic world superpower with a currency that would become stronger than the dollar. Europe has hurt itself drastically and unnecessarily by its desire to mimic America through the creation of the euro.
A shared economy and a shared currency are not the same thing. The former achieved the EU's goals; the latter is undermining them.

The biggest threat to Europeans' way of life is the growing mentality that since its system no longer works Europe will have to Americanize. But the euro has already Americanized Europe too much: just like the States share the dollar, Western Europe shares the euro. The shared currency has made the countries more like provinces or states, with less sovereignty and flexibility to govern in accordance with their own needs, particularly with regard to fiscal policy. Even worse, countries that don't have the flexibility to fix their own problems ensnare the rest of the member nations and bog them down as well.

The 20th century European welfare state may be unsustainable, but so is the 20th century American military-industrial complex. Europe may need to do things differently, but if it thinks all it needs to do is simply move from the left to the right, it will just substitute one unsustainable system for another, and likely spark the alienation and tensions that start social and international conflicts brewing. Not a good idea. Social unrest is not conducive to sustained economic strength. It is an inevitable by-product, however, of right-wing proclivities to oppress the masses, discriminate against ethnic outsiders, and exploit labor.

The consensus seems to be that European governments have to cut spending, and that austerity measures must take effect to prevent a collapse of the system. But America's wars on terror and drugs are insanely expensive, mind-bogglingly expansive, and are incompatible with smaller government (not to mention democracy, freedom, and human rights--pillars of Western Culture). While the rhetorical moment may be there for European right-wingers to say governments must cut spending, they need only look at their neighbor across the pond with its over-crowded prisons, deadly urban violence, and collassal oil spills to ponder the effects of cutting education and health care while promoting careless industry practice. Do you Europeans want America's problems on top of your own? More problems on top of the ones you already have is not what you want, trust me.

For decades American right-wingers have argued that Europe's liberal lifestyle has been made possible in large part due to the luxury European governments enjoy of not having to spend much money on their militaries thanks to NATO and America's heroic nuclear arsenal. Well, if the European state is not sustainable, then what long-term good has America's military industrial complex done for the continent? The U.S. military has failed to keep America out of wars and failed to support generous social programs in Europe. Europeans are kidding themselves if they think the Islamic hostility they face from immigrants is not stoked by American military imperialism in the Islamic world--another example of how right-wing policies are not in Europe's best interest despite the temptation to think otherwise. Obviously the only good the U.S. military does is to itself and the apparatus of arms manufactuers and trans-national corporations whose greed and plundering are the main causes of economic problems here in America and Europe.

My fear is that Europe's financial problems will be used as an excuse to end policies the right wing has never wanted in the first place: favorable working conditions for labor, higher taxes, investment in education and health care, without there being at the same time a comprehensive tightening of the belt by everyone. That would include the banks, the criminal justice system, and the corporations. Unless everyone is in it together, it doesn't matter what the reality of Europe's financial future is or what Europeans do to guard against a collapse. My intuiton tells me that the prevailing discourses about Europe's economy are directed toward fostering xenophobia toward immigrants, and a general right-wing power play to scapegoat and persecute social groups that don't measure up to Aryan standards. A generous, socially-minded government is better than a harsh and punatitive one, regardless of Europe's current situation. While changes obviously need to be made, they should be made wisely in the name of the well-being of the continent and the EU's mission of sustaining peaceful relations among all Europeans and all peoples. European leaders should be concerned over why Europeans aren't having children anymore, not the fact they want to enjoy their lives instead of returning to the "Arbeit macht frei" days that equate slavery with freedom. Whatever Europe does, for a continent that was ravaged by fascism just two generations ago, a wholesale shift to the right would be quite foolish, if not fatal.