Living the socialist nightmare

(Via CJR and the WSJ)

The WSJ does a case study in economic downturns. Sort of an "our way vs. their way" kinda thing. Eye opening.

The U.S. is spending hundreds of billions of dollars — including increased assistance to the unemployed — to prop up the economy, and wants Europe to follow suit. But most of Western Europe already has a strong, if costly, social safety net, so governments feel less pressure to spend their way out of trouble.

The Journal tells this story through two laid-off autoworkers, one in Illinois and one in Germany. The lede does well to sum up the difference between the two systems:

In Germany, losing his factory job didn’t stop Alfred Butt from taking a Mediterranean vacation this winter. Thanks to generous jobless benefits, being out of work “hasn’t changed my life that much,” Mr. Butt says.

In the U.S., Dylan DeRoberts lost similar work — but there’s no seaside getaway for him. Instead, he’s giving up life’s little pleasures, like riding his snowmobile, because he lost his insurance, too. “I’ve learned to live at a new level,” Mr. DeRoberts says.

Read on.