Tuesday 19 June 2018

Immigrant overload, not Brexit, heralds the end of the European Union | South China Morning Post

Immigrant overload, not Brexit, heralds the end of the European Union | South China Morning Post

This is a disturbing analysis and dire prediction from professor Niall Ferguson, a man of the Left. A liberal, not some knuckle dragging xenophobic far rightist.

Highlighting a couple of points:

  1. The clash between Islam's norms and those of mostly secular Christian Europe, especially on the rights of women. "... making assimilation difficult".  
  2. You can't have both open borders and welfare states. You can have one of the other.  The welfare state requires people to contribute to the system, with more people contributing over time than taking out. By definition, recent arrivals have not contributed to the system. And so more is taken out of the welfare state than is going in. Result: bankruptcy. 
  3. Mad Mutti Merkel. She believes that Europe cannot survive without free movement of people. In that she's wrong. I've lived in Europe when it had free movement of goods but borders for people. It was fine. Merkel has done more to destroy modern Europe than anyone since her infamous moustachioed countryman.