The EuroCrisis – A Cultural Crisis – Part 4: GOD vs. the State
High unemployment,
refugees, people from many different countries, nationalities,
backgrounds... How much of the current EuroCrisis is economical and
how much of it is it a human crisis? Argentina, the country I come
from, should be a study case for Europe TODAY. It has been PIONEER in
many things: mass migration, bad integration, poverty and the
appearance of guettos with the arrival of less educated and
productive workforce from nearby countries in the 1970s. Whereas
europeans managed to move from working class to higher middle
classes, people of indigineous backgrounds have not been properly
integrated. Today, many countries in Europe present unemployment
rates of nearly 25% (including real unemployment and people living of
welfare, who might or might not eventually join the workforce). As
explained in my books “Revolution 4.0 and the Man of Tomorrow –
Parts 1 & 2”, the socially excluded are usually immigrants who
have not been properly integrated into the workforce (and their
children). Whereas before european countries were mainly inhabited by
europeans, today they are also communities of latinos, asians,
africans, etc. In the mind of the European, these groups from other
continents would never count as europeans (same for Argentinians, who
have a european mindset even being southamericans).
Again using the Nordics
as example, a large part of their success was atributed to a
unicultural society with strong cohesion and trust levels. In his
book “the Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism”, the
german sociologist Max Weber explains that capitalism in Northern
Europe evolved when the Protestant (particularly Calvinist) ethic
influenced large numbers of people to engage in work in the secular
world, developing their own enterprises and engaging in trade and the
accumulation of wealth for investment. “Skape og dele” (create
and distribute), marks the strongest foundation for scandinavian
social democrat entrepreneurship. Sweden, probably the champion of
this model, enjoyed a fantastic period of growth from 1880 – 1970
based on sheer, raw, scandinavian entrepreneurship, rising to the 4th
position in GDP x capita and positioning itself as one of the richest
nations in the world. The introduction of a welfare system and
socialist experiments only managed to slow down entrepeneurial
spirit. Sweden today is still one of the world´s most developed
countries, but not as good as before. While the Nordics (and Europe),
have stagnated, many other regions have shown fantastic growth rates.
In an interesting
outcome, the experience of Scandinavians living abroad (and their
descendants), only confirms the theory that the success was not
based on government intervention, but on an adventurous vision and
viking spirit. Swedish-Americans are considerably richer than the
average American – as are other Scandinavian-Americans. The poverty
rate of Americans with Swedish ancestry is only 6,7%, half the
national average. Swedish-Americans are better off even than their
cousins at home: their average income is 50% higher than theirs, a
number used by opponents of the Swedish model as an argument against
the shackles of big government.
Their success in America
seems solidly grounded in old national virtues. They have more trust
in each other and in government; they tend to obey rules. The
Protestant work ethic is strong: in Minneapolis in particular, the
number of Lutheran churches is striking. Scandinavian-Americans also
display a keen of civic sense, whether in shovelling snow or helping
elderly neighbours, from which everyone benefits. The scandinavian
social democratic spirit involves a strong sense of entrepreneurship
for the creation of wealth, and trusting the government for the
distribution of that wealth.
Differences between
lutheran and catholic beliefs are very noticeable in the work place.
Whereas catholics are focused on costs, lutherans are more focused on
increasing the outcome (but not having so much control on budgets).
This has it so that scandinavians are actually better at sales,
whereas catholics are better a saving costs. Both sides of the
equation are actually needed to maximized benefit. The difference is
very noticeable when comparing Republic of Ireland (catholic), with
the UK (mainly anglicanism, a branch of Reformed Protestantism).
However, in the city of
Oslo TODAY, only 30% of the population actually believes in GOD1.
It is difficult to say if the traditional protestant values are
actually transmitted from generation to generation if the population
turns to atheism. Concerns about immigration and economic issues
resulting from lower commodity prices might indicate that there is a
lack of faith, as lutheran churches struggle to attract new
followers. Generosity and fair distribution amongst the community
have characterized scandinavians in their past success. How well
wealth is distributed amongst society as a whole today will determine
if Scandinavians will continue their path to prosperity. The same
could be applied throughout Europe as a whole. How much of the
anti-immigration sentiment is really a crisis of values, of a fear of
the unknown and losing a position of power and benefits? In the World
of Tomorrow, the multipolar world will be lead by the US and China.
As China expands it´s position of power and gets a larger share of
the cake of World Commerce, regions must align and be cohesive in
order to secure their position. The final outcome will be positive: a
more equalitarian world for everyone. Social Democrats like myself
should be very happy and embrace this period of changes, if they are
true Lutherans...
Again Cristian
Bøhnsdalen, the Last (or the First?) true lutheran!
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