is our strength, right?
It’s like the Nordic countries–they have always had a very generous social net. But they also had a relatively small, homogeneous population where there was a strong cultural “pull” not to abuse it and to be self-sufficient. After all, the person footing the bill looked just like you and might well be a distant cousin.
These people were united. They provided for their own and were absolutely willing to fight for their country when threatened.They had a proud Viking history, and were not to be messed with!
But as diversity took hold, that national bond weakened considerably. In came people (notoriously Somalis, but also many others) who did not share the same culture, who both didn’t look like everyone else, and who had radically different beliefs, religious practices, and culture. They also were not willing to sacrifice for the country, and were very obviously of no blood relation at all.
And these folks had NO problem taking all the money they could–by means fair or foul. It is NO coincidence that an area of high Nordic descendants (Minnesota) was the state that was bilked out of hundreds of millions of dollars by Somali immigrants! Yeah, “Minnesota nice” is famous–and unsustainable in a multi-cultural wold.
See, basing a community in capitalism combined with significant social support worked when the population was relatively small and homogeneous. But diversity changes things entirely. One can argue that the changes are either good or bad. But one can’t argue that there were no changes…