Passing of the Elite (II)

"To unions, workers are just the raw material used to create union power, just as iron ore is the raw material used by U.S. Steel and bauxite is the raw material used by the Aluminum Company of America. The most fundamental fact about labor unions is that they do not create any wealth. They are one of a growing number of institutions which specialize in siphoning off wealth created by others, whether those others are businesses or the taxpayers."

--Thomas Sowell, Hoover Institution, Stanford

America’s struggle to be free of elite rule—whether by government, Wall Street, or union bosses—is nearly 250 years old. We resist the Old World (European-Asian) tradition that honors and elevates benevolent authority (philosopher kings). Here’s how Daniel Hannan, British member of the European Parliament, contrasts American individualism with the meritocracy Democrats and our national elite are currently fighting so hard to protect:

Obama wants to Europeanize the U.S. . . he wants a fairer America, a more tolerant America, a less arrogant America, a more engaged America. . . what these phrases amount to are higher taxes, less patriotism, a bigger role for state bureaucracies and a transfer of sovereignty to global institutions. He is . . . pursuing . . . European health care, European welfare, European carbon taxes, European day care, European college education, even a European foreign policy, based on engagement with supranational technocracies, nuclear disarmament and a reluctance to deploy forces overseas.

[Europeans] believe in markets, but regulated markets. . . a tripartite system in which employers, labor unions and government officials worked together. . . consensual coalition governments [accepting] a mixed market. Instead of competition between states, [Europeans] pursue political and economic integration.

that road leads. . . to burgeoning bureaucracy, more spending, higher taxes, slower growth and rising unemployment. But [the European] political class [believes] in its moral superiority. After all, if the American system were better—if people and businesses could thrive without government supervision—there would be less need for politicians. As Upton Sinclair once observed, "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it."

Nonetheless, the [facts: f]or the past 40 years, Europeans have fallen further and further behind Americans in their standard of living. In 1974, Western Europe. . . accounted for 36% of world GDP. Today that figure is 26%. In 2020 it will be 15%. In the same period, the U.S. share of world GDP has remained. . . around 26%.

Meritocracy—top-down rule—constrains growth. Individual freedom expands it. Michael Barone offers proof that people who want jobs aren't attracted to European-style big government. Barone’s proof comes from the contrasting population growth rates of high tax/strong public employee union states on the one hand, and low tax/weak union states on the other:

The eight states with no state income tax grew 18% in the last decade. The other states grew just 8%. The 22 states with right-to-work laws grew 15% in the last decade. The other states grew just 6%. The 16 states where collective bargaining with public employees is not required grew 15% in the last decade. The other states grew 7%.

Barone notes some believe low population growth is desirable because it reduces environmental damage and prevents urban sprawl. But according to Barone, states with slow growth “end up with aging populations and not enough people of working age” to sustain the old folks’ projected living standards.