Germany's coming meltdown

Mark Steyn on the sad lesson we learn from watching the German election:

[W]hat does it take to persuade the citizens of 'enlightened' social democracies that sometimes you've got to give up the benefits cheque? Guardian and Independent types have had great sport with America over the last couple of weeks, gleefully citing the wreckage of New Orleans as a savage indictment of the 'selfishness' of capitalism. The argument they make is usually a moral one - that there's something better and more compassionate about us all sharing the burden as a community. But the election results in Germany and elsewhere suggest that, in fact, nothing makes a citizen more selfish than lavish welfare and that once he's enjoying the fruits thereof he couldn't give a hoot about the broader societal interest. 'Social democracy' turns out to be explicitly anti-social. Old obdurate Leftists can argue about which system is 'better', but at a certain point it becomes irrelevant: by 2050, there will be more and wealthier Americans, and fewer and poorer Europeans. In the 14th century, it took the Black Death to wipe out a third of Europe's population. In the course of the 21st century, Germany's population will fall by over 50 per cent to some 38 million or lower - killed not by disease or war but by the Eutopia to which Mr Schröder and his electorate are wedded.

I find it especially scary to watch the Germans sink into a moral and economic morass, because the last time they did so, bad stuff happened. This time, if the bad stuff were to happen, I doubt it would come from the Germans themselves -- rather, it would come from the radical Islamic parasite they've hosted in their body politic for so many decades. (And yes, I am having images of the sci-fi movie Alien as I write this.)