In the NL., committed to the welfare idea, 1.4 million beneficiaries of state aid, a potent political force, have so far managed to blunt major attempts at social services reform in parliament.

A humanitarian dream becomes an economic nightmare

They are called welfare states, after the sense of collective compassion that inspired them in the wake of the Great Depression and World War II. Like Gothic cathedrals, they rose gradually across Western Europe, in dedication to a lofty goal: to create moreā€¦