More than a half century of changes in the western world.
By Andre ter Meulen : 10/11/2016
I lived in Sumatra, Holland, Belgium, Great Britain and the USA.
Travelled on business to Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, W.Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Italy ,Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Iran, South Africa, Australia, Mexico , Brazil, Canada and of course the USA. Cruised the world for pleasure for 450 days. Have more than 1.000.000 air miles.
I spent 4 years in a Japanese concentration camp in Sumatra. In 1946 I was repatriated to Holland and had little time to observe the functioning of the government as there were 4 years of ‘no education’ to be made up. Even in those days my sisters and brothers had to take student loans so that the whole family of 7 could survive. My father had lost everything in Indonesia due to the War and got no reconstitution whatsoever.
My first serious employment began in 1961 as Gen. Manager of Electronics Corp. of America (ECA) in Europe. This job required extensive travel in Europe and this is the period that changes in the political behavior in Europe became clear to me.
Sweden in the early sixties for example had the following:
– Housing was controlled and consisted mostly of large housing complexes for families with no children, others with children, and batchelors. Regulations were very strict color of dwellings was standard etc.
– Companies were also strictly ruled, i.e., Salaries of all employees including the top were published and the difference between the lowest and the highest could not surpass a certain percentage.
– Elderly employees could not be forced to retire and could continue to work even part time. This made it difficult for young people to find work and many left the country.
– Unions were very strong. For example, if a youngster shoveled a driveway for a small payment he would get in trouble as he or she was depriving some workman of earning a living.
In general freedom of religion was respected but a moral decline became evident. In Belgium, where I lived from 1952 until 1967, when I moved to the USA, the influx of people from the Arab countries had begun and steadily took over sections of Brussels and other large cities. Many families would live in single family homes and soon native Belgian people moved away from those areas. These immigrants did not integrate with the locals. Many male immigrants had jobs as street cleaners and some as taxi drivers.
Most European countries moved to multiple party governments. This resulted in coalition governments resulting in stagnation. If one party of the coalition proposed a bill, the other party would not agree unless they got some favor in return. Only the UK stayed with a 2 party system similar to that of the USA.
Presently almost all of Europe has no Conservative parties in power anymore. Churches are closing everywhere in Europe. In the late 80’s when visiting the South of France we could not find any Catholic church in a 50 mile area that had a Sunday mass.
Couples getting married in Europe are now less than 50%. Generally the parents of the couples are bringing up their grand-children as both parents have to work to survive in these very socially governed countries.
REFUGEES. As mentioned before this started early in Europe and we have all seen what is happening.
Standard of Living . Living in Europe seems to be OK to the tourists from America but that is not the case. In 1986 my wife and I went back to England and lived there for 6 years. Their National Health Care is terrible. Doctors are allocated a certain number of patients in the area, too many usually. They get paid a fixed amount for this allotment and are strictly regulated as to what they can do. Waiting times for a cataract operation is many years not weeks and this is true for almost every procedure. We took a supplemental insurance which miraculously gave us priority and we did not have to wait in line anywhere and hospital beds were always available. This shows that those with money can get decent treatment, but yet very few of our friends there now can afford the supplemental insurance as the costs have skyrocketed.
Most families cannot afford to eat meat more than one or twice a week. Wages are low and taxes are high. In most European countries citizens pay about 50% in taxes on their income. Take the time to look this up on the internet.
Regulations. Europe is over regulated and has been for a long time, this makes it very difficult for start-ups. In the US we have UL for approval of appliances but in Europe one needs multiple country approval. Dealing with the European Union is very frustrating and time consuming.
My Conclusion. This very brief writing will most probably show the reader that the USA was lagging Europe by many years but that in the last 8 years we have almost caught up. My prediction is that if Trump is NOT elected we will have no conservative party anymore, as has happened in Europe (except for the UK).
– We will have an unelectable Republican Party.
– Not voting helps Hillary.
– If Hillary is elected we will see a takeover by Islamic Rule within 10 years.
– Barak Obama will probably be the next President of the UN and we will adopt the UN rules on weapons and start paying taxes to the UN.
– Freedom of Religion will be finished but for Islam.
– Our laws will be changed and many freedoms will be abolished. The Sharia law will be allowed for people of the Islam faith.
– We will become a poor country with tremendous unemployment and a totally federal run country.
– States will have no say anymore.
– Our type of Government with checks and balances will be no longer.
– Churches will be closing and more mosques will be built.
– Health Care will be like in Britain but here it will NOT be free and very expensive. Many new Doctors will be from Middle Eastern countries as fewer American students will want to become doctor.
– Schooling will only be public and very poor.
– Electricity cost will become expensive.
– Marriage will be out of fashion.
– Birthrate will insure that Caucasians will be a minority.
– Millions of additional “refugees” will be allowed into this country.
– Borders will be open.
Thank God that I am 89.
Andre
