5.In the Stockholmsuburb of Tensta,20 percent of women in their late 40s collectdisability benefits. In the United Kingdom, 5 million people — a tenthof the adult population — have not done a day’s work since the NewLabour government took office in 1997.
America has a ways to go in catching up with those enlightenedjurisdictions, but it’s on its way.Rep. Paul Ryan pointed out recentlythat, by 2004, 20 percent of U.S. households were getting about 75percent of their income from the federal government.As a matter of practical politics, how receptive would they be to apitch for lower taxes, which they don’t pay, or lower governmentspending, of which they are such fortunate beneficiaries? How receptivewould another fifth of households, who receive about 40 percent oftheir income from federal programs, be to such a pitch?