The late Paul Harvey used to call them the “gimme-gimmes” — those folks who want government to just give them everything they need/want. In later years, he stopped using the term.
But Gimme-Gimmes are everywhere. They’ve taken to protesting (and rioting and looting). We’ve seen them most recently in Greece but also in multiple other European countries. We’ve seen them in Wisconsin. We’ve seen them in California.
We’ve seen them practically everywhere where government has promised too much and is unable to deliver. Look for them somewhere near you. Soon.
They don’t want much, just cradle-to-grave security and plenty. Just the basics: a roof over their heads, food on the table, free education, free medical care, a good job with job security and generous vacations, early retirement and a good pension. That’s all.
People everywhere have been hoodwinked. They’ve been told by their governments: 1) You can have it all; and 2) Someone else will pay for it. In some cases, it may have actually worked for a while, but as more and more people demanded more and more free stuff, the system began to unravel.
And what are the Gimme-Gimmes in Greece protesting? Are they demanding the dismantling of the disastrous policies that led to this mess? Hell, no. They are protesting any change to the policies! They want their share of the loot and they want it now! And if they don’t get it, well, they’ll riot and loot and just take what they want.
Gimme, Gimme, Gimme!
“Brother, you asked for it!” — Francisco Domingo Carlos Andres Sebastión d’Anconia
“Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else.” — Frederic Bastiat.
“Thanks to the negligence of their opponents, [Leftists] control the terms of every debate by always demanding ‘more’ while never defining ‘enough.’ The predictable result is that they always get more, and it’s never enough.” — Joseph Sobran
“The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.” — P. J. O’Rourke