“It is one thing to have free immigration to jobs. It is another thing to have free immigration to welfare. And you cannot have both. If you have a welfare state, if you have a state in which every resident is promised a certain minimal level of income, or a minimum level of subsistence, regardless of whether he works or not, produces it or not. Then it really is an impossible thing.”

Milton Friedman

The AP story is obliviously written by an American who still thinks European countries are run by royalty. Nevertheless, he gets the point well enough to see the future everywhere in countries that, amongst other things, have been invaded by non-productive sponges and drones. We are back to a modern version of the ancient Marxist maxim: those who do not work, do not eat.

King Willem-Alexander delivered a message to the Dutch people from the government in a nationally televised address: the welfare state of the 20th century is gone.

In its place a “participation society” is emerging, in which people must take responsibility for their own future and create their own social and financial safety nets, with less help from the national government.

The king traveled past waving fans [!!!] in an ornate horse-drawn carriage to the 13th-century Hall of Knights in The Hague for the monarch’s traditional annual address on the day the government presents its budget for the coming year. It was Willem-Alexander’s first appearance on the national stage since former Queen Beatrix abdicated in April and he ascended to the throne.

“The shift to a ‘participation society’ is especially visible in social security and long-term care,” the king said, reading out to lawmakers a speech written for him by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s government.

“The classic welfare state of the second half of the 20th century in these areas in particular brought forth arrangements that are unsustainable in their current form.”

The cradle-to-grave welfare state will go. Dependence on the government, other than occasionally and in small amounts, will disappear. If you are not self-supporting, no one else will be obliged to provide for you what you cannot earn yourself. We shall see if there is enough support for such measures in Holland in 2015. By 2030, it will be on its way to being universal since the welfare state can no longer be sustained.