I’m routinely critical of politicians, even the “good” ones that say they want to limit government and promote freedom.
But I think I’ve found a lawmaker who is worthy of strong praise. Unfortunately, he’s not in America.
He is Richard Sulik, the head of the Slovakian parliament and leader of the libertarian-leaning Freedom and Solidarity party.
Along with other members of his party, he is the best hope to block the bailouts that will reward profligacy and dig Europe’s debt hole even deeper.
Here’s some of what the UK-based Telegraph reported about Sulik’s battle for liberty.
European leaders fear that Slovakia’s attempt to block the new bail-out fund is as dangerous as David’s stand against Goliath. But it’s not just the difference in size and power that’s the worry – it’s that Slovakia’s rebel might have “right” on his side. Slovakia’s hero is Richard Sulik, head of the Freedom and Solidarity Party (SaS) the junior partner in a four-party coalition. He has passionately described Slovakia’s 20-year journey from Communism to the European Union – and the deep national pride of meeting the membership requirements against the odds. Mr Sulik has articulated the dismay of many that in Greece, Slovakians are faced with a country that bent the rules, rather than sacrificed, to gain entry – and now are demanding their luxuries are maintained by others. The average Slovak, whose salary is lowest in the euro zone, Sulik claims, would have to work 300 extra hours to cover the increase in the country’s guarantees of the EFSF, which will rise from €4.4bn to €7.7bn under the proposed deal. Mr Sulik has been criticised for being nationalistic, but he’s fast-becoming the voice of the discontented European masses.
By the way, the former nation of Czechoslovakia seems to have produced worthy leaders once it split in half. Not only is Sulik worthy of praise in Slovakia, but so are other Slovak lawmakers, and I’ve already pointed out the President Klaus of the Czech Republic is one of the few people in Europe fighting for freedom.
I definitely stand on the side of anti-bailout movement for Greece. Unlike countries such as Ireland, Greece has never contributed and never will to the EU. So much for the “cradle of western civilization”. EU needs to make an example of Greece and kick them out of Euro zone, before they ruin the value of Euro completely.
I absolutely understand position of Slovakia. Small, post-communist country that everyone thought will be nothing but a burden to EU. It proved to be stable country with great economic growth, while it’s population has nowhere near the standard of living or social security of Greece. The austerity measures for Greek population are lot less severe than everyday reality for most central and eastern European EU members, yet look who’s complaining the most.
As much as SaS’ free-market capitalist and libertarian philosophy appeal to me, one thing to remember about Sulik however is that his SaS party is an opportunistic party to propagate Sulik’s business interests. It is an invitation-only party, not open to all.
Having Communism still in memory, one is reluctant to adopt useful idiocy… for a while. Poor Slovakia you’re surrounded by bigger neighbors who are almost certainly going to turn nasty in their declining years….
As far as “save Europe” that seems rather impossible. Greece, Portugal and Ireland could disappear from the face of the earth tomorrow and the rest of Europe would still face the same core existential problem: a 1-2% annual growth trendline in a world that grows by 4-5% ie. a perpetually compounding annual 3% loss of prosperity relative to the rest of the world. That is why Europe in the 1970s commanded about 35% of world GDP and by 2020 it is projected to shrink to 15%. The modest additional redistribution necessary to support the Greeks, Portuguese and to a lesser extent Irish will further flatten the individual effort-reward curve and make Europe’s already rapid (on a historical time scale) demise even faster.
But wait! The American People, in their infinite wisdom of lately, are discovering a path to prosperity that seems to have eluded them for centuries: Follow Europe!
What a comical, suicidal cry of delusion – and what a fate for a country that once commanded 6x average world per capita prosperity.
He is the hero
It’s funny, Telegraph was probably the only media writing about Sulik this way. Most slovakian medias and people is blaming him for fall of the government and possible returning of previous left side prime minister. Just few notes:
Ivan Miklos was never fighting for reedom, he is not liberal, never was and never will be. He is not even a creator of flat tax reform in Slovakia, it was idea of Richard Sulik.
Though I would hardly call Richard’s party libertarian-leaning, he is my hero for willing to stand against EU bureaucracy.. “I’d rather be a pariah in Brussels than have to feel ashamed before my children, who would be deeper in debt“.
Slovakia enjoyed few hours of freedom that night. One of the best feelings ever.
[...] Indeed, the SAS Party (which I gather must be Slovak initials for Freedom and Solidarity) is so committed to principles that it refused to join with other coalition members to support the European bailout fund. [...]