Make European Society Great Again

Krzysztof Bolesta

What connects a school in Houston, a training program for the homeless in Chicago, and an outfit promoting sustainable buildings in Chattanooga?

That is the million dollar question. And precisely that, because all these institutions are pushed to constantly fundraise millions of dollars for their statutory activities. This is nothing new for Americans who probably learn how to put a budget together as early as kindergarten. For Europeans, however, this is a bit bizarre.

No, erase that. It is simply shocking.

European policies on education financing, unemployment, and environmental standards (and many more issues that Americans solve without bothering the state) must look from the other side of the Atlantic a bit “red.” And there is merit in such thinking. I finished my schooling through university without paying a penny. City planning and sustainability regulations are taken care of at the national or even at the European level. If I lose my job, I will get unemployment benefits from the state. Easy.

Now pick the winning approach, the European or the United States. This might seem immediately obvious, but depending what passport you hold you would argue that your model is best. Therefore let's concede for now that both are equally valid and merely different. They just address the same issues in a number of different ways. The United States uses minimum state engagement, while Europeans, although we will never admit it, don't know how to walk without the state-sponsored crutches.

I am European, and truth be told, I appreciate how we go about things. I do think that the state should provide certain services to ensure everyone has equal opportunities to participate in society from start to finish. I also see quite a few dangers in a free-for-all market approach applied to each and every policy. Some of the issues attract more attention than others, as do some groups of needy individuals — and all can be measured in fundraising potential. But I refuse to criticize the U.S. way as it has one great advantage over our state-coated solutions: it stimulates community engagement.

For all Europeans’ proud chest-beating on solidarity and equality, it is quite obvious that in Europe we have happily and effectively outsourced most of the responsibilities to help those in need. We pay taxes and pay them high in exchange for a blue pill that enables us to forget our civic responsibilities. We don't need to do anything. The state should take care of all the problems that may raise their ugly, unpopular heads.

The system works but it turns our solidarity into an empty slogan, while in the U.S. helping is built into the genome of society. Limited state involvement creates a vacuum that must be and that is filled by private entities that create the community. This bottom-up movement touches on the most burning problems from poverty, through to unemployment, and education. When you feel there is a need for action, you get in line and help. True, sometimes this means paying a fat donation. But you know what you pay for, as it is not a general tax but a targeted program, a particular school or a hospital in your neighborhood. Such an approach empowers communities, builds trust, and reinforces the social foundations .

It would be too easy to say that the U.S. approach is better than the European approach. Yet one thing is strikingly obvious. In Europe we forgot that a community is a meticulously and carefully built organism and not a product that can be purchased with tax revenue. In this particular case, there are a few lessons to be learned on the other side of the Atlantic.

Krzysztof Bolesta, Director for Research at the analytical centre Polityka Insight and the former chief of staff of the Minister for Climate of the Republic of Poland, is a Fall 2016 European Marshall Memorial Fellow.

Read other blogs by Fall 2016 Marshall Memorial Fellows:

^{Photo credit: Vase Petrovski}