The Times of London is reporting that the European Union is considering declaring vacations to be a “basic human right”":
AN overseas holiday used to be thought of as a reward for a year’s hard work. Now Brussels has declared that tourism is a human right and pensioners, youths and those too poor to afford it should have their travel subsidised by the taxpayer.
Under the scheme, British pensioners could be given cut-price trips to Spain, while Greek teenagers could be taken around disused mills in Manchester to experience the cultural diversity of Europe.
The idea for the subsidised tours is the brainchild of Antonio Tajani, the European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, who was appointed by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister.
The scheme, which could cost hundreds of millions of pounds a year, is intended to promote a sense of pride in European culture, bridge the north-south divide in the continent and prop up resorts in their off-season.
Tajani, who unveiled his plan last week at a ministerial conference in Madrid, believes the days when holidays were a luxury have gone. “Travelling for tourism today is a right. The way we spend our holidays is a formidable indicator of our quality of life,” he said.
Tajani, who used to be transport commissioner, said he had been able to “affirm the rights of passengers” in his previous office and the next step was to ensure people’s “right to be tourists”.
The European Union has experience of subsidised holidays. In February the European parliament paid contributions of up to 52% towards an eight-day skiing trip in the Italian Alps for 80 children of Eurocrats.
I’m not even sure where to start here. If an overseas vacation is a “right,” then what about a car, or a house, or a full digital cable-with-HDTV-and-DVR television package ?
John Stossel, as usual, gets it right:
It’s amazing how watered- down the idea of “rights” has become since Jefferson wrote about “certain unalienable Rights… among these Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” But at least the US government isn’t giving away vacations yet.
It’s the “yet” part that worries me.
Actually, we have been. My father reports incidents of having encountered Welfare recipients on Welfare-paid-for cruises, and a policy which stated they were as much entitled to vacations as those of us who worked for a living.
That’s a pretty thin reed of an excuse to put up a cheesecake photo, Doug.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
I wonder how many people are actually going to read this post versus how many people are just going to stare at the picture at the top.
=)
Seriously, if your going to wear a bikini that small why bother.