An article in The Guardian is making it look that way.

The central premise, the redistribution of wealth, is not likely to be discarded, even in the face of collapse. But at least if they go first, maybe America will learn something. Probably not.

Some favorite paragraphs:

The controversy also goes to the heart of the debate on what kind of society "Europe" is building. In an essay published in Frankfurt and Paris last week Jürgen Habermas in Germany and Jacques Derrida in France hailed the birth of a "European public" which should be matched by strengthening the European polity.

European welfarism should be central to that project, they argued, setting Europe apart from the Anglo-Saxon model of pension funds, private provision, and stock markets as the cushions in old age.

The continent's welfare systems "must not fall behind as a consequence of future policies aimed at taming capitalism in an increasingly border-free Europe".

The basic premise of collectivism can never be questioned. No matter what.

If it wasn't for the millions of people and dozens of nations lying ruined in their wake, the eternal faith of the socialists that somehow, somewhere they can find the right mix of cyanide and milk to make the most nutritious food for kids, would be funny.

The irony of Sweden coming up with a partially privatized system is thick enough to cut with a knife.