Zakaria Law

I was reading Jon Seidel's recent Blaze post Fareed Zakaria Suggests U.S. Take a Cue from Iceland: Change the Constitution and thought I'd chime in. You see, I was just in Iceland and I believe that is enough to qualify me as Expert on all things Icelandic.

This is what Mr. Zakaria should know:

• Iceland is a welfare state. They pay people lots of money to do nothing. I listened to a female hotel manager/bartender complain that she'd be better off not working. She told me if she was a single mom doing nothing she'd be making $50,000 a year. That was better than what she was making in her job, which involved talking to the likes of me late at night as I drank her bar's absurdly overpriced wine.

• The wine is absurdly overpriced because they have a 100% tax on alcohol. Why? Because they're a welfare state.

• You know why you're hearing about Iceland a lot these days? Because they really want tourists and they've launched a PR campaign to get them to come visit. Why are they eager for tourists to come visit? Because Iceland is a welfare state, they're broke as a result, and they need the likes of me to come over there and spend money on their over-taxed drinks while I talk to a hard-working woman who is upset she lives in a welfare state.

• Can anything good come out of holding a constitutional focus group with all the citizens? Are you serious? Have you ever read any comment section on any website? Once they sift through all the poo, they're going to wind up with an even bigger, even more unsustainable welfare state than they already have.

That said, I highly recommend a visit there. It's a stunningly gorgeous place. And I'll never forget paying $50 for two plates of chicken fingers for the kids.