OMG! Vacation is Now a Right?!?

It appears we are returning to an era where even the most fundamental of economic laws will be cast aside in a populist rush to provide lifestyle enhancements to a broader swath of the citizenry. When I first read this, I felt compelled to check the date to make sure it hadn't been issued on April 1 - as a joke. But it wasn't... and it's real. The following is a snippet out of yesterday's National Post...

Vacationing a human right, EU chief says. The European Union has declared traveling a human right, and is launching a scheme to subsidize vacations with taxpayers' dollars for those too poor to afford their own trips. Antonio Tajani, the European Union commissioner for enterprise and industry, proposed a strategy that could cost European taxpayers hundreds of millions of euros a year, The Times of London reports.

"Travelling for tourism today is a right. The way we spend our holidays is a formidable indicator of our quality of life," Mr. Tajani told a group of ministers at The European Tourism Stakeholders Conference in Madrid on April 15. Mr. Tajani was appointed to his post by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. The plan - just who gets to enjoy the travel package has yet to be determined - would see taxpayers footing some of the vacation bill for seniors, youths between the ages of 18 and 25, disabled people, and families facing "difficult social, financial or personal" circumstances. The disabled and elderly can also be accompanied by one other person.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/travel/news/Vacationing+human+right+chief+s...

As cynical as I can be about the political class and the rubes that still slavishly believe in it, even I wouldn't have imagined that anyone could actually put forth holiday-making in a foreign country as an inalienable human right. If I had suggested such a thing, you would have dismissed my comments as being intended as parody. And, until yesterday, they would have been.
Now, however, I will have to recalibrate my calculations about just how far the pandering politicos are removed from reality. Even in the best of times, subsidized vacation travel is a bad idea. But in the worst of times, it is like something out of MAD magazine... which is to say, a bad joke. But I need to stop grousing and get on the government bandwagon. And so, in that spirit, let me suggest that if vacation travel can be a basic human right, so should these...

A nice dinner out. Some people live to eat, and others eat to live, but in either case, this eating thing seems essential to life. And if it's that important, then denying the public a good meal at a nice restaurant every couple of weeks seems downright churlish.

A Smart Car. The logical extension of "Cash for Clunkers," this would just cut to the chase with "Cash for Cars." And because we don't like nasty gasoline, probably a Smart Car, you know, the little speed bumps that get 100 miles to the gallon?

An Extreme Makeover. After all, people are judged by their appearances. Unsightly facial hair, a bad hair-do, and wearing unfashionable clothes made out of stretchable materials are all surefire tickets on the express train to wage discrimination... not to mention spending Saturday nights at home alone.

Outrageous? Will never happen? Not so fast. With vacationing abroad as the new standard, I have to believe that anything, maybe even an inspiring ride in the space shuttle, is now on the table. As far as how this largess is going to be paid for, that's another matter altogether. In the case of the EU, birthplace of the vacation-as-a-right movement, they'll just try to slip the cost onto the tab of the Germans when they aren't looking.