Netherlands declares the end of the "welfare state"

The AP reports:

AMSTERDAM — King Willem-Alexander delivered a message to the Dutch people from the government Tuesday in a nationally televised address: the welfare state of the 20th century is gone.

In its place a "participation society" is emerging, in which people must take responsibility for their own future and create their own social and financial safety nets, with less help from the national government. . . . .

"The shift to a 'participation society' is especially visible in social security and long-term care," the king said, reading out to lawmakers a speech written for him by Prime Minister Mark Rutte's government.

"The classic welfare state of the second half of the 20th century in these areas in particular brought forth arrangements that are unsustainable in their current form." [Emph. added]

Meanwhile, the American left, which is often obsesses over environmental "sustainability," is oblivious to the financial unsustainability if its signature welfare programs.  Obama, call your office.