Many on the left, when arguing the superiority of socialism, often point to the Scandinavian countries of Finland, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark as examples of the perfect socialist utopia.  What the left either fails to consider or chooses to ignore are the suicide rates and death rates due to alcoholism.  The sad fact is that in virtually all European socialist countries, the rates of suicide and alcoholism are far greater than the world average.

Sad facts indeed, these statistics are an indication of the level of misery within a society.  In the old Soviet Union, the death rate due to alcoholism was alarmingly high -- estimated as the highest in the world during the Cold War.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), since the fall of the Berlin Wall, Russia has now fallen to a fourth-place ranking of alcohol abuse.

The WHO says that worldwide, deaths attributable to alcohol abuse stand at more that 2.5 million annually -- more than AIDS or tuberculosis.  And the vast majority of the developed world's alcohol abuse deaths are in socialist Europe.

All of the European socialist countries have seen a spike in suicide rates since the economic downturn.  In Scandinavia, unemployment rates are less than half of the U.S. unemployment, yet suicides are up.  The United States ranks 38^th in the world, while the socialist utopia of Finland has the 19^th-highest rate of suicide, with all of the other Scandinavian countries following close behind.

So as we raise our glasses this holiday season and ponder our future, let's not forget that we have a lot of catching up to do as we become more socialistic.  Cheers!