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MTE_05

Listed below are comments made by MTE_05 between Thursday, 29th May 2008 and Monday, 26th October 2009.

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The BNP and the white working class 03:07am on 26 Oct 2009 #12: "We are one of the most densely populated countries in Europe and are finding it increasingly unable to find jobs for our own people."

What a strange thing to say, when you really think about it. It's difficult to find jobs for people? So, in other words, there is a very limited amount of work to be done in Britain, and we're running out of it? Soon enough we'll have everything we could ever want, so that there will be no work left to do?

No, of course not. This idea that jobs are somehow limited is an example of the complete insanity that comes with a capitalist economic system. Jobs are not limited. There is ALWAYS more useful work that could be done. Having more people willing to work should always be a good thing. In a sane society, immigrants should just add to the total amount of work being done in the UK, which would make life better for everyone.
Europe and the UK election 2:20pm on 13 Oct 2009 Look, World War II on the Eastern Front was fought between two sides:

1. Nazi Germany and its allies
2. The Soviet Union and its allies

You *CANNOT* say you oppose one without supporting the other. You cannot decry the actions of the Soviets without implicitly supporting the Nazis (complete with their death squads and plans to exterminate not only the Jews, but most of the Russians as well). Either the Soviets or the Nazis. There was no other choice. There is no other choice.

Too many people seem to want to believe that somehow, somewhere, there were some heroic, pure, unblemished freedom fighters who never did anything morally questionable and never killed any innocent people. Ridiculous. Such people do not exist in any war, and especially not in a war as brutal as the Eastern Front of WW2.

Or the other fronts, for that matter. Remember the fire-bombing of Dresden and the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Axis was not defeated with silk gloves.
Merkel's party hails dream result 9:16pm on 27 Sep 2009 Gavin, this is not a shift to the right, it is a shift away from the centre. The centre-left and centre-right BOTH declined since 2005, though of course the centre-left SPD declined the most. The real winners were the three smaller parties, all of which got the best result in their history. And while one of them is indeed the right-wing FDP, the other two are the Green Party and the Left Party - who are significantly more left-wing than the SPD.

In fact, the rise of the maverick Left Party to 12% (from 8% four years ago and 4% before that) is nothing short of spectacular.
President's back to school message 00:46am on 09 Sep 2009 Re: MarcusAureliusII, post #18:

"America children now grow up without even knowing what their heritage is."

Which children and which heritage are you talking about, exactly? Native American children and their heritage of having most of their people's land stolen? Black children and the heritage of slavery and racism? The children of Irish, Italian or Chinese immigrants and their heritage?

Oh, right, how silly of me to forget. You were referring to the fact that you want textbooks to pretend that everyone in America is descended from 18th century English colonists.

In my experience, people who oppose "political correctness" are really only concerned with promoting a sanitized version of their nation's history, with all the nasty bits taken out, and all controversies glossed over for the purpose of manufacturing a false impression of national unity in the past.
Social democrat failure 02:35am on 08 Jun 2009 Giving the ridiculously low turnout - below even 30% in some countries - I'd say the social democrats lost more votes to apathy than they did to the Left, the EPP, or anyone else.

For the same reason, it's not so much that people are supporting the status quo as it is that the supporters of the status quo are the only ones bothering to vote.
Unhappy New Year? 2:58pm on 02 Jan 2009 Mark, a small correction: The Soviet Union was dissolved in December 1991, not 1989. 1989 was the year of regime change in all the *other* Eastern European countries, but the Soviet Union itself survived for two more years.
Is Europe cut off? 11:20am on 15 Sep 2008 @ MarcusAureliusII:

#34 >>"The primary function of my government like any other is to protect its own people. When that function is made subordinate to any other consideration, I think it has made a grevious mistake and commited an unforgivable crmie against its own people. If your country takes actions which make it a perceived threat to mine, I expect my government to take whatever actions are necessary to neutralize that threat."

The problem we Europeans have with that kind of policy is that it either (a) implies that Americans have a right to kill and rule other people against their will, or (b) implies that we should abandon all international treaties and let anyone go to war with anyone else for any reason.

a. If you claim that the US - and ONLY the US - has the right to invade any country it considers a threat, then you are advocating imperialism. There's really no other name for it. More to the point, it is also a completely irrational position to hold: What makes the US government so special that it has the right to police the world? Frankly, if we must have a world police, I nominate Sweden.

2. If, on the other hand, you claim that any country has the right to invade any other country it perceives as a threat - well then you're being rational and consistent, but unfortunately such a policy would be ludicrous and suicidal. It would amount to giving anyone permission to invade anyone else at any time.

#34 >>"Unlike many Americans, I have no smpathy for the plight of people in trouble in other countries."
#78 >>"While Europeans love pointing out that the US government gives less per capita to international charity than other developed nations do, they fail to point out than not only in absolute terms is it by far the most but that when voluntary private donations are included, unprecedented for other countries BTW, it is probably far greater than any other country."

Isn't there a little bit of a contradiction here? First you say you feel no sympathy for the plight of people in trouble in other countries, then you speak with pride of the charity given by Americans to people in trouble in other countries. I don't understand. Is it good or bad to give charity to people in other countries? If it's good, why do you personally oppose it? If it's bad, why do you boast about it when other Americans do it?

#67 >>"Are we going to get into how the US has subsidized Europe since the second world war again?"

That argument only works if your opponent actually supports the idea that Europe needs or needed those American "subsidies." I don't. In fact, I'd say most Europeans don't. If we neither want nor need a certain "gift" - or if we believe that the "gift" is poisoned and designed to keep us subservient to the giver - why exactly should we be expected to be grateful for it?

In fact, your argument is rather comical: Apparently you are giving us a gift which we do not want, and which you do not wish to give. And yet you're proud of giving this gift, even though you don't want to give it, and we should be grateful for it, even though we don't want to receive it.

I believe that Europe should end all military, diplomatic, and possibly economic cooperation with America. To your claims of superiority I say, "enough talk - bring it on!" I am firmly convinced that Europe can do better than America economically, socially, and politically. Unfortunately, neither my leaders nor yours seem to have any intention to bring it on. So we're rather stuck.
The meaning of 'No' 03:10am on 19 Jun 2008 I think Mark makes a crucial point here: Our national, ELECTED governments are the most vocal and enthusiastic supporters of the current direction of the European project, going directly against the obvious wishes of a majority of the European people.

Blaming it all on "unelected Eurocrats" is completely missing this simple truth. Our democratically elected leaders are forcing the Lisbon Treaty on us.

It should perhaps give us reason to pause and reconsider the merits of representative democracy. Perhaps the Swiss are onto something with their frequent, easy-to-call referendums.
A presidential game of musical chairs 4:02pm on 31 May 2008 MarcusAureliusII

Is there any country in the world with a zero emigration rate? I really, truly do not see the problem if some people choose to leave Europe. Others - in fact a greater number of people - are trying to get into Europe. Some people leave the United States too, and many others are trying to get in.

I certainly would not want to move to the US, and none of my friends do either (though I am considering moving to a different country within the EU at the moment). As for David Beckham - please, keep him! :) My feelings towards him reflect those of the 90% of Americans you were talking about.
A presidential game of musical chairs 2:48pm on 29 May 2008 And yet, Europeans still live longer, healthier, and happier lives than Americans. European countries - well, Scandinavian ones, to be more precise - are still at the top of the Human Development Index and nearly every other measure of quality of life. The economic growth of the European Union is still higher than the economic growth of the United States (3% compared to 2.2%), and the European Union has less inequality of wealth than the United States (EU Gini Index stands at 30, while for the US it is 45).

But clearly, the fact that Airbus has problems with the A-380 signals the imminent apocalyptic demise of all European technology, because the entire European economy and way of life relies on that new airplane (with a little contribution from the BBC website). Right...

The fact is, the EU is doing better than the US in just about every imaginable way, as can be seen from a quick look over the country information published by the CIA world factbook (which is great as a source because it can't be accused of anti-American bias). But apparently, evidence doesn't matter if it contradicts neoliberal ideology and American pride.

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