Thursday, May 31, 2012
Building Europe
Europe is going through a prolongued crisis that is destroying wealth by the trillions. People is losing their investments, their pensions, their jobs. It's almost like a war. Since the old European Union stopped working and people lost confidence in the Euro, something new will surely emerge. Maybe a closer and stronger union.
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The European bureaucrats believe in many things that are completely detached from reality:
The "Blank Slate" view of human nature;
The fungibility of peoples;
The desire of Muslim immigrants to integrate and adopt Western values;
The "rights" of immigrants to massive benefits;
Centralised Planning of the Economy;
That feminism, abortion, divorce, homosexuality and pornography represent a viable business model for the continuity of civil society;
That "entitlements" can be satisfied in violation of the basic rules of economics and human psychology;
That they can make themselves safe by underfunding their militaries;
that anti-Semitism carries no downside;
and on and on.
It is a pathetic farrago which deserves to go down; and it will.
Anon.
Yes it is changing. And integrating I think.
It appears what we see now is the Strengthening of the political power center.
Very interesting and unique attempt to overcome tribalism and the greed/stupidity of the human race.
Very interesting article here about current status of the union - social, economic etc:
http://euroletters.wordpress.com/2011/07/10/in-defense-of-decadent-europe-why-it-really-is-“the-best-place-on-earth-to-be-born”/
Always the optimist. The "union" was always lubricated by free (German) money distributed from Brussels. Otherwise there was no union - the Greeks hate the Germans more than ever, as much as the Pakistanis hate the US. Whatever replaces the union will be less of a union, not more. See Yugoslavia.
K
Very amusing post from Anon.
I believe he reads the Economist.
"The desire of Muslim immigrants to integrate and adopt Western values;
The "rights" of immigrants to massive benefits;"
???????
What massive benefits? It's just that you won't starve.
And lumping together sofisticated persians with baluchis or kurds coming from extremely primitive rural mountains leads to nothing. They are integrating, less so in Britain but in the rest I'd say it will be OK. The integration process could be accelerated but it would mean using coercitive methods. And this might generate unwanted secondary effects in the future.
"Centralised Planning of the Economy;"
This is something quite strange. So the big european corporations are hmmmm part of a centralised
economy?
Never heard of something like this before.
"that anti-Semitism carries no downside;"
Ever been to Europe?
"That they can make themselves safe by underfunding their militaries;"
??????
They are not underfunded. The US is repeating the soviet experience. The army/security structures are destroying the country. It seems Us generals were envious on their soviet counterparts.
In the end soviet military annihilated a superpower. Now the US military is putting them to shame. American generals are showing us all they can put to its knees a much richer superpower, one entitled with an enormous world wide empire. Not easy task but the boys are tenacious and on the right track.
"Always the optimist. The "union" was always lubricated by free (German) money distributed from Brussels."
It's more complicated. Much more complicated.
It's like the austrian apex of marketing. How they convinced the world that Adolf was german and Beethoven austrian.
Like this today.
Germany is the most indebt european country. It's commercial surpluses came after the creation of the Euro zone - deficits before. Etc.
Greece is a particular case. From many points of view.
Just some small examples of this superficial approach.
It's a frontier state of the Union. But the burden is not shared. No dutch or german units are in the Egeean or Thracya.
Because of course as a remnant of the cold war Turkey is somehow in alliance with the republics of the Union. Pretty complicated , if we simplify nothing remains of our small discution.
I'd say not starving is a pretty massive benefit. Either you starve in some Baluchi village or you move to the UK, become an "imam", marry your cousin, abuse the local female teens, have lots of children and live on benefits. Sounds like a sweet deal to me. The whole point of the dole is that it is not supposed to be attractive for someone used to living a productive Western lifestyle, but for billions around the globe it is better than they could ever get back home.
Teo - keep whistling past the graveyard. All those things that Anon is pointing out - they're nothing. Things can go on just as they always have. OK, maybe we have to raise taxes a little on the rich - 75%, 90% whatever. But as soon as we do that, there will be lots of money to keep the current welfare state going forever, no problem.
K
OT: Apparently, Israel has "hate crime" legislation.
The state prosecutor has decided to attach a racist motive to all the aforementioned charges, which according to the law would allow a judge to double the maximum sentences for the crimes if the police provide evidence proving the existence of such a motive.
When did this happen?
"That feminism, abortion, divorce, homosexuality and pornography represent a viable business model for the continuity of civil society;"
Ever been to Europe?
I can tell you that in industry/technics/etc - believe me I know this world on the continent from direct experiences - the norm is married with 2 kids. Seen some people with 3 or 1.
Of course in large cities there exists a very visible - small but visible - minority of all sorts of hedonistic deviations from the median norm.
But they are completely uncharacteristic for the continent. It's like the saying that Tel Aviv is the gay capital.
Maybe, but it is by no means characteristic or representative for the state of Israel.
It's something small and visible. But that is all.
The only real danger for Greater Europe - I include here the US, Australia, Brazil, Russia etc - is the US army.
The strongest individual politically unified structure went into a militarisation frenzy. The greatest fear of the founding fathers came true. So very well built the structure was that the guys with guns had to use alternative means to take over. But they managed non the less.
As an observer I'm enthusiastic about this evolution. It is evolving in an Assyrian direction I think. Not a roman one.
And the opportunity to see the Assyrian "corpse in an armor" in the nuclear age is something beyond any wanna bee amateur historian wildest dreams.
As a family man I curse the fact that I was born into this age.
What I see beyond the horizon scares me.
Read the link I sended.
It's like my postings about Europe. it's not optimism, just stating facts.
The US parts with Assyria and the military are either personal views or attempts to see beyond tomorrow. They should be takes as such. My fault that I lumped all together.
On a unrelated note, the new president of MIT is a Spanish/Yiddish speaking Jew from Venezuela. He first came to the US as a non-English speaking graduate student and still has a fairly pronounced Spanish accent.
This is a real twofer for MIT - they get the brains of a Jew and affirmative action kudos for appointing a Latino.
His name is L(eo). Rafael Reif
http://amps-web.amps.ms.mit.edu/public/mit/2011-2012/2012may16-Press_Announcement/
Reif starts to speak at around 3:30.
Maybe he can give his compadre/landsman J a guest teaching post at MIT.
K
"OK, maybe we have to raise taxes a little on the rich - 75%, 90% whatever. But as soon as we do that, there will be lots of money to keep the current welfare state going forever, no problem."
Try to think beyond the neo-liberal smoke. The US became a superpower with progressive taxes up to 91%. It reached an apex of prosperity and civilisation. Not because of the taxes of course.
Just pointing out that it's much more complicated.
You should not confuse capitalism with the organised theft taking place now under the mantle of the neo liberal doctrine.
It's like communism. Good on paper.
But in real life if somehow manages to become exactly the reverse of what is was supposed to be.
Communism was about liberation of the human beeing. And it managed to create only jails, small or large.
Neo liberalism is about economic efficiency. And that is precisely what it can not deliver.
"I'd say not starving is a pretty massive benefit. Either you starve in some Baluchi village or you move to the UK, become an "imam", marry your cousin, abuse the local female teens, have lots of children and live on benefits."
Yes you are right. I saw this side with my own eyes. But it's tiny. Have no idea why it happened.
from pure stupidity, administrative inertia to jewish conspiracy a lot of attempts were made to make sense of why it happened. Have no idea myself.
But it's something strange and exotic. Visible of course.
But that is all.
Problem right now is that nobody knows what to do.
After some nasty experiences Euros decided to play nice. They are so dangerous that well they got scared of themselves.
So right now what you see is the attempt of the euros to self control.
" I promised I won't massacre again. I promised. Hmmmmm....."
I hope we will integrate them not wipe them out. It's just the UK/Holland appoach was found laking.
Have no idea why this happened.
No Jewish conspiracies required. The money was there for the taking.
I have a different view than you do of the American Army. They were the ones who liberated my father from the camps. The Nazi commander who had just led him on a final death march - a couple of US privates gave the Jewish prisoners their rifles and gestured for them to take care of him. One of the privates was an Italian from Brooklyn - Sicilians understand revenge. The American boys had never seen anything like this - corpses stacked like firewood, prisoners who were walking skeletons. Shocking even for battle hardened troops. The case was referred to Patton with a recommendation to "take appropriate action" and the action that Patton thought was appropriate was to throw the dossier in the trash. Killing Nazis is no crime. God bless that man.
I'd bet that right about now there are some Syrians wishing and praying for the US Army to come.
K
I absolutely agree with what you said K.
problem is that it's not the same army. You wrote about the structure Eisenhower led to battle.
But he told us about the monster struggling to be born. The almighty military industrial complex, the militarisation of the country, the destruction of it's economy, it's values by the power structures.
You can't praise Ike and his army and also defend what is happening now.
You have to choose.
Todays structures are more similar to the nazi ones then to the ones familiar to Ike.
Syrians wishing to the Amerians to come may be disappointed later. Half of Iraq's Christians and other minorities have left the country. They are remembering the good times of Saddam Hussein, when they were protected by the dictator.
Maybe disappointment will follow but for now it has to be better than being shelled by Assad's troops.
Americans really suck at running an empire. They have no idea how to do it. Germany and Japan worked out OK because these were homogeneous and organized societies even before the Americans showed up, but in a collection of tribes like Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria, Americans have no idea - they don't even understand what it means to belong to a tribe. Americans think ethnicity is that you wear green once a year on St. Patrick's Day if you are Irish and if you are Italian you make spaghetti and meatballs.
K
Teo
It is a list of fallacies, not truths.
Anon.
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