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[quote=Kitdy;993478]The main difference is that individual liberties are higher in Europe than in the US where being [B]gay is illegal[/B] and drugs are satanic.[/quote]
And another check mark for why I despise American culture. Maybe I'll go there (Europe) one day... permanently. South of France always seemed like a nice place to settle down.
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pros and cons LT - learn French !!
Get the gambling right tho and Monaco is good :)
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[quote=Kitdy;993478]All of those countries are moderate right wing, fully fledged neoliberal capitalist countries, with hints of Scandanavian welfare capitalism. Not all that different from Canada, and to be frank, only a few pegs left of the US federal government economically.[/quote]
OK; I thought I'd better make sure I was interpreting you correctly.
[quote=Kitdy;993478]The main difference is that individual liberties are higher in Europe than in the US where being gay is illegal and drugs are satanic.[/quote]
At least in the US, citizens have freedom of speech. Have you read Nineteen Eighty Four? Here, we're not too far off "thoughtcrime" now. I am currently the editor for a couple of community magazines. - We have to deal with local authorities etc., who in this area are currently left-leaning. Despite central Government giving each council a grant in order to avoid tax increases, our local authority is raising taxes for every household. What are they spending the money on? Larger recycling bins (there is nothing wrong with the ones we already have - ours never gets beyond half full) costing £millions and other useless extravagances.
In the UK, we have a whole group of people who expect "something for nothing" from Government. - Currently, local courts are hearing a case of a man that burnt down his government-provided house, killing six of his children in the process, in a scheme to "force" local authorities to give him a larger home. He previously had no job and was receiving over £30,000 per year in benefits. - Much more than the average wage. That is wrong - and I for one am sick of paying for pondlife like him to sit at home living the easy life and breeding more scum whilst I work 6 days a week to pay my bills and mortgage.
Then, if I'm lucky to have anything left at the end of the month to spend on myself, these socialist airheads have the audacity to demonise my hobbies (performance cars, 4x4s) and demand unjust amounts of extra tax because my chosen method of transport doesn't fit in with their "happy, smiling people holding hands" vision of utopia (despite the fact that due to my low annual mileage, I pollute less than the average driver anyway).
That's why I say we need to inject some balance into politics / society. I'm fine with helping people who are down on their luck etc. but everyone here (the UK) seems to only be interested in their rights and not their responsibilities. Personally, I think it's time to crack some heads together.
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[quote=Matra et Alpine;993474]Nordic countries don't squander it. Go look at Swedish stats on pretty much anything about the people :)[/quote]
Suicide rates? ;)
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I believe that the US squanders what should be its most time-honoured feature: its states. Especially since the Depression, the Federal government here has really actively gained primacy over the purview of the states. Sadly, the ideal of having our 50 states as "50 laboratories of Democracy", where best practices can be observed in action, is more or less squandered.
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[quote=jcp123;993510]I believe that the US squanders what should be its most time-honoured feature: its states. Especially since the Depression, the Federal government here has really actively gained primacy over the purview of the states. Sadly, the ideal of having our 50 states as "50 laboratories of Democracy", where best practices can be observed in action, is more or less squandered.[/quote]
If "those" (right wing, fascist states) states think gay rights, women's rights or minorities rights are second rate... then those states can kick rocks and the federal government can go ahead and make "correct" universal laws for the country.
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[quote=LTSmash;993543]If "those" (right wing, fascist states) states think gay rights, women's rights or minorities rights are second rate... then those states can kick rocks and the federal government can go ahead and make "correct" universal laws for the country.[/quote]
Democracy is a slow deal. This is how it's supposed to work. Weed out the bad ideas, put the good ones into action. The Feds are supposed to be relatively weak. I agree we are well past the point as a society where gays, women, minorities, etc. are supposed to be "issues", but I am more wary of the State than I am of any single issue, even those which I think are wrong.
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[quote=Ferrer;993498]Suicide rates? ;)[/quote]
press headlines :)
or facts .... ( ok closest I'm going to get at 1.40am -- wiki :) )
per 100,000 people from 2009
34[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/a4/Flag_of_the_United_States.svg/22px-Flag_of_the_United_States.svg.png[/IMG] USA 12.0
35[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4c/Flag_of_Sweden.svg/22px-Flag_of_Sweden.svg.png[/IMG] Sweden 11.9
Not far of most other European countries and given that so many of Swedish population spend many months isolated by weather I think it's not so bad :)
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Heartbreaking...
[URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/24/suicide-leading-cause-death-us_n_1909772.html"]Suicide Leading Cause of Death by Injury[/URL]
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Suicidal people...they do it to themselves :P
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[quote=Matra et Alpine;993607]
Not far of most other European countries and given that so many of Swedish population spend many months isolated by weather I think it's not so bad :)[/quote]
It is the darkness.
The state can be your friend or your enemy.
Same with your "state," which is just a severe misspelling of province.
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[quote=jcp123;993610]Suicidal people...they do it to themselves :P[/quote]
How about we not further a negative stereotype of suicide here.
It's difficult to process for anyone who has lost someone close to that.
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I apologize. Trying to keep things light. Did not mean to offend anybody for whom this issue hits close to home.
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Indeed. So I see another thread title ignoring Canada here...
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Canada's well represented by diesels. At least, more so than the US of A.