Europe --- In or Out

[Meenzer 15740]

 

I know we're supposed to be all about understanding and reaching out to the other side now, but seriously, how thick are people?

[Rayvin 5319]

The flailing moron was lurking

 

 

I see. I was wondering why you'd decided I was overweight for a second... checked my post to see if my bum looked big in it.

[Dr Gloom 22187]

You know he's dying to post.

[Monkeys Fist 43157]

 

I see. I was wondering why you'd decided I was overweight for a second... checked my post to see if my bum looked big in it.

 

 

 

("Looks lovely,pet. Shows off your figure......" )

[PaddockLad 17709]

The EU's placeman makes his first move...

 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/nov/24/tony-blair-brexit-could-be-stopped-if-britons-change-their-minds?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

[Rayvin 5319]

Blair is so well loved in this country that it's hard to see how such a move could possibly backfire.

[Alex 35634]

He might have a chance of getting his message across if he wasn't too arrogant to recognise that, by embracing neo-liberalism, he's one of the big reasons we arrived here. I don't think I can ever recall him admitting to being in the wrong on any major issue

[Park Life 71]

Blair is so well loved in this country that it's hard to see how such a move could possibly backfire.

 

Does interviews in France in French dontcha know!

[Park Life 71]

He might have a chance of getting his message across if he wasn't too arrogant to recognise that, by embracing neo-liberalism, he's one of the big reasons we arrived here. I don't think I can ever recall him admitting to being in the wrong on any major issue

The poster child for psychosis.

[Meenzer 15740]

He might have a chance of getting his message across if he wasn't too arrogant to recognise that, by embracing neo-liberalism, he's one of the big reasons we arrived here. I don't think I can ever recall him admitting to being in the wrong on any major issue

 

That's the thing. There's nothing fundamentally wrong with what he says here:

 

 

...but would you trust a toxic brand like his to define "just and fair" in a way that's actually useful to our current problems?

[Rayvin 5319]

It also wasn't driven by 'the people'. It was driven by 'a select few people'.

 

But anyway, otherwise I grudgingly agree with him - especially concerning where the far left and far right meet, that's a really curious phenomenon. Globalisation is irreversible and the duty of the left to fix it so that the benefits are spread more evenly. The centre-left can't - it "tried" and failed. The left could. Either way, someone needs to come up with an answer and I don't even mind if that person is Blair as long as the solution makes sense.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Rayvin

[Park Life 71]

Globalization hasn't been driven by people at all...It's the de- facto elite project to facilitate multi-nationals and neuter state intervention in any meaningful way.

 

edit: Like Rayvin says in the first bit.

Edited November 24, 2016 by Park Life

[Park Life 71]

It also wasn't driven by 'the people'. It was driven by 'a select few people'.

 

But anyway, otherwise I grudgingly agree with him - especially concerning where the far left and far right meet, that's a really curious phenomenon. Globalisation is irreversible and the duty of the left to fix it so that the benefits are spread more evenly. The centre-left can't - it "tried" and failed. The left could. Either way, someone needs to come up with an answer and I don't even mind if that person is Blair as long as the solution makes sense.

It has hit a brick wall. People are waking up to the fact that the suffering is endless with no end in sight.

[Rayvin 5319]

It has hit a brick wall. People are waking up to the fact that the suffering is endless with no end in sight.

 

That's quite possibly the reality of the situation but I still have hope that someone will come up with something.

[Park Life 71]

The counter argument is here with reg to its benefits.....See if you can work out what's wrong with it.

 

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21707926-globalisations-critics-say-it-benefits-only-elite-fact-less-open-world-would-hurt

[Gemmill 46126]

It has hit a brick wall. People are waking up to the fact that the suffering is endless with no end in sight.

Your tautology is endless with no end in sight.

[Park Life 71]

That's quite possibly the reality of the situation but I still have hope that someone will come up with something.

Strangely the EU could have worked imo. The original idea was a good one...Spreading wealth and infastructure and regulating against parasitic Capitalism. Somewhere in the last 20 years it got co-opted by the very things it was set up to mitigate.

[ChezGiven 0]

Veering off into gibberish here. 

[Park Life 71]

Good articles into the German scenario.

 

"Germany is often seen as the most powerful example of a distinctive European economic model, its workers insulated from the worst pressures of globalisation by collective bargaining, union consultation and norms of social solidarity. A new study of income distribution in Germany from 1992 to 2001 suggests that, at least as far as financial rewards are concerned, there are close parallels with Anglo-Saxon capitalism."

 

http://voxeu.org/epubs/cepr-reports/das-kapital-how-german-elite-are-winning-globalisation

 

 

"These companies thrived in the decades immediately after 1945, when the economy boomed as a result of the need to rebuild a war-ravaged country. Whereas UK companies were often hindered by an overvalued pound, the mark was undervalued, making German exports extremely competitive in world markets.

Another part of the story involves the structure of German industry. The emphasis on vocational education combining academic studies and on-the-job training for apprentices is globally admired. German companies are also the beneficiaries of close links between industry and the banking sector that ensure guaranteed long-term funding."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/global/2016/mar/30/the-uk-could-learn-a-lot-from-germanys-long-term-industrial-strategy

Edited November 24, 2016 by Park Life

[Park Life 71]

Lobbyists and Corporate influence.

 

 

Lobbying is a billion-euro industry in Brussels. According to Corporate Europe Observatory, a watchdog campaigning for greater transparency, there are at least 30,000 lobbyists in Brussels, nearly matching the 31,000 staff employed by the European commission and making it second only to Washington in the concentration of those seeking to affect legislation. Lobbyists sign a transparency register run by the parliament and the commission, though it is not mandatory.."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/08/lobbyists-european-parliament-brussels-corporate

Edited November 24, 2016 by Park Life

[Dr Gloom 22187]

the institute for fiscal studies reckons workers face 'dreadful' decade without real-terms increase in wages.

 

BAMFU

[Dr Gloom 22187]

haven't we jsut had one of those ffs? 

[Meenzer 15740]

haven't we jsut had one of those ffs? 

 

In that case it really is business as usual. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Project Fear!

[ChezGiven 0]

Lobbyists and Corporate influence.

 

 

Lobbying is a billion-euro industry in Brussels. According to Corporate Europe Observatory, a watchdog campaigning for greater transparency, there are at least 30,000 lobbyists in Brussels, nearly matching the 31,000 staff employed by the European commission and making it second only to Washington in the concentration of those seeking to affect legislation. Lobbyists sign a transparency register run by the parliament and the commission, though it is not mandatory.."

 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/08/lobbyists-european-parliament-brussels-corporate

 

I might be on that list. 

[Park Life 71]

I might be on that list. 

First the Trump entourage now this! 

 

Nice meals though innit.

 

Did Pfizer beat you lot into the inner circle?

Edited November 24, 2016 by Park Life