Thread: Is Nigel Farage right?

I'm sure many of you have seen this already, but here it is for those who haven't. What do you think, is he right?

I'm not an expert on the euro and the way it's affected the European economy, but that guy certainly has a penchant for theatrics. Politicians make great actors.

Indeed they do, I think it's a qualification for office.

Wow! Yeah, I think he has a point. Though I don't know about the Euro situation across the water, I did hear about the bailout in Ireland, something like we've had here, and I am not and was never happy about the bank bailout here. It is a money and power game, held up by I don't even know what, certainly not gold, and I see it falling, maybe not today, but soon.
I am sad to say I do agree that when you take too much, and leave people with nothing to lose, violence and chaos are sure to follow.

This is one of my favorite videos.

I certainly believe that he is right. Not only are the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) about to flop into utter, debt-ridden ruin, but the social fabric itself has begun to unravel (see the riots in France, England, Greece, Spain, Germany, etc., etc.).

A curious thing to think about is how the Eurozone came to be anyway--largely in part due to the apathy/indifference of the population, but also without approval of a majority of the population.

Above my pay grade.

But if I can apply what little I do understand about macro economics from my college introductory course to the subject, it would appear to me he is wrong. And I'm also drawing upon the opinion of some people better educated in economics than I - one of which was my micro economics instructor who's an engineer by trade and does well in stock market.

My micro economics instructor was of the opinion the world will be reduced to 3 currencies one day, that of the euro, dollar, and the currency of China... which is the yen I believe?

Anyways... according to this Nigel cats logic the European Union and the euro should be doomed the way the U.S. and the U.S. was doomed as it expanded from the Eastern Coast to the West?

England can fit in the state of California. Every state in the U.S. once had it's own currency and every state in the United States is the size of a country in Western Europe. The United States had many economic depressions throughout it's history too. It was not only in the 1930's but the late 1800's experienced an economic depression.

One monolithic culture across every stated is needed for legislative and economic unity?

What's so culturally the same between New Orleans, Texas, and Wisconsin? And the U.S. Civil War suggests there existed at least a tad difference in economic and social culture between the North and the South?

Nation-state somehow equals freedom?

What history book has this dude read? Let me hazard the guess this dude is either a right-wing leaning conservative, a Protestant, or both? The dawn of the "nation-state" began around the 1400's and 1500's in both the Protestant and Catholic kingdoms. Protestants have always associated human political unity to anti-Christ because Catholicism has always believed in one world government (or empire) and one world religion. You don't hear about the Papal states or Holy Roman Empire (aka Holy German Empire) colonizing Africa, Asia, and the Americas do you? Because they didn't. It was kingdoms growing towards nationalism that did so such as France, Spain, Portugal, England, and the Dutch.

Furthermore not even secular nation-states like the U.S. (and the U.S. was born as an officially secular ruled nation) really became democracies (republics or otherwise) until women and racial minorities were guaranteed the right to vote. In the United States that would not be until 1920 women the suffrage of women was given federal protection.

Europe - given its history of blood and soil wars - should want some political and economic unity. The European Union allows a member of one nation to travel to a sister nation and work without jumping through a whole lot of bureaucratic hassles. What is that similar to? It's similar to a citizen and patriot of Wisconsin moving to Texas to work. No passport needed. No visas. You'll need your social security card or birth certificate and maybe to change your drivers license over to the state of Texas by such and such a date. Pimp deal. We all use the dollar. Players deal.

What screwed the Western Europe - so far as I can tell - was federal deregulation of the banks. The U.S. housing scandal in my opinion was probably one - or the - biggest international crimes to ever hit mankind. And I love how cats 100 times smarter than me that put this acronym hustle together didn't know that if no one paid at the end of the chain the whole house of cards would topple. That's like me creating a bunch of acronym paper bundles, "QP," "CG," "TBC," and sell them to people all over the earth promising them to gain interest on their returns when my customers way down at the other end of the chain (crackheads) pay back their massive debts to my crack club house I'm associated with.

And ask Nigel how well he thinks Texas will do if they secede from the United States - which a few in Texas always advocate, and part of the Texas population already think they're their own country - because I doubt they would flourish economically. Not if they replaced the dollar with their own currency. They might economically flourish if they stay on the dollar and negotiate military support and protection from the United States to help with their boarders.

Originally Posted by VcatoV

This is one of my favorite videos.

I certainly believe that he is right. Not only are the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain) about to flop into utter, debt-ridden ruin, but the social fabric itself has begun to unravel (see the riots in France, England, Greece, Spain, Germany, etc., etc.).

A curious thing to think about is how the Eurozone came to be anyway--largely in part due to the apathy/indifference of the population, but also without approval of a majority of the population.

Number one, the young in France always riot, what's new?

And secondly, with the exception of Greece, I find it ironic you talk about those other nations "apathy." I've seen in the news the French riot because some young cat was shot dead as he was trying to use his vehicle as a weapon to kill cops. When have you ever seen Americans riot over something like that? Rodney King? He was almost beaten to death by a mob of LA cops.

Americans in general are in fear of the police - from the impression I get - more than members of those other European nations. And police are the armed branch of the government. What the Europeans have done - in my impression (possibly I'm wrong) - is develop to extensive a welfare state and then complain about all the government intervention e.g., CCTV cameras.

I will grant you this... the American character in general seems to have more a libertarian spirit about it. And that's largely true in the Democrats and Republicans too.