Europe rejects austerity, the left is ascendant once more.

I couldn't possibly persuade you since I'm a Keynesian. In either case though both sides have to agree how bad dubya was as a president.

 

Not defending Bush, but go check out the national debt.

 

Awesome. Regular people were being held responsible for the corrupt rich and powerful in Greece. From the rumors and most common news stories, you would think that the guy setting himself on fire because he has no pension, is in fact the same guy responsible for bribing politicians and tax accountants. Yeah right.

In France, Sarkozy and Le Pen were brainwashing people with their hate speech. It was clear what kind of person Sarkozy is - if you have time, have a close look at his behavior from Friday to Monday. That's who he is, that's what he is. Willing to suck Marie Le Pen's d*** for her endorsement. Babbling on the radio, desperate, begging to keep his power.

France + Germany were converging on the Euro zone. It was clear from media coverage that Merkel and Sarkozy had a little fantasy where they further distinguish their power in Europe from everyone else.

While Germany did a fantastic job with their own economy and contributing to the Euro generally, they were not willing to be a good team mate when **** hit the fan. Which is fine. It's their money. But now, the consequences.

Congrats to Hollande! and good luck to Greece, tough times ahead, but at least there's a light at the end of this tunnel.

 

Let's not forget that the dork typing this works for a dictatorship in the Middle East, yet thinks he can talk about European politics from a high horse.

 

Right... and I imagine you believe that it's your Germany-specific posts which brought your post count up to 27k?

You choose your government, I don't. So you are responsible for yours, I am not responsible for mine. The silver lining of being in my position, and you highlight it. Also, you don't seem to mind flying in and partying it up in this "dictatorship".

It's ok though. I understand you're mad. Sarkozy is out. Le Pen is out. Sounds like Merkel is losing. Andres Breivik is on trial. More Islamic parties emerging in the Middle East. Europe is going social. Wilders' political career is looking horrid. Not a good year for you, and a quick look at your first two posts in the thread really show that you're on the edge. So I'll take Northside Storm's advice and put you on temporary ignore till you cool off.

 

Did this person just seriously name Merkel and Sarkozy in a row with not only Le Pen, but Anders Breivik?

Once again tells you all you need to know about this individual.

 

The French amd the Greeks are doing good to reject the deal offered by the .1% and the bankers. Let them suffer some of the "austerity" their flawed economic models have inflicted upon the world.

 

Not really. That's what some folks want you to think, but it's not remotely true.

Spain was running budget surpluses before the collapse, so was ireland - it didn't help them at all. They have since slashed their public sectors in a misguided attempt to attract the mother of dragons to prop up their economy (not really sure of the rationale, Trichet can explain it....) it didn't work.

Germany meanwhile hasn't really reduced public expenditures at all despite telling everybody else they need to or else face certain doom

 

Oh the irony. You work as a high class servant for the 1% in a country not known historically for ethnic tolerance and in your own mind at least consider yourself an expert on the Muslim world and religious tolerance.

 

I would not look to guidance from the French. I lived there for a bit. The situation there is far from ideal, they have unrealistic political views.

 

He could have used his gun to hunt and not dig through the garbage.. Oh that's right, the Greeks are so poor equipped and so dependent on the government that they fall without it... Plenty of blame to go around. Right now they are holding up a bloated corpse rotting from the inside.

 

Yeah, the average person has better health, more economic security, much more vacation and leisure but according to conservative orthodoxy,their "unrealistic" views will catch up with them some time in the distant future.

I can agree that the wealthy do somewhat better in the USA, though the wealthy in France do fine, too.

 

Tha takes planning and effort though..

 

That is how people did it for years. College should be a sacrifice. It is smart for you to take AP classes and work while in school. You will still qualify for student loans.

 

If this form of capitalism really really was going badly and wasn't working out, how would we tell? What would be the signs?

 

It isn't a matter of the quality of life in France (which is better in some ways), the issue is that there is a sizeable number of people in France that expect the state to provide EVERYTHING, and I literally mean EVERYTHING and not over tax them. It is simply not possible. They will openly tell you that the Germans, English and American's should sacrifice more.