meatcleaver
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth
quote:
The European economy is strong, especially Germany's. They don't have a culture of massive consumption of disposible crap. They make quality goods which last. They also don't have a significant defense line item in their budgets. Losing a war to the US, or abdicating the responsibility to defense to another sovereign power provides more more flexibility. Having your infrastructure and factories destroyed in a war provides an opportunity to modernize. And don't forget, their energy needs are served by nuclear power; which isn't allowed to be considered in the US.
Of course the US didn't and doesn't have to be complicit in the process; however that's not a decision allowed by the military PACs paying for our politicians and their political decisions.
Take away the US and you may be back to pre WWI/WWII days of ethic mistrust and national animosity. Would love to see it happen, not only there but in the middles east. If it did occur in both places the EU would be an Islamic entity within one generation.
Its easy to stand on the sidelines when you know, worst case, big brother will come to your rescue.
Now that is a rant Merc without much substance. Germany exports more manufactured products than the US because they make good quality products the world wants and will pay a premium for where American manufactures primarily for the home market. For example most US cars and motorbikes just aren't convenient on the roads of other countries, historically they've been too big and too uneconomic. Apart from modern technologies, many American manufacturers don't consider the rest of the world when they design products.
Germany didn't lose the war to the US, it lost the war to the allies which included many other countries as well as the US. As for abdicating defence to the US, it is the US that largely had the argument with communist USSR, not Germany, they had no choice in the matter being a defeated nation. It was the US that insisted on Germany having a pacifist constitutuion so don't complain now that Germans like their pacifist constitution.
As for Europeans descending into ethnic violence, the Europe of today is not the Europe of 1939. I have dual nationality, my ex wife has dual nationality (different countries to me), my eldest daughter has four nationalities, her boyfriend has three nationalitis. There is a total of 21 different nationalities in her class at school. A class from a German school that visited my daughter's school on an exchange vicit comprised of about 10 different nationalities. Modern Europe is a melting pot. It is not unual for Europeans to own a second home in another country. I used to have a house in France, the UK and Germany and now I have just one in Holland. Now the eastern block has gone, it is fast becoming a part of western Europe. Yeah there are still nuts the same way the US has nutty people but most are happy having both their nationality and European as their identity.
As for becoming islamic, there is around 24 million muslims in a Europe of 540 million and about half of those are indigimous Europeans who have always been muslim since the days of the Ottoman Empire.
< Message edited by meatcleaver -- 4/10/2008 9:37:33 AM >
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There are fascists who consider themselves humanitarians, like cannibals on a health kick, eating only vegetarians.
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