meatcleaver
Posts: 9030
Joined: 3/13/2006 Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: RealityLicks MC, you forget that Germany benefitted from massive and prolonged American investment aimed at turning it into just such an industrial powerhouse, while the Finns' ship-building industry was bankrolled by the Soviets. Britain ended the war with nothing but a mountain of debt and an Empire seeking to divest itself of their interference. But the decline of British industry began before WWII. The root of the problem is the class system and the industrial nouvo riche wanting to become and be accepted by the landed gentry. Being an engineer or a scientist in Britsin is of fairly low status and rewarded as such and always has been, with a couple of exceptions proving the rule. Engineering, science and industrial money has always been of high status in Germany. Germany has always had a higher regard for education across the whole population than in Britain, which has always had a piece meal approach to education (because of class) despite Blair's 'Education, Education, Education.' and still has. Britain is also very centralized so important local issues are decided in London rather than in the regions which in the case of Volkswagen's success (which was typical), regional support was very important. (Despite NG always talking about German conformity, Germany has always been more decentralised, liberal and free thinking than Britain apart from the NAZI period which came about through complex historical reasons and not through some mythical national character flaw. )
< Message edited by meatcleaver -- 5/4/2008 9:38:53 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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