Germans beg for thatcher clone to run their country

daily telegraph ^ | 21/5/2003 | telegraph

[rimmont]

"If your labor costs are higher then your trade buddies, they'll take your jobs. "

That depends upon the productivity of your labor compared to theirs.

[rimmont]

"You might argue that since the native americans weren't granted citizenship until the about the 30s, that's when it became classless."

Do you mean the 1930's? My uncle was a Native American who was born in 1902, and was a citizen all his life, and a staunchly patriotic one at that.

[BADROTOFINGER]

Interesting exchange here. My $.02...

People look at all the crazy shootings (like in schools) and other violence in the states (hehe they cops dubed in french and german). They wonder if it's the result of a meaningless degenerate consumer lifestyle. rns this...

They would be wrong to say that it is the result of a consumer lifestyle. They would be more wrong to say that a consumer lifestyle is degenerate. The problem with kids in today is that they are not provided with good character education. Good character education is a form of indoctrination using songs, stories, short films, etc., that teach of responsibility, good citizenship, and consequences for negative actions. This type of education came to a screaming halt after WWII when it was discovered the Hitler used the same techniques to convince children as well as adults to hate Jews and to see themselves as the Uber-man or whatever the hell they called it. You could say that moral relativism lost its virginity in the USA at that point, as education beareaucrats (sp?) saw no difference in WHAT was being taught, only that the techniques were the same. Read 'Why Johnny Cant Tell Right From Wrong' by Kilpatrick if you would like to know more about the moral degeneration of the USA, it is a great read...JFK

[Cvengr]

Dolly, ...Nobody wants ewe!

[tracer]

In a related development:

Miniature Dogs Chase Off Flasher

May 23, 11:24

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German flasher exposing himself to a woman in a forest was forced to run for cover when she set her three small pug dogs on him, police said on Friday.

Police in the southern town of Straubing said the man, who was about 30, was naked when he surprised the 55-year-old woman with the dogs.

"He had Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt in one hand and his private parts in the other," said police spokesman Klaus Pickel.

The woman spurred the lap dogs into action, one of which bit the man on the calf before he fled through the trees. "The dog was too small to bite him anywhere else," said Pickel. The man is still on the loose.

[McGavin999]

You'll find conservatives are the high dollar givers in the US. Liberals expect the government to do it and so they tend not to give as much. I'm talking about average people here. In the southern states the per capita contribution rate is higher than in Boston, even though the salaries are MUCH higher in Boston.

Loans to Small Business are not a hand out. Here, the SBA requires a sound business plan and they monitor the business until it's running well. We even have retired "mentors" who will come in and help you troubleshoot your business. We want people to be successful.

As to giving to the arts, I personally think that should be covered by private donations and not government. I don't mind setting up programs for schools to study art, music, theater etc. but as to giving grants to artists.....no.

As to black people not being represented in government....have you looked lately. President Bush does not believe in affirmative action (at least the way it is now) and yet we have some of the most talented, intelligent, and capable black people in the highest jobs in this country. I happen to think affirmative action actually holds people back, because it causes people to look at a black or hispanic or asian person as though they are different. As to schools, well, conservatives have been trying to get that rats nest cleaned out for years. Schools are public sector, I think the addition of private sector would actually increase the quality of education ALL children need. We all pay taxes for education, that amount should be attached to the child on a per child basis and the parent should be able to decide where that child is educated. A black child that receives a poor quality education will be trapped in poverty as an adult, that's not fair. We want vouchers to be available but the teachers unions (aka socialists) are doing everything possible to stop it. But, minorities won't listen to us because we have been demonized to the point where they actually are convinced we are the racists. Hmmmm, let's see.....one side believe in you, thinks you are perfectly capable of getting ahead if you are given a proper education and the other side believes that you can only get ahead if THEY give you a handout....hmmmmm.

The primary difference between socialism and capitalism is deciding WHO should give out the money. If the government gives it out, they take their cut (and it's a huge cut) to just hand it out without looking where it's going. The scam artist always gets his and the people who really need it frequently fall through the cracks. If I hand it out, I give to someone I know will be effective. Someone who cares about getting a person up on their own two feet.

I want the government to provide me with a strong military, and a limited number of other services, but when it comes to everything else, I think we should decide ourselves. Yes, there are always those who are selfish and would never bother to contribute a dime (I'd be willing to bet most of them would be liberals) but the overwhelming number of people WOULD give.

As to socialized medicine, I worked up in Canada for 4 years and got to see socialized medicine first hand. No thanks.

[JoeSchem]

Even the free-market party's leadership felt obligated to run an anti-Semitic platform, so little support is there in Germany for deep economic reform.

Thatcher and Reagan both managed to create deep economic reform without resorting to anti-Semitism, so I fail to see where your remark is relevant.

[WOSG]

Please stop spreading ignorance, what you are talking about is illegal ... "US law doesn't matter!" ... it does if you want to obey the law. Most of what you are talking about is treated as tax evasion, and simply because you might not get doesnt make it legal. If you want to break the laws, go ahead. Be Marc Rich. And if your wife is pretty, the next bill Clinton may even pardon you.

"People do this all the time, the problem only gets worse as you raise taxes on the rich." That high taxes makes people flee and/or evade taxes is undoubtably true. It's one of many reasons why high tax rates are bad for a country.

My point on capitalism is this: The purpose of Government is to protect the rights of its citizens - life, liberty and property. Yes - Capitalism has it's place in that. Socialism does not; it's an incorrect conception of what Government should do - it leads to tyranny.

[4mycountry]

Geez, lookit all the stuff removed from the board! O.O

[babble-on]

I'll explain then. The free-market party, the FDP SHOULD be able to appeal to voters on the basis of their economic program, but when they do, no one is interested in voting for them, so they resorted (or at least one of their national leaders, not the party itself) to attacks on Jews. It backfired badly in fact, their support dropped sharply and never recovered, but he did have a strategy in mind when he did it. I was in no way implying that economic reform and anti-semitism go hand in hand. I would say the opposite if anything!

[JoeSchem]

I was in no way implying that economic reform and anti-semitism go hand in hand. I would say the opposite if anything

Thank you for this clarification. I think I understand your point now. The situation you describe in Germany is indeed lamentable.

[DoughtyOne]

The Iron Lady, Baroness Margaret Thatcher