Is globalization the way to go?

[JimboUK]

The Eurozone problem is a disaster not caused so much by globalisation but rather by incompetent politicians setting up a currency that was doomed from day one, you cannot have one currency for 17 very different sovereign nations.

Yes, incompetent short sighted politicians are responsible for the euro crisis. The way I see it, they either went too far or not far enough. They should have kept the different currencies or they should have created a real common market, not a bastardized one where each nation gets to make economic decisions that affect all the others. For instance, because of the Greeks badly mismanaging their economy the entire eurozone economy is threatened. It's not a single market, it's several hastily stitched together with no deep attempt at harmonization. Which is ridiculous. I love the idea of the euro, but they should really give more economic power to the EU if they want it to work (imo). And if they give more power to the EU, they should give the voters more power. We should vote for those who rule the EU, how ridiculous is it that Barroso has been president of the European Commission since 2004 without ever being elected by us?

 

As for the idea of the EU as a whole in the context of globalization... honestly, I come from one of the "biggest" EU countries and I do not believe we stand a chance on our own, against China, India, Brazil, Russia or the United States. On the global scale, we're like microstates. I do love my country but I am under no illusion... on our own we'll just be trampled. I am not a Europhile, but realistically I think together European countries could be much stronger, the equal of China, the US and other superpowers. I'm just not sure the EU is going the right way about it. :(

 

Greece sums up the the Euro farce perfectly, they cooked the books to gain entry, if the Euro had been an economic construct then they would never have been let in, it wasn't though, it was a political one. The fact is we don't need the E.U, there's no reason why we can't cooperate in a free trade zone as independent sovereign nations. We don't need this undemocratic, corrupt bureaucracy. It's a ball and chain attached attached to our businesses, we hear a lot about promoting growth yet they keep ignoring the elephant in the room, that elephant being Brussels.

[HeyYou]

If a 'fall' happens it'll just be a song and dance imo anyway. At it's core, we'll likely build the exact same thing back in it's stead, however long it takes, there is no clean slate to start from. Have a financial collapse? push some austerity measures, start a war, government grant themselves more and more powers over it's citizens, more power to corps. The usual. If you mean an actual uprising, I find it unlikely that in the west people will up rise in a cohesive manner.

 

No, I really don't expect the american people to 'rise up, and throw off the chains of oppression'...... as it were.... we are too fat, dumb, and lazy to expend the effort. (with some exceptions.....) We will continue to go out and vote the same do-nothings back into office, so they can continue getting fat on the taxpayers dime, until the whole house of cards collapses of its own weight. Should be interesting...... Don't think I will survive it.

[Mandamus]

Greece sums up the the Euro farce perfectly, they cooked the books to gain entry, if the Euro had been an economic construct then they would never have been let in, it wasn't though, it was a political one. The fact is we don't need the E.U, there's no reason why we can't cooperate in a free trade zone as independent sovereign nations. We don't need this undemocratic, corrupt bureaucracy. It's a ball and chain attached attached to our businesses, we hear a lot about promoting growth yet they keep ignoring the elephant in the room, that elephant being Brussels.

Sounds like we're on the same page... I resent the EU for its undemocratic structure, its inefficiency, and the euro crisis. It did achieve some good things, but I don't think those couldn't be achieved without the EU in some fashion. I was not advocating for more EU in my post, hope you didn't think that. What I do think is that there should be some sort of political union between European countries to be able to stand high among other superpowers... kinda like a lobby on the international scene. If that makes any sense :P I just don't think countries like Germany, France, Italy or the UK will be able to remain influential on their own in the future.

No, I really don't expect the american people to 'rise up, and throw off the chains of oppression'...... as it were.... we are too fat, dumb, and lazy to expend the effort. (with some exceptions.....) We will continue to go out and vote the same do-nothings back into office, so they can continue getting fat on the taxpayers dime, until the whole house of cards collapses of its own weight. Should be interesting...... Don't think I will survive it.

If there is any kind of revolt here in my country, it may be racially related... there's a lot of racial tensions here, people look for scapegoats for the economic crisis and minorities are a great target. :/ What do you mean you think you won't survive it?

[HeyYou]

Greece sums up the the Euro farce perfectly, they cooked the books to gain entry, if the Euro had been an economic construct then they would never have been let in, it wasn't though, it was a political one. The fact is we don't need the E.U, there's no reason why we can't cooperate in a free trade zone as independent sovereign nations. We don't need this undemocratic, corrupt bureaucracy. It's a ball and chain attached attached to our businesses, we hear a lot about promoting growth yet they keep ignoring the elephant in the room, that elephant being Brussels.

Sounds like we're on the same page... I resent the EU for its undemocratic structure, its inefficiency, and the euro crisis. It did achieve some good things, but I don't think those couldn't be achieved without the EU in some fashion. I was not advocating for more EU in my post, hope you didn't think that. What I do think is that there should be some sort of political union between European countries to be able to stand high among other superpowers... kinda like a lobby on the international scene. If that makes any sense :P I just don't think countries like Germany, France, Italy or the UK will be able to remain influential on their own in the future.

No, I really don't expect the american people to 'rise up, and throw off the chains of oppression'...... as it were.... we are too fat, dumb, and lazy to expend the effort. (with some exceptions.....) We will continue to go out and vote the same do-nothings back into office, so they can continue getting fat on the taxpayers dime, until the whole house of cards collapses of its own weight. Should be interesting...... Don't think I will survive it.

If there is any kind of revolt here in my country, it may be racially related... there's a lot of racial tensions here, people look for scapegoats for the economic crisis and minorities are a great target. :/ What do you mean you think you won't survive it?

 

I am 51 years old, and have multiple sclerosis... I can still move around under my own power, but, a survivalist lifestyle, not to mention refugees from Detroit/Toledo, would do me in fairly quickly. :D Just the reality of the situation. I don't harbor any illusions I would live to a ripe old(er) age.

[Mandamus]

I am 51 years old, and have multiple sclerosis... I can still move around under my own power, but, a survivalist lifestyle, not to mention refugees from Detroit/Toledo, would do me in fairly quickly. :D Just the reality of the situation. I don't harbor any illusions I would live to a ripe old(er) age.

I apologize, it really wasn't any of my business to ask what you meant by that sentence. :/ I didn't think it was because of personal reasons. I'm not really subtle when I speak or write in English.

[HeyYou]

I am 51 years old, and have multiple sclerosis... I can still move around under my own power, but, a survivalist lifestyle, not to mention refugees from Detroit/Toledo, would do me in fairly quickly. :D Just the reality of the situation. I don't harbor any illusions I would live to a ripe old(er) age.

I apologize, it really wasn't any of my business to ask what you meant by that sentence. :/ I didn't think it was because of personal reasons. I'm not really subtle when I speak or write in English.

 

No harm, no foul, no worries. :D

[Mandamus]

Alright then, thanks :)

[JimboUK]

Greece sums up the the Euro farce perfectly, they cooked the books to gain entry, if the Euro had been an economic construct then they would never have been let in, it wasn't though, it was a political one. The fact is we don't need the E.U, there's no reason why we can't cooperate in a free trade zone as independent sovereign nations. We don't need this undemocratic, corrupt bureaucracy. It's a ball and chain attached attached to our businesses, we hear a lot about promoting growth yet they keep ignoring the elephant in the room, that elephant being Brussels.

Sounds like we're on the same page... I resent the EU for its undemocratic structure, its inefficiency, and the euro crisis. It did achieve some good things, but I don't think those couldn't be achieved without the EU in some fashion. I was not advocating for more EU in my post, hope you didn't think that. What I do think is that there should be some sort of political union between European countries to be able to stand high among other superpowers... kinda like a lobby on the international scene. If that makes any sense :P I just don't think countries like Germany, France, Italy or the UK will be able to remain influential on their own in the future.

 

 

We can work together without the E.U, we can still have treaties and agreements, they would be treaties and agreements suited to those signed up to them, not forced on 27 nations increasingly without the consent of the people or even some member governments. Just today we got an example of how the E.U can work against the interests of a member state, not only is this bad for our biggest industry but it could also drag us into the Eurozone mess.

[Mandamus]

We can work together without the E.U, we can still have treaties and agreements, they would be treaties and agreements suited to those signed up to them, not forced on 27 nations increasingly without the consent of the people or even some member governments. Just today we got an example of how the E.U can work against the interests of a member state, not only is this bad for our biggest industry but it could also drag us into the Eurozone mess.

Again, I agree with you on most of your post. That article is a bit pointless (or rather, misleading), though, because it assumes that the UK would have to join this planned banking union, when in fact from what I've read elsewhere it would be optional for non eurozone countries. Wonder why the article doesn't mention it, maybe to rile up their readership or something.

 

edit: used a French word in the middle of the second sentence :facepalm:

Edited September 14, 2012 by Mandamus

[Nintii]

Globalization ... yes well, it's like someone throwing dye onto clothing but withholding the water so that even though the dye is present the stain doesn't truly saturate everything.

Almost like the spirit being willing but the flesh being weak.

What I mean by this is that though a common desire might be present to establish some kind of conformity or even uniformity amongst the nations of the world, the problem will

always be our divergent political systems ... destroy that barrier and globalization becomes a reality.