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On November 01 2018 08:57 Nyxisto wrote:
That also says that 60% of French citizens would prefer a more technocratic unelected government, and that 40% would support authoritarian governance. That's somewhat surprising
This kind of 5 lines bullshit question which heavily skews the answer is so stupid anyway, I don't know why they ask it. They should ask something like, "Do you want democracy to be suspended in favor of an unelected technocratic government over which you have no control?" Much shorter, much clearer, underlines what's at stake instead of the biased "this government will do wonders, unlike incapable politicians!" and you would probably get 85-90% of "no"
Not that surprising for an authoritarian government given the weight of the right in France (plus horribly biased question again)
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On November 01 2018 19:34 TheDwf wrote:Show nested quote +On November 01 2018 08:57 Nyxisto wrote:
That also says that 60% of French citizens would prefer a more technocratic unelected government, and that 40% would support authoritarian governance. That's somewhat surprising This kind of 5 lines bullshit question which heavily skews the answer is so stupid anyway, I don't know why they ask it. They should ask something like, "Do you want democracy to be suspended in favor of an unelected technocratic government over which you have no control?" Much shorter, much clearer, underlines what's at stake instead of the biased "this government will do wonders, unlike incapable politicians!" and you would probably get 85-90% of "no" Not that surprising for an authoritarian government given the weight of the right in France (plus horribly biased question again)
Well the whole questionnaire is kinda bullshit. Lots of leading answers there in the questions you quoted as well. And given their design of the questionnaire and their half-truth about confidence ranges, I have my doubts about the methodology itself. Those 1000 subjects were picked at random? Or were they self selected (we invited 5,000 random ppl, and 1,000 answered)?
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On November 01 2018 19:52 Acrofales wrote:Show nested quote +On November 01 2018 19:34 TheDwf wrote:On November 01 2018 08:57 Nyxisto wrote:
That also says that 60% of French citizens would prefer a more technocratic unelected government, and that 40% would support authoritarian governance. That's somewhat surprising This kind of 5 lines bullshit question which heavily skews the answer is so stupid anyway, I don't know why they ask it. They should ask something like, "Do you want democracy to be suspended in favor of an unelected technocratic government over which you have no control?" Much shorter, much clearer, underlines what's at stake instead of the biased "this government will do wonders, unlike incapable politicians!" and you would probably get 85-90% of "no" Not that surprising for an authoritarian government given the weight of the right in France (plus horribly biased question again) Well the whole questionnaire is kinda bullshit. Lots of leading answers there in the questions you quoted as well. And given their design of the questionnaire and their half-truth about confidence ranges, I have my doubts about the methodology itself. Those 1000 subjects were picked at random? Or were they self selected (we invited 5,000 random ppl, and 1,000 answered)?
Of course, only proposing some answers creates biases, but it's especially horrible when the question is 6 lines long and basically includes the answer (here it's almost, "do you prefer unelected competent experts who will solve the problems or incapable politicians who will fail?" lol)
Those 1 000 people are supposed to be representative of the French population
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Really sad to see merkel go,she has been a very stable factor in Europe. I hope germans find good replacement for her. Europe needs a german heavy weight to keep everything in check and prevent everything from running wild.
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On November 02 2018 08:27 pmh wrote:
Really sad to see merkel go,she has been a very stable factor in Europe. I hope germans find good replacement for her. Europe needs a german heavy weight to keep everything in check and prevent everything from running wild.
Eurozone crisis, greece crisis, Germany/Europe actively participating in foreign wars it has no business in and destabilizing Northern Africa and the whole Middle East further, Brexit, refugee crisis, rise of Neonazi parties all across Europe, CumEx, VW.
I guess if you are constantly in crisis that is some form of stability as well!
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Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy
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Merkel might not be ideal but calling her the 'number one problem' is quite ridiculous given the issues we have going on with rabid nationalists in half of Europe. The one mainstream politician who was steadfast when it came to humanitarianism is Europe's problem?
On November 02 2018 19:32 Big J wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2018 08:27 pmh wrote:
Really sad to see merkel go,she has been a very stable factor in Europe. I hope germans find good replacement for her. Europe needs a german heavy weight to keep everything in check and prevent everything from running wild. Eurozone crisis, greece crisis, Germany/Europe actively participating in foreign wars it has no business in and destabilizing Northern Africa and the whole Middle East further, Brexit, refugee crisis, rise of Neonazi parties all across Europe, CumEx, VW. I guess if you are constantly in crisis that is some form of stability as well!
there are crises happening in the world, welcome to the human condition. Do you think the Yugoslav wars, the disintegration of the USSR, the troubles or the cold war were peaceful? There's always been conflict in Europe, people who happen to govern at the time aren't always responsible for them.
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On November 03 2018 03:54 Nyxisto wrote:
there are crises happening in the world, welcome to the human condition. Do you think the Yugoslav wars, the disintegration of the USSR, the troubles or the cold war were peaceful? There's always been conflict in Europe, people who happen to govern at the time aren't always responsible for them.
I want to second this thought right here. We were all luckily to grow up in a time without radical turmoil like our grandparents saw. Even our parents didn’t really live through the geopolitical upheaval that was WW 1 and WW 2. We are not used to having the status quo change on us by outside forces, but it is a reality of living in the world. In the US, I never saw the race riots that dominated the 1950s and 1960, where tanks were pointed at black homes. We now living in challenging times and there is no bringing back the people who learned the hard way about the flaws of nationalism. Their authority of experience is gone forever.
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Yeah, it's nice to accept the reality that in a world of billions no single person can realistically be responsible for such events. Now act according to that reality, split property and money, stop accepting contracts (like debts) between dead people that are inherited over and over again, stop automatically pushing conservativism by creating laws without an exporation date (=rule of the dead over the living) and so on.
Nope? I have absolutely no property laws? I am not allowed to control anything? Then I am not taking the blame for anything. Those that have ultimate control then have to take full responsibility, aka Merkel, that's the law.
It is not me who is not accepting reality, I just demand that we argue based on the rules, not by some esoteric communism that is not the actual law.
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On November 02 2018 08:27 pmh wrote:
Really sad to see merkel go,she has been a very stable factor in Europe. I hope germans find good replacement for her. Europe needs a german heavy weight to keep everything in check and prevent everything from running wild.
I agree, she's been a voice of reason in Europe in a chaotic time.
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On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy
Yes, as are the many, many, many, many years of prosperity under her leadership. Let's not throw out the good because of the bad, eh?
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On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy
Care to elaborate?
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On November 04 2018 01:58 iamthedave wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy Yes, as are the many, many, many, many years of prosperity under her leadership. Let's not throw out the good because of the bad, eh?
Prosperity? For whom? The rising number of poors, or the 45 wealthiest households who hold as much wealth as 41 millions of German people? For Volkswagen's shareholders, or the Hartz IV guy who risks losing some of his social aids because he's forced to panhandle to survive, and the jobcenter considers this an income? For Eastern Germans who still lag behind the ex-RFA ones almost 30 years after the reunification?
+ Show Spoiler +
No such thing as "everyone wins" in a class-based society
And of course I won't mention the consequences of Merkel's policies on the Southern countries of the eurozone. Not much prosperity there...
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On November 04 2018 02:52 TheDwf wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2018 01:58 iamthedave wrote:On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy Yes, as are the many, many, many, many years of prosperity under her leadership. Let's not throw out the good because of the bad, eh? Prosperity? For whom? The rising number of poors, or the 45 wealthiest households who hold as much wealth as 41 millions of German people? For Volkswagen's shareholders, or the Hartz IV guy who risks losing some of his social aids because he's forced to panhandle to survive, and the jobcenter considers this an income? For Eastern Germans who still lag behind the ex-RFA ones almost 30 years after the reunification? + Show Spoiler +No such thing as "everyone wins" in a class-based society And of course I won't mention the consequences of Merkel's policies on the Southern countries of the eurozone. Not much prosperity there...
How do you not understand that people do not own wealth? Money, power, resources - these look after themselves. They appoint guardians of themselves to accumulate more. The fact that these people are super rich has nothing to do with their greed. It has to do with the nature of wealth. Wealth naturally concentrates and centralizes.
Here's an example. Let's suppose I run a corporation that pays me a salary of 3 million euros a year and my product is 2 euro toothbrushes. If I wanted to put 2 million of my salary back into reducing the cost of the toothbrush by a fraction each, how would I do it?
Centralization is the nature of power, wealth, and information. It's not due to greed, although the greedy tend to be drawn to it. Yet it is undeniable that the conveniences available today are far in excess of any previous time, for the average person on the planet.
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On November 04 2018 02:52 TheDwf wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2018 01:58 iamthedave wrote:On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy Yes, as are the many, many, many, many years of prosperity under her leadership. Let's not throw out the good because of the bad, eh? Prosperity? For whom? The rising number of poors, or the 45 wealthiest households who hold as much wealth as 41 millions of German people? For Volkswagen's shareholders, or the Hartz IV guy who risks losing some of his social aids because he's forced to panhandle to survive, and the jobcenter considers this an income? For Eastern Germans who still lag behind the ex-RFA ones almost 30 years after the reunification? + Show Spoiler +And of course I won't mention the consequences of Merkel's policies on the Southern countries of the eurozone. Not much prosperity there...
Over 60% of Germans report that they're satisfied with their financial outlook, only 8% report it to be bad, or very bad. (sorry for the German source, autotranslate seems fine though)
In the early 2000s when Germany was considered to be the 'sick man of Europe' only 40% reported to be happy with their financial situation, and the unemployment rate was about three times as high as it is now. Overall economically people in Germany are doing fine by their own measure.
We're vastly better off than we were 15 years ago, and the story is very different from the inequality conflicts you have going on in the US or the UK.
No such thing as "everyone wins" in a class-based society
There's no such thing in any society.
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The entire history of the areas that make up Germany today has the Western and Southern parts of current Germany wealthier than the Eastern part of current Germany. How far back am I talking about? Lets say since...Roman contact. As in the Roman Empire. The iron curtain probably hasn't help either. Seems a bit unfair to blame Merkel for that. Personally I think it is amazing how much South and Western Germans are willing to subsidise for Eastern Germans states.
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On November 04 2018 03:07 KR_4EVR wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2018 02:52 TheDwf wrote:On November 04 2018 01:58 iamthedave wrote:On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy Yes, as are the many, many, many, many years of prosperity under her leadership. Let's not throw out the good because of the bad, eh? Prosperity? For whom? The rising number of poors, or the 45 wealthiest households who hold as much wealth as 41 millions of German people? For Volkswagen's shareholders, or the Hartz IV guy who risks losing some of his social aids because he's forced to panhandle to survive, and the jobcenter considers this an income? For Eastern Germans who still lag behind the ex-RFA ones almost 30 years after the reunification? + Show Spoiler +No such thing as "everyone wins" in a class-based society And of course I won't mention the consequences of Merkel's policies on the Southern countries of the eurozone. Not much prosperity there... How do you not understand that people do not own wealth? Money, power, resources - these look after themselves. They appoint guardians of themselves to accumulate more. The fact that these people are super rich has nothing to do with their greed. It has to do with the nature of wealth. Wealth naturally concentrates and centralizes. Here's an example. Let's suppose I run a corporation that pays me a salary of 3 million euros a year and my product is 2 euro toothbrushes. If I wanted to put 2 million of my salary back into reducing the cost of the toothbrush by a fraction each, how would I do it? Centralization is the nature of power, wealth, and information.
If only we had invented something like taxes to redistribute...
On November 04 2018 03:28 Nyxisto wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2018 02:52 TheDwf wrote:On November 04 2018 01:58 iamthedave wrote:On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy Yes, as are the many, many, many, many years of prosperity under her leadership. Let's not throw out the good because of the bad, eh? Prosperity? For whom? The rising number of poors, or the 45 wealthiest households who hold as much wealth as 41 millions of German people? For Volkswagen's shareholders, or the Hartz IV guy who risks losing some of his social aids because he's forced to panhandle to survive, and the jobcenter considers this an income? For Eastern Germans who still lag behind the ex-RFA ones almost 30 years after the reunification? + Show Spoiler +And of course I won't mention the consequences of Merkel's policies on the Southern countries of the eurozone. Not much prosperity there... Over 60% of Germans report that they're satisfied with their financial outlook, only 8% report it to be bad, or very bad. (sorry for the German source, autotranslate seems fine though) In the early 2000s when Germany was considered to be the 'sick man of Europe' only 40% reported to be happy with their financial situation, and the unemployment rate was about three times as high as it is now. Overall economically people in Germany are doing fine by their own measure. We're vastly better off than we were 15 years ago, and the story is very different from the inequality conflicts you have going on in the US or the UK. There's no such thing in any society.
Interesting, the poverty rate is around 16% but only half of those people would say their financial outlook is bad? That must be the German miracle lol
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On November 04 2018 04:18 TheDwf wrote:
Interesting, the poverty rate is around 16% but only half of those people would say their financial outlook is bad? That must be the German miracle lol
poverty rate is a relative measure, in Germany it's defined as 40% of the average living standard. It doesn't imply that you're living in material deprivation. If inequality increases the poverty rate increases by definition without necessarily making anyone worse off in absolute terms.
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On November 04 2018 04:18 TheDwf wrote:Show nested quote +On November 04 2018 03:07 KR_4EVR wrote:On November 04 2018 02:52 TheDwf wrote:On November 04 2018 01:58 iamthedave wrote:On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy Yes, as are the many, many, many, many years of prosperity under her leadership. Let's not throw out the good because of the bad, eh? Prosperity? For whom? The rising number of poors, or the 45 wealthiest households who hold as much wealth as 41 millions of German people? For Volkswagen's shareholders, or the Hartz IV guy who risks losing some of his social aids because he's forced to panhandle to survive, and the jobcenter considers this an income? For Eastern Germans who still lag behind the ex-RFA ones almost 30 years after the reunification? + Show Spoiler +No such thing as "everyone wins" in a class-based society And of course I won't mention the consequences of Merkel's policies on the Southern countries of the eurozone. Not much prosperity there... How do you not understand that people do not own wealth? Money, power, resources - these look after themselves. They appoint guardians of themselves to accumulate more. The fact that these people are super rich has nothing to do with their greed. It has to do with the nature of wealth. Wealth naturally concentrates and centralizes. Here's an example. Let's suppose I run a corporation that pays me a salary of 3 million euros a year and my product is 2 euro toothbrushes. If I wanted to put 2 million of my salary back into reducing the cost of the toothbrush by a fraction each, how would I do it? Centralization is the nature of power, wealth, and information. If only we had invented something like taxes to redistribute... Show nested quote +On November 04 2018 03:28 Nyxisto wrote:On November 04 2018 02:52 TheDwf wrote:On November 04 2018 01:58 iamthedave wrote:On November 02 2018 19:37 TheDwf wrote:
Merkel has been the number one problem in Europe for years, the horrible political landscape that we're witnessing in Europe as of now is partially her legacy Yes, as are the many, many, many, many years of prosperity under her leadership. Let's not throw out the good because of the bad, eh? Prosperity? For whom? The rising number of poors, or the 45 wealthiest households who hold as much wealth as 41 millions of German people? For Volkswagen's shareholders, or the Hartz IV guy who risks losing some of his social aids because he's forced to panhandle to survive, and the jobcenter considers this an income? For Eastern Germans who still lag behind the ex-RFA ones almost 30 years after the reunification? + Show Spoiler +And of course I won't mention the consequences of Merkel's policies on the Southern countries of the eurozone. Not much prosperity there... Over 60% of Germans report that they're satisfied with their financial outlook, only 8% report it to be bad, or very bad. (sorry for the German source, autotranslate seems fine though) In the early 2000s when Germany was considered to be the 'sick man of Europe' only 40% reported to be happy with their financial situation, and the unemployment rate was about three times as high as it is now. Overall economically people in Germany are doing fine by their own measure. We're vastly better off than we were 15 years ago, and the story is very different from the inequality conflicts you have going on in the US or the UK. No such thing as "everyone wins" in a class-based society There's no such thing in any society. Interesting, the poverty rate is around 16% but only half of those people would say their financial outlook is bad? That must be the German miracle lol
Statistics never tell the whole truth. Using this case as an example. In most western countries students tend to fall in under the poverty line when looking at income. Yet when asked in surveys they dont consider themselves to be ”poor” although they would agree that they dont have a lot of money. Are university students poor or not? Depends on if you look only at statistics or not.
I belive Germany also have a lot of apprentices so the difference is not that surprising.
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On November 02 2018 19:32 Big J wrote:Show nested quote +On November 02 2018 08:27 pmh wrote:
Really sad to see merkel go,she has been a very stable factor in Europe. I hope germans find good replacement for her. Europe needs a german heavy weight to keep everything in check and prevent everything from running wild. Eurozone crisis, greece crisis, Germany/Europe actively participating in foreign wars it has no business in and destabilizing Northern Africa and the whole Middle East further, Brexit, refugee crisis, rise of Neonazi parties all across Europe, CumEx, VW. I guess if you are constantly in crisis that is some form of stability as well!
Just imagine the euro crisis without merkel. I doubt the eu would have survived.
Merkel did a really good job,the crisis was not her fault but she had to deal with it and I think she did that very well,considering the circomstances.
She kept Germany inside the eu while at the same time keeping the eu to a sensible economic policy.
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EPT![[image loading]](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/media/images/69958000/jpg/_69958947_60f26cf1-3984-4d61-b80c-144d8c204a2e.jpg)
