Dream on America: World Increasingly Rejecting US Model

[Chemical Ollie]

Originally posted by Agathon


If Putin wants to make them slaves, it's fine by me.

They already are.

(I suppose that's a pun, because their etnic group is called Slave. The english word slave comes from the Vikings bringing home Slaves from the East as slaves)

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Spiffor
I still don't see what is wrong with having democratically elected politicians (i.e. the voice of the people) take decisions in a company. Especially when these decisions aim at meeting the interest of the people, such as giving them employment.

nothing wrong with it. Most coops run like this. The reason it isn't done much is that the people who fronted the capital to start the business retain control and don't see it as in their interest to surrender such control for free.

The US government certainly doesn't work to discourage such arrangments however.

[Agathon]

Having been there I'd have to say... No, no it didn't.

Yeah it did. The violence started to go up as US action became imminent.

Besides, you spent the whole time supporting the terrorist KLA.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Spiffor
I still don't see what is wrong with having democratically elected politicians (i.e. the voice of the people) take decisions in a company. Especially when these decisions aim at meeting the interest of the people, such as giving them employment.

The problems arise from the fact that the politicians don't always make decisions which are in the long term interests of the people as a whole and instead make decisions which are based only on their own political careers.

By letting management concentrate on what is best for the business instead of what is best for the politicians you endup with healthier companies in the long run. The more healthy companies a country has the better off its economy is going to be.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by GePap
What you described is corruption. Public companies should NOt be controlled by politicians, but bureaucrats and technocrats.

By it's very nature a nationalized company is controlled by the government... which is controlled by politicians.

It is difficult to keep the two areas seporate and constinent vigilance is required though even that doesn't always work. The better solution is to simply remove the politicians ability to meddle by privitizing the company.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Geronimo
Most coops run like this. The reason it isn't done much is that the people who fronted the capital to start the business retain control and don't see it as in their interest to surrender such control for free.

In my mind I find Co-Ops to be a much better arrangement since they are at least a private concern which isn't using tax payer money and which politicians can't readily abuse. We should have more Co-Ops and fewer nationalized companies.

From Aggie:

Yeah it did. The violence started to go up as US action became imminent.

Besides, you spent the whole time supporting the terrorist KLA.

The violience was going on for a year prior to that point though it did intensify when NATO got involved (naturally). I believe NATO made the right call given Slbo's track record in Bosnia and Croatia and likely their actions averted yet another bout of ethnic clensing. BTW we most certainly were not supporting the KLA and instead spent much of our time doing raids on villiages in order to capture Albanians who were commiting violence and to seize arms caches. As I recal the Italian Caribineri were very effective at this.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Oerdin


In my mind I find Co-Ops to be a much better arrangement since they are at least a private concern which isn't using tax payer money and which politicians can't readily abuse. We should have more Co-Ops and fewer nationalized companies.

true, I should have clarified that while i don't mind coops getting run this way, I see no reason to have the government playing this role for various businesses. I'd rather see tax free status for coops or something.

[Patroklos]

Iraq has shown the weakness of American Military power- being able to unseat some tinpoint dictator is fine and dandy, but our inability to then control the area puts the whole militarist enterprise into deep question.

Negative ghostrider, it has shown the weakness of Americans political/civilian resolve.

[Agathon]

Negative ghostrider, it has shown the weakness of Americans political/civilian resolve.

That sounds like something Mussolini would say.

[Patroklos]

Really?

I thought it was closer to the tower guy from Top Gun, go figure.

I honestly don't think it is political reslove that is lacking, the politicials just know the people couldn't stomach an actual military campaign. They do after all have to deal with the likes of GePap and his NY clones.

I think that is cowardly on the politicians part, American's are notorious Monday morning quarterbacks so the ending is all that counts not the beginning.

[GhengisFarbâ„¢]

Originally posted by lord of the mark
"The average Frenchman, like most Europeans, lives nearly four years longer than the average American. "

does anyone actually attribute that to the French health care system, as opposed to lifestyle?

I agree that that is more effectively a result of the average Frenchman running for the hills at the sight of a militant poodle as opposed to any "health system" their government might provide..........

[mrmitchell]

Are there any studies on how foreigners like American Democrat-style America? (I mean the one that had balls, 40 years ago, like as LBJ would have envisioned it).

I bet the numbers for it are about 110%. America's reputation has only temporarily suffered because of the recent minor ideological swing.

[Adam Smith]

Originally posted by Agathon

In the end it is a less dynamic model with slower average grow rates that means countries with more dynamic models will simply have the luxury of being able to afford higher margins of error to still reach the same goals.

So some economists keep saying, but there is precious little evidence that this is true.

We should shoot all the economists, it's not as if they benefit anyone.

Philosophers wouldn't recognize evidence if it bit them in the ass.

[Alexander's Horse]

I see Ming closed my deadliest day thread - I predict this thread will be next

[Agathon]

Philosophers wouldn't recognize evidence if it bit them in the ass.

We recognize when we're being sold a bill. You guys are mostly charlatans.