09-12-2005, 10:35 PM
|
#1
|
Guru
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 40,410
|
Interesting Comparison of Blue Europe and Red America
This also sort of goes along with the US secular versus religious underpinnings debate.
Europe learns the wrong lessons
Quote:
Beyond economics and politics
There are now even deeper divergences which separate Europe from the U.S. Commenting on the collapse of the European birthrate (which will leave a majority of residents in many cities with no siblings, cousins, aunts or uncles), George Weigel observes that “when an entire continent, healthier, wealthier, and more secure than ever before, fails to create the human future in the most elemental sense—by creating the next generation— something very serious is afoot.” He concludes that “Europe is dying. The wasting disease that has beset this once greatest of civilizations is not physical, however. It is a disease in the realm of the human spirit.”
Look upon the suicide clinic in Switzerland that administers a glass of schnapps and then a peaceful death by injection. Note the German laws that, first, legalized prostitution two years ago, and then started requiring laid-off waitresses and secretaries to entertain job offers from the sex industry or face the loss ofunemployment benefits. Realize that 31 percent of pediatricians in the Netherlands have euthanized an infant, and that a fifth of these took place without the knowledge or consent of parents. And suddenly one is inclined to share the observation of Britain- dweller Dwight Longenecker that “beneath it all, the growing divide between Europe and America is a divide between theism and atheism. This simple divide is cosmic in its importance, and affects simply everything.”
|
__________________
"Yankees fans who say “flags fly forever’’ are right, you never lose that. It reinforces all the good things about being a fan. ... It’s black and white. You (the Mavs) won a title. That’s it and no one can say s--- about it.’’
|
|
|
09-12-2005, 10:49 PM
|
#2
|
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Nowhere
Posts: 40,924
|
RE: Interesting Comparison of Blue Europe and Red America
There is so much disturbing info there I don't even know where to begin.
|
|
|
09-13-2005, 10:22 AM
|
#3
|
Diamond Member
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Just outside the Metroplex
Posts: 5,539
|
RE: Interesting Comparison of Blue Europe and Red America
Quote:
There is so much disturbing info there I don't even know where to begin.
|
But Liberals are going to make this world a better place Doc --- we'll be more like Europe..... [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]
__________________
"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have". Gerald Ford
"Life's tough, it's even tougher if you're stupid." -John Wayne
There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty:
soap, ballot, jury, and ammo. Please use in that order.
-Capt. Bob "Wolf" Johnson
|
|
|
09-13-2005, 10:34 AM
|
#4
|
Guru
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 17,057
|
RE:Interesting Comparison of Blue Europe and Red America
I guess I'm just way out of touch, but I had no idea that doctor's were performing suicide, and for minors at that. This almost makes Germany's attempt to make women become prostitutes or lose unemployment benefit's seem trivial. I would hope that the vast majority of democrats would find this very sickening as well. If this is truely going on, then I'm just horrified at the decadence and decay of European society.
__________________
Never argue with an idiot. They will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
|
|
|
09-13-2005, 11:51 AM
|
#5
|
moderately impressed
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Home of the thirteenth colony
Posts: 17,705
|
RE: Interesting Comparison of Blue Europe and Red America
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]
__________________
|
|
|
09-13-2005, 12:02 PM
|
#6
|
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Nowhere
Posts: 40,924
|
RE:Interesting Comparison of Blue Europe and Red America
Quote:
Originally posted by: u2sarajevo
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]
|
A refreshing inside joke in an otherwise bad thread. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]
|
|
|
09-13-2005, 02:28 PM
|
#7
|
Diamond Member
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Texas
Posts: 6,014
|
RE:Interesting Comparison of Blue Europe and Red America
How this writer can link the economic issues facing Europe (challenging Europe) and then extrapolate from that a religious/moral base is a reach of epic proportions.
The economic issues are very very deep. It starts with a regulated and protected business climate, and is compounded by the structural issues of the aging workforce/lack of training of youth. We have similar issues as it relates to pensions (anybody look at the Pension Benefit Guaranty Board?) yet America has invested in its youth with a much criticized but effective school system. We have also refused to fall victim to the calls of protectionism, and rejected the idea of erecting barriers to our integration with the rest of the worlds economies.
So how do these economic issues tie into a religious trend? They don't. The writer makes grand claims of "31 percent of pediatricians in the Netherlands have euthanized an infant, and that a fifth of these took place without the knowledge or consent of parents" which would place that physician as a criminal. The law is clear, a child of under 16 who qualifies under the law for euthanasia cannot be euthanized without parents involved, and to do so would cause the doctor to be prosecuted.
Just how is population growth an indicator of a economic competitiveness? It isn't, or otherwise all those lesser developed countries who have a hiogh pop groth rate would be seeing impressive GDP growth. Guess what? The top 15 countries in the world, ranked by pop growth rates, include
1 United Arab Emirates 6.51
2 Turks & Caicos Is. 6.07
3 Qatar 5.86
4 Afghanistan 4.59
5 Eritrea 4.26
6 Sierra Leone 4.07
7 Kuwait 3.73
8 Marshall Is. 3.45
9 Chad 3.42
10 Uganda 3.4
11 Niger 3.39
12 Somalia 3.2
13 Benin 3.18
14 Burkina Faso 3.17
15 Yemen 3.13
not what I'd call an impressive list of dynamic economies. In fact, it is a list of poorly performing economies (outside of the oil pproducers of the Gulf), while the strongest growth economies (such as Canada, Chile, South Korea and the US) have groth rates slightly above or below 1.
No, the issues facing Europe economically are rooted in their cloistered system, their attempts to erect trade barriers and a pension system that frankly cannot be supported with the level of worker productivity its workforce produces. It has nothing to do with the incidence of the population who are religious or not religious.
|
|
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:22 PM.
|