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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Taro who wrote (235702)	6/4/2005 3:40:53 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1583684

All in all, I think the invasion of west Europe by Muslims is a VERY big problem for the future. It makes me think it might be a better idea to visit a southern country with seafront (like Albania) for investment opportunities (although I know next to nothing about Albania specifically, or its prospects). Slovakia appears to be getting its act together, but lacks seafront. Perhaps some of the components of the old Yogoslavia might be optimal. Plenty of beauty there, and opportunities for growth. But maybe they have caught the socialism fever, too, I don't know. Let me bust some urban myths here. First of all, a population growing at breakeven or at slightly better than breakeven which is what is being experienced by some of Europe is not the death knell that American demographics would have us believe. Americans have a history of believing that growth is better and bigger is more beautiful. Its nonsense........pure nonsense. Look at America's most liveable places with the best quality of life......its cities like Portland, Minneapolis, Madison, Seattle, San Diego, and Boston whose metro areas are experiencing moderate growth rates and not the hyper growing Las Vegas's, Houston's or Phoenix's. And its only Germany and Italy that have birth rates lower than their death rates or below replacement. The rest of Europe is either at break even or experiencing moderate growth or even faster growth. So its not like Europeans are heading for extinction. Americans like your friend Robert have been fed the notion that without growth, there can only be stagnation. That's pure and complete nonsense. On the political front, the Europeans are creating a United States of Europe through the merging of 20 nation states into one. Its one of the more exciting achievements to be undertaken in two centuries. The French just launched their Arianne rocket........it can compete with anything we have......and some are saying its better than anything we have. For the past decade, Airbus has made life difficult for one of America's premier manufacturers, Boeing. Germany continues to be a powerhouse when it comes to the development and manufacturer of scientific and hi tech equipment, cars and pharmaceuticals. Its only American arrogance that has us convinced Europe is down for the count. In fact, they are shaping up to be one of our biggest competitors in the new millennium. Do they have problems........of course, they do. And so do we......big ones. So what? Of course, you know all that but as a conservative, you have decided to let Americans believe what they want since in the end it helps to serve you, doesn't it? And let me attend to another urban myth perpetrated by the American government. I find it ironic that the very thing they tout as wonderful for America is to be Europe's undoing, the immigration of third worlders. And the really hysterical aspect of this issue is that Muslims are such a small percentage of the total population of Europe they would be barely recognized as a minority in the US. America's two significant minorities are Latiños and blacks. Blacks make up roughly 12% of the population and Latiños roughly 15-20%. Now lets compare those numbers with the Muslim numbers for Europe.......in Germany, Muslims make up 2.4% of the total population; in France, 5-10%; in Spain, roughly 6%; in Sweden, less than 5%; in the UK, roughly 3.5%; in the Netherlands, nearly 9%. If you doubt my numbers, go to the CIA site: cia.gov So I ask you......where is the Muslim invasion of Europe that the gov't harangues us about? Where? Its a joke.....one big fat joke. Of course, you knew that too. You'd think that people would have figured out from the Russian example that socialism is a great theory, but does not work well in practice. But no - TOO MANY people still believe in "equality" and a free lunch from the government. And worse - it gets taught in schools, so kids grow up believeing in that drivel. Since I was in school and probably for decades before that, we have been told that Europe's socialism was about to collapse at any moment. After reading what you've read on this thread for the past x years, why would you believe any propaganda from the American gov't? And that's all it is......gov't spin designed to keep us from considering anything socialistic. The GOP has always been a strong proponent for capitalism and consistently wets their pants whenever they hear the word socialism mentioned. However, socialism is not the boogie man or "drivel" as your friend put it that we have been led to believe. My European and Australian counterparts are much more secure and comfortable with their lives than my American counterparts......and they work just as hard as any American. Why? They don't have to worry if they or their kids have to go to the hospital. A welfare net helps to take off some of the pressure in a difficult world. Its not surprising they live longer than we do. And that welfare net is possible because of a better distribution of a nation's resources....translation.....the rich do not hold the same percentage of their nation's assets as they do in the US. Are there things better about our way of life and our economic model? Of course. We have been willing to give growth a higher priority than our quality of life. That doesn't make us better overall......and in some circles, it might make us look stupid. Now let's get down to you Taro. You know damn well what I am talking about......if you didn't believe that Europe had something important to offer, you wouldn't be splitting your time between the two continents.