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Capitalism, degenerate fifi creature, is when Americans sacrifice their lives, so that bloody Huns can live freely and prosperously.

Socialism is when krauts try to obliterate memory of their crimes and insult America.

Even an insect like you knows it, yet somehow you thought you can score a point. You cannot. The only thing you can do is to display your idiocy.

Why should you try over and over again? Do you think your previous moronic displays left me in any doubt?:)

But Leo, my darling. It IS capitalism! The state or the city sells some land, this land now isn't bringing in any money, it will when it's in private hands it will CREATE JOBS! Everybody happy, free love, a new baby boom, no more problems with pensions, where is the problem?

Why should you try over and over again? Do you think your previous moronic displays left me in any doubt?Smile

Because it's fun Leo. Fun, you know fun? Surely even you must have had fun once, as a little child, kicking a ball, playing, laughing etc. Refuse to believe that you were born a grumpy fart, thinking with his wallet, bitching about this and about that, more about this than that probably. It's fun with you Leo, your my favourite playmate around here!

As for doubts, same thing as with fun, I'm sure you used to have doubts too, long time ago, now you know everything, that's not healthy, you should try to have doubts about some things again. Otherwise you'll end up as a bit... ah, forget it Leo, forget it!

Playmate? Did somebody upgrade you from a mere amoeba? I suppose even one-cell creatures are entitled to whatever they call "fun":)

Now, Germany doesn't create jobs, though it does 12% unemployment. As to they way they "respect" private property, nothing illustrates it better than the Wertheimer family's property Germany had stolen in Berlin.

Feel free to bother me again, silly amoeba aspiring for a human childhood:)

You see? They plan to go down to 11%! Then maybe even 10%

You see, dimwitted amoeba, planning is an integral part of socialism, not capitalism.

Do try again teaching me economics, politics and history, if being squashed like an insect is your idea of fun:)

No planning in capitalism? Aha. So Microsoft is a communist Company. WSJ a communist newspaper!!!! I knew it! I'm slowly learning exciting things around here! You're not only a great playmate, but an outstanding teacher as well!

Leo is great!

Workers tear down the crosses at the private Wall memorial near the former site of Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, Tuesday. Following long legal proceedings the memorial was scheduled to be dismantled after the lease for the site expired in 2004. The 1,065 crosses stand for the number of victims killed at the at the border from 1961 to 1989 according to the figures of the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie which built the memorial.
(AP photo by Jan Bauer)
Posted July 5, 2005

So what do people make of the election in Germany?

There is nothing more to be made about it than Germans did already. The message was loud and clear: they know they're ruled by a bunch of idiots, but they're scared as Hell of any changes. They think they're free, but in fact they're modern slaves - stupid, but not entirely innocent victims of a nanny-state.

The more their main parties fail them, the more room there would be for future adolf hitlers and walter ulbrichts.

Voting is an Anglo-Saxon thing. Germans are better ruled by orders, any kind of orders: to build battleships, railroads, chemical giants, autobahns, gas chambers, etc.

It used to be Poland which was squeezed on all sides, between Russia, Prussia and Austro-Hungary. Now it's Germany's turn, to be between French socialism and Polish capitalism, between American friendship they rejected and Russian bondage (oil and gas) they invited.

21st century is going to be fun and probably the toughest test the Western civilization ever faced.

P.S. I cannot help but laugh at the multiparty system Boye loves so much.

Whatever I think of our politically correct bumbling and spineless Democrats and Republicans who spend like a drunken sailor, we're so God damn lucky we don't have - yet - this pathetic bunch of greens, reds, pinks, browns, christian this and socialist that.

21st century is going to be fun and probably the toughest test the Western civilization ever faced.

Interesting.

I hope it's a Socratic test.

Mark Steyn

If you want the state of Europe in a nutshell, skip the German election coverage and consider this news item from the south of France: a fellow in Marseilles is being charged with fraud because he lived with the dead body of his mother for five years in order to continue receiving her pension of 700 euros a month.

She was 94 when she croaked, so she'd presumably been enjoying the old government cheque for a good three decades or so, but her son figured he might as well keep the money rolling in until her second century and, with her corpse tucked away under a pile of rubbish in the living room, the female telephone voice he put on for the benefit of the social services office was apparently convincing enough. As the Reuters headline put it: "Frenchman lived with dead mother to keep pension."

That's the perfect summation of Europe: welfare addiction over demographic reality.

Think of Germany as that flat in Marseilles, and Mr Schröder's government as the stiff, and the country's many state benefits as that French bloke's dead mum's benefits...

Actually, it appears, German people have no idea what they want.

They do not like the incumbent and they almost equally do not like Merkel. 34.5% versus 33.5% is not an outright mandate and, certainly, not the mandate Merkel was looking for.

It will be a difficult time for anybody to form a coalition and if anybody, it will probably be the Social Democrats. I suspect they will turn around and sign the New Left to their coalition, which will make THEIRS a ruling coalition. Without the New Left there will probably not be a majority coalition.

The next time someone talks about America being a hopelessly divided nation, show them this:


http://medienkritik.typepad.com/blog/20 ... esult.html

David Frum

The most eloquent description that I have read of Germany's current problems comes from Richard Fisher, newly appointed president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. In a 2004 speech, he observed:

"The Germany I remember and the Germany I have come back to are different places.

"The Germany I have come back to is no longer a world beater, no longer a land of giants.

"It is a place so weakened economically and so riddled with outdated operating methods that it threatens the prosperity of Europe, the Euro-Atlantic alliance, and the global balance of economic power.

"Absent change, Germany most certainly cannot hold its own in the new world of a reconfigured Europe, and ascendant China, and 21st Century America."

He then cites some alarming economic data, concluding:

"Germany's relative competitive position has been eroding for over ten years. Your wages and social overhead combined are the highest in the world. This would be fine if it was offset by productivity, for after all, in the first three decades after the Second World War, German labor productivity soared by 3 percent a year. But that has not been sustained. Total factor productivity grew by 1 percent a year on average in the 1990's. Your workers are less productive than you think, and they work too little."

As for the German educational system:

"While a handful of academies like the Technical University of Munich under its president, Dr. Wolfgang Herrmann, and centers like the Max Planck and Fraunhofer Institutes turn out world class research for German industry, the harsh truth is that it would be hard to name a single German university that would rank in the top 100 in the world in terms of the broad education one needs for success in the modern interconnected world."

To those German demagogues like Gerhard Schroeder who seek power by promising demagoguically to "stand up to George Bush":

"'Standing up to George Bush' will not create a single German job or secure the future of a single German child. 'Standing up to America' will not determine Germany's future (other than possibly fueling support in the United States, for an even more rapid withdrawal of American troops). Nor will seeking a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. Only bold reform of the domestic structures in Germany will do the job."

Eugene Berkovich wrote:Actually, it appears, German people have no idea what they want.

They do not like the incumbent and they almost equally do not like Merkel. 34.5% versus 33.5% is not an outright mandate and, certainly, not the mandate Merkel was looking for.

It will be a difficult time for anybody to form a coalition and if anybody, it will probably be the Social Democrats. I suspect they will turn around and sign the New Left to their coalition, which will make THEIRS a ruling coalition. Without the New Left there will probably not be a majority coalition.

Hmm. May be a little late for me to comment, but this is the first time I am showing up on this forum for a long time.

In any case, Eugene, your suggestion that Schröder would form a coalition with the left has never looked anything close to realistic. Not before the elections, not when you posted this and not now. The leftists make populistic promises they know no one can pay for - especially not without violating Maastricht criteria. Also, they are strictily pacifist (Read: they not only want no involvement in Iraq, but they would also want the Bundeswehr to leave Afghanistan and Kosove), and both positions are not negotiable. Neither SPD nor CDU considered to even talk to the Left.

Other mathematically possible coalitions, CDU/Liberal/Green or SPD/Liberal/Green were seriously discussed, but neither are the Greens willing to support CDU/FDP nor do the FDP want to keep alive Red/Green which they consider failed.

Thus, a Grand Coalition is the only way out. And despite the fact that no one really wants it, I do believe it will come, and Angela Merkel will become chancellor. It's still possible that it will fail, and then we would have re-elections soon- with not much change in the result expected. I guess both CDU and SPD will try hard to avoid that.

Maybe you should just ask to become a colony of Switzerland? We'd then appoint a governor and everybody be happy.

The whole German situation actually is really weird I think. Now Stoiber and Müntefering jumped off board???

Felix

Perhaps calling for a new election would be a better idea, though of course no one can guarantee a decisive outcome 2nd time. It just appears that all current schemes will inevitably beget a stillborn government.

Leonid wrote:Felix

Perhaps calling for a new election would be a better idea, though of course no one can guarantee a decisive outcome 2nd time. It just appears that all current schemes will inevitably beget a stillborn government.

Well, even a stillborn goverment is better than no government at all, and unfortunately I am afraid that the outcome would not change very much should they really decide to call for re-elections in a few weeks. In two years, maybe. But not right now.

And even then, a coalition other than Union/SPD would only be possible if the Left Party lost ground dramatically next time. In this case, one of the "traditional" constellations (SPD/Green or Union/Liberal) may obtain a majority again. However, this is not to be expected at the moment. Well, perhaps, if the SPD returns a little more to the political left, they may steal the Left Party some votes. But I don't know if this will happen, and certainly not so anytime soon.

The recent attempt of the left to gain more influence has been a total fiasco. Not only has it cost Müntefering his position as SPD president, and it will delay coalition negotiations further, but - the left-wing challenger is on the losing end too. She will not become SPD secretary-general, the office she originally ran for, against Müntefering's candidate, and, in anticipation of a bad election result, she has also turned down a proposal to become SPD vice-president. She did win the secret vote in the SPD board, but her win has already proven very costly no only for the SPD as a whole, but also for herself personally.

Ah, and BTW, Zeus, I believe that the reason why Stoiber no longer wants to go to Berlin now is that, after Müntefering leaving the SPD presidency, he doesn't expect the coalition to last very long. I guess he thinks there is no political profit for him to be made in Berlin now, and he may be right.

Well, the grand coalition it is. Let's see what Merkel will do to promote her parties agenda without greatly upsetting her coalition partners. To me the coalition looks like a bunch of ants pulling their kill in two directions at once.

It's everything else than a love affair, to be sure. And I don't know if it will last for the full legislation term. The last Grand Coalition (in the 60s) only lasted for three years, there could be a repeat.

However, SPD has certainly as much in common with CDU as they have with the Greens; same goes for CDU towards SPD as compared to FDP. The only problem is that SPD and CDU are virtually equally strong, so the risks of a battle over supremacy is quite high, whereas in a conventional Red/Green or Black/Yellow constellation, it would always be clear who's the boss.

Too early to say what will happen though.

BTW, Eugene, long time not seen! Where have you been?

Anyway, glad you came back in time for the '06 finals draw!

Felix K wrote:BTW, Eugene, long time not seen! Where have you been?

Anyway, glad you came back in time for the '06 finals draw!

I had serious marital problems for a while and only now I was inspired enough to return here. I realized I missed this place quite a bit.

I see. Sorry to hear that. Hope things are better in the meantime.

Yeah, things are better and today I can only laugh about them (and they truly are funny!)