Over 25% of state revenues go to education, which means free education to any Saudi up to university level. There is also free healthcare. They managed to slash poverty rates by half in 2007, and it provides a plot of land and low interest or interest free loans to all citizens for accommodation. Yes it could have been done a lot better, but for what it is, there has been considerable investment in the citizenry by the ruling class.
Mineral and resource rights don't need to be squandered or stolen in every case, two examples of countries which used their resources for the benefits of their citizens are Norway and Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan has been a persistent tribal hellhole basically forever, and I would hold out hope that the discovery of abundant natural resources will help give its citizens a sense of national identity, national pride, and a vastly improved quality of life, as well as an alternative to opium. Part of that process might be guidance from the western powers, however, since I have real doubts it can be achieved by the tribal leaders.
Yeah, keep making up excuses. But don't expect those with some real life experience to actually believe it. Running a small business is about contacts, luck and hard work (and generally in that specific order). Only 1/3 of that combination has anything to do with deserving anything.
Speaking of excuses, the real failures are those who like to sit on their hole and complain about how its everyone else's fault that they couldn't succeed. Pointing out the many successful business startups means nothing to this kind of mindset, its always "the system", "capitalism", "tha man", whatever. And these are usually the first with the hand out to try to extort as much as possible from those who did take the risks, those who lost out several times before eventually winning.
How is capitalism lowering barriers to success when 9 out of 10 fails? Looks like you are just talking out of your ass now.
Capitalism is what people do when you leave them alone. Regulation is important, social safety nets are important, but you don't get to succeed based on a statistic, you are not owed success by anyone. For someone spouting off about "real life experience", you don't seem to have much.
Really, the "start a business" excuse makes me sick because it nothing more than a sweet lie. Statistics shows it a lie, and yet you hear it repeated again and again.
Oh quit whining. China has a small but growing middle class, and as jobs increase so will pay and awareness of working condition. Its a process, not an end result. Statistics show that most small businesses fail, well guess what, its really, really hard to start and run a business, so those who succeed at it deserve awards beyond that gained by joe union. Nevertheless there is STILL nothing stopping joe union from trying it himself.
Meanwhile, jack up the inheritance taxes. A governments job should be to lower the barriers to success, not increase the penalties for it.
If you truly believe that a. we'll still be making anything worth selling to anyone when China has finished with us and b. that China will have the slightest interest in buying anything from us other than raw materials, you are seriously fooling yourself.
Quite a lot of Germany's industrial output goes to China. As for what the west builds, look at the table of top ten global exporters, China is really the only developing country in there.
I think the world is overpopulated. I also think that's the prime reason pollution is a problem - we're sitting in our own filth. If the world only had 1 billion (like the year 1800) that problem would disappear.
I always thought suicide was failrly common in China, I recall reading stories about young girls killing themselves to make a point, and being more successful than usual about it because of the prevalence of agricultural poisons. Killing yourself for your family is kind of a step up from that.
Rule number one in any Aristocratic system is that you need to suppress the worker class, since otherwise they may start to get strange expectations, like actually getting a greater part of the wealth production that they are actually responsible for.
Nothing stopping any of them from starting their own business. Oh right, you want the money without the risk? Sorry, only wannabe aristocrats try to set up a system like that, commissar.
That is immoral to them and immoral to us (artificially increasing costs).
Believe it or not increasing costs is not immoral. How and ever, in fifty or a hundred years time, we'll be selling to them, so it becomes a case of profitability not morality.
Good point. The real question is: why would developed countries deliberately strip themselves of manufacturing capability in order to transfer their wealth to developing countries for the dubious benefit of poorly-made products and the loss of domestic jobs?
Developed countries gain high quality goods at a low price in the interim. You didn't think everything made in China was barely useable crap did you? Not to put too fine a point on it, the "tarriff" brigade are being very short sighted about the whole situation, eventually when developing countries reach a developed economic state, who do you think you'll sell your goods to?
Are you kidding me, its the spellcheck wielding malignancies loose, I mean lose, I mean loose on the internet that are destroying the English language, which annoys me to no end, I mean annoys me no end. Theirs no substitute for a proper education. I mean there's.
Really? I'd say perhaps in the preceding five thousand years, but before that we had no walled cities, no mass graves, no weapons meant only for killing humans, no organized warfare, and very little heirarchy. Our current violent, hierarchical culture is an aberration brought about by our invention of agriculture and animal husbandry, our settling down, and subsequent inability to move on when drought and famine hit.
The ignorance displayed in this comment has in fact reduced the intelligence of everyone on slashdot. I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.
The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality
Yeah so how come most of your creativity comes from your immigrants from Europe? Back to your government sanctioned free speech zone you. In other news, turkey by name, turkey by nature.
You also see plenty of police being recorded in the UK (where it is strictly illegal). The reason is that such laws are being enforced selectively; positive coverage and coverage by government media is tolerated, negative coverage, recordings submitted as legal evidence against police, and independent news outfits are charged if they rub someone the wrong way.
Bullshit, and source, like a good man.
The EU has EU-wide directives and principles that all the member states agree on.
Cite the European directive on recording law enforcement officers?
In addition, whether formalized or not, there are actually Europe-wide attitudes and beliefs that are distinct from the US and other places.
Even more bullshit. Trust an ignorant yank to have no clue about the vastly varying cultures and states within the EU, its not like US MkII where the only difference is the accent.
So, yes, one can generalize about Europe, even if there are exceptions.
Oh sit down, you're only embarrassing yourself at this stage.
Would you mind telling us how we all got to see the riots in Greece on video so? The EU is composed of several countries with varying laws, saying "Europe" as a whole is nonsense. As far as I am aware the worst that could be done is an accusation of defamation, and in all cases truth is an absolute defence against alleged defamation. Can't get more true than a video recording. You may see them wearing balaclaves and masks in some cases, but thats to prevent retribution from terrorist groups and organised crime rings.
Yeah, see that culture, society, technology, history, freedom of expression, everything that makes us human there? Thats all made up of words. I never understood those who say "ah its just words" - there is, at the end of the day, no other power besides words.
Slashdot Mirror
Also you'd need to expend energy to alter the mass in the first place...
Bahahaha, what a ridiculous post. Listen buddy, look up "European Supergrid" and get back to us.
Reunification != becoming part of North Korea...
Over 25% of state revenues go to education, which means free education to any Saudi up to university level. There is also free healthcare. They managed to slash poverty rates by half in 2007, and it provides a plot of land and low interest or interest free loans to all citizens for accommodation. Yes it could have been done a lot better, but for what it is, there has been considerable investment in the citizenry by the ruling class.
Mineral and resource rights don't need to be squandered or stolen in every case, two examples of countries which used their resources for the benefits of their citizens are Norway and Saudi Arabia. Afghanistan has been a persistent tribal hellhole basically forever, and I would hold out hope that the discovery of abundant natural resources will help give its citizens a sense of national identity, national pride, and a vastly improved quality of life, as well as an alternative to opium. Part of that process might be guidance from the western powers, however, since I have real doubts it can be achieved by the tribal leaders.
Yeah, keep making up excuses. But don't expect those with some real life experience to actually believe it. Running a small business is about contacts, luck and hard work (and generally in that specific order). Only 1/3 of that combination has anything to do with deserving anything.
Speaking of excuses, the real failures are those who like to sit on their hole and complain about how its everyone else's fault that they couldn't succeed. Pointing out the many successful business startups means nothing to this kind of mindset, its always "the system", "capitalism", "tha man", whatever. And these are usually the first with the hand out to try to extort as much as possible from those who did take the risks, those who lost out several times before eventually winning.
How is capitalism lowering barriers to success when 9 out of 10 fails? Looks like you are just talking out of your ass now.
Capitalism is what people do when you leave them alone. Regulation is important, social safety nets are important, but you don't get to succeed based on a statistic, you are not owed success by anyone. For someone spouting off about "real life experience", you don't seem to have much.
Really, the "start a business" excuse makes me sick because it nothing more than a sweet lie. Statistics shows it a lie, and yet you hear it repeated again and again.
Oh quit whining. China has a small but growing middle class, and as jobs increase so will pay and awareness of working condition. Its a process, not an end result. Statistics show that most small businesses fail, well guess what, its really, really hard to start and run a business, so those who succeed at it deserve awards beyond that gained by joe union. Nevertheless there is STILL nothing stopping joe union from trying it himself.
Meanwhile, jack up the inheritance taxes. A governments job should be to lower the barriers to success, not increase the penalties for it.
If you truly believe that a. we'll still be making anything worth selling to anyone when China has finished with us and b. that China will have the slightest interest in buying anything from us other than raw materials, you are seriously fooling yourself.
Quite a lot of Germany's industrial output goes to China. As for what the west builds, look at the table of top ten global exporters, China is really the only developing country in there.
See, that isn't going to happen anytime soon because the US which is seen as the leader of "the west" has so much debt to China.
7% of US national debt is to China. TOTAL.
I think the world is overpopulated. I also think that's the prime reason pollution is a problem - we're sitting in our own filth. If the world only had 1 billion (like the year 1800) that problem would disappear.
Oh piss off you malthusian idiot.
I always thought suicide was failrly common in China, I recall reading stories about young girls killing themselves to make a point, and being more successful than usual about it because of the prevalence of agricultural poisons. Killing yourself for your family is kind of a step up from that.
Rule number one in any Aristocratic system is that you need to suppress the worker class, since otherwise they may start to get strange expectations, like actually getting a greater part of the wealth production that they are actually responsible for.
Nothing stopping any of them from starting their own business. Oh right, you want the money without the risk? Sorry, only wannabe aristocrats try to set up a system like that, commissar.
That is immoral to them and immoral to us (artificially increasing costs).
Believe it or not increasing costs is not immoral. How and ever, in fifty or a hundred years time, we'll be selling to them, so it becomes a case of profitability not morality.
Please explain to me, in bite-sized terms, how transferring our manufacturing to China is of even short-term benefit to us.
In crayon terms, when they get rich you can sell stuff to them. This is already happening with German industrial output.
Good point. The real question is: why would developed countries deliberately strip themselves of manufacturing capability in order to transfer their wealth to developing countries for the dubious benefit of poorly-made products and the loss of domestic jobs?
Developed countries gain high quality goods at a low price in the interim. You didn't think everything made in China was barely useable crap did you? Not to put too fine a point on it, the "tarriff" brigade are being very short sighted about the whole situation, eventually when developing countries reach a developed economic state, who do you think you'll sell your goods to?
Imagine Twitter with Free code and a non-profit, donations based model. -> I'd pay some :s, just as soon as I can muster any income and a bank account.
Yeah.
Spot on the money, literally in this case.
Can't really type illegibly, can you?
Spellcheck.
Are you kidding me, its the spellcheck wielding malignancies loose, I mean lose, I mean loose on the internet that are destroying the English language, which annoys me to no end, I mean annoys me no end. Theirs no substitute for a proper education. I mean there's.
Really? I'd say perhaps in the preceding five thousand years, but before that we had no walled cities, no mass graves, no weapons meant only for killing humans, no organized warfare, and very little heirarchy. Our current violent, hierarchical culture is an aberration brought about by our invention of agriculture and animal husbandry, our settling down, and subsequent inability to move on when drought and famine hit.
The ignorance displayed in this comment has in fact reduced the intelligence of everyone on slashdot. I award you no points, and may god have mercy on your soul.
The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality
Yeah so how come most of your creativity comes from your immigrants from Europe? Back to your government sanctioned free speech zone you. In other news, turkey by name, turkey by nature.
Write fiction!
You also see plenty of police being recorded in the UK (where it is strictly illegal). The reason is that such laws are being enforced selectively; positive coverage and coverage by government media is tolerated, negative coverage, recordings submitted as legal evidence against police, and independent news outfits are charged if they rub someone the wrong way.
Bullshit, and source, like a good man.
The EU has EU-wide directives and principles that all the member states agree on.
Cite the European directive on recording law enforcement officers?
In addition, whether formalized or not, there are actually Europe-wide attitudes and beliefs that are distinct from the US and other places.
Even more bullshit. Trust an ignorant yank to have no clue about the vastly varying cultures and states within the EU, its not like US MkII where the only difference is the accent.
So, yes, one can generalize about Europe, even if there are exceptions.
Oh sit down, you're only embarrassing yourself at this stage.
Would you mind telling us how we all got to see the riots in Greece on video so? The EU is composed of several countries with varying laws, saying "Europe" as a whole is nonsense. As far as I am aware the worst that could be done is an accusation of defamation, and in all cases truth is an absolute defence against alleged defamation. Can't get more true than a video recording. You may see them wearing balaclaves and masks in some cases, but thats to prevent retribution from terrorist groups and organised crime rings.
Words are just words
Yeah, see that culture, society, technology, history, freedom of expression, everything that makes us human there? Thats all made up of words. I never understood those who say "ah its just words" - there is, at the end of the day, no other power besides words.
Any time these conversations come up, the only real solution (reducing the population to about 2 billion) is ignored by everyone.
When you figure out why, you'll be getting somewhere...