Unlike you, I am neither a visitor to Europe nor an uninvolved observer of it. I live here, and I do not see any reason to describe the current Europe in a propagandistic way, using rosy colors or glasses. Many of us in Europe are aware of the fact that it faces a serious problem, which is not a short- or medium-term business cycle-like phenomenon. Nor is it a consequence of the recent financial and economic crisis. This crisis only made it more visible. As an economist, I would call it a structural problem, which will not, by itself, wither away. We will not simply outgrow it, as some hope or believe.
A good man.
There don’t seem to be many left in Europe.
“””There don’t seem to be many left in Europe.”””
most of us moved to Canada or the USA:-))))
Vaclav Klaus wrote that one characteristic of present-day Europe is ” massive introduction of regulation from above”.
Lo and behold, Daily Mail on Wednesday, 28th, writes that European Union plans to enforce a mandatory 20mph speed limit in residential zones and replace the Highway Code with European law…..The proposed limit equates to 18.6mph and is just one of a raft of recommendations which also include harmonised road traffic rules, road signs, road worthiness tests and blood alcohol limits.
BTW Daily Mail forgot to mention that Brussels wants also to put obligatory anty-alcohol blokade in private cars.
” I think it is no exaggeration to say that one of the most clear-sighted, deeply learned, and steadily courageous of all of the servants of human freedom in our age is the president of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus.”
In introduction by Larry P. Arnn, President, Hillsdale College
Here Here!
Let’s set up a world government and make Vaclav Klaus Uber-Ruler!
Kidding aside, I like the guy and his frankness.
This, ” The post-World War II reconstruction of Europe was a success because the war eliminated, or at least weakened, all kinds of special-interest coalitions and pressure groups.” is a key statement that refutes Obama’s and others argument about what happened after the WWll and what are the solutions to what is happening now.
Today, there are so many self interest groups that could not care less about common good as long as they can get maximum cash out of it.
Most powerful is the Haavd crowd. They have no real life skills. What they have is a silver tongue that is shaped like a fork and a poison pen. They are in charge of the US government, they are unaccustomed to be told they f__d up and will not admit to it.
Klaus is not all that popular in the Czech country, there is still active communist residue around.
The European parliament is afraid of him, he does not please them.
Klaus is probably the only head of state, that will not back down from his criticism of global warmmongers.
Klaus is a pretty smart guy.
Vaclav Klaus is one of the very few politicians that I respect. His book Blue Planet in Green Shackles should be required reading in high schools. (Weird that I had to order the book from Amazon.com through a friend in the US as Amazon wouldn’t ship it to Canada).
What the EU has shown is that there is an optimum size to a political entity and the EU has far surpassed that size. The “one size fits all” approach of the EU statists is simply idiocy. What works best is having political entities where the great majority of the people agree with the way the state is being run. Those who don’t agree can move elsewhere more to their liking. What the EU has done is to make the only option for individualists to move to either N. America or Russia.
The only hope for Europe is that they undergo a total economic collapse in the next decade or so. There are enough individualists alive there now that they’d be able to rebuild. Once the majority of the population becomes accustomed to always sucking on the statist teat, then an economic collapse would likely result in a permanent state of poverty for a people who expect someone else to solve their problems for them. (I’ve seen this attitude in people who’ve come from the former USSR and find the idea of doing things for themselves a completely foreign concept).
Just got back from 3 weeks in Spain and southern France. There is nothing like the ambiance of Europe and everything seemed to be humming along. The cafes and restaurants were filled. The French Riviera has to be seen to be believed, great beaches, wonderful weather, beautiful women, life is good and they are living it.
It is startling as usual when, because everyone walks everywhere in their great cities and towns designed for people not cars, you notice how slim and trim the vast majority of people are.
Hunger? Spending their grandchildren’s income?