Extreme right wing populism is rising in Europe... What can we do to stop it?

[nyctopgam]

That was what I assumed you were suggesting. I'd be interested to hear what alternative methods you have in mind.

Why did you assume that?

 

[unloadonme]

Why did you assume that?

Jesus! Because you suggested that help could be provided and in my experience that's rarely free.

 

[nyctopgam]

Jesus! Because you suggested that help could be provided and in my experience that's rarely free.

Allow me to make an "assumption" as well. It "seems" to me your failure to imagine anything else besides a handout is because all Mexicans can be expected to do is to overrun the country "And the state will find homes and jobs for them, treat them when they're sick, pay benefits when they're unemployed and educate their children "?

Hence my characterization of your comment as xenophobic.

What do I suggest? To alleviate the problems of a poor country next to the Worlds richest? How to address developmental economics? Dependency and center/peripheral economics? Of unfair debt? Export oriented growth? Gosh, I don't know. I'd have to go brush up on my Gunder Frank and start another whole career.

What I do know though is that fear if the brown hordes at your door is simplistic and serves nothing. And for those who have indulged us on this Euro/EU thread, non ex

 

[nyctopgam]

Arghh sorry shot off prematurely... but to continue...

For those indulging us on this side thread, I think experiments like the EU are important so the US can also learn about regional cooperation. As may other regions like Southeast Asia.

 

[Kulindahr]

Yes,actually. At least the first part about taking down borders. The rest seems xenophobic. The more the US helps Mexico, the less Mexicans will want to move. No one wants to leave their home. Except to seek a better life. The solution is to help provide the better life there.

I see. So the solution is for US taxpayers to pay higher taxes so that Mexicans can be paid to stay in their own country.

One solution is to incorporate into a system that penalizes corporations for moving jobs overseas a scale of benefits for at least keeping them on the continent. Right now, it's just about as cheap to run a factory in Mexico as in China or Indonesia, so a few incentives from the federal government could get jobs moved back to North America.

And it wouldn't be hard to pay for: just end the practice of companies actually making money from filing their federal income tax. That would result in multiple billions to work with.

 

[Kulindahr]

Arghh sorry shot off prematurely... but to continue...

For those indulging us on this side thread, I think experiments like the EU are important so the US can also learn about regional cooperation. As may other regions like Southeast Asia.

Speaking of regional cooperation....

I occasionally think Canada should divide a couple of its wealthier provinces, and then the whole batch apply for admission to the US as states. With fifteen new states, there would be thirty new US Senators... and I think watching the chaos as the balance of things shifted would be fun.

Oh: one requirement for joining the US would be that all the states would have to go with proportional representation within their House delegations.

 

[Kulindahr]

Allow me to make an "assumption" as well. It "seems" to me your failure to imagine anything else besides a handout is because all Mexicans can be expected to do is to overrun the country "And the state will find homes and jobs for them, treat them when they're sick, pay benefits when they're unemployed and educate their children "?

Hence my characterization of your comment as xenophobic.

What do I suggest? To alleviate the problems of a poor country next to the Worlds richest? How to address developmental economics? Dependency and center/peripheral economics? Of unfair debt? Export oriented growth? Gosh, I don't know. I'd have to go brush up on my Gunder Frank and start another whole career.

What I do know though is that fear if the brown hordes at your door is simplistic and serves nothing. And for those who have indulged us on this Euro/EU thread, non ex

My dad's idea for helping Mexico was dependent on the fact that under Clinton the national debt was going down -- his idea was that we buy all of Baja for twice Mexico's national debt.

His second idea was extending the US interstate highway system to be the North American highway system, built to Canadian-US standards. It would jump Mexico's transportation infrastructure forward about forty years.

To me that's the truly sad part of having deficit spending: if we didn't, we could have programs like extending our quality highways through the continent (after we fixed ours back up first, of course). We spend close to a quarter of a trillion dollars each year just for the interest on the debt -- imagine what could be done with that money if it wasn't being thrown to bankers!

 

[Adrusek81]

And meanwhile, in Greece...

SS songs and antisemitism: the week Golden Dawn turned openly Nazi
Supporters of the far-right party gave Hitler salutes and sang the Horst Wessel song outside parliament last week. Helena Smith reports from Athens on how Golden Dawn has taken on a sinister new tone.