European Politico-economics QA Mega-thread - Page 312
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LegalLord
United Kingdom13774 Posts
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Velr
Switzerland10417 Posts
On September 30 2015 22:48 LegalLord wrote: I wouldn't take entertainers seriously in their political views. More likely than not they are simply pandering to the kind of positions that likely viewers would eat up quite easily, rather than trying to bring reasonable solutions to real issues in the world. And most watchers are, in fact, people who really understand little to no nuance and want simple answers like "X is good" or "Y is evil." Not sure to what extent this is true in Europe (where the average person is far better informed of world affairs), but in the US it is very much true. You might as well just change "comedian" for anything else? *Politicians *Scientists *Broadcasters Thing is. You have to look at the individual reports to judge them. Some comedians/cabaretists do the smartest critics there are sometimes and blatant one dimensional "get the quick laugh" stuff other times (and plenty who go for the quick laugh all the time). | ||
LegalLord
United Kingdom13774 Posts
On September 30 2015 23:13 Velr wrote: Some comedians/cabaretists do the smartest critics there are sometimes and blatant one dimensional "get the quick laugh" stuff other times (and plenty who go for the quick laugh all the time). Reputation matters a lot, because frankly no one has time to watch every broadcast that every entertainer makes (or even every broadcast that is popularized) because the signal to noise ratio gets pretty low. And when it may or may not be blatant pandering, it's hard to take any points seriously if you're really not an expert on the topic and you're looking for quick info. My opinion on that matter is that the high tendency to pander sinks the reputation of most of these "comedians." If reputation can't be trusted, then they're not worth taking seriously and only worth watching for entertainment value. A good example from the end of last page: On September 30 2015 22:18 Geo.Rion wrote: The thing is, it makes me questions some of his other positions, which seem reasonable and noble, and even fair. But usually i dont really know shit about those topics, so i might just be fooled by his charming ways. Lots of "charming" people who spout BS have this sort of appeal. Scientists don't generally pander unless they're popsci or after funding (understandable but frowned upon) and politicians are unfortunately dealing with a predominantly simple-minded constituency. | ||
Thaniri
1264 Posts
Oliver paints a situation of Europe being capable of taking on many thousands of refugees but Poland is a country that still feels like it is playing catchup with the rest of the EU economically. Despite the impressive progress the country has made since 2004, it is still working on basic issues like poverty and infrastructure from a developmental perspective. This and racism in general in the region means that this part of Europe will react very poorly to asylum seekers. It's a shame that in the video the Polish politician shown is a recognized neo nazi that no-one knows how he got into power. The result is Oliver caricaturing and not fully representing why certain countries dont want migrants. The EU is a union, not a country. | ||
Narw
Poland884 Posts
Oh yeah, the politician from Poland is Korwin-Mikke, he got some kind of dementia/schizophremia/full out retardness when he got old and no one should take him seriously, at least no one normal here does. It's a waste that he gets his salary from EU and i would like to apologize for every retard from my country that supported him. I think at some point he actually face slapped some other politician in parliament and called him a nit and views woman as generally inferior. | ||
Janifer
4 Posts
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RvB
Netherlands6077 Posts
On September 30 2015 22:48 LegalLord wrote: I wouldn't take entertainers seriously in their political views. More likely than not they are simply pandering to the kind of positions that likely viewers would eat up quite easily, rather than trying to bring reasonable solutions to real issues in the world. And most watchers are, in fact, people who really understand little to no nuance and want simple answers like "X is good" or "Y is evil." Not sure to what extent this is true in Europe (where the average person is far better informed of world affairs), but in the US it is very much true. Is that actually true? THe average citizen in the Netherlands is pretty uninformed and I'd guess we're not the worst country in Europe in that regard. | ||
LegalLord
United Kingdom13774 Posts
On October 01 2015 21:34 RvB wrote: Is that actually true? THe average citizen in the Netherlands is pretty uninformed and I'd guess we're not the worst country in Europe in that regard. In my experience, yes. The rest of the world is less relevant to the US than it is to European nations, even ones that seem to be poorly informed. It's really all relative I suppose. | ||
Krikkitone
United States1451 Posts
On October 01 2015 22:37 LegalLord wrote: In my experience, yes. The rest of the world is less relevant to the US than it is to European nations, even ones that seem to be poorly informed. It's really all relative I suppose. That's partially because for most European nations, "the rest of the world" is a 1 hour drive/train away. For most of the US it requires a plane flight. | ||
Plansix
United States60190 Posts
On October 01 2015 23:41 Krikkitone wrote: That's partially because for most European nations, "the rest of the world" is a 1 hour drive/train away. For most of the US it requires a plane flight. EU and the entire US are pretty comparable in land mass. EU has more people by about 150 million. | ||
Simberto
Germany11032 Posts
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Dangermousecatdog
United Kingdom7084 Posts
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RapidTiger
59 Posts
VW scandal is 'heavy blow' for German economy, says EU's Martin Shulz Maybe this is when the Japanese/Korean/American motor companies can gain the upper hand against the Germans. I read that this VW scandal has damaged the reputation of German products. Such that it could shave as much as 0.5% off its GDP growth forecast for this financial year alone! The German economy was doing so well until this VW scandal. It was one of the fastest growing EU nations and also faster than Japan. Now the German economy is facing risk of even slower growth, possibly in the 0% range or even recession. | ||
WhiteDog
France8650 Posts
On October 04 2015 21:18 RapidTiger wrote: So looks like the VW scandal is having a bigger effect on the German economy than previously thought: VW scandal is 'heavy blow' for German economy, says EU's Martin Shulz Maybe this is when the Japanese/Korean/American motor companies can gain the upper hand against the Germans. I read that this VW scandal has damaged the reputation of German products. Such that it could shave as much as 0.5% off its GDP growth forecast for this financial year alone! The German economy was doing so well until this VW scandal. It was one of the fastest growing EU nations and also faster than Japan. Now the German economy is facing risk of even slower growth, possibly in the 0% range or even recession. Martin Schultz is stupid, why would you believe him ? I seriously doubt that the volkswagen fiasco will hurt germany in the long run. Nobody knows, but 0,5 % gdp drop once or twice is not the beginning of the end. | ||
Krikkitone
United States1451 Posts
On October 02 2015 00:25 Simberto wrote: Yeah. I think his point was that for me as a German, "The rest of the world" starts at either the german borders or at those places where i can no longer speak german. Not at the edge of the EU. Exactly, as an American living in California, if the "rest of the world" includes Russia, China, Mexico, Texas, Washington DC, and New York, then the average Californian is probably almost as well informed about the rest of the world as the average German. | ||
RvB
Netherlands6077 Posts
Air France executives were forced to flee with their clothes in tatters after workers stormed a meeting at Charles de Gaulle airport in protest at 2,900 planned job cuts. Human resources chief Xavier Broseta and Pierre Plissonnier, head of long-haul flights, scaled an eight-foot fence to escape, aided by security guards. Broseta emerged shirtless and Plissonnier had his suit ripped to shreds. Violence erupted Monday as Air France told its works council that 300 pilots, 900 flight attendants and 1,700 ground staff might have to go after failed productivity talks with flight crew. The protest, in which agitators chanted “naked, naked,” is just the latest to turn physical in France, where managers at Michelin & Cie. and Sony Corp. have been held hostage over firings, irate farmers have blocked city streets with tractors and manure and more than 100 Uber Technologies Inc. taxis were smashed up by rival drivers. www.bloomberg.com | ||
RapidTiger
59 Posts
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Nyxisto
Germany6287 Posts
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GoTuNk!
Chile4591 Posts
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zlefin
United States7689 Posts
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