EU Politics: I miss Renaults(don't make fun of me)

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > EU Politics: I miss Renaults(don't make fun of me)

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

fishmech posted:

Right, but why does that need the dinosaur states of the immediate post world war ii era?

Because EU at the moment does not have a governing mechanism that both fairly and equally represents all EU citizens, and has sufficient popular support in all the member states. Any of the current member states splitting up is going to mean a tough renegotiation of a lot of fundamental EU treaties.

# ¿ Oct 30, 2017 21:53

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# ¿ May 11, 2024 12:51

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Private Speech posted:

But then again it does manage to raise money very well, including from those who are not subject to income tax. Even if it is regressive.

The fact that the VAT is regressive is not particularly important since it can and should be compensated by progressive transfer payments to low income citizens. Only the total sum of all transfers and the behavioural effects of individual taxes matter.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2019 12:44

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Private Speech posted:

I mean it's not great because it's not means-tested and generally the more money you have the lower proportion of your outgoings will go towards VAT

This does not matter if it's compensated by a progressive transfer payment.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2019 12:12

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

MiddleOne posted:

VAT is another name for sales tax.

It's not. It serves a similar purpose, but VAT is much harder to dodge and probably has fewer market-distorting effects. The downside of VAT is that it requires more comprehensive legally mandated accounting to work.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2019 12:16

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

fishmech posted:

Yes it does, as transfer payments are not instant.

They can be, UBI for example.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2019 12:19

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

fishmech posted:

Really, they pay UBI now and daily?

If UBI is adopted it will be paid in advance, before the person is even able to make a purchase that would make him liable to pay the VAT. Same goes for any transfer payment paid as a part of the payroll taxation or welfare system, so I don't really see the issue.

# ¿ Mar 26, 2019 18:18

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

fishmech posted:

So what you're saying is: this doesn't solve VAT being non-progressive, at all.

It does solve it and it isn't even hard to see how, but keep being your obtuse self and disagreeing with me for the sake of the argument

# ¿ Mar 26, 2019 23:27

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

JordanKai posted:

The Forum for Democracy (the crypto-fascist party that just won a plurality of seats in the regional elections in the Netherlands) have started up a 'snitch-line' where students and pupils can report their professors/teachers for perceived leftist indoctrination.

There's no way this isn't going to be pranked to oblivion

# ¿ Mar 28, 2019 10:56

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Blut posted:

My British friends have mostly either moved, or are moving, to Dubai

Out of the frying pan into the fire, eh?

# ¿ May 3, 2019 21:57

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Cingulate posted:

a noblewoman

Does Germany still officially recognize some form of hereditary nobility?

# ¿ Jun 21, 2019 23:07

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

SniHjen posted:

Think of any MMO that has a Public Marketplace for items.

That's a goonsay right there.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2019 15:21

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Nosre posted:

I have no idea about who this guy is (beyond being a new politician) but this is a fun tweet

https://twitter.com/MagicMagid/status/1146022757580386306

https://mobile.twitter.com/magicmagid/status/1014494400532148225

# ¿ Jul 6, 2019 00:52

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

V. Illych L. posted:

being young isn't necessarily being bad

On this level it is, unless he's some kind of wunderkind it means he cannot have the necessary education and experience required to do the job properly.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2019 17:42

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

In typical industrialised countries only around 5% of the labor force works in agriculture.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2019 13:14

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Most people certainly don't need small farms to survive.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2019 13:17

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

An insane mind posted:

I think this is the first time in history that media, politics and the rich have been intertwined on such a massive and complete scale that dissenting voices have been effectively silenced.

lol

actually

An insane mind posted:

I think this is the first time in history that

lol

# ¿ Feb 2, 2020 17:25

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

The fact that the EU parliament has more than one home is another.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2020 12:54

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

V. Illych L. posted:

for real, i've thought my country's preoccupation with food supply was sort of quaint for many years, but now that we've got an unstable global situation that 90% potential self-sufficiency rate is very reassuring

I did not know you could survive on cod alone

# ¿ Mar 25, 2020 01:15

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

It's not life satisfaction that's being measured.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2021 00:38

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Thatcher's legacy, in ruins. :britain:

# ¿ Nov 21, 2022 22:23

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Charlz Guybon posted:

It should be illegal to refuse government issued currency

Things are a bit more nuanced than that, stores are allowed to refuse bills of large denominations since they come with an increased risk of forgery, theft and accidental loss.

That is to say, pay your daily shopping with a contactless debit card like a normal person.

# ¿ Feb 4, 2023 10:57

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Not So Fast posted:

Was Georgia really close to getting into the EU?

No, it only submitted an application in 2022 and is currently considered a "potential candidate" by the EU.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2023 23:38

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

steinrokkan posted:

You know who else was active in German politics for over two decades?

A DnD classic well executed, I approve

# ¿ Mar 10, 2023 18:29

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

quote:

Europe's relative performance compared to America and China has been falling off sharply in the last couple of decades

Europe's (and America's) performance relative to China *should* be falling, and continue to fall for some time still. It simply means that China is catching up with the developed countries' economic output and quality of life.

OTOH Europe's and America's relative economic performances are something that should be watched, and lessons should be learned.

# ¿ Aug 12, 2023 18:28

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

GABA ghoul posted:

I'm not sure if it really makes sense to complain about "number not go up!" from a leftist perspective. The actually important metrics should not be GDP but HDI, life expectancy, social stability, education, etc. and how we are doing compared to other regions with similar nightmare demographics.

These literally are numbers that we want to go up.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2023 15:51

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Sereri posted:

Obviously Germans are more efficient and therefore require less work time for equal or greater value

Again, this literally is what increased industrial and agricultural automation does, something Germany does pretty well compared to Mexico.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2023 16:08

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Blut posted:

A German

how dare you

# ¿ Aug 14, 2023 21:31

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Pope Hilarius II posted:

What weird reality do you occupy where racist voters "aren't being listened to".

Opposing migration when you perceive it negatively affects your living standards does not make you racist, only somewhat selfish. And that describes a majority of the working class electorate. If you're unwilling or unable to provide some kind of convincing assurance to these voters that their needs are your top priority, they will not vote for you. Why should they?

# ¿ Dec 1, 2023 20:07

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Pope Hilarius II posted:

The needs of the working class are very similar to the needs of immigrants

The working class doesn't seem to think so, and you're not being very convincing.

Pope Hilarius II posted:

I find it disingenious to call on the left to solve the massively complex problem of widespread disinformation pushed by right-wing and far-right establishment (with the generous aid of corporate media and self-owning centre-left).

Right, it's always somebody else's fault. You can't expect *us* to provide working solutions to problems! It's the other political parties who have failed leftism, they should have played nicer.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2023 11:15

Herman Merman: Jul 6, 2008

Elman posted:

What exactly is the problem with immigration? The numbers don't seem as massive, the supposedly huge crime numbers are a tiny percentage of the migrant population, being a man is a better indicator of criminality than being an immigrant is.

People often care more about perceived trends and individual dramatic events than the current numbers. In recent years there have been cases where during a particular year the number of received asylum seekers has been on the order of the number of domestic births in some EU countries. These kinds of statistics are really easy to use to rile up people in addition to the real issues of integrating all those people into the society.

quote:

What are the problems caused by migration that the left is failing to address, which aren't just far right misinformation, or created by neoliberal policy that a leftist political program is supposed to tackle?

It does not matter if they are misinformation or not. Only the voters' perception matters when it comes to their voting decision. If you are unable to make them perceive your policies favourably they will not vote for you, which is what is currently happening to left-wing parties in the EU.

# ¿ Dec 2, 2023 16:53