Michael.
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Posts posted by Michael.
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You already know the answer to that.
Does every citizen of any country or parliament "vote" for every piece of legislation?
Bait, bait bait.
Well yes, in Australia voting is compulsory. Meaning once you turn 18 you must enroll to vote and if you don't you receive a fine. In every election we elect upper and lower houses of parliament. Each piece of legislation passed in the Upper house by the Government is then passed to the senate (lower) house to be voted on and enacted into law. This makes it more difficult to pass legislation because the Government doesn't generally hold a majority in the senate. Generally the two major Australian political parties (Labor and Liberal/Nationals) campaign their proposed policies that they wish to pursue if elected into Government. When Australians vote (which we will be doing in less than 2 weeks) we generally vote towards specific policies proposed by political parties and therefore elect a Government. The leader of that party is nominated Prime Minister. This is why in the last 8-9 years we have had 2 different governments but 5 different PMs.
My question on how the EU works was a genuine one.
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It's too soon to tell how this will influence our elections. I wouldn't equate the two just yet. Trump's rhetoric is making waves for all the wrong reasons right now, at least stateside. Just cuz you make news doesn't mean people want to buy what you're selling. As Madonna fans we should know that ALL TOO WELL.
If this causes significant economic downturn on US shores, then yes, that could help Trump - but it could also weaken him. He's displayed his incompetence so many times and Clinton is very happy to surgically disembowel him everytime he says something stupid.
So let's just wait. I can tell you that Trump is pure celebrity before he is a politican - and we all know what happens to celebrities under pressure and scrutiny, they unravel. He's already showing signs of buckling. Let's see if he holds himself together. It could take one big exposè in major US publication to negate his entire campaign. There are so many journalists out there out for blood. He's made a major enemy in the press by blocking them from free reporting... Not a good move. Now they're ready to fuck him up.
As a Non-EU and a Non-American the only thing I can say is that nearly everyone I know is opposed to Trump whereas the Brexit was treated with ambivalence. I think the majority of people are united in that he would be a horrible President.
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The European Commission legislates the EEA, but non-EU EEA countries don't have representation. So basically to access the single market, you are forced to accept Schengen (which the UK never had to previously) and also lose any political and economic power in writing those rules in exchange for retaining a single currency (which the UK also enjoyed previously).
Basically this vote achieved them no independence of any kind. If anything, they are more dependent on the mercy of the remaining unified EU than ever.
No I mean who actually votes? Like if a new law is put forward who actually votes if it passes or not? Does every citizen in the EU have the opportunity to vote for it?
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Why do people assume a leave vote equates to support for Trump?
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Honest question but who votes on the laws passed by the EU that all EU nations abide by?
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No. UK is not competition. Slave work from China is.
Early on in this thread someone mentioned that the UK receives EU concessions which makes them more competitive across Europe. They said if they were to leave the EU then they would lose this benefit.
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No please, the beautiful Black Madonna is just too smart to leave this forum.I love reading her posts. I vote for Remain.
I've often had disagreements with her (and many others) over politics and race etc but I appreciate her input and I don't find her offensive at all. Perhaps we need to start using triggering warnings before everything we post?
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Could the UK leaving the EU be a good thing for the rest of the Europe though? Can it be an incentive for other nations to develop industries that have not been economical previously (due to UK competition) which would help generate jobs and income etc?
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Because to finance the public services and the system without raising taxes for the rich, the UK will have no other choice than to sell the public services to private companies. Investors see this as a big cake they are going to share without any EU regulation. Of course the poor will be impacted more.
I see your point. Similar to say what has happened in Russia?
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LOL why was Chelle targeted? Is it cos she's black?
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The media in the UK (and all over Europe in fact) are playing a nasty game of blaming immigration and poor people on benefit for everything that is wrong, the same media owned by nasty populist billionaires who are part of the people who fucked the economy for their own benefit plunging the world into chaos. Everytime we went through an economic crisis, populism won, that's what happenned in the 1920's and before WWII.
I was shocked at that program on Channel Five last winter http://www.channel5.com/show/the-great-british-benefits-handout
It was insuinating that poor people were poor because they did not know how to handle money and they were living large on the back of other brits.
We don't have that kind of programs here, not as in your face as this one but the undertone of many tv programs and papers are quite similar.
Everything is done to not point the blame on the real fuckers (that's why they all own a media empire).
Wait if British (and world economy) will suffer due to a Brexit why would the people who have the most invested in the financial markets support the "leave"?
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Isn't it funny how everyone always wants to move to Australia? No matter if you're "left" or "right" people always come back with "I'm moving to Australia". Makes me think of this meme when Obama won the last election:
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You don't have a clue what you're talking about. You only had to look at the thinly-veiled discussion going on in this thread to see what the very real issue was.
Honestly I'm not trying to be cunt Kim. I actually really like your posts and the point of view you bring. I'm honestly trying to discuss this as sensibly as possible. I don't buy that this was purely an immigration issue. I don't buy that this was a scare campaign about foreigners stealing jobs. Honestly I think it runs deeper than this. And it won't be surprising when other countries follow the lead and leave as well. The idea of an EU is great. The execution doesn't really seem to be living up to people's expectations. similar to the problem of communism/socialism.
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People should be asking why the majority of people wanted out of the EU right now.
In theory it might sound great but clearly people are unhappy with how it's being managed.
And before anyone blames the media and the scare campaigns, everyone was mocking them when it was expected the stay vote would win. Pleas don't start trying to tell me how effective they were.
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The scaremongering is the biggest joke. The so called liberals that hate capitalism and the media are the FIRST to fall for it. Pull the other one.
Let's tear down the unfair financial markets!! But only if the UK is part of them!
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What a shit fest this thread has turned into! Typical Madonna Nation lynch mob. personal attacks. Being told not to laugh, not to have banter with other members. Ugh
We're a democracy after all. As long as you have the same beliefs as us.
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As I stated it really didn't phase me what the turn out of the vote was. I'm not even British. Ultimately people will still have confidence in the UK and in the Pound. This idea that the UK will become the leper of the financial world is a joke. I'm not here for hyperbole. While I can recognize it may disappoint some (but clearly not the majority) this isn't the apocalypse.
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Not singling you out at all cuz many feel the same way you do, but I'm definitely mentally snapshotting posts like this.
LOL. Why? I'm actually confused?
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All you so concerned about the economy the same ones that blame capitalism for all of your problems. I have no time for this fuckery.
The UK will survive fine after all of this bullshit. The world still recognizes the Pound as one of the key currencies of the world. All of this talk about the pound losing value and the stock market really only applies to limited people. I think it's probably worse for foreigners than it is the British if anything. You think old mate in Bristol with 0 investments is really going to feel anything?
For me either result was really not going to phase me. I really don't know why people are losing their shit about things. You need to remember the UK (whether you like it or not) still has the Commonwealth that it can rely on!
#longlivethequeen
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I think stay will win but I think it'll be close:
53% stay
47% leave
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Britain isn't the only country painted as "evil" for not taking in refugees. It's a massive issue in Australia and in many other "western" countries too.
While I recognize that "rich" countries should be taking on the burden of these people (especially considering it's in large part due to their actions that this problem exists in the first place) I personally don't feel that continually accepting refugees is the answer. For me I don't see how that addresses and solves the root cause of why these people have to leave their homelands in the first place. Obviously in the short term accepting them provides them safety but what about those who don't have the capacity to leave? Do we just forget about them? Also what happens to their homelands as they leave? How is change achieved? Should we withdraw military action and simply allow groups like ISIS to grow bigger and hope they don't invade other neighboring countries? Or do we increase military intervention and risk even more resentment from the locals which gives groups like ISIS even more influence? People and the media then blame Islam for all of it which has the snowball effect of encouraging "homegrown" terrorists who feel an obligation to "defend" their religion. It's honestly a clusterfuck no matter how you look at it.
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To me it sounds like the biggest argument to stay is the economic one. That the UK benefits by having access to the European markets etc? But Australia for example isn't part of any union and they still access to the Asia Pacific markets (among many others) via trade deals etc. Unless the EU was to purposefully block any trade with the UK (which I don't think would benefit them much) then I can't see why that should be a deciding factor to remain in the EU.
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There were some economic arguments for the Scottish leaving the UK including profits from North Sea oil so yes, it's all about the right to govern one's own country and manage one's own taxes without interference from another country so yes, many parallels. But yes if the UK did leave the EU Scotland could well push for independence again. However, I think if the UK leaves, Scotland would have to reapply to join the EU as technically they will have left too. It's a right mess but I think we will remain.
Leave is starting to look a right mess.
It seems strange to me then that the people who supported Scottish independence don't support the UK leaving the EU?
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Are there any parrellels between the UK leaving the EU and the recent vote for Scotland to leave the UK? Are any of the arguments to leave or stay the same? Any if the UK do leave the EU does that mean Scotland will vote for independence again to decide if they would rather be part of the EU as opposed to the UK?
Britain votes in favor for Brexit
in Politics and World Events
Posted
Sorry I didn't. I always thought it was like the UN or something where the political party in power nominated a representative. It seems weird to me then that EU parliament elections are not so much widely reported in the media as much as elections in EU nations are.
Speaking of the UK specifically though, how do they/you elect MEPs? Do they campaign like they would a national election? Wikipedia tells me they have 72 MEPs. What happens (and it does seem illogical) but if the political party in power nationally disagrees with the MEPs?