- Joined
- Jan 27, 2013
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- Location
- Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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- Conservative
The point that people are trying to make is that the Germans manipulated the Euro and the EU so they could directly benefit from it first.
Then the others countries shouldn't have signed on to it. Losers are always making excuses for themselves and blaming the winners for cheating somehow. Americans know all about that.
Canada is poised to lead the G20 in economic growth once again with Germany not far behind. The two countries have strong, conservative, fiscally responsible governments that have no problem convincing their populace to tighten their belts when the times require it. These concepts are foreign to much of Europe and it's why they are still struggling under massive debt and deficits that cripple any hopes of spurring their economies.
unless they actually cheated which is not unheard of in the financial world.
Canada is poised to lead the G20 in economic growth once again with Germany not far behind. The two countries have strong, conservative, fiscally responsible governments that have no problem convincing their populace to tighten their belts when the times require it. These concepts are foreign to much of Europe and it's why they are still struggling under massive debt and deficits that cripple any hopes of spurring their economies.
The minimum wage in Canada varies by Province, but on average it's over $10/hr and they have universal health care.
Germany doesn't have a minimum wage. The only thing I could find is that a cashier must make a minimum of $7 use....however, labor is well represented in Germany...a representative from labor has a seat at the board of directors of major corporations, Unions are accepted and respected, and they ALSO have Universal Health Care.
You have to take into account that the cost of living in Canada is higher than in the US due in large part to the cost of food, often out of season and must be imported. As well, housing costs are higher - all homes requiring furnances and most requiring air conditioning as well. Most homes are brick construction, higher cost than in the US. Transportation costs are also significantly higher with our smaller population and larger country. These are some of the things that make higher wages a fact of life in Canada.
Health care is another story and too long to get into here - we do have universal health care, but it's not what most Americans think it is and it's not what most Europeans have. It covers the basics and catastrophic care, but so much of a person's normal healthcare needs are not covered and are either paid for out of pocket or paid for with supplemental health insurance either purchased individually or through employment.
Tell that to a low skilled worker living in NYC who has to take housing subsidies, food stamps and an Medicaid card just so they can be broke.
The problem with the EU is that member nations are autonomous. There is no centralized government to speak of. If they didn't share currency, this wouldn't be a big deal.....but they do.
That's basically it in a nutshell. If you don't have any say in your currencies flexibility your currency will steamroll you.
That's basically it in a nutshell. If you don't have any say in your currencies flexibility your currency will steamroll you.
That'll happen if they keep electing liberals.
It's sort of like how the tea party wants the US to be run. States doing anything they want, and no central authority. It doesn't really work well, as the Eurozone has discovered. Not if you have a single currency.
The EU would have had some power except France was too proud to give up any sovereignty.
As i recall, wasn't there some sort of an agreement between France and Germany at one time that they would share the power of the EU somehow?
Tell that to a low skilled worker living in NYC who has to take housing subsidies, food stamps and an Medicaid card just so they can be broke.
A person has a choice when they live in a city like NYC - if you're low skilled, you either stay in school or go to school and upgrade your skills or you take your skills, such as they are, to another city or another state where those skills will be paid more conducive with the cost of living in the community. There are lots of jobs in the mid-west, lots of oil industry jobs, etc. If one is waiting for a minimum wage of $50/hr so they can live in NYC they're going to be waiting a long time.
Bringing this back to Germany and Europe, I'd say the people there are quite good at picking up their lives and families and moving to places where they can build a better life for their families - we have lots of ex-German nationals in Canada as well as lots of other Europeans, particularly now we have lots of Eastern Europeans. If you're responsible for your own life and the safety and security of your family, you go where you can succeed.
They do? If you're flat broke, how do you move? Most of them are stuck where they are. Unless some gracious company is going to pay them to relocate. But figure the odds on that as a low skill worker.
I love the "simple solutions" to complex problems that pretty much show that you guys don't look beyond your own noses.
I love the "none solutions" to simple problems where in the richest, most prosperous, land of plenty people are stuck living in NYC and need the government to survive. They're paralized without hope or options, right? Funny though that a person living a subsistance existence in some hell hole in the third world is able to pack their meager belongings, with a few bucks in their pockets, with no English or very little, and travel all the way to the US or Canada and make a life for themselves and their families. I see it every day here in Toronto. I also see those who'd rather bitch and moan about life being unfair and just sit on their asses and not try to better themselves and their lives. Perhaps the biggest "complex problem" in western, first world economies today is the expectation of entitlement to a good, rich life without any need to work for it.
You have a point. But there are a hell of a lot more poor citizens than there are immigrants from 3rd world hell holes. You see, we get to screen those people from third world hell holes and make sure they will be a good fit. We don't have that option for our own citizens.
Sounds rational. What does Canadian politics look like compared to the U.S.? It's not uncommon to envision a reasonable government solution, it's just that neither of our incredible diverse TWO parties are so tragically absurd it rarely ever plays out reasonably.we do have universal health care, but it's not what most Americans think it is and it's not what most Europeans have. It covers the basics and catastrophic care, but so much of a person's normal healthcare needs are not covered and are either paid for out of pocket or paid for with supplemental health insurance either purchased individually or through employment.
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