There's nothing optimal or rational about international trade. It's full of the most vocal minorities screwing things up for everyone else (and sometimes themselves, see fishermen voting for Brexit). That's why trade agreements are usually negotiated in secret, to protect the parties from themselves.
In 20 years when the coalition of bigots and reactionaries and profiteers that gave us this mess have expired, we might be able to return to something resembling a rational arrangement. Or not, perhaps we will slip further and further into oblivion such as Russia did after the USSR.
UK fishermen voted for Brexit because it would directly lead to larger fishing quotas for themselves, the UK being an island surrounded by fish that was forced to give up most of its fishing rights over its own seas to (amongst others) the French and Spanish, who have plenty of coastline of their own and a reputation for aggression.
Given that fishermen weren't exactly ever migrating in droves to Berlin to become language teachers, that decision seems to be pretty much the epitome of rationality. The fact that you picked it as your best example of why people should live in a dictatorship in which they aren't even aware the rules are being made, let alone able to object, speaks volumes about the nature of EU ideology and why the UK was right to leave.
I was willing to listen to your argument up to this point. Throwing the "everyone who I disagree with is a bigot" around is very old hat at this point.
I definitely would not say that everyone who voted to leave the EU is a bigot, but it's fairly undeniable that a lot of bigots supported (and ran campaigns around) leaving the EU...
So the EU has a migrant problem. There are camps in France, Spain and probably other places not being reported. Poland is dealing with it as well in their own way without the eu. The EU hasn't come up with a solution to it. So I'm not sure which part of the image you posted is telling a lie or being misleading?
The truth hurts sometimes. Doesn't mean anyone is a bigot though.
Many of the migrants are in fact legitimate refugees from conflicts that the UK was intimately involved in the last 20 years (Afghanistan, Syria). Others are economic migrants from parts of the world that the British empire was directly responsible for fucking up. Most of the people of UK don't want to hear this, but we reap what we sew.
In any case, Brexit has made the problem worse because now not only does the UK have a problem with boat crossings, but we have strained our relations with the country that the boats are coming from (France). The boats are indeed leaving the EU.
In the absence of any logical reason to have a poster with a line of brown people and the text "Leave the EU" emblazoned on it, the only reason can be a bigoted one.
Many of the migrants are in fact legitimate refugees from conflicts that the UK was intimately involved in the last 20 years (Afghanistan, Syria).
We were involved in Afghanistan, yes. Which brought about education for girls... Something not seen in that country for decades? We ultimately failed but not without trying to bring about a better world for those people. It's not like we were there to take the resources.
It's news to be that we were involved in the recent conflict in Syria?
In any case, Brexit has made the problem worse because now not only does the UK have a problem with boat crossings, but we have strained our relations with the country that the boats are coming from (France). The boats are indeed leaving the EU.
Agreed. But we know who exactly we can name and blame for these failings (British MPs), and vote against them going forward.
That's why trade agreements are usually negotiated in secret
The last deal I saw negotiated in secret and then leaked (TPP) ended up being a corporate wishlist that benefitted nobody except large companies.
The most absurd part was that it was more about extending copyright and setting up extra-judicial courts than dropping tarriffs yet they still called it a "free trade deal".
Fortunate that it was leaked otherwise this abortion of a deal would have passed.
Comments
There's nothing optimal or rational about international trade. It's full of the most vocal minorities screwing things up for everyone else (and sometimes themselves, see fishermen voting for Brexit). That's why trade agreements are usually negotiated in secret, to protect the parties from themselves.
In 20 years when the coalition of bigots and reactionaries and profiteers that gave us this mess have expired, we might be able to return to something resembling a rational arrangement. Or not, perhaps we will slip further and further into oblivion such as Russia did after the USSR.
UK fishermen voted for Brexit because it would directly lead to larger fishing quotas for themselves, the UK being an island surrounded by fish that was forced to give up most of its fishing rights over its own seas to (amongst others) the French and Spanish, who have plenty of coastline of their own and a reputation for aggression.
Given that fishermen weren't exactly ever migrating in droves to Berlin to become language teachers, that decision seems to be pretty much the epitome of rationality. The fact that you picked it as your best example of why people should live in a dictatorship in which they aren't even aware the rules are being made, let alone able to object, speaks volumes about the nature of EU ideology and why the UK was right to leave.
I was willing to listen to your argument up to this point. Throwing the "everyone who I disagree with is a bigot" around is very old hat at this point.
I definitely would not say that everyone who voted to leave the EU is a bigot, but it's fairly undeniable that a lot of bigots supported (and ran campaigns around) leaving the EU...
One individual in particular springs to mind... https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/branded_news/D748/product...
So the EU has a migrant problem. There are camps in France, Spain and probably other places not being reported. Poland is dealing with it as well in their own way without the eu. The EU hasn't come up with a solution to it. So I'm not sure which part of the image you posted is telling a lie or being misleading?
The truth hurts sometimes. Doesn't mean anyone is a bigot though.
Many of the migrants are in fact legitimate refugees from conflicts that the UK was intimately involved in the last 20 years (Afghanistan, Syria). Others are economic migrants from parts of the world that the British empire was directly responsible for fucking up. Most of the people of UK don't want to hear this, but we reap what we sew.
In any case, Brexit has made the problem worse because now not only does the UK have a problem with boat crossings, but we have strained our relations with the country that the boats are coming from (France). The boats are indeed leaving the EU.
In the absence of any logical reason to have a poster with a line of brown people and the text "Leave the EU" emblazoned on it, the only reason can be a bigoted one.
We were involved in Afghanistan, yes. Which brought about education for girls... Something not seen in that country for decades? We ultimately failed but not without trying to bring about a better world for those people. It's not like we were there to take the resources.
It's news to be that we were involved in the recent conflict in Syria?
Agreed. But we know who exactly we can name and blame for these failings (British MPs), and vote against them going forward.
Nigel Farage is though.
The last deal I saw negotiated in secret and then leaked (TPP) ended up being a corporate wishlist that benefitted nobody except large companies.
The most absurd part was that it was more about extending copyright and setting up extra-judicial courts than dropping tarriffs yet they still called it a "free trade deal".
Fortunate that it was leaked otherwise this abortion of a deal would have passed.