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Why Europe Keeps Failing........ merged with "EU Seizes Cypriot Bank Accounts"

E.R. Campbell said:
But I would argue that in both Europe and America (which includes Canada for all intents and purposes) the "top down" Episcopalians and the "bottom up" Calvinists have, respectively, become too powerful ... think Jean-Claude Junker and Donald Trump.

The peoples of both Europe and America know, intuitively, that they have let things drift too far but instead of tacking back towards a centre course they look to the extremes and we see the Freedom Party entering the Austrian government and Bernie Sanders being touted as the Democrat's best hope in 2020.

             
10dpp2.jpg

Alinsky 5.  "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon."

That single line is, IMO, responsible for our current situation.  Alinsky's "win at all costs" mentality permeates modern debate.  So much so that even "decent", "civil" people have decided that there is no mileage in being decent and civil.

Many people considered both George Bush and Stephen Harper decent and civil and were perturbed by how they (Bush, Harper and their supporters) were ridiculed.  The tendency to turn the other cheek fades when both cheeks start stinging.

With respect to finding the centre:  I suggest that now is when we find out if our institutions are fit for purpose.  The "Calvinist" tradition is less about Calvin and Knox and more about the "Institutes".

We shouldn't have to rely on personalities for good governance.

Most people want a smooth ride.  They envisage a system that is in control as being a flat line.

But, as you well know, real systems look like this, 

hypertension-bloodpressure-heartrate.jpg


or even this

KPIFig2.png


When in control they are still irregular and full of uncomfortable peaks and valleys.

By contrast - a smooth, steady decline (or rise for that matter) can still indicate a system that is out of control 

And a flat line?  Unresponsive.  Dead.  But comfortable.
 
#Brexit #Liberal International Order #EU #Donald Trump #Korea....  Here because I tossed a coin.

First - Brexit, a personal opinion

Although I am a Canadian I am proud to be a Brit, and Brexit makes me that much prouder.  Not because of the outcome, which I support, but because of the process.  In my view Britain is demonstrating to Europe what both liberalism and democracy means.  And that confuses the heck out of the European priestly caste - and confirms in their view why they are right to fear both liberalism and democracy.  They perceive chaos.  The Brits perceive normalcy.

The arguments in Britain are hard, positions are heart-felt.  But everybody who wants a say gets a say - assholes all over the political map are free to voice their opinions, take their concerns to court, launch petitions, try to change policy, regulations and laws, revert to the status quo ante, promote new alliances ..... and all while following the rules, while colouring inside the lines .... 

Meanwhile the British economy ticks onwards, men in white vans conduct their usual business, the City continues to hire and fire people.  Average Brits follow the Rugby, berate Australian cricketers, fill in the Football Pools, debate pert posteriors and whether Kate or Meghan is more this or that, and wonder if they are getting too much beer.    Things change but nothing so much as can't be handled.

For the European "priests" this is all a conundrum.  They don't believe, despite the evidence to the contrary, that their countrymen could be trusted to act in the same way.  They fear their people - but I think if they spent more time reading their tabloids they would find more similarities between Brits, French, Germans and Italians than they suspect. 

But maybe that is the very problem "Tabloids" are for the "Masses" and not for "Real People", much less for the "Elites" who are ordained to order society.

The Elite are great supporters of the Liberal International Order and its Supranational organizations.  But then they always have been.  In the past the term of art was "Ultramontanism" - meaning "over the mountains"  - in particular over the Alps.  It reflects a struggle that is over two thousand years old - one that the Romans get the blame for but probably pre-dated them. 

The Protestant reformation also draws blame, or accepts credit, for the rise of both individualism and nationalism - with Luther and Henry VIII, Calvin and Knox being the usual stalking horses.  But arguably the struggle can be found in the rise of the French national church (Declaration of the Clergy of France - 1682, Concordat of Bologna - 1516, Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges - 1438, Avignon Papacy - 1307) and in the rise of the German Holy Roman Empire (Investiture Controversy - 1076). 

I don't question the good intentions of all parties.  But there have historically been two paths - Structured order defined by man and comfortable chaos to which man adapts.    The Elite tends toward structured order, as long as they get to define the structure.  For everybody else it is always a matter of adapting.

This line of thought surfaced when I read this article, "America and the Liberal International Order
by Michael Anton" in American Affairs.  It describes a point of view that has been percolating for a while.

I have become increasingly unhappy with the use of liberalism to describe the modern condition.  Some folks have taken to talking about illiberalism.  Personally I am comfortable with Adam Smith's, and his contemporaries', use of liberal.  Not as a code, a catechism, a dogmatic prescription of rules over which lawyers and other clerks can argue, but as a mode of thinking - a toleration of other thought.

In my opinion much of the debate arguing for the Rule of Law effectively is the voicing of ancient beliefs by the clerical establishment, the priestly caste, that they, and only they can steer the course.  And it frightened them to see Britain, Australia, Canada and America succeed in their absence - and ultimately defeat them in World War II.

The great problem after WW2 was the need to create a new order - because comfortable chaos, liberal democracy, was not an option.  New institutions were created to emulate old institutions and the same people took their seats in new buildings.  Democracy and Liberalism were capitalized, redefined and catechized - turned into comforting dogma.  True Democrats and True Liberals, like True Scots, were created and defined as separate from the tabloid reading masses.

The thing is, in Britain, in Canada, in the US, there has always been a faction that also believes in structured order and rejects the comfortable chaos that liberalism implies.  They have found common cause across the Atlantic.

Should we say that Ultramontanism has been replaced by Ultraatlanticism?

 
 
And everything old is new again.....

AUSTRIA’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has called for an “axis of the willing” between Italy, Germany and his own country to tackle illegal immigration and secure Europe’s border....

...Speaking at a press conference in Berlin after his meeting with German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, Mr Kurz said: "In our view, we need an 'axis of the willing' in the fight against illegal migration.

"I am happy about the good cooperation that we want to develop between Rome, Vienna and Berlin. ...

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/974074/austria-sebastian-kurz-migrant-policy-horst-seehofer-angela-merkel-matteo-salvini-eu-news

The most reliable guide to politics is not borders but cities.  Cities fight over borders.
 
Donald Trump restricts steel and aluminum and the cars they are used in.

Europe complains and responds by restricting..........Levi's and Maker's Mark.  Thus proving Trump's point on trade imbalances.  Europe doesn't import as much as the US does and thus has a lot less leverage. 

American exports including jeans, motorbikes and bourbon whiskey will be slapped with new levies on Friday, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said.

The tariffs are the latest in a tit-for-tat row between the traditionally close allies, which began when Donald Trump introduced harsh tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.

Announcing the European response, which will target £2.4billion (€2.8bn) worth of US products, Ms Malmstrom said Brussels had no choice but to fight back.

She labelled the US tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium as "unilateral and unjustified”.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/977260/trade-war-european-union-united-states-tariffs-donald-trump

Somebody once said: "Owe the bank $1000 and the bank owns you.  Owe the bank $1000000 and you own the bank"  (That was a while ago - Net Present Value).

To Wit:

MERKEL CAVES IN: Germany 'to offer to scrap EU tax on cars' in Trump victory

ANGELA Merkel appears to have caved in to Donald Trump with Germany considering scrapping the European Union’s 10 percent tax on American car imports.

By JOEY MILLAR
PUBLISHED: 00:01, Thu, Jun 21, 2018 | UPDATED: 00:08, Thu, Jun 21, 2018

President Trump’s ambassador to Germany, Richard Grenell, has held high-level talks with German car makers BMW and Volkswagen about dropping car tariffs between the US and Germany.

The manufacturers said they were open to the idea of dropping tariffs as long as it was part of a larger overall industrial scheme.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/977066/donald-trump-news-us-trade-war-eu

Meanwhile, the UK, having passed the EU Withdrawal Act and thus releasing itself from the 1972 Act joining the EEC, appears to be contemplating Freeports

Proposals to create a series of free ports across the north of England are gathering momentum among ministers as a new report reveals that special zones could deliver a multi-billion pound boost to the economy and create tens of thousands of jobs.

Seven “supercharged free ports”, offering relief from customs and import tariffs together with enterprise zones that have tax incentives to boost investment, could create as many as 150,000 jobs and add £9bn a year to the economy, extensive research has found.

It is understood that Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, privately supports the idea and the Treasury is looking closely at its potential. Liz Truss, chief secretary to the Treasury, is said to have a “deep personal interest” in the concept. Earlier this month, Ms Truss visited Teesside, one of the proposed locations of the new ports. Junior members within the Department for exiting the EU are also understood to privately back the idea.

One source familiar with the Government’s thinking said: “Free ports are seen as a concrete idea of how trade can be boosted after Brexit, when there aren’t many others.”

Another Whitehall adviser said “free ports are absolutely gaining traction within government”.

However, the situation is sensitive, requiring the Government to work behind the scenes. The concept of free ports cannot be moved forward until the UK leaves the EU because of the trading bloc’s rules.

Government sources say ministers are reluctant to give any official support as they fear EU negotiators could use free ports as a bargaining point. There are concerns free ports could be blocked for fear of the advantage they could offer the UK over Europe.

Research by consultancy and construction group Mace claims the creation of seven “supercharged free ports” – at Immingham and Grimsby, Hull Port, the Hull and Humber rivers, Tees and Hartlepool, Liverpool, the Tyne, and Manchester airport – would boost UK international trade by £12bn a year and add £9bn to UK GDP after 20 years in operation.

Combining the ports with enterprise zones would allow businesses to import, process and export goods within them without facing tariffs and customs difficulties.

The study also calculated that 150,000 jobs would be created around the free ports, helping rebalance the UK economy away from the South.

The research backs up similar findings. A report by Policy North said a similar economic lift could be delivered by free ports, after analysing the impact of 3,000 around the world.

There are about 3,000 free ports around the world, including Jebel Ali in Dubai

It said each free trade zone creates 22,600 jobs on average, and combined creates $500bn (£376bn) in trade.

Shanker Singham, a director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: “Creating free ports is low-hanging fruit for the Government, and there is no reason not to do this.”

The new report has won the backing of Lord (Jim) O’Neill, a former chief economist at Goldman Sachs who said: “The creation of free ports in the North will free businesses to compete on the global stage.”

A spokesman for the Treasury said: “We want Britain to be a great global trading nation. Before making any decisions we will consider the advantages that free ports can deliver, but also the costs and risks associated with them.”

Similar thinking could be applied to places like Belfast in Northern Ireland and Ayr/Prestwick Airport in Scotland.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/06/17/free-ports-plan-north-could-give-uk-9bn-boost/

And there you have the real reason for the EU wanting to keep a hold of the UK.

 
>Maker's Mark.

Excellent!  The distiller has been having trouble meeting demand and the BC liquor stores keep running out.
 
Not to mention that fiasco where they tried to stretch the stock by dropping the proof...... disgraceful.

It would just be wasted on the Euros (and the Brits).  They're mixing it with Coke.  :facepalm:
 
A change in the way the wind blows?

EU CAVES IN: Rebel Italy wins as Merkel makes major climbdown after boycott threat

ANGELA Merkel said the draft document of this weekend's EU migration summit will be scrapped after threats Italy's prime minister Giuseppe Conte would boycot the meeting.
By ALICE SCARSI
PUBLISHED: 13:36, Thu, Jun 21, 2018 | UPDATED: 15:02, Thu, Jun 21, 2018

Italy's hard line against the EU has brought the bloc to change its attitude towards the Mediterranean country in a huge climbdown.

After Rome's interior minister Matteo Salvini accused France and Germany of already deciding the outcome of the mini summit and ignoring Italy's demands, the EU reassured Rome no decision is set in stone.

And Mrs Merkel herself, after calling the meeting, intervened to make sure Italy would not boycott the event.

Mr Conte revealed on Facebook he was ready to not go to Brussels before Mrs Merkel phoned the Italian leader.

He wrote: "I just received a call from Chancellor Angela Merkel, worried about the possibility I would not attend the mini summit of Sunday in Brussels focused on immigration.

"I confirmed that it was unacceptable for me to take part to it with a text that had already been prepared. 

"The Chancellor clarified there had been a 'misunderstanding': The draft published yesterday will be scrapped.

"At the centre of Sunday's meeting there will be the Italian proposal, which will be discussed together with those of other countries.

"The meeting won't be signed off with a written paper, we will only keep a summary of the problems we went through, and we will continue to discuss them at the EU summit next week.

"No one can ignor our position on immigration. See you next Sunday in Brussels!"

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/977601/EU-news-italy-migration-crisis-brussels-germany-france-salvini-angela-merkel-conte

Is this more like Singapore and less like Charlevoix?

I believe that Charlevoix (G7) was conducted under "conventional" rules: The Staff prepares Courses of Action and The Command shows up for the Photo-Op.

Singapore was conducted under "Trump" rules:  The Command used the meeting as part of his personal recce with the Commander using the opportunity to determine his own Course of Action and issue warning orders.

Right or wrong, it might be interesting to look at the Command Structure in that light. 

It is often said that The Forces are not a Democracy, even though they serve one.

Should the Civil Service be a Democracy?  Or do they just exist to serve one?

 
Civil Service is similar to the military in that it is our task to serve as well. The only question is who do we serve? The rank and file believe they are there to serve Canadians. Middle to upper management serve the Minister. Senior management serve their own interests or how they see their interests which will outlast the current Minister.
 
Colin P said:
Civil Service is similar to the military in that it is our task to serve as well. The only question is who do we serve? The rank and file believe they are there to serve Canadians. Middle to upper management serve the Minister. Senior management serve their own interests or how they see their interests which will outlast the current Minister.

So, no different than the military then.
 
Random thought during this time when trade dominates the headlines and when civil servants and politicians interminably debate the verbiage on Free Trade Agreements:

If, tomorrow, all the governments, with all their money and all their regulations, were to disappear the first thing that would happen would be Free Trade.

To be sure some people might be trading bullets, or even resort to sticks and stones, but the vast majority of people would be trading words, services and goods.  Freely.
 
Britain:

Reversing 50 years of trade and political policy, dating back to 1967 when British politicians decided that Brits could appeal their cases to foreign courts; deciding to change course in a referendum; debating facts, opinions, courses of action and outcomes; cursing and swearing in the press, the house, on tv and on the internet; mobilizing massive street demonstrations - and no violence - despite claims of the occasional crime against foreigners.

France:

They raise the gas tax and this happens

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tear-gas-flies-paris-french-yellow-jacket-protesters-clash-police-n942551

A state of insurrection because the price of gas is going up 2%.

The new fuel tax that takes effect Jan. 1 will raise gas prices around 12 cents per gallon. On diesel the hike will be about 28 cents per gallon.

Last week, gasoline cost around $6.26 per gallon in Paris, while diesel was around $6.28 per gallon.


And that is the reason that Paris will not be displacing London anytime soon and that Britain will survive Brexit regardless of what the politicians say or do.

Communists, Socialists, Suffragettes, Chartists, Luddites, Puritans and Levellers - all have been managed in their time.

The European Establishment may not like dealing with argumentative British parliamentarians, preferring the paper certainty of the British bureaucrats, but ultimately rioting in the streets is not good for business.  Better that the politicians and public beat the horse to death in parliament.
 
A bunch of years ago I was in Strasbourg for a conference which occurred coincidentally on a weekend when the Anarchists were having a "riot".

I ended up being on the streets watching the riot pass by - thousands of scruffy protesters led by two police officers on foot and trailed by two more - news camera crews everywhere. Meanwhile, out of sight on the flanking streets were hundreds of mini vans filled with riot police in body armor, shields and all the other necessary paraphernalia.

The "rioters" passed through the city, spray painted lovely historic buildings and statuary, burned a few fires, had lovely speeches. During the night municipal clean-up crews pressure washed everything, fixed some glass and by morning you didn't know anything had happened.

They've worked the whole thing out to a science on both sides since the June Rebellion of 1834. Sometimes some of the folks forget that there's choreography for their event.

:subbies:
 
Funny you should mention the soixante-huitards OGBD.

Seems like they are the team to beat.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/france-anti-tax-protests-leave-gas-stations-running-dry-n942871

'Yellow Jacket' protests in France leave gas stations running dry; Paris riots worst since 1968
Saturday's unrest was the worst in central Paris since a student uprising five decades ago.

Two weeks and counting....

;)
 
FJAG said:
A bunch of years ago I was in Strasbourg for a conference which occurred coincidentally on a weekend when the Anarchists were having a "riot".

I ended up being on the streets watching the riot pass by - thousands of scruffy protesters led by two police officers on foot and trailed by two more - news camera crews everywhere. Meanwhile, out of sight on the flanking streets were hundreds of mini vans filled with riot police in body armor, shields and all the other necessary paraphernalia.

The "rioters" passed through the city, spray painted lovely historic buildings and statuary, burned a few fires, had lovely speeches. During the night municipal clean-up crews pressure washed everything, fixed some glass and by morning you didn't know anything had happened.

They've worked the whole thing out to a science on both sides since the June Rebellion of 1834. Sometimes some of the folks forget that there's choreography for their event.

:subbies:


.....

Arnaud Touati, co-founder of Paris-based law firm Alto Avocats, warned the damage done to France so far has been “devastating”.

He said: “Undoubtedly, we underestimate the considerable damage that this type of event has caused to France's reputation.

Politically, this is an unprecedented disaster. France is facing a deep institutional crisis. The country is subject to mistrust, both towards the trade unions and the political parties, which no longer represent anything or anyone.

“The socialist party is ruined, the Republicans are divided, the extremes unable to represent more than their electoral base and the presidential movement enjoys a deleterious image of representing the rich against to the poor.

“When one feels that one is not represented by anything or anyone and that one cannot reform the system from within, one seeks to free oneself from the established order and create a new system with its own rules.”

https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1056137/Paris-riots-France-protest-yellow-vests-Emmanuel-Macron-Frexit-latest

I think the chaps in yellow vests may be doing the Brits a favour again, just as their ancestors of 1832 (I think you were out by a couple of years - only Lyon's Weavers and the Piedmont were out in 1834) did.

While the French were rioting in Paris the Brits were debating Rotten Boroughs and Democracy with the Establishment fighting hard to hold their ground.  Just as they are today.

But.

The French in the streets frightened all the Brits, including the Establishment, with the prospect of a return to the Terror, that the Establishment caved and voted the first of the modern Reform Acts - abolishing Rotten Boroughs and increasing the role of the demos/poli in government. The next year parliament passed not only the Reform Acts but the Factory Act outlawing Child Labour and the Abolition of Slavery Act. 

All thanks to French rioters. 

Perhaps they will do the trick again.


PS - in 1829, just 3 years prior, the Brits had passed the Catholic Emancipation Act with the Catholics declaring they did not believe the Pope was supreme or infallible.  Accordingly the British Government in Quebec started funding local Catholic and Protestant elementary schools with local control of the curriculum.  That arrangement was later quashed by the Church which claimed suzerainty over education.
 
BTW, little piece of trivia for those who don't know:

Where do the "yellow vest" protesters get those yellow safety vests so easily and in such great number? Answer: In their cars. It is a French regulation that at least one such vest be kept in every road vehicle at all times and that, in case of a breakdown or accident, the vest be worn by anyone stepping out of the car onto any "national" road. So one of them comes "standard issue" with every car.

Pretty ironic that a protest that decries in large part the French government's tendency to over regulate everything is using as its symbol a garment that is imposed by regulation.  :subbies:
 
The Yellow Jackets' protest isn't so much about over-regulation as it is about an increase in gasoline tax (since rolled back) high cost of living, minimum wages and various tax issues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_vests_movement

(That's not to say, however, that the French aren't regulated up to their eyeballs. Pretty much every western government is these days--including us)

:subbies:
 
FJAG said:
The Yellow Jackets' protest isn't so much about over-regulation as it is about an increase in gasoline tax (since rolled back) high cost of living, minimum wages and various tax issues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_vests_movement

(That's not to say, however, that the French aren't regulated up to their eyeballs. Pretty much every western government is these days--including us)

:subbies:


Amen.
 
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