Monthly Archives: May 2012

The EU and the Euro – my take on an Guardian writer’s interview with RT

The EU and the Euro

I watched this interesting interview of the Guardian Newspaper writer, Aditya Chakraborrty by RT on the futures of the EU and the EU. Note my use of the pural – furtures. This is because like Aditya, I do not think that the future of the Euro and the future of the EU are the same thing.

Please watch this interesting interview and see if you concur of disagree with my conclusion which is broadly the the same as that of Aditya's.

The problem we have is that very many pro EU politicians  turned the EU into the mess that it is, (a financial and political union, incomplete and flawed) from what was then EEC – (which was a trading block bound together by trade treaties). These people are completely opposed to seeing anything threaten their vision of a United States of Europe.

The problem lies in the fact that Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor and others at the helm of the EU see any backtracking on the Euro as a threat to the United States of Europe dream.

As Aditya strongly suggests in the interview - if Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal stay in the Euro, in it's current form, their economies will not be able to grow and will be be slowly strangled to death on two fronts–

1.firstly, because of their goods being uncompetitively priced under the single currency of the Euro.
2.and secondly, lack and deterioration of essential public services due to lack of investment caused by very severe austerity cuts.

What Chancellor Merkel and fellow proponents of the EU project have to realise and which is quite salient to myself, is that the Euro currency is not the European Union. The sooner they accept that the the flawed concept for United States of Europe project is now badly damaged and that bold decisions to be taken in order to solve the economic problems. These problems dog not only Greece but threaten all European economies including countries not in the Euro zone.

My own opinion, it hat the Euro should be split into two tiers, and countries whose economies need to devalue should move to the lower value euro. It will not be pretty. But simply pretending that Greece is the only problem economy in the EU will not solve the problem. And I for one want us to tackle our own problems in Europe and not have our countries owned by the Chinese and intolerant Islamic states by being bailed out by them. There is no such think as a free lunch.

Education – Whose Responsibility?

I found myself agreeing with the Senator of Oklahoma who on a television interview said this week, that education, law and order, national security are some the key things that a Government should be responsible for. Tom Coburn thinks proper funding in the US for education should be provided by the government and that  funding education via a lottery undermines virtue. I agree, as I can think of girls turning to lap dancing and such to pay their university fees.

 

Funding the arts and saving failing banks should not the responsibility of  Government. I completely agree with Senator Tom Corburn when he said  what should have been done was  was a social safety net put in place by the governments in the US and Europe  and to have allowed the casino bankers to have gone bust. Now what

our hapless – or complicit governments, who did not think the whole thing through have done, is create a huge debt for us and for future generations.

 

So in order to generate income they want to run the education system like a business and saddle students with huge debts like they have currently under the US education system. American university students leave university with a debt of a staggering $120,000 (dollars) on average! This is what our UK and other EU governments now want to follow.

Lisbon Student Protest

 

Education is not a business. It is an investment in the future of a country. A well educated population will generate economic wealth as well as create social harmony. So it the responsibility of a government to educate it's population.

 

 

 

While Education is not a Business,  I understand that a Government's budget is not infinite.

Education is not a Business

 

Have a look at this poster below from the London 2010 protests. The placard say 'Defend Every Course, Job an Service'.

London 2010 Student Protest

This is nonsense. While I want University education to be broadly free, I do think we have to wean out some worthless degrees like degrees in 'Media Studies' and 'Rock Stars'.

 

Today, in the UK many organizations cannot find graduates with the relevant science based degrees. At the risk of sounding like I am calling for the re-introduction of Salazar's elitist policies, I think degrees that provide students with real skills in the work place and for doing cutting edge scientific research should be promoted and be free of charge to students with capability. If someone wants a degree in 'Media Studies' let them pay for it themselves or do something else like a diploma that an employer would want. It was a mistake getting rid of our polytechnics..