I guess someone forgot to tell these guys then, huh?
Just because its trendy to say, doesn't mean it isn't a real part with a real point. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism
Bill Maher v. Think Tanks
- Thread starter VladTemplar
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Just because its trendy to say, doesn't mean it isn't a real part with a real point. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libertarianism
no 
And all of this exhaustive over analysis is necessary why? Sounds like a big fat waste of time in order to give a bunch of over-inflated egos something to do. Whatever happened to common sense and simplicity? I thought the goal was to eliminate bureaucracy and red tape, not bury it ever deeper in a mass of 4-dimensional, leftist, centrist, upist, downist, alarmist, passifist, communist, vegan, or meat-eating discourse.
Because international relations is a complicated arena. Additionally, last time I checked, this is a representative democracy. All voices have the right to be heard. If a private foundation wants to finance a think tank to create policy that reflects their ideology, they should have every right to do it.
On a different note, some think tanks provide research that the government is essentially outsourcing. Most of the strategic studies done anymore rely on think tanks (again, RAND) to get them completed. Its heavily statistical and it provides the military and the legislature with information they would otherwise not have.
It's not about stroking egos. Fellows in think tanks rarely become rich, they live a pretty middle-class life and have a far greater workload than the average middle-class citizen. There's no real need to bash them, they spent over a decade getting educated and you want to toss them out the door. That speaks very highly of your view on the importance of education.
shawndavid
Are you wanting making fuck berserker?
I enjoy this show on occassion, but the goal is to make jokes at the expense of public figures. It's not to be entirely accurate. The only real danger lies in the fact that some people take everything they hear someone like Maher say and adopt it as their own philosophies.
Nice point - I would say that you have a bit of Kotter and Washington in you as well.
Nice point - I would say that you have a bit of Kotter and Washington in you as well.
That was something I don't think they quite understood. I didn't ask for their opinion of Bill Maher, I don't agree with his political views either. That doesn't negate the fact that he's pretty damned hilarious. His New Rules book is a constant stream of humor.
I agree with the federalist philosophy. While having a strong federal government does create a greater chance of corruption and red tape, it also creates a better representation of the country internationally and the decisions of that government can easily remedy problems which plague the nation as a whole. I'm sure we'd all like a little more state / local control so that we could get more involved, but the fact of the matter is that the world shrinks more and more every day. Without a strong central government the country would have shortfalls than you could possibly imagine.
shawndavid
Are you wanting making fuck berserker?
The EU seems to do okay.
I agree. I only wish those uneducated people would vote straight lib on election day.
The EU seems to do okay.
Except for the fact that the EU isn't a country. The EU is a mixed bag of governmental types. It's federalist in its economic and social policies. It's a confederation in that each country within the EU has complete sovereignty. Finally, it's in the form of an international organization with regard to foreign affairs.
The EU exists first and foremost due to the need for a shared economic program. The trade barriers between countries was considered to be detrimental to Europe as a whole. In the end, the premise of the EU is to unite the countries more and more over time so that, if possible one day, they no longer exist as separate states but rather one...well...European Union.
Actually I'd rather people who have absolutely no idea about politics to stay out of elections. When the people in this country spend more time caring about who Jennifer Aniston is fucking and what some nuance of some team in the World Series did it's a damned sad sight. People in America care far more for basic entertainment than they'll ever care for domestic politics and certainly more than they'll care for international politics. Additionally, and perhaps the scariest part of all of this, the number of people who feel they have an 'education' or 'understanding' of current political issues because they watch some 24hr news network for a couple of hours a day is downright frightening. People don't care enough to really get interested in the issues and seek out ideas that fix problems.
Hence why think tanks exist, because the growing level of ignorance is spreading to the legislature. They're more concerned with the day-to-day partisan fighting about who's morally / ideologically superior to the other than they're concerned about finding solutions to problems this country faces. To add insult to that, a number of think tanks have developed that focus on partisan issues entirely instead of providing apolitical analysis.
I'm not going to say every think tank out there is some altruistic organization that is working towards the betterment of the US/World for all people. However, there are quite a few that do exactly that and their fellows have spent their lives dedicated to the understanding of human interaction, geopolitics, and basic academia. Those are the people that deserve respect.
Right, but fly's post seemed to imply that confederations could be successful.
So you manage to name one nation in the world that operates under a confederacy effectively. Switzerland has been continuously isolationist, and only last year accepted the Schengen agreement, which is a pinnacle part of the EU plan.
Switzerland won't stay as it is forever. The natural evolution of states is to a greater and greater level of international cooperation and agreement, as this agreement moves forward the states develop closer and closer bonds. Given the large degree of social tissue that is connected between Switzerland and it's surrounding countries, Switzerland could easily become a full member of the EU.
The government of Switzerland realizes that for the country to continue to grow economically they must liberalize their trade policy. The people of Switzerland, however, have always voted against the efforts put forth and as such they haven't become members of the EEA.
What it boils down to is that even though the people of Switzerland are resisting ascension to the EU the government of Switzerland realizes that it's an absolutely necessity. Given time, the people of Switzerland will realize this just as every other country in the world realizes that greater levels of cooperation and relations are necessary for the continuing prosperity of the world, both socially and economically.
Wow you have mastered the art of saying very little with a lot of words.
Confederation is just a federation where the member states have the technical right of secession. You arent arguing any points, I don't care about Switzerland except as a, example of a self declared confederation that has been around since the 14th century. Not surprisingly Germany was saying the same thing about them as you are now during the second Reich. Your argument is full of holes when it comes to the country but you completely missed the point.
The EU is a confederation, it's not a supranational government, each member is only so much a member as they participate in it. There isnt going to be a war because someone withdraws. *shrug*
Why the hell am I even talking about this. *goes to look for porn*
It's not purely a confederation though, and I never claim it was a supranational government. As I stated before, its a mixed bag depending on the area of government you're looking at.
And I didn't say a lot of nothing, I was attempting to make an argument that would normally span 5-10 pages in only a few sentences. The overall gist, however, was that Switzerland won't work forever as an isolated stated and its government realizes that.
Of course there won't be a war if someone withdraws, the point is to get them together to avoid war. Hence the idea of countries becoming closer to each other via trade and other arenas of international arenas. A century ago the idea of 2 European countries going to war was entirely commonplace and was proved correct...twice. Now it's unthinkable.
But this whole tangent has nothing to do with think tanks.