Brexit mega thread part 13: All eyes on Ireland

[SerendipityJane]

With the Windsor framework up & running, and the DUP having a "you could set your calendar by it" hissy fit, but Irish unification refusing to keep it's head down, what next in the long running sage of UK vs. the real world ?

We had a red kite flying over our house yesterday, quite a sight up close

The recovery of the Red Kite in the last 40 years in the UK is wonderful.

Hopefully other areas of the environment will return to better protection soon.

Free handout or debt?

The whole idea of the common market was to provide a market for goods and services within Europe. This involved developing infrastructure, and other aspects of economic development, in underdeveloped states.

Maybe you're sore about the UK contribution to the EU and the difference it might have made to Ireland? Considering the hundreds of years of wealth being extracted on a massive scale from Ireland by the English owner class, I'd say good, finally, and thanks.

And the concept of spreading the wealth in order to create political stability and more wealth to spread around seems to have gone right over your head. The fact that the UK spent its Marshall Plan money shoring up its empire doesn't mean the Marshall Plan was a bad idea. From American money sprang the European Golden Age and the rebirth of western Germany (maybe that's a development that galls you?).

The value of Irish exports to the EU in 2022 was about €80billion. Ireland is now a net contributor to the EU budget. I can't see a downside to any of that.

The whole point of the EU is to bring countries up. So they start as net takers and end up as net contributors. The UK also started that way. The EU isn't a bank, money received isn't a loan, it's all about developing the economies of other countries so that everyone gains. 'A rising tide lifts all boats'.

That may not be a philosophy everyone agrees with, but it's the foundation of it all.

Giving poorer people the resources to buy things helps everybody

Trickle down economics.

@mathanxiety Ireland is now a net contributor to the EU budget.

Incorrect. The amount Ireland has returned to the EU is less than it has received. You have conveniently overlooked the amount Ireland received from the EU in the period from 1973 to 2018.

Considering the hundreds of years of wealth being extracted on a massive scale from Ireland by the English owner class, I'd say good, finally, and thanks.

This is a better reply.

Similar could be said about Poland. The amount Germany has paid into EU dwarfs the amount Poland has received. So, maybe they are also being compensated for events of the past.

@Talkinpeace Giving poorer people the resources to buy things helps everybody

Lower prices would help poorer people without having to rely on others.

Helping others is fine, but get your own house in order first I would say.

I have corrected your reply:

Helping others is fine, but get your own house in order first I would say and then pull up the ladder.

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/europpblog/2024/07/24/what-star-trek-can-teach-us-about-brexit/

@Peregrina

Where was it mentioned about pulling ladders up?

@DuncinToffee

Reference to Star Trek as proof that Brexit has failed is real desperation.

You didn't read beyond the title then

That's why the correction was needed.

@DuncinToffee

So, form a new party called Star Trek.

Include in the manifesto that the Star Trek Enterprise has been to future and taken videos which prove:

The existing 27 EU members have become the 27 largest economies in the World.

If anyone in China, India or the US wants to sneeze or go to the toilet, they must first seek permission from Brussels.

One Euro = US$10,000.

UK no longer exists as everyone died from starvation.

The World only speaks one language, French.

All Russians committed suicide as instructed by the EU.

Globe still spouting complete twaddle and understands NOTHING itself.
Maybe Globe should be sent to 'outer space' to do it's research as at least we wouldn't hear the complete drivel.

Where was it mentioned about pulling ladders up?

It’s a common idiomatic phrase, known to most humanoid English speakers.

@mathanxiety mentioned the Marshall Plan and how the UK benefitted from it.

Many people don't realise that the UK got far more in Marshall Aid than France or Germany - but rather than using it to rebuild its infrastructure (as it was supposed to be ), wasted it trying to hold onto its empire . Plus the vast majority of what the UK got was in the form of grants rather than loans

This article (albeit 13 years old) likens wasting the Marshall Aid money to the way that the UK frittered away the North Sea oil revenues "as a general subsidy" in the 1980s (Compare and contrast with Norway who used their North Sea oil dividend to set up a Sovereign Wealth Fund and now have the largest SWF in the world )

https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/modern/marshall_01.shtmll*

Are you quite alright? <head tilt> Maybe you should have a lie down. Or read the article before commenting.

I was going to say 'don't give up your day job Globe' but then I remembered this is Globe's day job

Many people don't realise that the UK got far more in Marshall Aid than France or Germany - but rather than using it to rebuild its infrastructure (as it was supposed to be ), wasted it trying to hold onto its empire

Indeed so. A German friend said to me that they had had Marshall Aid and rebuilt the (W) German economy but that Britain wasn't able to rebuild because they didn't have Marshall Aid. I told her that on the contrary, we had more than Germany but wasted it attempting to hang on to our Empire..

The World only speaks one language, French.

Don't play counterfactuals - they rarely work.

However, in the unlikely event that everything else in history did pan out differently, I submit Spanish (or some form thereof) would have been the world language.

Followed by English 😀.

Since you clearly have the hump about contributing to Irish prosperity, what was stopping the UK getting its house in order then?

Ireland was able to build the foundation from which to become the net contributor it now is thanks to the vision of politicians in Ireland and Europe in the 60s and 70s.

You seem to have no concept whatsoever of the concept of a rising tide lifting all boats, in other words, investing in your future markets to make it possible for them to buy your products. Could many Irish people of the 1960s afford high quality German home appliances or cars? Can they afford these items now?

@mathanxiety

what was stopping the UK getting its house in order then

Playing follow the leader when the US goes to war.
Paying 8 million per day for free hotels for foreigners whilst UK nationals. struggle with cost of living.
MPs spending three years attempting to overturn the 2016 referendum result.

You seem to have no concept whatsoever of the concept of a rising tide lifting all boats

Take a look at

ARE RISING SEA LEVELS A DANGER - Search (bing.com)

Rising sea levels can be dangerous

Could many Irish people of the 1960s afford high quality German home appliances or cars? Can they afford these items now?

Neither my grandparents or parents could not afford any of those things in the 1960s.

That people have them now is more likely down to increased debt on loans and credit cards as opposed to owning them outright. Credit cards did not exist in the 1960s and loans were more strictly controlled.

Today it is too easy for people to borrow which creates the illusion of increased wealth.

Oh Globe, your A isn't very I lately, is it? Maybe look up the meaning of the word 'metaphor '. 😂

@pointythings

A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes an object or action in a way that isn’t literally true

I trust people can see why I am sceptical of AI "taking our jobs".

So far, we've had to invent jobs for AI to steal. The headline "Influencers to be replaced by AI" doesn't fill me with dread.