Europe

[andrewducker]

Nice guide to what the European Constitution fuss is all about. Breaks it down into areas and the covers why each one is important and the case for/against. I seem to be in favour for all of them bar the last.

Comments

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Why are you against the taxation provision? It seems reasonable, especially if the greatest rise is in corporate taxes, as it would reduce the ease of which corporations can dodge taxes by locating in a low-tax nation.

[andrewducker]

I'm against harmonisation of taxes. Taxes are a very useful economic control method and having the ability to alter them over smaller areas is damn handy.

I have nothing against higher taxes per se (although they're already a fair bit higher than US taxes).

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Btw, I envy you the EU charter of rights, it is vastly superior to what we have here and far more progressive than what we have. I'm especially happy to see sexual orientation and gender equality foregrounded. Also, having a right to education and similar services is vastly superior to what we have in this pathetic nation. I'm really beginning to loathe living in the US.

[andrewducker]

I saw a nice flat to rent just up the road...

[heron61.livejournal.com]

:) I suspect that it is rather difficult to immigrate to the UK. The primary virtue of Canada is that if imester can relearn enough French, getting in is trivially easy (Canadian immigration law is truly odd, being fully fluent in both French and English is worth as much as having both a job waiting for you and family there).

[andrewducker]

Canada would be too cold for me, personally. But I can certainly see the attraction.

I'm not sure how hard it is to immigrate to the UK tho. A quick scan of the legislation indicates that your best bet would be to show that you were independently supported (by your writing job in this case) and thus eligible for a visa. You then live here for 5 years and after that apply for naturalisation.

Of course, if the Canadians are going to say "You speak French, sign here and you can stay forever" that's substantially easier...

[allorin.livejournal.com]

I have friends who emigrated from the UK to Canada last year (Toronto), and they're loving every minute of it. Perhaps the grass is always greener, but they're convinced the quality of life is so much better there.

So, if it's a choice between the UK and Canada, go Canada!!! ;+)

BTW, I'm getting so fed up of living here, I give more and more thought to emigrating to the States every day! Heh.

[andrewducker]

What do you like more about the US?

Re:

[allorin.livejournal.com]

I guess in a general sense I'd rather adopt their "every man for himself" attitude, and have a fair crack at the whip, than be in the 'class' of people the government in the UK likes to anally rape at every turn.

In reality, I probably wouldn't go, as I don't really think the grass IS greener, but sometimes I like to fantasise! I certainly don't think the UK is all that wonderful compared to the States - I think we're starting to adopt the worst things to come out of America, without balancing that with any of the good things.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

If you are rich, white, Christian, and don't mind vanishing civil liberties, collapsing government services, and a wretched economy it's great.

Re:

[allorin.livejournal.com]

Feh - you just described the UK! Darn it, where can I go now.... ;+)

[andrewducker]

The UK has a still growing economy (better than pretty much any other economy in Europe), more freedom than it's ever had in the past, is more liberal than at any previous point and the last investigation into the Health Service (for example) found that the new money being pumped into it is finally having an effect, with treatment rates improving.

Which isn't to say there aren't problems, but the UK is doing altogether better than most places on the planet at the moment.