We see the small island of Britain off the west coast of Europe posturing as global policeman vis a vis Syria/Russia/Iran/ North Korea, not sure who else?
But in their own backyard they have failed to even understand the question, let alone offer a solution on the Irish border post Brexit,
see https://www.researchgate.net/post/Endgame_will_Brexit_sink_on_the_Irish_border
I begin to wonder if there is a direct correlation between economic decline (these things go in cycles you know) and the mental capacity to understand the world around you and what you need to do to survive?
Are there experts out there who can enlighten us please?
Surely this isn't a serious question? There's so many corrupt assumptions in what you say that it bears a response but only for that! For one thing, the Brexit issue is nowhere near complete. Just be patient, for crying out loud! Of course they understand the question, but they cannot provide an answer themselves!
I am not the expert you're looking for, but I'd suspect economic decline stems from the continued use of formerly successful methods for far too long after their real full usefulness has past--certainly the case in the UK. I don't think Britain's military and political involvement in the places you mention stems from any national dementia. It's largely the remnants of past glories and the demands of Pax Americania.
It's very, very easy to pick on the UK after its long decline. But it's also pretty pointless. It now has very little real power. The EU and the Irish government are as much to blame for any border impasse. The Irish should be pushing for early direct talks with the UK on post-brexit arrangements. The EU should be granting permission for that!
It really is a bit sloppy to criticize things you don't like, just because you don't like them. I do hope some experts can rescue us from such a post-modern nightmare!
All the best
Christopher NOCK
It is hard to know where to start to describe Brexit in terms of stupidity.
Major commentators in Brexitland now talk of an 'act of self harm'.
Neither trade unions (TUC) or employers (CBI and IOD) are in favour, to put it mildly. Nor even the finance capital of the City of London lured by EU passporting that never came.
Nor is the governing party the Conservatives, the relatively sane wing of which is now realising what a disaster they are set course on with national ruin and party ruin waiting inevitably.
In the 1970s Marxist dictionaries under the entry Ruling Class would use Britain as an example of a lucid ruling class over and above particular interests of capitalist groups bringing together City, industry, and Tory players formed at Eton and committed to the long terms interests of the country.
Now it is like a Monty Python film as Life of Brian was for the life of Jesus. The give away here is the buffoon of the Foreign Secretary who can only be in office to provide laughs?
An alternative scenario is that the Russians have not just bought half of London but half of the old ruling class.
Any other plausible explanations?
As my wife said,. I do have to give you the "Life of Brian" point! And BoJo would make a good character for that!
The rest? I'll ponder.
NOCK
Yea, look. Don't blame the rulers, political and economic, quite so much. Or the Russians. The roots of this nonsense lie with Dave, and his inability to stare down the Eurosceptics. He could have done it, but chose not to, believing a vote win would strengthen his position and that of the Tories for a good long time.
Give the monkeys their say, and they'll vote for poo tossing just for the hell of it. Where is this common market? I've never been there. Never brought nuffin' from Germans or Frenchies. Didn't we win the war?...And so on.
You never hold a referendum you ain't goin' to win. Don't tar all Brits with the same brush as Dave.
NOCK
Dipstick Dave may well be the proximate cause of the Brexit Blues but I think you need to look at more long term issues as I try to do
To be clear no one is blaming the people on the ground even those who voted for Brexit who often seemed to be taking a swipe against their so called betters
Well, if the people who actually voted for brexit have nothing to account for, it's an even stranger world than I thought. I imagine your view on that matter is less complimentary than even my suggestion....
I look longterm on all things. EEC/EU nonsense has been going on all my life. Really, I'm bloody sick of it, in it's entirety. Blame de Gaual if you like, even Hitler or Stalin. The Normans. Even Genghis. Dave's just the most recent keeper of the same anti-Europa beast. And he chose to let it off the leash. Vain idiot.
NOCK
would not disagree with any of that
just from here (Ireland) we unfortunately deal with the poops created...BAD NEWS!
That's good news, I can rest a little now. Thanks!
Yea, as always the poo falls on the relatively small and weak. It's still the bloody school yard! As only one little English man, I hope Ireland gets what it needs--at least by the end of the process.
NOCK
I agree with you for sure that economic decline SHOULD sharpen the mental faculties.
Wrong decisions? Yes they happen of course. But rarely do rational people keep on digging when in a hole? That is not normal is it?
yes we must let the dust settle from a historical judgement perspective
it's just that in ireland there is chaos and decline of the economy and living standards imminent
we try to get common sense from a country famed for its common sense.....but its hard
correct but economic catastrophe....eg farming sector decimated...and a border stopping normal movement is not good for peace or peace of mind...
Since we're now a little further down the Brexit Avenue, what might a Commons majority against brexit do? (Assuming it was broad enough, and tended to bind the Government's hands). Would we here still look as collectively bonkers to you there? Would it constitute an unbelievable advance in dementia treatment? Would the British deserve any praise....?
NOCK
well....praise for people who bring about this catastrophe not really
but.....if the Lords revolt continues and parliament finds a backbone and there is acceptance that remaining in the customs union is the only way forward (certainly to sort the Irish border issue) then yes the insanity may have been contained
but then why bother to do something to be in a less good place you were in before...how would you characterise that?
Well, of course, as I told the wife at the very beginning, we'll end up in virtually the same place with it just costing us more! And you're right, it is madness. But a madness made necessary by Cameron's vitriol.
Glad you're awake at last!
NOCK
David Davis leads Britain's exit from Europe. Listen to his fine grasp of the issues and razor sharp thinking in this verbatim report from the Lords today:
Q: Would not having a hard border mean no physical infrastructure?
At the border, says Davis.
He says, whatever infrastructure there would be, it would not be wise to put it up at the actual border. (WHY WOULD THAT BE?, IS IT DIE HARD REPUBLICANS? PEOPLE CROSSING THE BORDER FOR WORK?)
He says the existing border is done by intelligence-led policing and customs arrangements. That could include automatic number plate recognition cameras, but back in Belfast.(ON THEIR WAY TO THE BORDER? HOW WOULD YOU KNOW THEY WERE HEADING SOUTH?
2h ago17:27
Davis says he cannot imagine the circumstance in which the Irish government would put up a hard border. (WHY WOULD THEY? IT'S NOT IRELAND CHANGING THE STATUS QUO)
But he says it is for both sides to take responsibility for finding a solution to the problem. (WHY? YOU WANT OUT, YOU FIX PROBLEMS)
2h ago17:27
Davis admits EU has “pushed back” on both UK proposals for future customs arrangements
Davis is summing up the government’s two proposed customs models.
The commission “pushed back on both”, he says.
They were concerned about how the “customs partnership” (the one involving the UK collecting tariffs on behalf of the EU) would be run.
And, with the highly-streamlined customs arrangement, they were concerned about the impact of exempting smaller traders.
- LAST WEEK DOWNING STREET SAID THEY 'DID NOT RECOGNISE' REPORTS ALONG THESE LINES IN THE DAILY TELEGRAPH. WHY TELL THE TRUTH NOW? MAYBE YOU'RE CLUELESS ON WHAT TO DO NEXT.
The assumption that the British displayed intelligence when powerful demonstrates a limited knowledge of history. They after all helped then develop the concept of racism-still with us. Does the USA now or in the past? Did they not buy in intelligence?
Where Brexit is concerned, will the apparent bullying, boy's own club of European administrator's lead to eventual disaster-for them at least?
The decline of mental capacities precedes every economic decline, dear Ronaldo Munck Once you stop to think in the categories of cooperation and integration, you are on the road to economic decline.
________
The main achievement of economics is that it has provided a theory of peaceful human cooperation. This is why the harbingers of violent conflict have branded it as a dismal science and why this age of wars, civil wars, and destruction has no use for it.
Ludwig Von Mises (1990). “Economic freedom and interventionism: an anthology of articles and essays”
The process engaged in by Putin and those around him was always likely to bring stagnation in Russia, accentuated by Russia's shrinking economy. I suppose Russia can be seen as a test of the claim here: its best and brightest killed by Stalin, just really for being better than him. The mobile incinerators taken by the Russian troops into Ukraine during the attack on Kyiv are thought to have been for Ukrainian leaders and intellectuals, not their own dead. The point being, the wiping out of the capable in the conquered regions remains part of control of those regions but under Stalin's massacres and the huge number killed during the 2nd WW did that affect Russian levels of intelligence?
Just a thought. In the ancient world, wealth was acquired through conquest. The movement of populations under the Assyrians is mirrored in Stalin. The Assyrians lasted 300 years before they collapsed. Is degradation of intelligence a fact of fighting endless wars as practised by Assyria. Are we seeing this in Russia, that is present and previous wars, although the best and brightest are not involved in this conflict. The USA used recruits of the lower serviceable IQ bands to fight in Vietnam, a practise which actually extended the war but preserved Trump.
UN report details summary executions and attacks on individual civilians by Russian troops in northern Ukraine from February to April
This is the UN source:
ukraine.un.org/en/224744-un-human-rights-ukraine-released-reports-treatment-prisoners-war-and-overall-human-rights.
For those who remain seduced by Putin, the site above includes most but not all verified Russian atrocities.
This Stephen references my comment above concerning Russian intended extermination of intellectuals in Ukraine. I noticed someone came on this question who is one of a numerous number who should be elsewhere and whose academic level is highly dubious.
I'm having trouble with my laptop at present so although the above is from the UN I'll have to add further info later so others can more easily trace it.
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