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I dont know how to think of the EU. I think the US government is sick, but the EU is new and needs to be a benefit for it to survive. My assumption is that th

I dont know how to think of the EU. I think the US government is sick, but the EU is new and needs to be a benefit for it to survive. My assumption is that they are entirely incentivized by niche groups in each country that are pushing for reform to help their own goals. I dont see how many of their policies are beneficial to the masses.

jonballant 9y ago
The biggest incentive for them to work together rather than pushing for reforms specific to an individual country is to match the power of the US government on the world stage. This was one of the main reasons for the creation of the EU to begin with, to compete with the US. As powerful as a strong economic country like Germany can become, they still pale in comparison in size to the US. Working together cohesively with other EU nations could create a superpower to rival China, USA, Japan, etc.
TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
Why do you think the US government is sick? It's certainly not perfect, but would you really prefer any previous or existing government over what we have?
- mkirklions 9y ago
  Every country over a long enough time-span becomes sick and corrupt IMO. I think when you are the world's only superpower, the worst of the world has gotten involved in the US's affairs. Prior to my birth, the president's role was limited and congress wasnt as paid for by lobbyists.
  - TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
    I'm not an expert on history, but I don't think that holds true, at least based on my limited knowledge. As I understand it, we've always had a government partially beholden to certain large interests, but it's offset by having to maintain some level of restraint on behalf the public interest. If we look back at our government's founding, we have large interest groups pushing to maintain horrible things such as slavery. But eventually we moved past that. I won't claim that things couldn't be better; we certainly have a lot of room for improvement. But I don't think we're doing as poorly as many people would like to believe.
- namlem 9y ago
  Are you kidding? I would jump at the chance to implement New Zealand's system in the US and throw ours in the trash where it belongs.
  - TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
    No, I'm quite serious. Can you explain why you think that? What aspects of New Zealand's government do you favor over the US? And to maintain a balanced view, are there any aspects of it that you'd criticize?
    - namlem 9y ago
      New Zealand has mixed member proportional representation, which is explained well in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0I-sdoSXU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0I-sdoSXU The US's political system is extremely antiquated, and is not at all appropriate for a post-industrial economy. We do have a few nice things though, like a very strong protection for speech. Arguably too strong right now though, as it gives corporations nearly unlimited rights to influence elections.

jonballant 9y ago

The biggest incentive for them to work together rather than pushing for reforms specific to an individual country is to match the power of the US government on the world stage. This was one of the main reasons for the creation of the EU to begin with, to compete with the US. As powerful as a strong economic country like Germany can become, they still pale in comparison in size to the US. Working together cohesively with other EU nations could create a superpower to rival China, USA, Japan, etc.

TheAceOfHearts 9y ago

Why do you think the US government is sick? It's certainly not perfect, but would you really prefer any previous or existing government over what we have?

mkirklions 9y ago
Every country over a long enough time-span becomes sick and corrupt IMO. I think when you are the world's only superpower, the worst of the world has gotten involved in the US's affairs. Prior to my birth, the president's role was limited and congress wasnt as paid for by lobbyists.
- TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
  I'm not an expert on history, but I don't think that holds true, at least based on my limited knowledge. As I understand it, we've always had a government partially beholden to certain large interests, but it's offset by having to maintain some level of restraint on behalf the public interest. If we look back at our government's founding, we have large interest groups pushing to maintain horrible things such as slavery. But eventually we moved past that. I won't claim that things couldn't be better; we certainly have a lot of room for improvement. But I don't think we're doing as poorly as many people would like to believe.
namlem 9y ago
Are you kidding? I would jump at the chance to implement New Zealand's system in the US and throw ours in the trash where it belongs.
- TheAceOfHearts 9y ago
  No, I'm quite serious. Can you explain why you think that? What aspects of New Zealand's government do you favor over the US? And to maintain a balanced view, are there any aspects of it that you'd criticize?
  - namlem 9y ago
    New Zealand has mixed member proportional representation, which is explained well in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0I-sdoSXU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT0I-sdoSXU The US's political system is extremely antiquated, and is not at all appropriate for a post-industrial economy. We do have a few nice things though, like a very strong protection for speech. Arguably too strong right now though, as it gives corporations nearly unlimited rights to influence elections.