I tend to take the French and German side over all of this and very definitely oppose Blair.
The thing is if you invest in free education, there is less crime, less racism, less bigotry and more balance.
Now the area I live in once had a terrific education system in the fifties and sixties. We had the best education system in Europe and better than the U.S., for that matter. All that has gone. Now we have large groups of kids who are semi-literate, don't go in for sports and hang around the streets smoking. Not enough money has been invested in their future and education so they drift into crime.
With the drift towards crime, Blair helps these people by locking them up in under-funded prisons. Blair spends thousands of pounds of taxpayers money on prisons and that's a fact. Blair has put more people in prison than Thatcher ever did. Most of these folks are working class which is why Krushchev would have made mincemeat of Blair if he was still around.
The French believe high social security and protection from poverty plus free education will keep crime lower. Crime in France is way lower than in the U.K. France spends far less on prisons than in the U.K. and invests more in skills for the people or support for the unemployed.
The downside is that the French economy grows less quickly than the U.S. and life in France is slower and calmer. So big business struggles more in France than it does in the U.S. or China.
But let me relate what Americans who lived in France tell me: They say the French live far better, have more holiday time, have a better diet and crime is far lower.
So, do you want to live well and maybe have less economic expansion or do you prefer a faster growing economy but with less socialism and more inequality? There is no ideal solution but I would definitely prefer the French way of life to our system in the U.K.
The thing is if you invest in free education, there is less crime, less racism, less bigotry and more balance.
Now the area I live in once had a terrific education system in the fifties and sixties. We had the best education system in Europe and better than the U.S., for that matter. All that has gone. Now we have large groups of kids who are semi-literate, don't go in for sports and hang around the streets smoking. Not enough money has been invested in their future and education so they drift into crime.
With the drift towards crime, Blair helps these people by locking them up in under-funded prisons. Blair spends thousands of pounds of taxpayers money on prisons and that's a fact. Blair has put more people in prison than Thatcher ever did. Most of these folks are working class which is why Krushchev would have made mincemeat of Blair if he was still around.
The French believe high social security and protection from poverty plus free education will keep crime lower. Crime in France is way lower than in the U.K. France spends far less on prisons than in the U.K. and invests more in skills for the people or support for the unemployed.
The downside is that the French economy grows less quickly than the U.S. and life in France is slower and calmer. So big business struggles more in France than it does in the U.S. or China.
But let me relate what Americans who lived in France tell me: They say the French live far better, have more holiday time, have a better diet and crime is far lower.
So, do you want to live well and maybe have less economic expansion or do you prefer a faster growing economy but with less socialism and more inequality? There is no ideal solution but I would definitely prefer the French way of life to our system in the U.K.
wolfix said:
