Originally posted by demaw1
To say I have no Idea, or little knowledge, of how other countries came to be, is again intelligently dishonest. I recieve knowledge of europe in the same way you recieve knowledge of america.I will put my history education up against yours any time.
Bollocks. You've never been here. Have you
ever left the US? Maybe you don't have enough freedom to do that.
I have lived in America, and been to about 41 states. I picked up quite a bit of civil war history on visits to Stone Mountain,GA and Charleston,SC. Not saying I'm an expert. Where do you learn your European history? I'd hazard a guess and say random Google searches for troll bait. I've already commented on your spelling, which would be much better if you read quality history books - assuming you learned from them. Perhaps you do read them, and learn nothing...
Magna Carta was in the time of King John, 1215 - and I don't mean 15 minutes after noon. Of course it was an important event, but we don't think about it on a daily basis the way you think of Thomas Jefferson every time you see a gun.
Yes I do believe we have more freedom than you ,only because I believe we have more of a chance of keeping it than you do. The fact is , you can not stop your gov from doing anything it wants to when it wants to. Our gov. has to stop and think first , simply because we are armed. Does that mean it is written in stone that we would prevail? No it doesnt,but like our fore fathers I would rather die taking a few with me, than live in bondage.
That one paragraph encapsulates your naivety. There's no way that scenario is ever going to be played out, and I think you know it.
The fact is , you can not stop your gov from doing anything it wants to when it wants to.
Taking this sentence in isolation, and it's bollocks! Didn't you read what I said earlier? No, clearly not.
Very well, I will repeat.
Do you remember who Margaret Thatcher was? She was Prime Minister of Britain 1979-1990, a period which completely overlapped the Reagan presidency. And the two of them were very good friends. MT had great power, and won three election victories, providing her with an unassailable position in the House of Commons. Under her premiership, the trade unionists "quivered under their bunks", to coin a Lazsism. The era of industrial disputes and stoppages was ended under her iron rule. Indeed, she became known as the Iron Lady in British politics. Under her rule, the cloth cap era came to a close, and industrial dinosaurs that did little more than soak up taxpayers' money were laid to rest. She eschewed the erstwhile punitive income taxes established by Labour - 83%, plus a 15% investment income surcharge!
Under MT, IIS was abolished, and the top rate of income tax reduced by more than half to 40%. Whole industries were privatised and given a new lease of life, eg. Jaguar Cars having been freed from union shackles had half the work force but produced more cars than before, and they were much better cars than before. She also decided wisely that governments should not be in the business of running airlines, and so British Airways (which had lost hundreds of millions of £ while under state control) was privatised, and went on to become the most profitable airline in the world. There's more, but you get the picture.
But in 1989, she went too far with her reforms, and introduced the Community Charge (nicknamed the Poll Tax after a similar tax in 1381) as a means of collecting money for local services, to replace the old Rates system. There was uproar and outrage. There were demonstrations in the streets, and votes against the Government in local and by-elections. MT's own ministers could see the writing on the wall, and one rose up to declare that MT's huge achievements were best protected under the premiership of someone else. There was a leadsership contest, and MT lost. She had to suffer the ignominy of being driven to Buckingham Palace to tender her resignation to HM The Queen, and of being driven away in a different car, as she was no longer entitled to use the prime ministerial limousine. For some BBC archive material on the whole debacle, click
here. For an account of the original 1381 Peasants' Revolt:
http://www.britannia.com/history/articles/peasantsrevolt.htmlNow Demaw, I hope you might learn a few things from this account. Let me bullet point them for you.
- Britain is not a totalitarian state.
- No-one has absolute power.
- The British public IS allowed the freedom to make peaceful demonstrations, and can speak out against the government.
- People are allowed to drive past a group of demonstrators and honk their car horns in support, without being tasered by the police.
- MT was brought down as a result of public protest and outrage, and the realisation of ministers that she could not be allowed to continue.
I'll post all this again next week, as clearly it will take you several readings to assimilate.
Damn shame about Maggie; I liked her.
