America vs EU?

[Drauden]

EU>US

Do you want to know why?

Proper beer.

I would beg to differ. I will NEVER discount Europe for their phenomenal beers and their long history of doing it in the traditional capacity. But the idea that "proper" beer can't be brewed in the United States is ridiculous. There are far too many variables to count that makes a particular beer what it is, but all of those variables are reproducible and have been reproduced in the United States (except for Belgian yeast strains. Monks have a lockdown on that shit).

In one of his last interviews/speeches before he died, Michael Jackson (the beer connoisseur, not the dude who wrote "Thriller") was asked a question by a smug German dude in the crowd that frenzied the audience. The question?

"Which country makes the best beer in the world right now?"

Michael Jackson responded by saying that it was the Americans. I understand that his opinion is not completely objective, but he was the LEADING beer expert in the world prior to his death. His opinion does carry a lot of weight.

EDIT: Michael Jackson was European, by the way.

As it turns out, I do prefer many European beers over their American counter-parts, but this is due to the fact that I actually do brew beer and have tasted far more varieties of beers than most can possibly fathom.

Let's also not forget that the American beer company laughing stock Big 3 (Bud, Miller, and Coors) are not REALLY American. They were founded by immigrants from Germany, Germany, and Prussia, respectively.

Europeans have their tried-and-true methods, and created the standards. American microbreweries have been more innovative in the last 20 years than Europe has over the last 300-400. There is room for both innovation and tradition, and calling one "proper" or superior makes absolutely no sense.

Nobody cares that much. Appreciate the fact that you weren't being rude or anything, but that's a massive overreaction to a very small joke.

Really, do you write this kind of thing at every small jibe that gets made?

Well, the internet IS serious business. What do you expect?
On the topic of best beer; how are you even trying to discuss this?

 

[Shycte]

Germany and Great Britain basicly running the whole thing. You get seats based on your population number you know.

We are? That's not the impression we've been getting at home. More just funding it and getting the finger back in return...

You bet your teapot you are. Germany, France and Great Britain have almost half of the seats in the parlament.

 

[Garrsus]

OK normally if i read a thread like this I'd laugh my ass off but i have seen this pic too many times please no one else post it.
also eu = usa they both have advantages and disadvantages but in the scale of things still don't mean much.(in proportion to the rest of the world.)

 

[Lord Kloo]

I have a reason for saying EU > USA.

EU is home to Scandinavia (Canada-is-America's-hat-translation: Norway, Sweden and Denmark) the countries with the most well functioning society models on the planet.

USA has also the highest annual murder rate in the world with about 11,000 deaths. In comparison, the 2nd highest annual murder rate is Germany, with 60 to 80. This alone is reason enough to never set foot in that hell hole.

How's your suicide rate going?

Assuming that this quote was directed at us Europeans then it send the question back, hows the teen-age school suicides and gun rampages going over there?

Strictly that wasn't returning the question but ya-know..

 

[Nikokvaj]

My father owns a farming company that grows Roses among other things, its been a family company for over 50 years. If we join the EU then shops will just start importing foreign Roses/products for slightly less money, and then his company as well as all of the similar companies in the country are fucked.

Well has your father ever heard of the word EXPORT. You know, the opposite of import. He could make something from that.

Of course he can, because its so cheap and easy for a small company with just a dozen or so important employees to not only export a product that can only be stored in a cool and a wet environment for a few days before it starts to wither and die to foreign countries across the ocean thousands of km away but also successfully compete with the massive foreign European companies that literally have hundreds if not thousands of workers (sarcasm). Have you seen how they work? They don't even grow their roses in greenhouses, they farm them on massive fields.

And imported products would not rule the market. Because we have grown accustomed to our own nations produce, and as it is now, most of our product is better than anything that other countries make.

This could very well be the most retarded logic ever considering that only a portion of the stuff that is now common place in Iceland is actually fully Icelandic. Yes, we make and eat out own vegetables, but that is pretty much the only thing people have become "accustomed" to having. Everything else is either imported or not necessarily better then the foreign imports.

Also, your assumption that people always buy what is better is really flawed. Most of the stuff you can buy in Bonus is of lower quality then it is in many other places, and yet a very large portion of the population shops there including my own family simple because their products are cheaper.

And I'm going to drop this word again, EXPORT!!! Farmers and Fishermen and all around produce workers would be able to export.

But in order for these people to able to "EXPORT!!!" they would have to be able to COMPETE!!! with the much larger and more massive foreign companies, which is something that they can't do.

Many people in the nearest European countries will admit that Icelandic milk, cheese and butter is quite fucking delicious.

Why? On what bases do you claim that the other European countries will be completely awed by our "awesome Icelandic milk, butter and cheese" and start to import it on a profitable scale instead of just, you know...........eating their own cheese, their own milk and their own butter that they them self's have become accustomed to just like we have in your own words become accustomed to our own milk/butter/cheese etc?

And us tapping that market could help us out a lot in the long run.

Or perhaps their much larger and more powerful enterprises will just tap into our market and harm us in the long run?

Your logic is painfully flawed and poorly thought out. Though I guess that's only to be expected from someone who accuses the rest of the country to be idiotic and uneducated about the situation (your own words) when you literally aren't old enough to vote and probably haven't even finished school yet.

I sincerely doubt that repercussions for Icelandic entry into the European Union would be that heavy. As a member of both the EFTA and the EEA Iceland is already subject to the free trade you are so dreading. All entry into the EU would mean would be that instead of simply being subject to whatever the EU decides, you would actually have a say in it.

 

[Stephanos132]

Germany and Great Britain basicly running the whole thing. You get seats based on your population number you know.

We are? That's not the impression we've been getting at home. More just funding it and getting the finger back in return...

You bet your teapot you are. Germany, France and Great Britain have almost half of the seats in the parlament.

It's population based, isn't it, so that makes sense. Whether or not that translates into actual influence remains to be seen.

Would've been nice if our lords and masters deigned to ask us if we wanted to be a part of this. Also would've been nice if the public here weren't, by and large, a bunch of apathetic slobs. C'est la vie...

 

[Shycte]

My father owns a farming company that grows Roses among other things, its been a family company for over 50 years. If we join the EU then shops will just start importing foreign Roses/products for slightly less money, and then his company as well as all of the similar companies in the country are fucked.

Well has your father ever heard of the word EXPORT. You know, the opposite of import. He could make something from that.
And imported products would not rule the market. Because we have grown accustomed to our own nations produce, and as it is now, most of our product is better than anything that other countries make.

And I'm going to drop this word again, EXPORT!!! Farmers and Fishermen and all around produce workers would be able to export. Many people in the nearest European countries will admit that Icelandic milk, cheese and butter is quite fucking delicious. And us tapping that market could help us out a lot in the long run.

Just to back you up:


Iceland is in the European Economic Area, and so while it can freely trade with the EU, it has to adopt all EU legislation related to the EU single market, except with regards to agriculture and fisheries.

But basically, joining the EU would give Iceland more political power because, with Iceland being represented on the EU council, and with Icelanders in the Commission and Parliament, Iceland will have a say on legislation which effects Iceland. Otherwise, Iceland is virtually a satellite state because it has no say on EU legislation.

Plus, considering how shaken up the Icelandic currency was after the banking crisis, joining the Eurozone might be a better idea.

Don't really know how much political influence they could get though, with Germany and Great Britain basicly running the whole thing. You get seats based on your population number you know.

This isn't entirely true, what you are referring to is the European Parliament, which functions much like the US House of Representatives.

But, like with the US, the EU also has a "Senate", the Council of the EU, which also has to ratify any treaty. This is made up of 27 seats (one per country) and passes laws by either unanimous consent or majority consent.

So, much like with the US, there are measures guaranteeing the sovereignty of smaller states.

Truer words were never spoken, but Icelands 317.000 citizens wouldn't give them much influence outside the Council. Sweden has 9 million citizens and we got like 20 seats. It aint looking good for Iceland...

 

[Razgovory]

Why does everybody connect Europe with the fucking nazzies?! I mean THERE ARE OTHER COUNTRIES in Europe, besides Germany and Itally, you know... Europe has a ton more history than the U.S. so I think comparing them would be like comparing a poorly-endowed titmouse with an f-ing eagle... (the titmouse being the U.S. and the eagle being Europe, mind you, NOT the other way around...)

Weren't there Nazis in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Spain, and Finland?

 

[Dr. Whiggs]

I have a reason for saying EU > USA.

EU is home to Scandinavia (Canada-is-America's-hat-translation: Norway, Sweden and Denmark) the countries with the most well functioning society models on the planet.

USA has also the highest annual murder rate in the world with about 11,000 deaths. In comparison, the 2nd highest annual murder rate is Germany, with 60 to 80. This alone is reason enough to never set foot in that hell hole.

How's your suicide rate going?

Assuming that this quote was directed at us Europeans then it send the question back, hows the teen-age school suicides and gun rampages going over there?

Strictly that wasn't returning the question but ya-know..

D'oh!

Whoops!

Oh, and you were completely fucking wrong about the murder rates.

 

[Angryman101]

Now, the main difference is: Europe is not a country. Sure all the states of the USA are different, the people as much as the landscape, but it is still one large country. Cross the border between 2 two seemingly very identical countries (say Germany and the Netherlands) and after a short while you will see differences.
Go to Italy, just a bit to the south of Germany, and it is practically another world. Even more apparent when you move east.

As for a vs... both have their drawbacks and advantages, but the main thing that makes me happy as a european is that people like Rush Limbaugh are FAR less popular, even though there's worrying increase in right-wing politics in almost every country...

I worry for my Europe. We could have become a nice beacon in the world. We didn't, and what we are now is just another bunch of people with nicer living conditions than others in the world.

In the capitalist system, generally in times of relative economic prosperity, people tend to shift towards the right because they promise more money and less taxes for the average voter, while the left tends to push forward more broad (and needed) social change, which invariably leads to higher taxes and less stability. It's unfortunate, but as long as the system stays how it is, that's how things will be.

I have a reason for saying EU > USA.

EU is home to Scandinavia (Canada-is-America's-hat-translation: Norway, Sweden and Denmark) the countries with the most well functioning society models on the planet.

USA has also the highest annual murder rate in the world with about 11,000 deaths. In comparison, the 2nd highest annual murder rate is Germany, with 60 to 80. This alone is reason enough to never set foot in that hell hole.

Two out of three of those countries has a higher suicide rate than the U.S. The third is a mere 2 spots behind. I wonder what that says about those countries? Hum...

 

[C95J]

I've seen this before, it makes me chuckle a bit as well.

 

[Nikokvaj]

My father owns a farming company that grows Roses among other things, its been a family company for over 50 years. If we join the EU then shops will just start importing foreign Roses/products for slightly less money, and then his company as well as all of the similar companies in the country are fucked.

Well has your father ever heard of the word EXPORT. You know, the opposite of import. He could make something from that.
And imported products would not rule the market. Because we have grown accustomed to our own nations produce, and as it is now, most of our product is better than anything that other countries make.

And I'm going to drop this word again, EXPORT!!! Farmers and Fishermen and all around produce workers would be able to export. Many people in the nearest European countries will admit that Icelandic milk, cheese and butter is quite fucking delicious. And us tapping that market could help us out a lot in the long run.

Just to back you up:


Iceland is in the European Economic Area, and so while it can freely trade with the EU, it has to adopt all EU legislation related to the EU single market, except with regards to agriculture and fisheries.

But basically, joining the EU would give Iceland more political power because, with Iceland being represented on the EU council, and with Icelanders in the Commission and Parliament, Iceland will have a say on legislation which effects Iceland. Otherwise, Iceland is virtually a satellite state because it has no say on EU legislation.

Plus, considering how shaken up the Icelandic currency was after the banking crisis, joining the Eurozone might be a better idea.

Don't really know how much political influence they could get though, with Germany and Great Britain basicly running the whole thing. You get seats based on your population number you know.

This isn't entirely true, what you are referring to is the European Parliament, which functions much like the US House of Representatives.

But, like with the US, the EU also has a "Senate", the Council of the EU, which also has to ratify any treaty. This is made up of 27 seats (one per country) and passes laws by either unanimous consent or majority consent.

So, much like with the US, there are measures guaranteeing the sovereignty of smaller states.

Truer words were never spoken, but Icelands 317.000 citizens wouldn't give them much influence outside the Council. Sweden has 9 million citizens and we got like 20 seats. It aint looking good for Iceland...

Well this is true, but as long as Iceland's needs aren't entirely unique, they shouldn't feel left out, since both the Council and the Commission are one country - one vote.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ordinary_legislative_procedure.svg

As this beautiful little flowchart (Wikipedia, I know) shows, all it takes is for four countries to turn down a treaty, and it goes back to the drawing board.

 

[MrTub]

USA has also the highest annual murder rate in the world with about 11,000 deaths. In comparison, the 2nd highest annual murder rate is Germany, with 60 to 80. This alone is reason enough to never set foot in that hell hole.

Two out of three of those countries has a higher suicide rate than the U.S. The third is a mere 2 spots behind. I wonder what that says about those countries? Hum...

Can you please link your source?

 

[JaymesFogarty]

What a good response! I still don't understand how Americans can find the English, (sophisticated, obviously) accent in any way amusing. Does it show a lack of confidence in yourself, to find a well-pronounced speaker amusing?

It's not so much amusing as it is interesting. We are surrounded by American accents in every day life, TV, etc. so hearing something different sounds cool and somewhat amusing. We're just not use to your accents.

OT:Why is the single country of the US being compared to the continent of Europe? Really. And it's not like we don't know how this will end. Europeans will tell us how we're all fat, rude, arrogant, gun obsessed losers who can't spell, have a horrible accent, and live in a war zone, and Americans wil attempt to defend themselves while probably offending several countries and proving to a certain degree that they are very patriotic. Comments about how stupid this all is will be made.

One thing I always wonder about is how no one ever seems to comment on how we all have different cultures. Things and actions that are acceptible in one country are repulsive in anouther. We all also have completly different governments. Shouldn't that make fairly judging countries against one anouther harder and basically useless? Not that it matters, since it's more interesting to just bash each other.

I can understand that. Stephen Fry is certainly something interesting, after listening to American accents pretty much exclusively for your life. Also, just so you know, North America is a continent, is it not? The US itself is a Republic.
Interesting poll: Apparently, less than 8% of Americans have even left the state they grew up in. I'm not sure were I read that from, but I'm definitely sure as to the accuracy of it. You people mostly live rather closeted lives, although all the Americans I know have obviously been to the UK at least once.

 

[Giest4life]

France also gave your precious "constitution." Ever heard of a little book called The Spirit of Laws ?

Nope. You expect me to have considering I went through US schooling which is more about making sure everyone feels special and passes instead of trying to at least get people to use real words and proper grammer?

US eductation is non-existent. But what rulers would want their citizens to know their rights? If they know their rights, how can they take them away?

Having studying through two forms of educations systems: the Matriculation (British) and the American High School, I can assure you that they each have their equal share of idiots.

 

[Nikokvaj]

joining the EU would give Iceland more political power because, with Iceland being represented on the EU council, and with Icelanders in the Commission and Parliament, Iceland will have a say on legislation which effects Iceland.

LOL!

Have you any idea how much power Iceland would have when it comes to decision making within the EU?

1% out of hundred.

No, that isn't even a fake statistic. Google it if you want to.

1 out of 27 to be precise, which isn't bad. Besides, it's not like the situation for the Icelandic economy is unique, I'm sure you could find plenty of countries in the EU with a very similar economy. Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands are also small but relatively export heavy countries with a welfare state similar to that of Iceland, surely they could agree on a lot of things, forming a voting base powerful enough to stop any procedures that would be against their interest.

 

[Giest4life]

France also gave your precious "constitution." Ever heard of a little book called The Spirit of Laws ?

Shame France didn't follow it's own advice and develop a lasting system of Laws.

It's neither a shame nor is it any surprise.
Did Athens follow the advice of Socrates?

 

[Dr. Whiggs]

USA has also the highest annual murder rate in the world with about 11,000 deaths. In comparison, the 2nd highest annual murder rate is Germany, with 60 to 80. This alone is reason enough to never set foot in that hell hole.

Two out of three of those countries has a higher suicide rate than the U.S. The third is a mere 2 spots behind. I wonder what that says about those countries? Hum...

Can you please link your source?

Wakka wakka!

 

[Shycte]

joining the EU would give Iceland more political power because, with Iceland being represented on the EU council, and with Icelanders in the Commission and Parliament, Iceland will have a say on legislation which effects Iceland.

LOL!

Have you any idea how much power Iceland would have when it comes to decision making within the EU?

1% out of hundred.

No, that isn't even a fake statistic. Google it if you want to.

EDIT: Actually, it is possible that it might be slightly higher, something like 1-5% out of hundred, but it would still make our voice in the EU laughably irelevant.

Just have to point out that % actully meants "fraction out of hundred", so the % mark is enough really.

Other then that, be reminded that the Coucil has one seat per state.

 

[Angryman101]

USA has also the highest annual murder rate in the world with about 11,000 deaths. In comparison, the 2nd highest annual murder rate is Germany, with 60 to 80. This alone is reason enough to never set foot in that hell hole.

Two out of three of those countries has a higher suicide rate than the U.S. The third is a mere 2 spots behind. I wonder what that says about those countries? Hum...

Can you please link your source?

Google it, guy.