Re: GM suspends new truck program

On Thu, 19 Jun 2008 15:27:59 -0600, "R.J.(Bob) Evans" <bob at rjevans dot org>
wrote:

What was their major complaints? I have some internet friends from Holland. I
never discuss politics with friends so maybe they had complaints that they
never voiced but I've never heard any.


We were sitting around a campfire which they wouldn't be able to do at
home without a permit.

Same as here. It now requires a permit to even trudge out in the woods and
pick up dead wood.


They were driving a class C motorhome of a size which wouldn't exist
in Holland and which they wouldn't have been able to drive without
special licensing if it did exist.

There's that, but on the flip-side, their country is about the size of oh, New
Hampshire so maybe large MHs wouldn't fit.


We also had some long discussions about their immigration issues but
I'm not going to go there.

I'm aware of those.

I was wondering if there were actual serious issues (not to marginalize having
to have a permit for petty things like camp fires but it's unlikely that
someone will be killed by the cops over that like they might be here.) that
imperils their lives or freedoms.

I'm aware of the extreme pressure in that part of the world to conform, much
worse in Switzerland and surrounds, but present in Holland. Probably the
Germanic heritage. I figured that they might have mentioned that.


I get more than a little sick of people who go on about how wonderful
it is in Europe and how we need to copy the Europeans' example on this
or that initiative. In the first place, if its so bloody wonderful
over there then there's boats sailing from the east coast every day -
hop aboard one and emigrate. In the second place our ancestors, every
single one of them unless you have aboriginal or african blood in your
veins, escaped from Europe to the New World because they were already
sick and tired of Europe 100 or 200 years ago. We are the most
fortunate citizens on the planet by virtue of our birthplace.

In the first place, Europe today isn't the Europe of 100 years ago. For
better or worse, we mostly re-made it in our image, post-WWII. They seem to
have absorbed the best part of our culture while keeping the best of their
own. For example, the older I get the more I appreciate the French and
Italian attitudes about work - only as much as necessary to live comfortably.

In the second place, keep saying that part about being fortunate right until
the troops (in blue or green) invade your home or march down your street.

My wife worked for and I consulted to Dornier Medical Systems, a German
company that is now owned by Siemens. A whole lot of Germans came over to
work in the American division. Compared to the rigid social (NOT government)
structure in Germany, they all were giddy with the feeling of liberation. Of
course, this was nearly 30 years ago before Clinton, Reno, Waco, Ruby Ridge
and the militarization of the cops. And of course, before this vaporous,
imaginary war on terrorism.

We became friends with several of them. Being a WWII history buff, I couldn't
resist chatting with them to get the post-war German perspective. It was most
eye-opening, particularly from those old enough to recall the post-war period
and hear of the pre-war period from their parents.

Just like now in America, nobody could allow themselves to believe that
Germany was turning into a Nazi terror state, even when the writing was on the
wall and evidence laying in the streets. Hitler was the candidate who
promised ill-defined "change" (similar to one of the candidates is today) and
relief from the awful post-WWI period of shortages and hyper-inflation.
Change, any change, was welcome and so he was swept into office by a huge
margin. Nobody bothered to "look under the cover" to find out what he really
was.

Even when people started disappearing in the night, people rationalized that
away, saying how much better things were in Germany than before and anyway,
those people probably did something wrong. Even when the only thing wrong was
being a Jew, people covered their eyes and ears and went about their business,
all the while, careful not to say the wrong words for fear of being denounced.

We don't need private conversations with friends to know how the German
citizens turned away and ignored or in some cases, worked in the concentration
camps. More rationalization. It was only happening to "those people".

There is terror in America today but it isn't from those with the laundry on
their heads. It comes from the government. True, it's at a very low level at
the present but it's there. When you get pulled over for a traffic stop,
there's that germ of concern that the cop is dirty and you'll be busted on a
trumped up charge or robbed or beaten. Especially if you happen not to be
pearly white. Then, one night when you pass through Knoxville and it happens
to you, that germ turns into reality.

If a guy in government dress (cheap dark suit, etc) knocks on your door, do
you welcome a visitor or do you worry, even a little, that you've done
something wrong, even though you can't imagine what?

I've been having a long chat with a new internet friend in South Africa. I've
been intensely interested in conditions, particularly for whites, in that
country since the revolution.

He lives in a city and so his descriptions reflect that environment. He
describes a condition where most folks go about their daily affairs with
little worries but everyone goes armed just in case something happens. He
says that the legitimate authorities are mostly well-behaved and that few fear
them. There is, however, a constant and real danger. There, the enemy is well
known and easy to identify - gangs of black thugs, so-called "retribution
gangs."

In answer to my direct question, he says that nobody has any concern about
cops or the army busting in at night and hauling them away but that there is
the clear and present danger from the retribution gangs. They're the ones who
bust down doors at night. That is why everyone is armed.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about that. I think that I could handle
that kind of up-front risk much better than I could the unknown, ill-defined
and un-predictable risk our present government presents. At least I could
defend myself against the gangs. Sad state of affairs when even a relatively
lawless place like SA seems safer that the good old US of A.

But go ahead and keep believing that crap about us being so fortunate if it
makes you comfortable. Just as in hunting, unstressed game is a much easier
kill - and more tasty.

John

--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
Save a tree, kill a beaver

.

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