EU: Retirement Age Must Be Raised

Originally posted by Dermo

Originally posted by ProjectJimmy
Believe it or not, the government is not always out to get you, sometimes you can rely upon it to help. I know that there is a sentiment in the United States that reliance upon the government is weakness, but this is not a universally shared idea.

It can be hard at times to get this across to American folk.. the idea is the polar opposite to general US thinking.

I fear your explanation may be lost.

Well let's start with a very simple but interesting one, verbs:

The people of the United States call themselves Americans. This is primarily a name derived from the land, and is independent of governmental, religious, ethnic or cultural distinction. Therefore it can be said that the principal identifier for the peoples of the United States is locational, which makes perfect sense when the diversity of idea and people that exists in the United States. One can be from anywhere, believe anything and hail to any faith and still be of America.

The people of the United Kingdom, as a whole, refer to themselves as British. This is a name of government, for it is the name chosen for the largest island in Europe in the Acts of Union 1707. The name Great Britain for the island is Greek in origin, being called Britannia, which was also the name of the Roman province. Originally and locally the island was known as Albion.

The point of all of this is how we interact with our government through our identifiers. Americans, identify independent of government for there is cultural pride in the United States for independence and self-governance. While the British, who trace their verb back to a government union, take pride in the inclusion that such brings us. We are in this together, pulling for a better something, while Americans strike out and make a better something individually.

These kind of differences speak to greater political leanings and lead to a lot of misunderstanding between our people philosophically. It is part of why socialism is not a dirty word in the UK, but it is in the US.

[edit on 9-7-2010 by ProjectJimmy]

Originally posted by Dermo
I mean come on.. Greeks who were working for the government (1/3 of the working population) could retire at 53.. Fifty Bloody Three Years Old!!!!!! You telling me that isn't a burden on the system.. If you don't think so, take a look at the Greek and Portuguese issues.

That's a gross generalization. Greeks retire at 60, except special groups that retire earlier than 60. These special groups involve workers in construction sites, people working with dangerous chemicals, women that have an underage child and are over 50 etc.

reply to post by mnemeth1


You are wrong.

First of all, EU states are not socialist, they are sociodemocratic.

Secondly, in Sociodemocracy the people agree to share their profit for the betterment of society.

I don't buy it that the increase of life expectancy has such a big impact on the economic system.

Remember this?

The EU leaders wants EU to work for pennies so as that they can collect the big bucks.