Who\'d be a squaddie?

[Beelzebrush]

I suppose if each constituent part of the UK wants to devolve then that should be FULLY the case. By that each individual economy should be independent and fully responsible for every aspect of their society... ie. health, education, employment etc... this should be self supporting and not based on subsidies from other parts of the UK....


I can\'t see this ever being the case as we aren\'t a large enough nation....

And... you can bet that Westminster would shaft Scotland over oil.

 

[philologus]

Originally posted by Finn:
Hmmm..

Well, it\'s got a better tune...



And there isn\'t much God in it is there..or does that come in at a later verse...?

I like it because it isn\'t called I vow to thee my Queen/King /God.

And, despite my feelings about supreme deities and monarchies..I do, truly, madly, deeply.... love my country




At least your national anthem wasn\'t written to the tune of a drinking song. English drinking song at that.

 

[finn17]

Wot!

You mean the National Anthem of Chrono-synclastic infundibulum is based on a drinking song???

I\'d have more sympathy if you didn\'t sport a joke location...always endlessly hilarious....

 

[philologus]

Ha! I really am a yank American.

 

[mud duck]

MOS (military occupational speciality)

Oh Gods, not another Tanker
Just what the world needs, another person who thinks that he is invisable, and can drive through my nicely lad minefield and though the triple-stand consintal fence, pulling it a half a mile out and making us poor little line dog roll the damned thing up.......:flame:

 

[Sand Rat]

Originally posted by sebrushworth
The USA and Australia sure are nice places, but the small populations that descend from the original native populations of those countries for the most part don\'t seem to be enjoying the benefits of that wealth.

Well, to begin with, there is no such thing as a Native American. Everyone there is an immigrant of some sort, as are most of us outside of Africa, some folks just immigrated earlier than others. Secondly, yes, there are parts of the Nations that are not enjoying the wealth of the States - then there are groups that do - both from the oil revenues generated from the lands they were stuck in and from the casino\'s they have built on their lands outside the official United States.

 

[sebrushworth]

Ok, now you\'re putting words in my mouth. I was replying to the statement that the people conquered by the British empire are/were better off than if the British empire had never existed. Obviously, many people weren\'t better off as a result of being conquered by the British, or by being conquered by any of the other European empires for that matter. And it\'s impossible to know how history would have turned out differently if the British empire had never existed. Those are my only two points, nothing else. I never implied that native americans somehow grew out of the american soil, and I know full well that all human beings originate in Africa.

I don\'t think people can be blamed for what their ancestors have done, nor do I think people should be credited for what their ancestors have done.

Oh, and I definitely think \"God save the Queen\" is inappropriate as the national anthem of a modern democracy.

 

[Avelorn]

I suggest you see the movie \"hotel Rwanda\" It\'s a great movie, and highlights the fact why there was a war between the Hutus and tutsis. And why the Tutsi minority was slaughtered.

I think there is a definite line between guilt and responsibility. Guilt is more of a moral statement. If you don\'t want to inherit the responsibility for what a nation has done you might consider if it\'s fair that you inherit the benefits gained by the same historical actions.

 

[philologus]

I work with alot of Africans who were the victims of such massacres. First hand accounts.