America vs EU?

[Nikokvaj]

Norway is not EU. But I do agree with you otherwise.

I have been using the shortened form of "Europe" i.e. "EU" before the inception of the European Union, which - if we get technical about it, is the "E.U." not the "EU".

EU>US

Do you want to know why?

Proper beer.

You call warm beer proper? We laugh at you! Ha-ha-ha!

I think that's more of a british thing, rather then european.
I might be wrong tho, not much of a beer expert.

This.

The top three beer countries in Europe, and by extension the world are;

#1. Belgium... For the best dark beer
#2. Ireland... For the runner up dark beer
#3. Czech republic... For the best (and original) pilsner, aka light beer.

And invariably most European beer brands across the continent are good beers overall.

Denmark has Carlsberg, Germany has a crapton of which probably Warsteiner is the most delicious, Spain has Coroña, Norway has E.C. Dahls and Russia has Stary Melnik.

The only European country to produce mostly sub-par beer IMO, is Poland. Żywiec?? What were you thinking, Poland? PISSWASSER!

If you want to try a good Polish beer, you should try the Piast. That's gotta be one of the best brands of beer I've ever tasted

 

[Madara XIII]

One thing you have to give America the advantage over is Natrual Wonders. America truely is a beautiful country, just don't screw it up.

LOL a little too late on that statement XD

Next stop a re-enactment of the fall of the Roman Empire for me and wonderful America!!

 

[Snake Plissken]

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.

 

[Drauden]

France saved the US in our Revolutionary War, but we saved France from the Germans twice.
France owes us a save in WWIII. We are about even with England, killed each other twice but saved each other twice (The RAF saved England, which saved us from fighting the Nazi's alone but we showed up and tag-teamed them Germans).

But Europe does have Rome and Greece, the 2 best historical places.

I suppose everyone, including the US, owes Russia then? Or the Soviet Union. People always seem to forget about our commie-friends.

 

[Razgovory]

It's funny how many people still think that America actually saved any country involved in ww2. No, they really didn't, the whole reason we won WW2 was thanks to Russia so everyone can just stop saying America saved the world from nazism.

The Russians weren't exactly doing well before Lend Lease.

 

[Razgovory]

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.

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

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. I 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?

EDIT:

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?

Don't qoute me on this, but I'd expect it to be quite low. Scandinavian countries are apparently quite happy nations according to some statistics that I can't remember.

 

[Lord Kloo]

You know although I'm strictly 'Conservative English' and pro British I don't really care that much

America may have more idiots, fascists, more idiots, etc. Europe has a bunch of superior thinking twats and health and safety executives.. So to conclude neither EU or USA is better they shall both submit to the glorious future of communism.. no don't like them either but hey its the future..

OT: Overall humanity is so wrong in some many senses that it should just be put down altogether..

 

[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.

 

[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...