Peppen

Aren't we doing the same to them, though in a more technologically advanced manner?

Why? Of course the world would be better for us, if they'd leave us alone, but I don't agree to killing without a 'fair' trial. Maybe I'm naive and a romantic, but if you believe we should just walk into countries whom we consider extreme and kill them until their ideals don't exist anymore, then we're every bit as bad as what we're trying to destroy. You do realize that the Iranian Revolution was initiated by the CIA, right?

How would you do this? It is extremely difficult to kill an ideal or line of thought, and even more so the extreme ones. The Iranian Revolution was needed too. *sarcasm*

But that's not likely to happen anytime soon now is it? You can't force change on Afghanistan or any other Middle Eastern state for that matter. The western societies can't simply deploy troops in foreign countries and expect the native populations to accept and adopt democracy.

Not saying it's a reasonable way to negotiate.

It's a strategy to negotiate.

The debate of multi ethnicities is fuming here as of now. To add to the growing interests, the Danish National Party (nationalism, patriotism and slight racism) has never been bigger than it is now. It currently has 22% of the combined votes. That's a fairly large chunk. But not only that, the mentality towards immigrants has also changed a lot. When the Soviet Union occupied Hungary, loads of people immigrated to Denmark (I believe it was 1958-59), and they were treated like heroes, because they fought back the Soviets. They were housed, offered jobs and the integration into the Danish society was a resounding success. Now however, people have changed their views on immigration. A lot of the right wing parties, as of now, wants to refuse to adhere international conventions of immigration policies. They want to take away their right to vote, cut social benefits and increase the punishment for crime. People with a foreign surnames are being turned down, merely because of the fact that they are not natives. That's not blunt nationalism or patriotism, that's pure discrimination.I have friends from various different cultures, and of course some of them don't quite contribute to society as an individual. But the latest studies show that immigrant females right now have as high an educational rate as native Danish females. The system however seems to fail to address the males. I concur, though. It's an interesting debate, and people will probably never agree. I like you despise nationalism, and think it's often being used as an excuse to act as a complete ignorant.

Oh, cheers mate. I don't intend to insult anyone. Everyone is welcome to "donate" their input to the discussion, in politics there's rarely something that's wrong or right. Yup, sadly, they'll always be remembered as that. Let's end this post with a quote from Orwell, shall we? "'Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past."

Social democrats and worker unions have played an IMMENSE part in creating and sustaining the welfare systems we have in Denmark. Without them, there'd probably still be an incredible amount of exploiting happening every single day. They made sure we were granted a social safety net including benefits like: - Free health care for everyone. - Free education - Free economical support through education (like £200-800 per month in benefits) - As student you can save 50% on public transportation - Unemployment benefits. - Massive investments in public transportation (the government has just published a plan in which they'll spend 34 billion DKK (£4 billion)) - Loads of other social benefits, such as care takers, economical support for kindergarten etc. All these social reforms and benefits were not created by letting the multinational, nor the national companies run the show. They were implemented due to hard work and strikes from the public, and I hope that a a social security like this will once be normal around the world. Regarding immigrants, I am divided. On one side, I can see why they interfere with our society, but on the other hand they bring a lot too, and I am pro a multicultural society. So can't really agree with you on that one mate

Mate, I wasn't trying to discredit your country's history at all. Denmark was occupied by the Germans too, and my Grandma even gave eggs, bread and meat to the soldiers. I really believe you, when you tell stories of suffering and despise. I'm not trying to change that. I am merely discussing whether or not the Soviet Union was in fact communist or not. Not that it matters that much, when I hear stories like that. Humankind can be so cruel.

Actually, I am quite against the current government, but alright, here goes mate Currently, the government consists of three parties: "The Social democrats", "The Socialist People's Party" and the "Central Left Party". In Denmark we have a one chamber system, in which you have to control a certain amount of mandates (91 or something). The three parties don't, so they are being supported by the ultra-left party, former DKP (Danish Communist Party). However, right now they are pushing towards the middle, implementing loads of right wing reforms and policies, such as lowering the SU (Education Governmental Support) and budget cuts. Many socialists are actually taking great offense because of this, and the former biggest party in Denmark (Social Democrats) are now below 15% in opinion polls compared to 30-40% 5-10 years ago. The ultra left wing party though has seen an immense increase in popularity. They have gone from about 3-4% to 12-13% of the total votes. That's mainly due to the other left wing parties moving towards the middle, and I can understand that. They continued the direction of the former liberal government and has decreased social benefits to "utilize" private companies and decrease the taxes. Regarding the communist label of Soviet Russia, you have to put things into perspective. If I call myself a goat, I'll still be a human, won't I? So if I proclaim that I am a socialist, and I go about liberal policies, and abandon my original ideology (communism/socialism), am I still a communist then? No. Stalin was a dictator. He was not a communist, because if a state is 100% communist, there would be no government, no dictators, no rulers, no oligarchy, nothing. The resources would be entirely managed by the workers, and the means of production would be in the control of the "people". Of course you can disagree with this, but that is essentially the basic factors of communism. There are loads of different variations though. I agree with you, the Soviet Union was no better than fascism. But true communism has never been applied to any state in the world. Bolshevism, collectivism, Leninism are all variations of Marxism (socialism), but they have been only existed as a transitional ideology, while eventually turning into something else. Regarding your nation, of course you can relate to the times of occupation. But my point was, if you can relate to a period in the past of your country, how can Rmpr not relate to the situation of people less fortunate than him? Of course he can, and of course you can, mate.

Not meaning any harm, but I'm assuming you are talking about the Soviet Union invading Estonia? But the thing is, they weren't a communist, nor a socialist government or regime. They were Stalinist, and there's a huge difference. And unless you were born, and lived under the occupation, your argument about Rmpr doesn't make much sense. Brazil has, as far as I know, suffered from poverty from ages due to Imperialism which has certain connections to capitalism. Your economical status doesn't necessarily change your objectivity or tamper your knowledge. Goes for poor people too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_criticism Read on.

One flaw with your arguments.. If you claim that rich people are deluded in terms of understanding the situation of the poor, how are you able to know whether or not Chavez did any good and your conclusions are the sole truth? I'm not saying Chavez was a saint, but he did do better than so many others.

Yes, you're absolutely right. When the lower and middle classes get fed up with the ruling body, and revolts, only to turn their state into yet another totalitarian regime, it is quite obvious that SOMETHING is wrong. To claim that the Soviet Union was indeed socialist though, is horribly wrong. It was a simple dictatorship, covered up with vague Stalinist elements. To me, or at least in Denmark, ideologies seem to have played their role. Of course it is not the same around the globe, but these ideologies were invented in a whole different generation. Poverty was a much bigger issue (still is, but less), a much smaller - or non existent middle class and no social safety nets. In Denmark the citizens pay taxes according to their income. Granted, it still needs optimizing, but it's somewhat fair. Exploits of the systems still takes place, but to endorse ideals and thoughts which dates back to +100 years ago, would not do any good in my humble opinion. The parties in Denmark have all gone towards the middle practicing a sort of consensus policy where either party, even divided by wing, color, ideals, can work out an agreement.

Regarding "Socialism" in the USSR, it was never truly socialism. It was a dictatorship like so many other regimes, claiming to be socialist. Think about it. It is SO easy to abuse the ideals of socialism, the mere beautiful thought of equality and prosper for everyone, of course poor people would contribute to a revolution to end their sufferings. "Since 1930 I had seen little evidence that the USSR was progressing towards anything that one could truly call Socialism. On the contrary, I was struck by clear signs of its transformation into a hierarchical society, in which the rulers have no more reason to give up their power than any other ruling class. Moreover, the workers and intelligentsia in a country like England cannot understand that the USSR of today is altogether different from what it was in 1917. It is partly that they do not want to understand (i.e. they want to believe that, somewhere, a really Socialist country does actually exist), and partly that, being accustomed to comparative freedom and moderation in public life, totalitarianism is completely incomprehensible to them." "In my opinion, nothing has contributed so much to the corruption of the original idea of socialism as the belief that Russia is a socialist country and that every act of its rulers must be excused, if not imitated." - George Orwell. Although being a self proclaimed socialist/communist he had some very interesting views regarding ideology. Granted, I'm a huge fan of his works, but I still find my self agreeing to most of his observations and specially the notion of social class structures.

Prior proper preparation prevents piss poor performance. Gentlemen, we have Rafa.

Got a link, mate? Massively appreciated!

2-0

Still 100 % win ratio when I'm watching Chelsea live!!! You can thank me by giving me all ya likes, boys! Nah, seriously though. My first match ever on Stamford Bridge. Even met Oriol Romeu!!!! Great with a win, thought we could have bagged it earlier, Oscar played really well and should have had 1 or 2 to his name. Great atmosphere, loved it when Torres came on and I said (maybe too loud): "Oh, fuck, NOT TORRES!" And some chap at my side starting laughing and we talked about how shit he was, and then his first touch of the game was the worst touch of the game! A lot of Mourinho chanting and anti-Rafa chants. Chelsea FC, this will not be my last time visiting. Btw, London traffics are a nightmare!!!!!!

In London. My first game at Stamford Bridge, EVER! Excited for the game, hell yeah! Worried about yet ANOTHER disappointing result? Unfortunately, yes. Been in London the last 2 days, and thought I'd like to share my thoughts on it as a whole. Bare in mind that these are my thoughts and should not be considered facts. CITY LIFE: SO MANY PEOPLE. That's what you can expect really. It's a metropolis in Europe and attracts millions of tourists every year. Liverpool Street Station and the areas in walking distance are crowded by businesses and corporate buildings and personnel. Loads of restaurants, but you have to walk quite a long way (or grab a bus/coach) to reach any decent pubs or traditional bars. Many "mainstream" monuments, but also great opportunities to go off course and omit the large group of Asian tourists (no harm intended), which can be rather annoying. People: The most polite country I've been in to date. Everyone is so helpful, and if there's an issue, they won't stop till it's solved and they feel they've apologized enough times. At the same time, however, it was funny to watch the "locals" in the middle of London. They would simply walk across the road, even if the light was red. It was easy to spot the tourists amongst the London citizens as they would simply wait for the lights to turn green. Stamford Bridge Tour: Huge experience. Can't wait till tomorrow. One of the guides even made a slight hint to me. Talked to the guide about the recent managers, and future ones. He said that he was fairly certain the successor of Rafa would be "A special one". Take that as you will. Also, a funny side note. Asian Manchester United fans were present. Their favorite player: Torres. My reaction: Vomit. At the end we get the opportunity to buy merchandise from the Megastore - They purchase a total of 20 shirts with Torres on the back - My reaction: More vomit. TL;DR = CAN'T WAIT FOR TOMORROW - GO CHELSEA!!!!!

Fuck off Rafa and Torres. Just fuck off, please.

He is having a GREAT game!!!! Deserves another goal, surely!

Didn't Cahill also name his child Leo?

I personally don't think we need him. He's a great prospect, but I feel Oscar has a higher ceiling and so does KDB. He'd be a great addition, for sure, but in the Danish National team he hasn't exactly been the star he was being hyped to be. Of course he's young, and will be a great player in the future, but in my opinion he'll go to a Spanish club instead of the BPL. My cousin actually knows Christian's parents, and have talked to him on several occasions. Might ask him for some insider knowledge lol