December 09, 2010
When Entitlement Socialism Fails...
Expect to see this kind of behavior on a wider scale when big government entitlements fail under their own weight here, as they assuredly will in the near future.
My older, smaller SUV bears the marks and scars of age, as do I. The other day I was thinking about having these repaired, especially a broken tail light, and then thought better of it.
God, I hate what's happening.
Posted by: Bill Smith at December 10, 2010 03:06 AMRegardless of what you think of royalty or the tuition issue, it's terrible that this mob attacked this harmless elderly couple (yes, Chuck & Camilla are old fogies). That's not protesting, that's bullying.
Posted by: ammo at December 10, 2010 12:08 PMLet's drive through the protest!
What's wrong with the royal security? I can just image the prince being shocked that a bunch of lefties don't love him. He is a green prince after all.
Posted by: Simmer at December 10, 2010 12:21 PMWhen English and European socialism fails, their populations turn to nationalism, including economic nationalism. Next comes war, and after that comes America. Rinse and repeat.
Europe has been trying to commit suicide for over a century, and the U.S. keeps pulling the pistol from its temple. Now that democracy is rising elsewhere, I'd say it's time to dismiss this part of the world as a hopeless case. we'll need to prepare for tens of millions of refugees, though.
Posted by: Jeremy Abrams at December 10, 2010 12:24 PMI love that they use "anarchists" to describe people who want the government to provide free/cheap university-level education.
What a disconnect!
Posted by: Christy at December 10, 2010 12:27 PMDoes anyone have any hard numbers on how much tuition is being raised by per student?
Are they rioting in the streets, calling for revolution, attacking police officers, and even physically assaulting their monarchy over a couple thousand dollars a year? Is it even that much? Is their respect for democracy sold so cheaply?
Posted by: asdf at December 10, 2010 12:36 PMI gotta admit, they do have a point; the "students" are losing their handouts but there's still money in the country to keep the useless "royal family" in limos and have Prince Dumbo fly an army of assistants to other countries so he can lecture folks about saving the environment. But I agree, their tactics do not help their cause.
Posted by: Buck O'Fama at December 10, 2010 01:06 PMI noticed in one of the photo captions that David Gilmour's son was protesting. Aside from the fact that he looks strangely like a girl...David Gilmour's son can't afford a modest raise in fees? Seriously?
Posted by: the wolf at December 10, 2010 01:21 PMReport last night on FNC said that university tuition in GB was going from the equivalent of $4500 per year to $14500 per year. With socialism's strong social leveling streak, the students are worried that a) they won't be able to finish their degrees and b) down the road the increased cost will only reinforce the still-present British class system and limit upward mobility. Those seem like some valid points from their side, it kind of depends on the robustness of their student loan industry as to how much impact that will have on who attends university in GB in the future. If there is a guaranteed student loan program along the lines of our program, it will be cheaper for the government to guarantee those loans than simply grant the money outright.
From the government's perspective the utility of a university degree in terms of lifetime income increase far exceeds the additional $40K the students will pay for it. Yes it was cheaper before, but the government can no longer afford it, so cinch up your man-panties, decide if the additional cost is worth it and if not, do something else.
$14.5K a year is not chump change, a $10K decrease in subsidy from the government is a substantial "contribution" from university students toward reducing the budget deficit. It can be seen as a front-loaded tax, or as students being relinquished of a prior claim on OPM they never had the right to in the first place. I tend to favor the latter.
Posted by: Darren at December 10, 2010 01:21 PMI'd be pissed too. What's the point of all those high taxes if you don't get anything from it?
So they're charging more for students to attend universities. That means they're reducing the tax burden right?
No?
I foresee the Tea Party becoming far more popular over there.
Posted by: EriKZ at December 10, 2010 01:25 PM
London Metro Police obviously need training from the Oakland CA Police Department.
http://www.life.com/image/1904990
Stun grenades, Rubber bullets, "safe" "Humane" "effective"
Posted by: Econ_Scott at December 10, 2010 01:34 PM
If the cops used live ammo the "protestors" would jump lively.
Posted by: Walter Sobchak at December 10, 2010 01:36 PMA high-pressure does of near-freezing Thames water would also improve their attitude, though that might violate the Biological Weapons Convention.
Posted by: Darren at December 10, 2010 02:06 PMJust use real ammunition. If you shoot a few...the rest will disperse...Of course if you don't control the media...they will say bad things about you. (i.e. Kent State--where it's now known that the protestors shot first)
Posted by: Rich Vail at December 10, 2010 02:53 PMI'm wondering why the driver didn't bloody DRIVE when the attack began? He's got a lot of horses and an armored vehicle to push through with.
Posted by: Firehand at December 10, 2010 03:46 PMIf you have heard any of the tapes of the royalty attack, they were shouting "off with their heads!"
Posted by: Bohemian at December 10, 2010 04:56 PMStudents (and a few opportunistic anarchists) are protesting an increase in the cap on tuition from 3200 British pounds to 9000 Bp, likely to put quite a crimp in their lifestyles. Regardless of whether they deserved what was probably a subsidized education, they are pissed. Into the midst of this drives an armored Rolls Royce bearing a priveleged princeling in a tux. And they were expecting...??
I have little sympathy for the protestors but I've really got to wonder what the devil Prince Charles' security detail was thinking going anywhere near there.
Posted by: Swen Swenson at December 10, 2010 05:24 PMA word from an American to Europeans:
Last two wars, America rescued you from yourselves, mainly because most of us were of European stock.
America has changed.
America's roots are now worldwide, so we are more reluctant to bail out improvident, quarrelsome relatives.
Fend for yourselves.
That reminds me, apropos European ingratitude....
This sort of thing happens in London every century or so. It's just London.
Posted by: MrJest at December 11, 2010 08:34 AM