Originally Posted by Alan_D

They haven't kept us better off... domestic protectionism benefits one group - the ones who whinge the most to politicians who'll naturally appease them to get ahead - while making everyone else worse off! And this thing about us having been a rich country: yes, in the last 10 years money has been easy... you just buy and sell houses and everyone gets wealthier, right? All we've done is spent borrowed money. We certainly don't have the manufacturing capability to pay for it all. And of course you can't borrow forever, so living standards will have to decline in this country - we will have to consume less than we produce - for it to be paid off.

It is a myth that through the restriction of trade we can screw over other countries. I don't care about Africa either, and I'm not going to pretend to, but trading with other countries more freely benefits everyone! That's why you do it. What the UK and the US have been doing for a number of years is borrowing from countries like China and other parts of Asia, to buy their stuff from them. It's hardly rocket science and it isn't a fancy trade agreement.

And Iraq and Afghanistan would be funny if it wasn't for the fact that people are losing their lives because these fucking cretins of politicians decide something would be a good idea.

But then you've got the fact that if you don't support the wars and have 'pride for our heroes' you're an outcast. This is where I'd side with people who's views I usually don't agree with, like George Galloway. I'd strongly urge anyone in the armed forces fighting these farcical wars to just refuse to do anything... come back home, they're wasting their time.