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The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

economist.com

21–30 of 202 posts

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#21
post #6

What is going on in this world? I was reading news today that the parties on the right side of political spectrum are gaining ground all over Europe. US already has Republicans in power. Every country is becoming more nationalistic. What is driving this change? AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this.

> AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this. Populism and a perception that a more globally-connected world is concentrating the benefits of growth into the assets and control of a handful of individuals instead of "a rising tide lifting all boats." Also, the message that some politicians have been using ("trade agreements are evil!" "immigration is bad!" "the EU is making us abuse you!") has take…

I find most people have no problem acknowledging that the gap between the rich and poor is increasing, unless the topic is populist politics, then minds seem to change on the topic.

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#22
post #6

What is going on in this world? I was reading news today that the parties on the right side of political spectrum are gaining ground all over Europe. US already has Republicans in power. Every country is becoming more nationalistic. What is driving this change? AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this.

This is not nationalistic. One of the standard things that happens with Visa costs is reciprocity. If you charge my citizens a fee for a visa, then I'll charge your citizens.

What is different here is that the EU is involved, and the EU is many countries which generally act like a bloc.

So the US grants Free Visa Access to 23 of the 28 members of the EU countries and likewise those 23 countries grant Free Visa Access to US citizens traveling to the EU. But what about those other five countries?

To make it even worse a US citizen can travel to say Germany, not pay for a visa and then travel to one of the five other countries and since a Germany Visa is actually a Schengen Visa and is good for any of the Schengen area you don't need another visa.

The EU has tried to work with the US to fix this but the US has so far refused or ignored the request.

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#23
post #6

What is going on in this world? I was reading news today that the parties on the right side of political spectrum are gaining ground all over Europe. US already has Republicans in power. Every country is becoming more nationalistic. What is driving this change? AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this.

Are you serious? It is largely a reaction to globalization and the refugee crisis.

What made you doubt my seriousness? Of course I am serious. I am not aware of how bad refugee crisis. Sure, people are complaining but we are not talking about millions of refugees that change the social fabric altogether. Globalization has been going on for decades now and things do seem to have improved for many. Why now?

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#24
post #6

What is going on in this world? I was reading news today that the parties on the right side of political spectrum are gaining ground all over Europe. US already has Republicans in power. Every country is becoming more nationalistic. What is driving this change? AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this.

For a while, I had thought that the modern world had finally transcended the grip of medieval-minded ignorance. But the medievals didn't go away, and they eventually organized and voted and, in the U.S., got lucky with a system that disproportionately allocates presidential voting power, allowing the GOP to win 3 out of the past 7 elections despite having won the vote only once.

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#25
post #20
post #6

What is going on in this world? I was reading news today that the parties on the right side of political spectrum are gaining ground all over Europe. US already has Republicans in power. Every country is becoming more nationalistic. What is driving this change? AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this.

It is true that populist parties are on the rise. However, both in France and in Germany, favorites for this year election are on the center-left (Emmanuel Macron and Martin Schultz, respectively) and very firmly in favor of more EU integration. The rise of nationalist parties doesn't necessarily mean that people are becoming more nationalist overall.

they're simply EU nationalists instead

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#26
post #6

What is going on in this world? I was reading news today that the parties on the right side of political spectrum are gaining ground all over Europe. US already has Republicans in power. Every country is becoming more nationalistic. What is driving this change? AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this.

Are you serious? It is largely a reaction to globalization and the refugee crisis.

Yeah, I was gonna say early Climate Change effects and Automation/AI's wealth concentration. Just wait until the Genetic Engineering really starts rolling now that we have CRISPR-CAS9.

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#27
post #5

They do this every few sessions and the commission never acts on it.

This is what piss me off about this article. They don't mention that this has been done before and the commission never acted on it. Why? Because it does not fit with the story that there is a huge gulf opening up between the us and Europe as a result of the election of Donald Trump.

Disclaimer to protect my future employability in tech: I don't support the DT I just am not a big fan of the media of late either.

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#28
post #6

What is going on in this world? I was reading news today that the parties on the right side of political spectrum are gaining ground all over Europe. US already has Republicans in power. Every country is becoming more nationalistic. What is driving this change? AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this.

What's driving it all it the fact that US completely destabilized the Middle East and started funding ISIS and affiliates. This has resulted in one of the greatest humanitarian crisis in history, and triggered a massive influx of refugees seeking shelter in Europe from the region.

This is what's knows at the refugee crisis, and what the right wing European parties have been using to go mainstream.

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#29
post #6

What is going on in this world? I was reading news today that the parties on the right side of political spectrum are gaining ground all over Europe. US already has Republicans in power. Every country is becoming more nationalistic. What is driving this change? AFAICT there are no major issues that should have caused this.

I don't buy this theory 100% but I think Mark is on the right track:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/11/18/mark_blyth...

The top 1% have been extremely successful in funneling wealth to themselves. The middle and lower classes are getting pissed off. They perhaps don't know exactly how to fight back so they are just smashing shit at random.

Re: The European Parliament votes non-bindingly to reintroduce visas for Americans

#30

The EU is not a sovereign country, its political and economic union. The US is under no obligation to accept all 28-member countries as equal.

No-one claimed it was! It's hardball negotiation. In this, the US meets the EU's demands or it doesn't get what it wants.
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