maqroll Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 With so much uncertainty with regards to the sustainability of the EU, increasing social unrest in Greece, Spain, and other austerity-battered nations, resurgent independence movements (Scotland, Catalonia, Venice, among others), and the eternal tinderbox that is the Balkans...what do you envision for Europe over the next 15 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coda Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 We could see the final countdown. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I'm guessing we will see a 2 tiered Euro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted November 2, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted November 2, 2012 maqroll is John McLaughlin and I claim my prize. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Rev Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Five pounds Levi, and I claim my five pounds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CarewsEyebrowDesigner Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 More of the same, then we'll all get tangled up in the Middle East mess and spiral further into debt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 It'll end in collapse, you cannot have one currency without one government. You either move towards some sort of United States of Europe model or you completely dissolve it and allow sovereign countries to have complete control over their monetary policy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjmooney Posted November 2, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted November 2, 2012 maqroll is John McLaughlin and I claim my prize. What? Mahavishnu John McLaughlin??? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEyKBr0KXT8&feature=related Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drat01 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Uber Right Wing nationalism will go through its last dangerous kicking phase of existence while the rest of the world carries on and Europe's power decreases. You will always in this country get the UKIP's and their totally ridiculous inward looking views finding a gullible audience to peddle their rubbish to. The reality is that borders (artificial man made) will disappear further and as society changes there will be more and more integration of peoples, views and values. It wont happen overnight but you will see a more fluid workforce in terms of locations and consequently less reliance on some state identity. Multi national companies will effectively become the powers if they are not already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted November 2, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 2, 2012 Uber Right Wing nationalism will go through its last dangerous kicking phase of existence while the rest of the world carries on and Europe's power decreases. You will always in this country get the UKIP's and their totally ridiculous inward looking views finding a gullible audience to peddle their rubbish to. The reality is that borders (artificial man made) will disappear further and as society changes there will be more and more integration of peoples, views and values. It wont happen overnight but you will see a more fluid workforce in terms of locations and consequently less reliance on some state identity. This but not this... Multi national companies will effectively become the powers if they are not already Hopefully Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meath_Villan Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 war Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 I foresee leather clad groups of quirky australians driving ramshackle vehicles from town to town looking for petrol and trying to avoid Tina Turner. Either that, or broadly the same as at present, most of europe on a slow road to unity with the UK lagging behind, sulking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leviramsey Posted November 2, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted November 2, 2012 This but not this... Hopefully It's already what's happening. From an investment perspective, the likes of Apple and Google are arguably safer bets than any government that's not the US Government (and the US Government mainly because it's the only pure sovereign left on the planet: every other sovereign's status is essentially contingent on the US not deciding to take them out; this observation also applies to the likes of Apple: how many aircraft carriers and nuclear missiles does Apple have?). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 you just hope the apple nuke doesn't use their maps app 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maqroll Posted November 2, 2012 Author Share Posted November 2, 2012 maqroll is John McLaughlin Would that make you Clarence Paige, you cheeky devil? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bickster Posted November 2, 2012 Moderator Share Posted November 2, 2012 It's already what's happening. Doesn't mean I have to like or approve of it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 how many aircraft carriers and nuclear missiles does Apple have?). I make it eleven aircraft carriers, jointly owned with other corporations. No idea about nuclear missiles, though. Or bayonets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 Uber Right Wing nationalism will go through its last dangerous kicking phase of existence while the rest of the world carries on and Europe's power decreases. You will always in this country get the UKIP's and their totally ridiculous inward looking views finding a gullible audience to peddle their rubbish to. The reality is that borders (artificial man made) will disappear further and as society changes there will be more and more integration of peoples, views and values. It wont happen overnight but you will see a more fluid workforce in terms of locations and consequently less reliance on some state identity. I think "last phase of existence" is too optimistic by far. Difficult economic times often bring forward right wing movements, fuelled by fear. And as for borders, what we see at the moment is borders becoming more porous, especially to capital, but at the same time a rise of regional and nationalist sentiment with people in many areas trying to reassert borders, sometimes on a tribal or racial basis, other times on regional or religious grounds. Possibly the two are related, with people finding it easier to attribute any worsening of their own position to visible things like people of a different group, rather than the forces of international capital, which is a bit abstract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidlewis Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 The EU as it stands now doesn't have a chance, it's heading for dementia ad life support. The fact remains Germany is propping most of us up and could quite easily force countries to ransom. Oh wait they're already doing that! As Drat says it will be the multi nationals pulling the strings. Governments will do and go where the money is. Globalisation at a consumer level highlights how little they value consumers and brands. Politicians will value people just the same and think people will also have no real allegiance to any one party as time moves on. Culturally Europe is too different, look how long it took Britain to sort Northern Ireland out. A different beast but on that example alone I certainly cannot see eastern and Western Europe cuddling over anything other than stag dos, manufacturing relationships and tourism. For the EU to work you'd have to bring balance to the entire European workforce, level tax on income and businesses and somehow align us all culturally. We will all be dead before that happens. It will happen eventually. I just don't know why we didn't chum with america & Canada a bit more as things progress digitally perhaps that's the way we will go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterms Posted November 2, 2012 Share Posted November 2, 2012 As Drat says it will be the multi nationals pulling the strings. Governments will do and go where the money is. A few short years ago, it seemed that banks were bigger and richer than governments. Within a few weeks, this was shown to be a complete fantasy, and they had to come begging to governments to help them survive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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