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  1. WI The US Social Welfare System Was The Norm In Europe?

    If you trust your government with atom bombs, you can trust it with aspirin tablets.

  2. WI The US Social Welfare System Was The Norm In Europe?

    Frankly, this reads more like a list of GOP talking points than a reasoned argument, especially the bit about Americans being less trusting of their government. There was no noticeable difference between your average American and your average Frenchman's attitude towards their respective...

  3. WI The US Social Welfare System Was The Norm In Europe?

    That's not it. France could afford its welfare state even as it fought wars in Indochina and then in Algeria. And developed an independent nuclear program. And left the NATO integrated command.

  4. "Gusher Age" in the CSA.

    Hannah Arendt convincingly demonstrated that once you start using mass violence on darkies, it's only a question of time until you feel tempted to apply the same methods to unruly white folks. Besides, OTL's post-war Southern society wasn't above using the strong arm of the state to keep the...

  5. "Gusher Age" in the CSA.

    All other considerations notwithstanding, if we assume that this process continues and expands, then we're looking at a society in which much of the industrial proletariat is made of slaves. There is absolutely no way such a society could endure with its preexisting political institutions...

  6. "Gusher Age" in the CSA.

    I don't usually involve myself in CSA debates, plethorous though they are in the pre-1900 forum, so I'm not sure about positions endorsed by the various members in previous arguments. My own, not particularly expert, position is that the CSA didn't look like a promising candidate for...

  7. "Gusher Age" in the CSA.

    The USA of 1783 was very much an aristocracy in all but name. And although it got lucky with its political leadership, the strongman temptation was definitely there. Anyway the burden of the proof is rather on people claiming that the CSA could have been democratic, when for its short...

  8. "Gusher Age" in the CSA.

    And how many violent upheavals did it take France to reach a semblance of political stability? As for Bonapartism, it's not a stretch to consider that its most recent manifestation was the Gaullist era, within living memory of our parents' generation. I'm not sure what you were trying to say...

  9. Peter Goes East: An Alternate Russia

    Before you get carried away, keep in mind that the Manchus gave the Russians a bloody nose in 1689, and the only reason Russia got away with the annexation of Outer Manchuria in 1858 was because China was in the midst of a civil war. In geographical terms, Russia in OTL is already a country...

  10. Characteristics of a male-heavy society?

    Human groups which for some reason find themselves with a significant gender imbalance in favor of males usually fall apart in short order. IIRC Carl Sagan mentioned the micro-society formed on Pitcairn Island by the Bounty mutineers as an example of such imbalance, in his book Shadows of...

  11. "Gusher Age" in the CSA.

    Emphasis on the "limited" part. The CSA was a virtual dictatorship in OTL and I don't see why a racist, entrenced planter class which had just gone to war to preserve its privileges would then turn around and discover a sudden love of democracy within itself. The political choices for an...

  12. "Gusher Age" in the CSA.

    Corrupt oligarchies with no staying power can on occasion prove surprisingly resilient to outside attack. The CSA wasn't very different from your average Latin American tinpot dictatorship--especially the entrenched plantation class part--and nobody would have called 19th-century Paraguay a...

  13. The Power and the Glitter!

    This makes me wonder--Spike Lee's film culminates with a riot scene, and he didn't have digital special effects. Was it just creative camera angles and clever use of extras that enabled him to simulate violent civil disturbance without city authorities getting worried?

  14. Monica's baby, the ruin of Clinton - a TL

    Savings rate is not a relevant factor. The Chinese have one of the world's highest savings rates, but that's precisely because they know they'll have nothing but their own savings to fall back on in case of health problem. This TL, which was a political author tract from the start, now reads...

  15. The Power and the Glitter!

    An engaging blend of politics and popular culture. I'll be following this TL with interest.

  16. "Gusher Age" in the CSA.

    Oil didn't turn Mexico into an economic powerhouse, and I doubt that the CSA, with a socio-economic structure rather like Mexico's, would turn out any different.

  17. AHC: "Gaullist" Britain

    This possibility was discussed on a previous occasion. The thread went political rather fast, but you might find some relevant stuff in it.

  18. Monica's baby, the ruin of Clinton - a TL

    If that was the case, the Republicans wouldn't stand a chance, considering their consistent record of shilling for a tiny minority of superrich at the expense of the overwhelming majority of the population. Quite a lot of people actually cast their ballot on non-economic criteria, the so-called...

  19. grunge music never dies

    Capitalization and punctuation are your friends. I've just had a look at your posting history, and you haven't once capitalized nor used punctuation since joining. Or written more than 15 words in a single sentence. You'll have to learn the difference between posting on a discussion forum and...

  20. Let's discuss the AH elements in "Fringe"

    Now watching the beginning of Season 3. The penny-farhings are a silly touch, there's a reason they were replaced by the bicycles as we know them in the late 19th century. But I'm wondering why Agent Francis sports that scar near his eyes, living as he does in a TL where reconstructive surgery...
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