Monday
(0)I feel a bit like the photographer sent to take snaps of village wedding for the local newspaper and who came back saying that there wasn't story, because the bride didn't show up.
I decided to check out the other BBC website (the tax-funded one) to see what convulsions the anti-euro vote from Sweden had caused.
The result was this rather unbalanced series of postings, supporting the Swedish NO result.
Yes, I followed that thread with some interest, too.
Of course, I kept thinking...does the BBC run "Did they make the right choice?" user feedback threads when a country votes yes on the euro?
Posted by S. Weasel at September 15, 2003 07:36 PM
That's not bias, just "dog bites man" vs "man bites dog". The unexpected is news.
Posted by Julian Morrison at September 15, 2003 09:44 PM
One of my favorite comments was by a poster in Belgium.:
"Let them keep their exotic krona for now if they want. Eventually, they will adopt the strong and practical euro. Just like the UK, if they want to stay in the EU."
Jan, Belgium
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I can imagine this person saying ...
"Resistance is futile. You WILL be assimilated."
Posted by Chris Josephson at September 16, 2003 05:00 AM
The first one raised an eyebrow:
I am for a single currency to balance the US dollar, but against the UK being governed by unelected eurocrats. Well done Sweden in making future self-governance!
Peter, England
What benefit does Europe gain from "balancing" the dollar? I don't give a flying fandango if somebody else's currency is more widely traded than mine. Currencies can be exchanged. What I care about is that domestic and foreign currencies are stable so that currency exchange doesn't turn into a ripoff.
Hey, Japan and Germany didn't have to adopt the dollar to experience post-WWII economic booms. Other countries can do the same (and avoid the eventual mistakes that smothered the booms).
Posted by Alan K. Henderson at September 16, 2003 08:44 AM
I followed that thread with interest, too, taking delight in how galling it must have been to the lefty thought fascists who control what gets on the site to have received so few negative comments. Jan of Belgium said we'd have to adopt the euro "if we want to stay in the EU". He phrased it as though this were the ultimate admonishment, clearly having no concept that a massive number of Britons (more than the population of Belgium, for example) don't want the EU, never wanted it, never voted for it and would gladly vote for a rollback to EEC levels, which they *did* vote for.
Posted by Verity at September 16, 2003 09:02 AM
Jan from Belgium's comment that we must adopt the Euro "if we want to stay in the EU" gives me hope that we can escape from it. None of our main political parties wants to withdraw, but if we don't join the Euro, the other EU countries may kick us out anyway.
O glorious day!
Posted by Simon Jester at September 16, 2003 10:41 AM
I don't want to spoil the party but Paul Foot, one of the UK's most prominent socialists, is against the euro (see today's Guardian). Funny left-wing currency that can't even enjoy the support of the left.
Posted by John Sheehy at September 17, 2003 09:36 AM
The worst was surely
"Where will the voice of reason be heard from in the world? The UN doesn't have enough power to provide it - when we think about Europe, we should think of our grandchildren."
Jonathan Kerr
Vote EU for the children and teach them to sing!
Posted by Philip Chaston at September 19, 2003 07:02 AM
