I’m not a big fan of the European bureaucracy. Indeed, I was semi-serious when I stated that Brussels was the “most statist place on the planet.”
Which is why I greatly enjoyed this speech by the head of Ryan Air, who ripped the bureaucrats a new you-know-what while speaking at an event sponsored by the European Union.
All the good stuff – including a great Reagan quote – is in the first 3:35, so don’t be put off by the video’s length.
And if you want examples to help you understand why folks like Mr. O’Leary are so critical of the European Commission, just click here, here, and here.
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We Europeans, face great challenges. But we must maintain HOPE
Maintain hope that there’s just GOT to be a way to either convince, trick through macro-economic gimmicks or ultimately, if need be, coerce a shrinking European minority that still pursues greedy exceptionalism to:
(a) Take a 50-62% haircut on their rewards for exceptional work (marginal tax rates that kick in at a mere 2-3 times average income)…
(b) Take an additional 20-25% haircut on what we allow them to keep (VAT on what they buy with whatever we allow them to keep)…
(c) Pay additional progressive greed taxes on the Mercedes’ and Rolex watches they buy (after paying 62%tax + 25% VAT) because their vehicles put out more CO2 than the average Giscard’s (*). Or pay a “pool tax” (**) because they built a pool with the money we let them keep after the 62% tax and 25% VAT.
(d) Once you produce above the average Giscard, forfeit heavy subsidy for basic services unconditionally supplied to the mediocre average.
…And still keep a sufficient number of exceptional people motivated enough that we turn out product that is more competitive than what three billion emerging competitors turn out in the developing world.
Genghis Khan has finally awakened. He’s at the gates and we are feverishly seeking people with above average wallets to be convinced, tricked, or finally coerced to buy us our morning Brioshe.
It is hard, we know. We face a great challenge. But we cannot abandon such hope and, in the end, if this hope proves impossible, then we must all go down together. Solidarity and tethering of the individual to the common fortune is more important than prosperity. Goodbye world. It’s been nice to be on top for a few centuries, when we led the world in individual freedom.
(*) Eg. The registration fee for a Jeep Cherokee in Greece is around $1700/year, and it’s selling price, loaded with taxes for the privileged, about 2.3 times what it is in the US.
(**) Yes, some countries, like Greece, have a “swimming pool” greed tax. If you have a swimming pool it is an indication of being in a minority that has produced more than the average Giannis and are thus fair game for having your reward trimmed by the mediocre, and now predictably desperate, majority. Eg. a 20×30 foot pool can be subject to a tax of up to $15,000 per year even at mediocre income levels – e.g. if you built your pool in times of wealth but are now poorer. This and similar pitchfork measures have been in force for decades in Greece and obviously predate the current crisis. Greek voters have now hired bureaucrats to analyze satellite images in search of … swimming pools. “Who are you to have a swimming pool and Jeep Cherokee, when most of us have bathtubs and one liter engine FIATs? We will milk the desire for exceptionalism out of you… if need be, we all go down together”. Sure as hell, envy and hope of living partially at someone else’s expense is indeed a predictable way to all go down into decline, pitchforks, Parthenons swimming pools, Jeep Cherokees and all.
Simply wow. Despite the 1st three-and-a-half minutes being a great introduction the entire production was terrific. About 12 minutes passed long before t thought it would.
yes.
And that is why I cannot stand the Democrat Party in the USA…they want to be just like Europe, including all the bureaucracy.
All I can say,….is wow!…. A great presentation!!