Dutch on verge of getting most right wing government in the EU, in dutch history

[bryantm3]

i'll admit, i don't know much about the netherlands. most of what i was talking about was in reference to france, so forgive me for making broad-sweeping statements.

i also would like to note the difference between halal and kosher. there are more muslims in the EU, and there are more jews here, so understanding of those laws cross-atlantic is probably difficult for those that aren't jewish or muslim.

the kosher laws basically make it so that it is pretty much impossible to make all meat kosher. every animal has to be inspected to make sure it isn't sick, and even afterwards the lungs must be checked. within 24 hours, all blood has to be removed from the meat through salting and rinsing. halal is much more lenient, as it only requires a ritual slaughter. kosher involves that and the things listed above. to make all meat kosher would require a lot of time and resources, and it wouldn't be practical to make kosher meat widely available outside the US and israel. i'm not making a case that europe is anti-semitic based on this fact, but i thought i should add that there is a difference between halal and kosher.

back to my argument, however, i guess i kind of mixed in my dislike for the limitations of personal expression in europe with my argument against anti-semitism.

i guess that my main point is that europe over the past twenty or so years has set up precedent to remove basic civil liberties with its move towards more socialistic policies (not saying this is a good or a bad thing, just stating what is true). as europe is moving towards those policies, civil liberties get in the way, it's just a fact. so you are slowly seeing things such as cameras on street corners, cameras that snap a picture of your license plate if you are going too fast, strict limitations on hate speech, etc. for better or for worse, we don't have these things in the united states so there is no precedent. however, europe has created a precedent that the wrong sort of people who get in power can use to impose other limitations on personal expression, such as the wearing of a burkha.

i don't really think that there are more racists in europe, but i really do think that they have more ability to pass racist laws based on legal precedent than we would in the US. for example, no one in the US would have a leg to stand on trying to pass a ban on burkhas, because the precedent in the US is to allow all forms of speech and expression, whether they pose harm to society or not (we have no hate speech laws in the US. the only laws we have are against inciting riots, which is the difference between someone saying 'i hate muslims' and 'lets go lynch the muslims'. obviously, there is not much difference in intent, but in action there is a huge difference). the ACLU would immediately battle it in court and would most likely win.