Human rights violation in Germany (homeschooling issue)

[Furunculus]

If you're happy about universal education and state benefits and so on, you are by definition not a libertarian

By the road, do you think the parents in the OP should qualify for asylum status?

libertarian-leaning, as in; a fan of negative liberty - free born englisman and all that guff.

not really to fussed, if america considers freedom of religious expression to be that important then take them in by all means, but i don't and i'm not american so its not my problem. if it causes greater international scrutiny and ridicule of germanys authoritarian tendancies then all the better.

[Husar]

germanys authoritarian tendancies

Well, you know, we're not the ones with CCTV all over the place, but then that is not my problem as I'm not British...

[Furunculus]

Well, you know, we're not the ones with CCTV all over the place, but then that is not my problem as I'm not British...

hey i accept that criticism, and i am all in favour of you foriegn types publicly mocking us brits mercilessely on the issue. ;)

[HoreTore]

Well, you know, we're not the ones with CCTV all over the place, but then that is not my problem as I'm not British...

You also get to decide who your head of state should be, unlike the brits who are ruled by someone because of their birth, not votes....

[Furunculus]

You also get to decide who your head of state should be, unlike the brits who are ruled by someone because of their birth, not votes....

indeed, how very authoriatarian! [/sarcasm]

[HoreTore]

indeed, how very authoriatarian! [/sarcasm]

An unelected leader isn't authoritarian in your opinion?

[Louis VI the Fat]

I wouldn't describe either the UK or Germany as particularly 'authoritarian'.

The Brits simply don't do authoritarianism well. Never have.
Germany had a major turnover of values. 'WWII' counts as the pinnacle of knowledge on the internets, and consequently there is a tendency to reduce countries to 'WWII', but in reality, Germany has developed itself since 1945 into one of Europe's least authoritarian states.

[Furunculus]

An unelected leader isn't authoritarian in your opinion?

not when describing the situation of the British constitutional monarchy, no.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Furnuculus is right, the Queen barely does anything. No need to confuse the head of the state with the head of the government. What exactly does the Queen 'rule' over? She cannot even take sides in politics, much less rule people... Britain is not authoritarian at all, and they have a long history of being not authoritarian. Even back when constitutional monarchy granted more rights to the royalty, the British were at the forefront of the free nations.

But neither is Germany authoritarian for that matter - I really do not see how it can be accused of such a thing. WWII is long over, as Louis noted, same goes for Cold War-era GDR. Right now they are a federalist state, so if anything, they are less authoritarian than UK or France for that matter. Federalism does not necessarily mean freedom, but it does correlate well, especially when you have true federalism (as opposed to the more unclear system Russia uses - Russia is officially a federation, you see, even the name says so...)

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Well, you know, we're not the ones with CCTV all over the place, but then that is not my problem as I'm not British...

I think we can safely say that Germany and Britain are both far too authoritarian, but in slightly different ways, and leave it at that.

EDIT: And HoreTore, European monarchs, with one or two exceptions, are forced (rightly or wrongly, I'm not taking sides at this moment) kowtow so much to their legislatures that they are probably more democratic than your average appointed government official, EU officials, and even some European Presidents.

[Aemilius Paulus]

I think we can safely say that Germany and Britain are both far too authoritarian, but in slightly different ways, and leave it at that.

Sheesh, I know the importance consensus building, and I was taking quite a step by siding with Furnuculus, but this ? If Germany and Britain are 'far' too authoritarian, then who is libertarian? . I mean, most other European liberal democracies are overburdened with gov't regulation, etc, with UK and Germany usually compared favourably in this regard (i.e. the two nations are more libertarian than the rest).

And hell, I am not even speaking about the rest of the world . US is often cited as the most libertarian country on Earth, and it is true IMHO - unless some very minor state such as some Pacific island-nation or European Monaco are more libertarian, which I am not sure if they are (esp. the Pacific ones).

[HoreTore]

I think we can safely say that Germany and Britain are both far too authoritarian, but in slightly different ways, and leave it at that.

EDIT: And HoreTore, European monarchs, with one or two exceptions, are forced (rightly or wrongly, I'm not taking sides at this moment) kowtow so much to their legislatures that they are probably more democratic than your average appointed government official, EU officials, and even some European Presidents.

Bah, European monarchs are nothing more than scum who prefers to live off my tax money instead of getting a job and earn some money themselves.

I have a problem paying 250 million NOK a year to a guy who's only job is to decide the colour of the army's socks.

[Aemilius Paulus]

Bah, European monarchs are nothing more than scum who prefers to live off my tax money instead of getting a job and earn some money themselves.

This I do wholly agree with, but traditions die hard, especially today, with no violent depositions occuring in EU countries...

[Philippus Flavius Homovallumus]

Bah, European monarchs are nothing more than scum who prefers to live off my tax money instead of getting a job and earn some money themselves.

I have a problem paying 250 million NOK a year to a guy who's only job is to decide the colour of the army's socks.

Ours have jobs, the Queen and Charles are wealthy landowners, Andrew has dabbled in a few things and Edward owns a television company.

[HoreTore]

Ours have jobs, the Queen and Charles are wealthy landowners, Andrew has dabbled in a few things and Edward owns a television company.

Since when is "landowner" a job...?

Chop their heads off. They only have those things because their ancestors stole stuff anyway.