Comments by "Luredreier" (@Luredreier) on "A Different Bias" channel.

@bogbay Just leave it, please...
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@bogbay Seriously. Neither Ireland nor the UK genuinely want to deal with northern Ireland anymore. It's just a huge pain in the ass for both nations. The only reason they're making any effort at all at dealing with the place is that they don't want a failed state filled with terrorists at their doorstep. As far as they both are concerned they'd like to get rid of the place. I'm sure many a UK prime minister have secretly dreamed of just nuking Northern Ireland and be done with it... Of course non of them will actually do so. As for who trust them. That really doesn't matter... People are willing to negotiate because all sides are sick and tired of dealing with the conflict. What I suggested wasn't that the UK or Ireland where to "work something out". But that Ireland and the UK both should just expel Northern Ireland from the British islands and politically and diplomatically isolate the place North Korea style till the local parties are forced to work something out in order to not *starve*. As for what I'm asking you to leave, it's the symbolism bullshit. You feel that they insult you, so what? Just ignore them and avoid the conflict. As is you're just being a jerk seeking out conflict.
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@bauldbill It is democratic even if it isn't *fair*. Remember that that part has a different ethnic and religious makeup then the rest of Ireland. It reminds me a bit of what happened in what used to be southern Denmark. Prussia took those areas, they became part of Germany, the population changed ethnic makeup and identity and the place was split up between Denmark and Germany afterwards with a referendum instead of being "united and whole" as everyone wanted that area to be back in the day. Likewise with the areas that used to be a part of Finland that's now under Russian control. Democracy isn't about having the best rule for a country or even about having a majority decision being made. It's about making the most legitimate choices with the least amount of conflict over it. Democracy in essence is an attempt at finding the leaders that's the least likely to cause someone else to take up arms and start a war if they're picked as leaders and making the choices that's the least likely to lead to the country being torn apart in a civil war. The different ethnic makeup in the north caused by the UK I may add still meant that a large number of people who did not identify with Ireland would potentially have ended up ruled by a country that simply wasn't theirs in any way, shape or form. Sure, the borders where not exactly ideal... And it was a problem of the UKs own making. But fundamentally forcing Northern Ireland to stay a part of Ireland would have been just as bad as forcing Ireland to stay a part of Britain would have been democratically. Democracy is a balancing act. There's a reason why we have some nations where certain regions have more power then others compared to their population density (something that's the case here in Norway for instance) and why others have a predetermined amount of power for certain religious or ethnic groups. There's a reason why there's different types of electoral systems out there. Just taking the votes and counting who has the biggest share and calling that a day is NOT really all that democratic at all. Just look at the countries that tries to do that like the UK and US and at how messed up their political system is as a result...
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So... You don't like the lib dems... Then what about the greens or people before profit or some such? There are other left wing political parties in the UK then just the labor party. Also, even regarding the lib dems, not all of them are in the "orange book" faction...
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@Tuathal the True Honestly I think a unification would be a bad idea. A better solution would probably be to make Northern Ireland a independent country, neither a part of the UK nor Ireland. Or alternatively some kind of condominium perhaps?
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@Gillemear Not my counter at all. My counter is that I think it'll be the de facto end result whatever happens and whatever anyone wants. Essentially, the republicans will try to join Ireland, and succeed or fail the Unionists will resist. There might be another civil war. Who knows how many rounds it'll take. But I really don't think there will ever be a end result that's stable where the place is a part of either nation...
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@Pedro DLR While the first past the post system in the UK is pretty fucked up the UK still has had centuries of traditions with some form of more or less democracy unlike the Weimar Republic. And the country is not buckling under huge war reparations... Sure, there might be conflict in the future. But the UK is nowhere near in a position to actually fight any wars against any other European nations anytime soon. If they tried to fight Ireland they would be defeated pretty quickly as the rest of Europe does not want to see a return to the days before WW1 when countries could conquer land from other countries on this continent. It's simply not seen as acceptable anymore...
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@krehetpi I would perhaps not go as far as put it that way. But yeah, that's kind of our sentiment over here in the nordic countries as well... That said, honestly I think their main issue isn't being particularly right wing. Rather it's their whole first past the post system... As for what Irish patriots dream of... Yeah, there's just a tiny issue with that... Northern Ireland is also full of people for whom that is their very worst nightmare and not their dream, who'd rather see themselves integrated further into the UK. I really don't believe the matter will be settled as long as the place is part of either nation...
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@gavinlaird85 "Almost every country has populations with different traditions, that's still not an excuse for partition. Especially when the people have a gun put to their heads and are told to divide or else..." There we have to agree to disagree as I very much believe the exact opposite of you there. Not just in the case of Ireland but with regards to ALL countries.
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@gavinlaird85 "The Irish kingdoms were tied together true common culture language heritage etc. They were always 1 nation with its own disputed high kingship at a time when nation states like we know today hardly existed anywhere. If you believe that because we were a colony of the UK then it's proper for unionists to get there way that's one thing but democracy has nothing to do with that situation like originally stated in the video. I agree completely with your last point." No, it wasn't really. For instance there where significant minorities there of Viking decent. Dublin was founded by Vikings. They did NOT have the same culture and heritage as the rest of you. And even if you look at the rest of the kingdoms I doubt that most people back then felt Irish. They most likely felt like Leinsters or Munsters etc, etc, etc. The situation isn't that different from the germanic tribes. Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, significant areas within countries like Russia etc all had a common west germanic heritage. But that doesn't mean that they all actually felt "German" even if many saw them as the same people from the outside. Hence why the English word for people from the Netherlands is "Dutch" the word that was traditionally used for all west Germanic people in English, including for instance people speaking Pennsylvania Dutch (it's German with no Dutch influence at all, but the language got its name back before Germany was a nation when the word was used for the whole "ethnic group" and all its nations). Also, in this case the minority in question isn't of that ethnic, cultural and religious group at all, but where in fact settlers from Scotland etc who had lived there for generations by now. Your talk about Scotland being a nation before joining the UK etc as a excuse for why they should have self determination but the people of North Ireland shouldn't is just selecting opinions to suit your interests instead of on any kind of actual principles at all, and you know it.
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@gavinlaird85 It was democratic. Now where the actual borders they ended up with good ones? No of course not. They where supposed to have dealt with those a long time ago, but they didn't... And I agree with you that gerrymandering is a issue. But it's not a issue with the process back then, it's a issue with the electoral system to begin with. First past the post is a horrible electoral system and it's not just the Northern-Irish population that's suffering from it...
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@endintiers Not really... They only got data due to taking control of a end point. But the networks fundamental technology is still sound. Also, we're talking about unimaginably huge numbers: https://merchdope.com/youtube-stats/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1PGm8LslEb4&t=3s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-1RhQ1uuQ4&t=1559s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FY_NtO7SIrY You can't just legislate things like that out. And an attempt to try is just going to do way, way, way more harm then good. As for the five eyes... Seriously... Hell no. Their methods are anti-democratic to the extreme, and New Zealand is the only one of those five nations with a proper electoral system where people are truly represented... I really don't think anyone with a working democracy should try to replicate those. It's better to die in a terrorist attack then to let the terrorists win by essentially giving up democracy that way. That kind of legislation is part of the reason why the nations of the five eyes just doesn't make it to the top of the press freedom index for instance... Again, New Zeeland being the big exception in that selection.
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+ @barryolaith They might not be able to join the UK. But they can do IRA style terror attacks in both Ireland in the UK if they want to unfortunately... And I wouldn't be surprised if they did. Heck, it would probably be easier for them then it would for the IRA to fight the UK in modern times since there's more surveillance cameras etc in the UK.
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@Gillemear True. But think of it this way. The unionists sure as hell do NOT want to be a part of Ireland. And while the mainline of IRA has accepted staying in the UK while there was a majority of unionists the so called "Real IRA" isn't exactly thrilled about staying in the UK either. Independence would be a decent compromise for the two sides I think even if neither side wants it. After all the best negotiations usually ends up with neither side being happy but both being ok with the result. In the case of a independent Northern-Ireland some kind of deal where Ireland and the UK still watch over the place and helps keep things stable will probably still be needed. But it would allow the place to stake out its own future want at least try to work out its issues with less of the whole union vs merger with Ireland debate going on messing everything up.
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@Gillemear Sure, they might indeed end up a part of Ireland. But like I said, I wouldn't be surprised if the Unionists takes up arms in that case. My point here is that a independence could be a good compromise. For instance, they could use an approach used in many divided nations where a certain amount of power is intended for each of the sides. In many of those places there's different seats for different ethnic or religious communities. Myself I'm more in favor of proportional representation and think it would work better if the seats pr election circle was distributed based on religion in Northern Ireland but where available for political parties on both sides rather then outright making those seats guaranteed to one side. That way traditional Unionists would still have an advantage in areas where there's more of them relatively speaking as those election circles would be more represented. Yet moderates in the middle would still be able to run for those seats using a broader appeal. If desired additional seats could also be partitioned out to the UK and Ireland to ensure that the country stays within their sphere of influence without being outright controlled by either nation. Ireland and the UK could end up as kingmakers that way when the power is otherwise split and potentially favor political parties that takes on a less confrontational approach to either the others in the parliament or to the two respective countries.
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@everready2903 Yeah, that's my fear too... :-/ Perhaps the best approach would be for Ireland and the UK to both refuse the part into their respective nations forcing them together and into trying to work something out together...
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@Scapestoat While a unified Ireland would be nice I suspect that it's too late for that. And that trying would not "make the world a better place"...
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@Pedro DLR That whole post seems... highly unlikely...
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6:18 They're incredibly constructive in electoral systems that's proportional in nature. But yeah, when victory and loss is a binary outcome instead of a more "granular" result with negotiations over bits and pieces where people have to make compromises to get anything done because they're never the majority...
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Talking about invading another NATO country... As someone living in Norway that's shocking...
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