Thoughts: Back from England

I was in England for a week and I come back with some thoughts:

Politics:

The British conservative party is in charge and Prime Minister David Cameron has proposed massive cuts with a plan to get the UK out of deficit spending in four years. Among the things I remember are cutting of government employees by 500,000 jobs. This includes cutting back on policemen. I found that VERY interesting as crime is a problem that they can't solve just with a massive and intrusive array of police cameras. Critics aresaying children and the social net are taking most of the hits but from what I could see, I don't think that's accurate.

The conservative party in England is doing what the Tea Party affilitated/backed/aligned politicians claim they want to do. If it works in the UK, I think it bodes well for the U.S.

Taxes:

The value added tax (VAT) rate is about 16%, which is VERY high AND there are still income taxes on earnings. At the start of the year, the VAT is being raised to 20%. To me, that's oppressive. and it is a STRONG signal as to why I'm against the VAT. Twenty percent and they STILL have an income tax?

Sports:

Soccer is THE GAME in England, and THE BIG STORY other than the cutbacks, was soccer player Wayne Rooney's desire to leave Manchester United. A prostitute said she had sex with Rooney during the time his wife was pregnant with their child. The club owner criticized Rooney and Rooney had a fit saying he would not renew his contract. The entire week I was there, this was the number 2 news story. It ended with Rooney signing a new agreement. It reminded me of the LeBron James media mess after he announced he was going to Miami.

Culture:

We are about 40% similar and the rest is very different. From the words and phrases we use, to the times stores close outside of London, to how people eat at a restaruant, to how we drive way beyond driving on the left side of the road in a right hand steered car... We are different and it is eye opening the differences that occurred over a few hundred years.

Cars:

England has MANY MORE car makers than the U.S., which is supposed to be a very big market. And the options for small cars of all engine sizes is amazing by our standards but not amazing when you drive on narrow streets.

I drove the European version of the Ford Focus while there and I was IMPRESSED by the car. Not only that, I was FLOORED by the look of many European Ford products. I really liked the Ford Mondeo and was reminded of the old Ford Merkur that was sold in the U.S, based off of a European model. It was a bust in the U.S. but I liked the car and EVERYONE who had one that I asked, LOVED the car. The Mondeo doesn't look like that car, but just the difference in styling. BTW, there the Honda Accord is the Acura TSX.

More later...