Uruguay, a shining example to the rest of the world.

Henlars67

The first gay marriages in Uruguay took place this week, cannabis will soon be available to purchase over the counter in pharmacies.

Private consumption of all other drugs has never been illegal, though production and sale is.

Added to this is the fact that religion has no influence at all on the state, and it is one of the most secular countries in the world.

A shining example to the rest of the world.

Matt_Trakker

Henlars67 wrote: »

A shining example to the rest of the world.

Luis Saurez :pac::pac:

keith16

Matt_Trakker wrote: »

Luis Saurez :pac::pac:

Yep, great footballer and testament to the countries sporting infrastructure that they are able to produce world class footballers given their relative population size.

Mr Benevolent

Meh. A shining example to the world would be Switzerland or Germany. Cannabis legalisation and gay marriage are luxuries, not necessities.

Henlars67

Matt_Trakker wrote: »

Luis Saurez :pac::pac:

what has he got to do with anything?

Omackeral

Quick someone reference the You Are Gay Simpsons joke!!!

keith16

Omackeral wrote: »

Quick someone reference the You Are Gay Simpsons joke!!!

You are gay

I Heart Internet

Would you like to move to Uruguay to take advantage of these things OP? (Serious question) If not, why not? What are the down-sides of living in Uruguay?

The Backwards Man

It rains a lot in it though.

anncoates

keith16 wrote: »

Yep, great footballer and testament to the countries sporting infrastructure that they are able to produce world class footballers given their relative population size.

In fairness, so do we, despite having a shit sporting infrastructure, incompetent football authority and a population of EPL fanboys.

kirving

Enough druggies on the streets here, harassing people for money. Taking a more lenient approach won't help with this.

Omackeral

Henlars67 wrote: »

The first gay marriages in Uruguay took place this week, cannabis will soon be available to purchase over the counter in pharmacies.

Private consumption of all other drugs has never been illegal, though production and sale is.

Added to this is the fact that religion has no influence at all on the state, and it is one of the most secular countries in the world.

A shining example to the rest of the world.

Their president Jose Mujica is a shining example of the common man. Drives a modest car (read: piece of crap) and donates a good deal of his salary to worthy causes. I learned about him through another boards thread. An awesome dude by all accounts.

Mujica... F*ck Yeah!

snubbleste

Fray Bentos

mikom

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Enough druggies on the streets here, harassing people for money. Taking a more lenient approach won't help with this.

I agree.
Pub and off licence opening hours should stay the same..........

The Backwards Man

anncoates wrote: »

In fairness, so do we, despite having a shit sporting infrastructure, incompetent football authority and a population of EPL fanboys.

How many World Cups have we won again?

Henlars67

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Enough druggies on the streets here, harassing people for money. Taking a more lenient approach won't help with this.

Why do people presume that legalisation would lead to more users?

I wouldn't be running out to buy heroin if private use suddenly became legal, would you?

Grayson

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

Meh. A shining example to the world would be Switzerland or Germany. Cannabis legalisation and gay marriage are luxuries, not necessities.

pesky human rights

anncoates

To keep up the tenuous Ireland/Uruguay theme, Montevido is a bit of a kip.

Kinda like a South American Limerick.

Henlars67

I Heart Internet wrote: »

Would you like to move to Uruguay to take advantage of these things OP? (Serious question) If not, why not? What are the down-sides of living in Uruguay?

I was faced with emigration a couple of years ago. Decided to return to education here instead. Emigration isn't for me, so no. But it is a country I definitely plan to visit.

Matt_Trakker

The Backwards Man wrote: »

How many World Cups have we won again?

Only 2 less than Uruguay and one less and Engerland. Not bad considering Ireland's only played in 3 in total. :P

anncoates

The Backwards Man wrote: »

How many World Cups have we won again?

None.

Which is what I would have said if he had asked that as opposed to asserting that Uruquay produced decent players for a small country.

By your token, Portugal, Croatia or African countries produce shit players.

kirving

Henlars67 wrote: »

Why do people presume that legalisation would lead to more users?

I wouldn't be running out to buy heroin if private use suddenly became legal, would you?

No, but legalising private use isn't going to take druggies off the streets. I can't really see the advantage.

Plus, the murder rate in Uruguay is five times higher than Ireland.

Omackeral

The Backwards Man wrote: »

How many World Cups have we won again?

They won the world cup in the 1930's when there only a handful of teams invited. Different scenario really .

anncoates

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Plus, the murder rate in Uruguay is five times higher than Ireland.

Also a widespread mullet/ponytail epidemic there.

Some of the barnets I saw over there are indelibly scorched on my brain.

floggg

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

Meh. A shining example to the world would be Switzerland or Germany. Cannabis legalisation and gay marriage are luxuries, not necessities.

Equality and civil rights are never a luxury.

osarusan

Omackeral wrote: »

They won the world cup in the 1930's when there only a handful of teams invited. Different scenario really .

Won it in 1950 too.

Mr Benevolent

floggg wrote: »

Equality and civil rights are never a luxury.

Really? Preach that in a few third world countries and you'll soon find out how pompous your statement really is.

1ZRed

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

Meh. A shining example to the world would be Switzerland or Germany. Cannabis legalisation and gay marriage are luxuries, not necessities.

Such shite. Getting off your face is the only luxury there, there's no comparing that to a human right

cletus van damme

floggg wrote: »

Equality and civil rights are never a luxury.

i agree but there are "more worthy" essentials like food,education etc..

Jester252

So Ireland should be more like Uruguay because you like their laws. A lot of people like China and USA so should we change to suit them?

Corkfeen

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

Really? Preach that in a few third world countries and you'll soon find out how pompous your statement really is.

So if marriage was not allowed for straight couples in a third world country , would you say that's an abuse of their human rights? Marriage should be considered a human right for both gay and straight people, the objectors have yet to produce a reasonable argument in why it shouldn't.

Omackeral

Omackeral wrote: »

Their president Jose Mujica is a shining example of the common man. Drives a modest car (read: piece of crap) and donates a good deal of his salary to worthy causes. I learned about him through another boards thread. An awesome dude by all accounts.

Mujica... F*ck Yeah!

Doesn't he donate something like 90% of his salary?

Christy42

cletus van damme wrote: »

i agree but there are "more worthy" essentials like food,education etc..

At what point is it a choice between rights and food? Food requires planning, money etc. Gay marraige requires saying gay people can get married, done. Finished. No need to use up additional resources. The systems for married couples are already in place.

I really never figured the 'we have more important things to worry about' argument. Legalise it and back to whatever else needs fixing in the country in question. If it requires a referendum then tag it on to the next one you were having anyway and it won't cost that much ink for a few extra lines and boxes.

Uruguay seems to do somethings very right and others it still has issues with though.

floggg

Mr Benevolent wrote: »

Really? Preach that in a few third world countries and you'll soon find out how pompous your statement really is.

Your statement shoes you don't really understand the concept of equality or civil rights.

Just because a person is being denied equality and civil rights it doesn't mean that they don't deserve them.

I think you'll find of you go to a third world country where there is discrimination and ask the minority if they deserve equality and civil rights, barring severe cases of Stockholm syndrome, they will almost universally say yes.

Henlars67

Low unemployment, economic growth, affordable quality health-plans, free secular compulsory education form 4 -18.

Poverty is being tackled by giving monthly cash payments to those in need, but only on the condition that they do some work in their community and that their children attend school.

It has the lowest crime rate in South America, though granted that would still leave it a lot higher than here.

People must assume that because it is in South America that it's automatically a bad place to live.

That's part of the ingrained racism that try as people might, they'll never be able to get rid of.

floggg

cletus van damme wrote: »

i agree but there are "more worthy" essentials like food,education etc..

The concept of equality means that they law should allow everybody to pursue economic and social development on the same terms.

It is oxymoronic to say that people are entitled to equality and civil rights but that a state should only get around to giving it to them once the state had sorted out its economy or schools.

Indeed equally demands that a pauper be treated the same in the eyes of the law as a prince (in the absence of an objectively justified reason and subject to the principle of proportionality) so to saw that the pauper should only worry about being equal once he has something to his own name misses the point.

sugar_fiend

floggg wrote: »

Equality and civil rights are never a luxury.

equality is always a subjective term and often a loaded one

Vincent brownes idea of equality is hiring extra teachers to follow traveller kids around the country so they don't fall behind on their education

floggg

sugar_fiend wrote: »

equality is always a subjective term and often a loaded one

Vincent brownes idea of equality is hiring extra teachers to follow traveller kids around the country so they don't fall behind on their education

No it's ensuring that the system is not set up in such a way that precludes them from participating, whether in principal or in practice.

That doesn't mean sending teachers to halting sites, simply that the kids from halting sites should be accommodated in public schools.

RobertKK

Matt_Trakker wrote: »

Luis Saurez :pac::pac:

Yeah, shows the bite that Uruguay is bringing to the world.

jank

It is easy to look at headline and think that this country or that country is much better than here. Uruguay has massive social problems that would put this countries 'problems' to shame.

jank

floggg wrote: »

The concept of equality means that they law should allow everybody to pursue economic and social development on the same terms.
.

No it doesn't. Equality should mean that one is equal in the eyes of the law and end there.... However the progressive version of equality is "you have more stuff than me, to be equal the state should confiscate your stuff and give it to me" Liberty before equality first and foremost.

floggg

jank wrote: »

It is easy to look at headline and think that this country or that country is much better than here. Uruguay has massive social problems that would put this countries 'problems' to shame.

I don't think any country is perfect and each will have its own unique problems.

That said, if you were looking for a country that was "closer to perfect" I always thought the Scandinavian countries were a good place to look.

They certainly have problems (though I can't say im overly familiar with them) but I think in terms of equality legislation, health care, education etc they are often cited as standard setters.

I think they generally always top or get close to the top of "happiness" indexes as well - though how that is measured I do not know.

sugar_fiend

floggg wrote: »

No it's ensuring that the system is not set up in such a way that precludes them from participating, whether in principal or in practice.

That doesn't mean sending teachers to halting sites, simply that the kids from halting sites should be accommodated in public schools.

they are accommodated but you can only lead a horse to water

Celly Smunt

Uraguay,the Finland that lives to party.

jank

floggg wrote: »

I don't think any country is perfect and each will have its own unique problems.

That said, if you were looking for a country that was "closer to perfect" I always thought the Scandinavian countries were a good place to look.

They certainly have problems (though I can't say im overly familiar with them) but I think in terms of equality legislation, health care, education etc they are often cited as standard setters.

I think they generally always top or get close to the top of "happiness" indexes as well - though how that is measured I do not know.

Ireland has appeared for years at the top of happiness index's. You would never guess that if you went solely by the mood of thejournal.ie or AH.
Scandinavian countries are generally seen as well run but taxes are through the roof. Of course their culture is totally different to ours as well. They put out party manifestos to raise taxes not lower them. The problem with Ireland is that we think we can have world class services with that someone else pays for. Of course we have the Irish civil service to run things as well, would you trust the state with more of your money? I wouldnt.

1ZRed

jank wrote: »

No it doesn't. Equality should mean that one is equal in the eyes of the law and end there.... However the progressive version of equality is "you have more stuff than me, to be equal the state should confiscate your stuff and give it to me" Liberty before equality first and foremost.

Anyway, what does that have to do with gay marriage? SFA because this is all that we'd want:

jank wrote:

Equality should mean that one is equal in the eyes of the law and end there

So where's the opposition coming from then?

mikom

jank wrote: »

No it doesn't. Equality should mean that one is equal in the eyes of the law and end there.... However the progressive version of equality is "you have more stuff than me, to be equal the state should confiscate your stuff and give it to me" Liberty before equality first and foremost.

Get back to me when the first marriage is confiscated and then handed over to a gay couple.

keith16

anncoates wrote: »

In fairness, so do we, despite having a shit sporting infrastructure, incompetent football authority and a population of EPL fanboys.

oh I agree, we can produce world class athletes but this is by accident rather than by design.

Celly Smunt

jank wrote: »

Ireland has appeared for years at the top of happiness index's. You would never guess that if you went solely by the mood of thejournal.ie or AH.
Scandinavian countries are generally seen as well run but taxes are through the roof. Of course their culture is totally different to ours as well. They put out party manifestos to raise taxes not lower them. The problem with Ireland is that we think we can have world class services with that someone else pays for. Of course we have the Irish civil service to run things as well, would you trust the state with more of your money? I wouldnt.

The taxes in scandanavian countries are regenerated and put back into society.in Ireland however it seems that our taxes degenerate into an abyss.I think everybody would take the tax hit if we knew Ireland would be anything close to the likes of Finland,Denmark or Norway.(I'll leave Sweden out for the moment.)

Artful_Badger

This is like a Uruguayan seeing "Ireland legislates for abortion" and saying to his pal, now there's a country that knows what its at. I mean abortion, I hear they also have had several women presidents, their prime minister is a former school teacher, a man of the people with education on his mind and for a small country they produced Roy Keane the greatest player of the greatest club in history !

I cant wait to emigrate to this utopia !

snubbleste

Artful_Badger wrote: »

...
I cant wait to emigrate to this utopia !

boards.uy