Hey all.
I love cartalk, and can listen to the show again and again. But i live in Denmark, Europe.
But, being a non-US listener i was just wondering how many users in here are from another country than USA.
Happy cartalking all.
ps: I even tried to make others to listen too, but only semi successfull so far.
Welcome to you…we have little to do with the show though. We’re just a bunch of old car has beens with too much time on our hands, but our advice is free and worth every penny.
I’m not from the US either, I’m from Maine; ayah-a-hah…
Just kidding.
Let’s get off topic, how do you really like your health care system in 25 words or less ?
It’s not surprisng that folks from countries outside the U.S. like Tom and Ray, they are boarderline socialists…Just saying.
Borderline socialists? Really??? They don’t talk about politics often, and when they do, it is mostly car-related, and even then, Tom and Ray seldom agree. Tom and Ray seldom agree on anything.
I guess by your definition, George W. Bush is the “borderline” reincarnation of Karl Marx because he signed the the first TARP bill into law.
I’ll refer you to
http://www.cartalk.com/content/rant/gastax/
Yay! more taxes
and
http://www.cartalk.com/content/rant/r-rlast35.html
The founding fathers were apparently imbeciles
as well as
http://www.cartalk.com/content/rant/r-rlast9.html
More government regulations
and
http://www.cartalk.com/content/rant/r-rlast29.html
Down with freedom of the press
and of course
http://www.cartalk.com/content/rant/r-rlast32.html
Let’s let the governemnt decide what the populace should drive.
You need to go look up “socialism.”
We are firmly under “Liberalism” (and not the stupid namby pamby meaning of “liberal” as “leftish” started in earnest during the Reagan years - “Liberalism” is the general political philosophy that includes both laissez-faire and state-regulated capitalism). State taxation and regulation are not even close to socialism. The closest we get is having the state owning large stakes in things like banks and GM.
We’re drowning out “Miracus”…are you there ? Don’t listen to the people who put all people from away in the same pigeon hole. I think Denmark is a very nice place. What cars do you predominantly drive ?
FoDaddy…I wouldn’t take them any more seriously on politics than say Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck. All are doing it for profit, having fun stirring the pot, and like you said have an opinion we can find funny, agree with or totally disregard. So how about Denmark ?
Modern socialism does have anti-capitalistic connotations. The 1st, 3rd, and 5th selections I linked to reflect those ideals. Granted Tom & Ray (Tom mostly) do tend to champion more liberal beliefs.
I’ve never been to Denmark before, though I’ve been to Europe a few times. A guy at the military school I attended was from Denmark, he was a cool guy, one time we had to run 7 miles to another school because we both missed the van that took people to the school where the SAT tests were being held. Good times.
FoDaddy, your first link is to a piece by Ray. Tom is not the coauthor.
Even Socrates didn’t believe in democracy. Did that make him a socialist too?
What does airline regulation have to do with socialism? Socialism is an economic system where the State owns the resources. Regulation of industries is not a socialist belief.
Since not one of your links is related in any way to government ownership of resources, not one of them indicates Tom or Ray are socialist in any way.
You seem to be equating “socialism” with “government regulation.” I don’t think you know what “socialist” means.
It seems to me too many people who don’t like liberal policies too easily throw around and misuse the “socialist” label. I wish we could stop throwing around labels and debate the policies.
Miracus, you should know trying to make others listen to Car Talk is considered cruel and unusual punishment in many countries. 
In the case of the airlines, the government both controls the means of production (when flights are allowed) and distribution of airline routes (and where the flight go to). It’s acutally a good example.
FoDaddy…I hate to tell you this…but based on your definition of what socialism is…We’ve been a socialistic country since Thomas Jefferson.
Actually Tom and Ray are very Moderate in their political beliefs. As “dagosa” pointed out…Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck who SCREAM against any kind of socialistic society are complete hypocrites since their political views may not be socialism…but they sure are communistic.
Denmark is a rich country but without a car industry and no oil. It alsoo has historic cities with narrow streets and real estate is expensive.
All the above means expensive gas, and high taxes on large, powerful cars. The cars on the street in Denmark are generally smaller and few SUVs.
Every country is socialistic in some respect. But there are differing levels of it, and at a certain point socialism becomes incompatible to such things as personal freedom and democracy.
I agree…we’ve had socialist practices going on for a long time; social security, public libraries, fire/police departments, we even practice socialized medicine for ER care. Most would do little to change it. The debate is not do we approve of socialism (because we all do in it’s various forms) but in what areas and to what extent. The same can be said for capitalism for our economy or totalitarian with the powers of the president during war time. We are great because we embrace all peoples and all forms of governing to varying degrees and in different applications; never excluding any one but limiting the the extent of all.
…at a certain point socialism becomes incompatible to such things as personal freedom and democracy.
Really? Even in countries where they have both socialism and democracy?
What happens to your belief when the majority of voters in a country democratically elect members of the Socialist party? Wouldn’t that make the socialism and democracy completely compatible?
Your belief in the incompatibility of socialism and freedom must require you to ignore all the countries that have democratically selected a socialist economy.
I hope this reality doesn’t make your head explode, but regardless of the economic system, if it is selected by a majority of the voters in a fair election, socialism is completely democratic. You are confusing socialism with communism. Communism is forced upon the majority my the minority, which makes it very undemocratic. However, socialism doesn’t carry the same stigma, unless you get your news from pundits.
While Denmark has no car industry today, they did have a thriving car industry up through the 1920s.
If you want to see some of the cars that they produced, you can research the history of makes such as Hammel (originating in 1886!), Brems, Dansk Automobil, Christiansen, Anglo-Dane, JAN, Thrige, and Triangel.
The JAN was particularly interesting, as its 1916 engine design was essentially copied 20 years later by BMW for their model 327 of 1936. (So much for German superiority in engineering!) The inventor behind the JAN later developed one of the first gas turbine engines.
Those particular countries aren’t at the far end of the spectrum. I was mainly refering to the USSR.