Children ARE a burden but entitled parents are a bigger burden.

The UK has one of the most vile governments in the industrialized world.

I'm not enough of an alcoholic to be enticed by free alcohol.

In 20 years such people will be calling for literal slave labor.

What's true in Italy isn't true for the rest of Europe. Most people don't use SMS because they already pay for data and Signal/Whatsapp/Matrix/Telegram do messaging better than SMS.

The UK Government has stopped court cases investigating corruption, as was the case with a particular Saudi arms deal. There's the never ending corruption around members of the royal family selling influence (and property at inflated prices) to foreign elements, particularly from the Arabian Gulf but also former Soviet states.

There's the fact London has been the money laundering capital of the world for much of my life, this money has been used to influence politicians to turn a blind eye or even advocate for blatantly corrupt and abusive regimes.

Tony Blair, a former head of government, is the best example of such. He has spent (at least) the past decade "advising" criminal regimes around the globe on how to massage their images.

The UK is a pretty murky place to anyone who bothers to pay attention. The rule of law that they have established is for the sake of financial stability, to keep the charade going. It certainly isn't for the benefit of the common man.

Conservatives typically do not like discussion or debate because it forces them to look at the status quo and ask hard nosed questions. Try the religious forums - Islam, Christianity or any communities focused on nationalism. I imagine that's where such people hide.

Also, European conservatives are usually just as bigoted as their north American brethren. The major difference is that they may be less religious.

Any religion that looks to spread is going to use "us vs them" hatred and eventually violence to get their message across.

Can you expound on that statement?

It sounds as if the organizers were too quick to take the $650 from attendees and those willing to pay were very eager to pony up the cash in the hope of networking.

History suggests that the USA really isn't better than this. If you ignore the post WWII boom period, workers being treated terribly is the norm.

It's funny to me how many of the things we were told communism would bring about are now being experienced under the current economic system.

Whatsapp turning into WeChat should make Signal and Threema look even better.