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FlabFree (August 17, 2008 at 2:04 am)
I accidentally wrote those comments above (guitar320) under my brother's user name, so please respond to this user name if you have something else to say. The most accurate description, culturally speaking, would be if Bermuda, BVI, Turks & Caicos, Montserrat, Anguilla, and Cayman Islands all received equal status to N. Ireland, England, Scotland, & Wales. That's not the case tho, so the Great Britain analogy is most accurate. We are now considered equal in status to the Dutch unlike France & UK
guitar320 (August 17, 2008 at 1:50 am)
That's easy for you to say, you're just a spectator sitting in Great Britain. That's your interpretation. Chavez is the type of guy who would try to annex the islands, and he could easily do it given their close proximity. He's not known for his respect of rights and democracy, so you really can't defend him saying that they were empty threats. The fact that he said publicly and desires it concerns us, and we do take any verbal threat seriously, it would be foolish not to.
guitar320 (August 17, 2008 at 1:47 am)
My comparison isn't inaccurate at all. We're talking about political structure, not cultural homogeny. There's no doubt that we have completely different cultures. Our Dutch Antillean culture tends to be more conservative and religious, closer to the U.S. and Caribbean, rather than the liberal, socialist culture of Holland and Europe. That doesn't mean that my comparison is inaccurate. As far as polical structure goes, mine is accurate, and your's inaccurate.
mctmct1987 (August 17, 2008 at 12:59 am)
Venezuela doesn't want annex any of the islands, that was empty shouting by Chavez.
mctmct1987 (August 17, 2008 at 12:55 am)
I'm not saying the islands will be like Canada and Australia. I'm pointing out the differences between the two constructions.The comparison with the UK is inaccurate as well, as the four countries in the UK have similar cultures. In the Dutch situation the cultural differences are much larger. That's why I stuck to the example of Canada/Australia Ricardothe1337 gave.
FlabFree (August 16, 2008 at 8:45 pm)
Don't worry, we're not going anywhere. We're a bunch of islands and we NEED Holland for protection from the Venezuelans who want to annex us. We need your aid, military, and foreign relations. We share the language, the heritage, and the citizenship. We're not going anywhere, and it's a different time than that of Indonesia and the 1940's - we're only 6 islands with 200,000 people - not 15,000 islands with millions of people. Aruba only threatened independence because it was jealous of Curacao.
FlabFree (August 16, 2008 at 8:41 pm)
That's an inaccurate comparison. It's not like the UK and Australia and Canada, it's actually like England, Scotland, Wales, and Norther Ireland in the United Kingdom. Aruba, Curacao and Sint Maarten are not gaining independence like those of the Commonwealth. They will be nations of their own under the Dutch Kingdom like England, Scotland, Wales, and N. Ireland are in the UK(atleast in theory) It's being postponed though, so we'll see what happens. No one's getting their independence though.
mctmct1987 (July 16, 2008 at 4:01 pm)
part 2 of comment due charatar limit:An other major difference is that Canada and Australia have their own passport, whereas people on the dutch caribean islands have the same Dutch passport as people in The Netherlands, this has always been the case.This is, and most people forget this, one major advantage, because having a Dutch passport means the inhabitants of the islands are part of the Schengen Treaty and can travel to the EU/USA (and to most parts of the world in fact) without visa.
mctmct1987 (July 16, 2008 at 3:49 pm)
Yes, its the same idea, several autonomous countries within one kingdome. Only the countries in the Dutch case are not as separate as in the UK/Australia/Canada case. The Dutch government will take (as they have always done) of the defence, foreign affairs and will play a significant roll in the economic development.
Ricardothe1337 (July 15, 2008 at 10:14 pm)
you mean just like Great Britian and Canada/Australia? Same queen different rules, money and other stuff |
