Posted on 05/06/2020 9:26:32 PM PDT by MtnClimber
The European Union’s response to the novel coronavirus is a sight to behold. For decades, the EU has linked the promotion of its progressive ideology and the construction of its supranational institutions to a vibrant promise. The ideology and institutions were supposed to lead to a more open and unified Europe that looks after the welfare of its citizens at home and matches the international power of Russia, China, and the United States.
The coronavirus crisis has exposed this grand vision as a fairy tale. The fiasco began in February, when Italy appealed to the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre, which coordinates disaster relief among member states, for help handling the coronavirus. None came. The EU’s apparatus could not cajole a single country into coming to Italy’s aid. In fact, beyond merely declining to help the Italians, Germany banned the export of masks and ventilators to Italy on March 4. The French government requisitioned essential medical supplies on March 3, and by March 6, was seizing major orders destined for other countries. This total betrayal of European solidarity shocked the Italians. When Spain became overwhelmed by the crisis, it was also snubbed by more powerful member states and was left to beg NATO for help. The president of Serbia, a country that has applied for EU membership, drew the somber conclusion: “European solidarity does not exist.”
In the face of the worsening health crisis, the EU revealed its impotence in coordinating the actions of member states. A reasonable preventive measure in response to the spread of COVID-19 in early March would have been for the European Commission to coordinate a multilateral effort across the Schengen zone to close borders between member states. But the European Commission failed to act and discouraged the closure of borders...
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
When the EU has over 100 regulations on a tooth brush how are they going to handle anything complex.
Sounds like each member was left to fend on its own. In that case you’re better off BEING on your own!
Europe may well need food assistance before the end of next year.
When we save them, we need to be certain that they thank us, and not the CCP who tried to kill them.
Not surprising. Bureaucracies exist only to serve themselves.
Look at the difference between that and our magnificent federal government under President Trump’s leader ship and the coronavirus task force
He Marshaled the US government hasn’t been seen since World War II
Massive amounts of PPE masks ventilators the defense production I act hospital ships in New York and Los Angeles building the Javits Center mobilizing the Army Corps of Engineers
it was magnificent
Makes me more than proud to say USA! USA! USA!
The EU is a loose confederation — not even a strong confederation like Switzerland (where each canton is in many ways independent), forget about a strong federation like the USA or Germany.
And this coronavirus showed that - as a loose confederation of independent states, with no common health policy, it didn’t do anything. Each individual, independent, country did as it thought best.
The EU is a trading community and that’s the best for it — if they follow your post they would then ask for converting the loose confederation into a country — that’s a bad idea.
you mean “Europe” the entire continent or you mean the “EU”?
Even in the worst hit parts of the EU - Italy-Spain-France-Benelux, there are no food shortages.
“The EU is a trading community and that’s the best for it — if they follow your post they would then ask for converting the loose confederation into a country — that’s a bad idea.”
You misunderstood my post, or I wasn’t clear. I was advocating that each country stand on its own. I’m fine with belonging to a trading block (like the common market used to be) but I would not favor a political union the way the EU wants to be. Let each country control its political and economic destiny - that’s what self determination is about.
Bookmark
Agreed, unless the Demon party and deep state successfully cut our own food supply in half.
Some will no doubt try, as they are trying to essentially engineer an American socialist government take over, or revolution.
As time goes on, it’s becoming more apparent there is a bigger left-wing globalist conspiracy going on here than a mere joint CCP/Fauci/Gates/Clinton Foundation funded virus bio weapon.
The Russian energy economy, and rapid military expansion throughout the Middle East and Africa (with the strategic goal of controlling the energy supply to the EU), has taken a horrific hit due Saudi and U.S. energy output, all the while Trump finally completed the EU (Aegis On Shore) missile shield Bush 43 had partially completed (but Obama halted immediately for Putin).
Meanwhile —
Hong Kong’s once $6 Trillion economy and banking system has been absolutely gutted by China, and is now going formally bankrupt. That was intentional.
Then, like Russia in an economic sense, China’s economy was intentionally slammed by Trump, to either stop, or kick China’s 2025 plan to forceably take formal control of Hong Kong and Taiwan, (and a likely larger blueprint for Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, etc), moving its boundaries all the way to Indonesia, (at least according to some smart INDOPACOM analyst). Of course China’s aggressiveness and 2025 plan was in part based on China meeting aggressive strategic, naval, and conventional military capable thresholds to fight the U.S., which have been significantly impacted by Trumps economic policy, which is a good thing.
But China has been so focussed on military expansion, it has been intentionally investing very little in agricultural development and expansion for over 4 decades, and especially since they had easy money to strategically purchase food companies and control “Big AG” abroad. Regardless of this, now China is going into a serious food shortage/crisis, and this is (possibly intentional as well), creating significant stress domestically.
However, some analyst now believe, and could be correct), the CCP Politburo and brass decided to kick the rapidly growing U.S. economy in the teeth, which also aligns nicely with left-wing globalist DNC deep state architects, who also wanted to destroy the rapidly growing Trump economy, and take Trump out.
China could also have strategicqlly decided to move its 2025 timetable significantly forward, to really put Trump and the U.S. into a bind. We shall see. Russia has an angle here as well, but that would be another page.
Cannot say it’s impossible the DNC isn’t even now working with foreign help to take out Trump, *as we have already seen the DNC/HRC machine pay $12 Million dollars, through Steele, to obtain fake “dossier” information from 3 different Kremlin ops poc’s, to do exactly that!
It almost appears there really is an almost hydra like global socialist tentacle apparatus working at least congenitally to destroy American society, liberty, and Trump.
You have written a fundamental truth.
“Bureaucracies exist only to serve themselves.”
Sarah Palin wrote this in her book “Going Rogue”:
“But I do believe in a few timeless and unchanging truths, and chief among those is that man is fallen. This world is not perfect, and politicians will never make it so. This, above all, is what informs my pragmatic approach to politics.”
I’m old enough to remember the promises of the “Common Market” as they called it back then:
1) All of Europe to sell your goods to, without tariffs
2) All of Europe to buy goods from, without tariffs
3) Virtually no internal borders - then none at all
4) A single currency
Sounds wonderful, and could have been - which is why it had so much support there.
Now look what it is:
1) Dictatorial role from Brussels (really Germany), via unelected people
2) Open external borders causing repopulation of the entire continent from the Third World
3) An army of people in Brussels writing regulation after regulation, such as 100 of them on a toothbrush (as noted above)
4) Censorship of the media and individuals, along with ‘hate crime’ laws which prevent debate
5) Vilification (or worse, including imprisonment) of those who object to the above, including politicians trying to end that crap
Now that they see the monster they allowed to be created, can the people, will the people, do anything about it?
Not now, but supply chains are disrupted, and the EU is exposed as an inept and corrupt fraud, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility.
Unlikely, perhaps, but a contingency worth thinking about.
Africa and parts of South America could be in real trouble, but the time frame is 12-24 months out.
Who says this is failure?
Maybe they actually have a balance of powers and realize that the all powerful, all knowing, centralized federal government like we have in Washington DC that does NOT take into consideration cultural or geographic differences is not the way to go.
The EU should be there to promote inter state commerce, not regulate how much water is used per flush by a toilet, what light bulb you use, if weed should be illegal, or prostitution… or what a kid eats for a school lunch in every member state like here in the US. The US is a more centralized, top down system then what you have in Europe.
Now, let us flip this argument inside out. Compare the Corona virus mortality rates of Germany, Denmark, Austria, Finland, Norway, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Poland to the US. Maybe allowing the various member states to do things as they see fit worked.
And while I agree and hate to see Europe to go in that direction of more and greater centralization, us talking about that is a classic case of the pot calling the kettle black.
We are probably more centralized/top down than the Russians today, and that is no joke.
We censor.
We open our borders.
We have all sorts of rules that even violate the first 10 Amendments (Bill of rights - every single one has been abridged)
We have armies of federal bureaucrats that right what is enforced with the power of the law (tax and guns if needed): FAA, FCC, FTC, OSHA, EPA, FDA, ATF, DEA, FBI, USPS, DE... Heck, the Social Security Administration has armed agents in this country. Everyone makes rules, lots and lots of rules.
No joke: Just federally, “the law” spans 51 volumes, covers over 3,000 various offenses with over 23,000 pages. The average American breaks no less than 3 laws by the time they get to work, even if they don’t know it.
I agree with you that it’s sad to see them slip into this centralized top down mess, but where do you think we live? In a free and private economy? In a decentralized union of states? In a place where the first 10 Amendments are truly constitutionally guaranteed and holy, not to be over stepped by anyone? You must not be living in the US?
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