EU? Or EEW?

Lemme see if I get this straight. Various countries across the European continent have gathered together to unite to form a bloc association designed to compete economically with the US of A. The powers-that-be have gone so far as to convert the monetary systems of each country to an arbitrary system called the Euro. They have derived trade rules, various economic policies and enough regulations to shanghai a democrat. And those same powers-that-be call this a good idea?

So the average European country, with it’s stagnant economy, mammoth health care obligations, and home-grown bureaucracies, must NOW support an umbrella organization consisting of what amounts to super-civil servants - and they call this an economic powerhouse?

I guess some simpleton thought that if everybody had some semblance of democracy, then it is all the same, and why not get together into one big, happy family. Democracy is democracy, after all - ain’t it? Well, I reckon not.

Apparently the “big” countries, namely Germany and France - not un-coincidentally teeming with left wing nutcases and socialists - have dominated the European union scene from the get-go. In so dominating the scene, the biggies have managed to push smaller countries around like playground thugs bully smaller children for their lunch money. AND for some strange reason, these smaller countries are becoming a tad resentful. Like, how dare they?

The prospect of a “united states of Europe” might be workable in some fashion if a little more thought of fairness was entered into the equation, but I doubt that the ethnocentric Europeans could conceive of a system that would allow, say Portugal to join the elite team of heavyweights, so the smaller countries will toe the line in perpetuity. Small wonder that they become a tad unruly when they figure out that they’ve been had. More and worse are yet to be seen.

But something happened last week that cast a pall over the whole utopian idea of a mighty powerhouse running amok over the continent - France (yes, THAT France) voted to toss the EU constitution out on it’s jaundiced ear. But not only that, but Denmark also voted to show the eurocrats the door. And if that’s not all, the finance minister of Italy is looking into giving the Euro currency the boot, presumably to return to the Lire. Do my wondering ears hear the sound of wailing and gnashing of elitist teeth?

It has long been my opinion that the EU is a tar baby that will eventually reduce much of Europe into vassal states, permanently subservient to the more powerful states, a sort of “poor subsidizing the rich” situation in which the big countries continually stack the European deck in their favor - at the expense of smaller countries. The name of this game is persecution.

Such a situation cannot be tolerable indefinitely. Sooner or later tensions will rise, and eventually, should they continue to evolve, rhetoric will no longer suffice - there will be yet another armed European conflict. It is inevitable.

I know this idea sounds like my tin foil hat sprung a leak, but what happens in every society when one party usurps an inordinate share of resources for itself? You split into the haves and have-nots. This is bad enough when it is intra-mural, where there are no major standing militias, but when you carry it out between countries WITH standing armies whose cost must be justified, the situation becomes a powder keg waiting for a spark.

Sooner or later, some local politician will come into power promising to end all the historic wrongs perpetuated by “them” against “us”, and a series of events will launch that will be extremely difficult to control. Will the rich countries be able to contain the unrest? Will they be willing? In either event, the EU is doomed. Liberal attitude (I’m right, therefore only my idea of fairness prevails) and presumption of dominance has already cast the die, and headed the EU beast into the corral of obsolescence.

God bless them. I really don’t want to see a European entity become dominant. They have shown little interest in the well being of non-europeans, and even less concern for the feelings of the people they have historically oppressed - especially on other continents. Having not shown much concern for the rest of the world, why should they become ascendant?

It wasn’t too long ago that many Europeans believed in the “divine rights of kings”. Now many bureaucrats are setting themselves up for thrones of their own. By setting themselves up in high-paying positions answerable to few, if anybody, these folks are creating their own fiefdoms where they can become rich at the expense of the little guy. It’s the same old master-slave relationship that history has seen many times before - and it doesn’t make for lasting peace.

So what happened last week gave me pause for thought - the people of Europe (or at least France and Denmark) demonstrated in no uncertain terms that they have more intelligence than the governments of France and Denmark - not to mention the rest of the continent. They said “no thanks”. Some leaders, like in Italy, are at least showing signs of listening. Others, like Poland, etc., are scratching their heads and wondering what is happening. The “Progressive countries” are squirming about trying to find ways of NOT having their populace vote on the measure - vividly illustrating their idea of democracy and self-determination.

All these degrees of uncertainly and questioning are a good thing. People are defending their individual cultures and ways of life, and not letting things that they have cherished for centuries diminish quietly into the night. People are saying that their cultures are worth defending, and that change for the sake of change is rarely a good thing. Whilst the rich eurocrats sip their mint juleps, and wonder what is happening, the great unwashed are saving their continent for them.

I would very much like to see the European Union revert back to an advisory board, with full sovereignty restored to the various countries in the region. Their people deserve as much, and their cultures - that which makes them special - deserve survival. And should my dire predictions of continental conflict come to pass, the US is stupid enough to involve itself, the cavalry riding to the rescue, as it has done before. I’d rather not lose another American life defending Europe from it’s own folly. If the collapse of the EU defers a war, then it is a good thing, let it pass, and good riddance to a bad idea.

Those Europeans who were worthy of freedom have, for about the last 300 years, been coming to America. Leaving behind legions of dumb-dumbs and a few truncated aristocrats to exploit them like sheep.

The two groups work together to keep themselves convinced of their superiority.

(steely)

He said a couple of times in the article that Denmark and France rejected the constitution. But it was France and Holland.

sure it was holland? I could have srown it wasd denmark. oh well, there is a litany of other countries suddenly getting the jitters over this. maybe we'll have more runaway brides?

Let the people vote in the West and none of them like this. In the East and South it is more debatable, because they are poor and want the money and jobs to continue to flow from the advanced West.

It was France and the Netherlands...Denmark is scheduled to vote in September.

Yup...when he said that Denmark (not just once) had voted, it casted a shadow on the rest of his article. The article was pretty much dead on though.

9 posted on 06/07/2005 6:53:37 AM PDT by Lekker 1 ("Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?"- Harry M. Warner, Warner Bros., 1927)

that's it! I always keep confusing holland and denmark whenever someone says "netherlands". sorry. my bad.

must be getting old, well, older.

thanx fer the co,mpliment. whenever i mention the scenario that the EU is setting europe up for internacine war people look at me like my tinfoil hat is leaking. but if one looks at the history of the continent, it is inevitable.

and erasing or subserving cultures will merely hasten it's arrival. AND, as I said, the US is stupid enough to get involved.

the EU has merely exchanged the Divine Right of Kings for the Divine Right of Bureaucrats; this is not a good trade - it's much easier to revolt and kill/replace the king than it is to get rid of numerous anonymous bureaucrats!

IMHO, the only viable long-term solution is: offer statehood [United States statehood, that is!] to any democratic country [European or otherwise] whose population votes for it by 2/3 or more - with appropriate USA approval of course

This (a) gives the USA a really good reason to keep a military presence Over There, (b) totally takes the wind out of the sails of the EU, and (c) really, really honks off the UN

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