Article

2003-06-14 Europe

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Posted by Bulldog 2003-06-14 09:01 am|| || Front Page|| [13 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 And as always it's only Americans and Brits (well, and communists too) that can see the deep conspiracies and horrors that exist behind Europe's beautiful faces. All those Eastern Europeans that voted with margins of 90% or 80% in favour of joining the EU are surely uneducated and uninformed savages that have to be taught by you where their own good lies.

I propose calling this sacred duty of yours "Anglosaxon Man's Burden".

But I've still not understood the reason you believe Blair's government stays in the EU, if he doesn't believe it to be good for the UK...

And yeah as "Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire" said, it's closer union and federalism that's favoured by the small member-states, exactly because it works better for them.

Posted by Aris Katsaris 2003-06-14 14:09:37|| 2003-06-14 14:09:37|| Front Page Top

#2 This is a powder keg waiting to explode. Europe will never get rid of its nationalistic fervor. Implementing economic measures is understandable, but this super-state thing is nonsense. Those countries that voted 80% or 90% were thinking in terms of economics (like my family in Poland) and not because they wanted to form some sort of new European one nation. Get your head out of the clouds Aris.

Posted by RW 2003-06-14 17:56:24|| 2003-06-14 17:56:24|| Front Page Top

#3 perhaps the EU will work for a while...

then two member states will have a 'border disagreement' or some other spat

the EU will then become paralysed beaurocracy producing 'strongly worded resolutions condemning the violence' and Europe will go back to being a bloodbath. Old habits die hard.

Posted by Anon1 2003-06-15 00:25:36|| 2003-06-15 00:25:36|| Front Page Top

#4 Difficult to have "border disagreements" mean much when people pass freely from one country to the other and borders mean about as much as state borders mean in the US.

Posted by Aris Katsaris 2003-06-15 02:00:58|| 2003-06-15 02:00:58|| Front Page Top

#5 And RW, I'm glad you know what 80% and 90% have been thinking based just on your own family's attitude. Or what your family claimed was their attitude. Perhaps they didn't want to break your heart. :-)

But polls tell a different story, one that's not based on economics alone, but on a common foreign and defense policy as well.

Posted by Aris Katsaris 2003-06-15 02:21:10|| 2003-06-15 02:21:10|| Front Page Top

#6 "...US hadn't allowed..." should read "...US had allowed...". Time to beef up the coffee levels, I think.

Posted by Bulldog 2003-06-14 09:23:59|| 2003-06-14 09:23:59|| Front Page Top

#7 Europe is going to pieces. I love it!
(Oh wait, I said that already)
Europe is going nowhere. I love it!

Posted by RW 2003-06-14 09:33:04|| 2003-06-14 09:33:04|| Front Page Top

#8 I especially love this bit:
"Social policy:
The Union and the Member States... shall have as their objectives the promotion of employment, improved living and working conditions,"
You mean like cutting the work week to 25 hours, and prohibiting firms from ever laying off workers?
There's a future economics Ph.D. somewhere in there: 21st Cent. European Economic History: What Went Wrong?

Posted by RW 2003-06-14 09:42:07|| 2003-06-14 09:42:07|| Front Page Top

#9 The undercurrent of political struggles and quarrels between the smaller and larger members of the EU sound a lot like the US in the 1780s. The smaller states signed on to the constition pretty fast as it helped to prevent them from being steamrollered by the larger states. Federalism worked best for them. States like Virginia had a vested interest in the older confederation political process because it enlarged their influnce and Federalism could only decrease it over time. This is one reason that a Constitional Admendment to eliminate the Electoral College will never pass.

Posted by Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire 2003-06-14 10:10:51|| 2003-06-14 10:10:51|| Front Page Top

#10 The Czechs also voted (77% approval) to join - hope they had a better upbringing, and they know when to shut up and listen to their betters, so Jacques isn't frustrated again

Posted by Frank G 2003-06-14 10:22:35|| 2003-06-14 10:22:35|| Front Page Top

#11 I give this un-UN about four years before all the members bow out. I am taking bets on it going beyond four years.

Posted by Cyber Sarge 2003-06-14 12:00:13|| 2003-06-14 12:00:13|| Front Page Top

#12 The top leadership part sounds like a pyramid scheme. The generalizations and "feel good" language I have read so far sounds like a bureaucrat's dream. I hope that the European public reads this document very carfully and asks some hard questions before they sign on with this outfit, but I'm just a cynical and uncultured Merkin.

Posted by Alaska Paul 2003-06-14 12:59:51|| 2003-06-14 12:59:51|| Front Page Top

13:26 Alaska Paul
13:17 Alaska Paul
13:14 Becky
13:11 Alaska Paul
13:04 Alaska Paul
12:59 Alaska Paul
12:42 Alaska Paul
12:34 Alaska Paul
12:13 Rex Mundi
12:00 Cyber Sarge
11:30 Matt
11:27 Dave D.
10:52 Phil B
10:40 Frank G
10:22 Frank G
10:18 Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire
10:18 JP
10:13 Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire
10:10 Someone who did NOT vote for William Proxmire
09:53 RW
09:50 Bulldog
09:50 Tom
09:42 RW
09:33 RW