R.I.P.E.U

R.I.P.E.U

 

Europe gave birth to industry, liberty and science but then again it also created fascism, totalitarianism and eugenics. For good or bad, it has always been the focus of international events, mainly thanks to its invasion and subjection of almost every people on the planet. The great wars and the cold war saw the balance of power shift to only two ‘superpowers’, the US and the Soviet Union (who were both born out of European ideals: Liberalism and Marxism). However, post-Mao China witnessed the emergence of a wholly new beast; a cauldron of regurgitated ‘European’ ideas: Stalinist single party government intertwined with a ruthlessly capitalist economy. This was hugely more effective; the balance of power of the world economy is moving rapidly from the Atlantic to the Pacific. With huge and densely populated countries (Brazil, India, Vietnam, China) now overtaking the old powers in GDP rankings it is clear where the power now lies: in size. So when European leaders squabble over a bail-out fund, it is more than a temporary economic solution that they should be fighting for; if the European Union were to collapse over the current meltdown, then no single European country would be imposing on a global scale. Together, however, the European Union has a population of over 600 Million people, and the worlds single largest economy. When David Cameron walks out of treaty signing, not even taking one of the other non-Eurozone members (Poland, Sweden), he made a fatal error: Yes, the United Kingdom could become an off-shore Switzerland, but on the world stage what say would it have?

There are also, of course, arguments against uniting the nations of Europe in a single state. The unelected rulers of Brussels have appointed the governments of both Italy and Greece and will subject their economies to alien German standards. This is all happening due to an obvious flaw in the great European project; you cannot have a set of common policies, common borders and common currency without an executive common government and bank. Therefore why should this failing machine be given license to operate on more devastating terms? No one is suggesting a creation of the Fourth Reich, but the revival of the National Socialist party with its warming “We Keep Our Word” slogan is not helping much. Euro-skeptics, like Nigel Farrage have a reason to be worried about a numbing of cultural identity but such people should be warned that it seems that it is either a cultural compromise or the death of a Europe prominent in world politics. Cultural compromise is in fact the absolute opposite of what we have been seeing; France and England arguing and blaming each other for their respective problems, Germans proving to be especially efficient and England allowing continental agreements to take place whilst overseeing them from afar. 

Nevertheless, I still feel that the countries within the eurozone should do everything they can to assure unity. How could this possibly come about? I believe that the solution would be in enforcing common economic policy across all eurozone members, but only following a referendum in each state. In that way you would avoid the arbitrary imposition of puppet governments, such as the ones seen in Greece and in Italy. The citizens of the European Union all live in democracies therefore it is they who should be deciding who will govern them. They should have the choice between being a “region” within the european superstructure or quitting the eurozone but maintaining political union with the superstate. You would have a two-tier europe consisting of a single mega-nation and a community of affiliated states; more like NATO than MERCOSUR.

Jack Apollo George