Over the past few weeks Europe has been rocked by debate over the common agricultural policy and it seems that the Euro-Constitution is a dead duck, where do we go from here? It seems increasingly unlikely that the federal model envisioned by many members of the EU political; elite is ever going to get of the ground- but that doesn't mean we should abandon the European project altogether. I think the constitution was the wrong way to go about Europe, since its contents, (which I've been reading), seems to amount to a superstate of hugely undemocratic proportions, populated by unaccountable individuals alienated from the grass-roots contact with ordinary people. The danger of Europe is that the larger a state or society becomes, the more undemocratic it is in characte, this is a lesson of history.
So what kind of Europe should we aspire for? Clearly we cannot as nations just stand alone like the old days of empire. In a globalised world we need each other, this fact is undenyable. That is why we have international law. We need to seek unity, but not a unity which is disrespectful of the indviduality and self-will of indivudual nation states; where big discisions are made off shore in secret rooms. Europe must function the notion that it's powers must eminate from the base rather than trickle down from the top. This can only happen, if national governments also initiate democratic reform. Europe must be flexible yet bound to together by common values of justice, liberty, economic security and a desire for all the members of the Union to feel themselves part of a family. Co-operation between nations and cultures is more important than ever in today's world. Europe must not be abandoned but it must be reformed to allow tje citizens of Europe grreater say.
We mustn't abandon the idea of Europe because it has been that ideal which has given us peace and stability in this part of the world for the last fifty years. Europe grew from the two generations of brave young men, some no older than us, who laid down there lives because of the senseless violence of power-hungry nation-states. Europe was designed to ensure that this would not happen again and that indivudal countries no longer warred over terriory or national securioty. As the world gets smaller, cultural, language and ideology collapses, it is natural that nations moves further togther. A more tightly organised Europe is the logical conclusion of mass-communication and world undivided by distance. Indeed one can see the progression towards unity historically. As H.G Wells remarked:
"(History's) main theme is the growth of human intercommunication and human communities and their rulers and conflicts, the story of how and why the myriads of little tribal systems of ten thousand years ago have fought and coalesced into the sixty- or seventy-odd governments of to-day and are now straining and labouring in the grip of forces that must presently accomplish their final unison".
It is clear that Europe and the uniting of nations will be a long and possibily never ending process, but in a post-nuclear age of strife and bringing the world together is our biigest challenge, but we try to work for such a gaol as this. To abandon Europe now would be dishonourable to the men and women for died in to world wars. Let's not make there's deaths invain.
though sadly this would only work in a bureaucracy-less world, which will never come. the european project is no more than that - a project; we're projecting hopes that will always cave in on themselves because it takes one corrupt individual to dash 400 million people's trust. and there are a lot of corrupt people at the very heart of the project who are only out for their own gain.
europe is dead, not as a possibility, but as a reality. but this is an ongoing project because those who seek to make the most will not let it lie, nor will they forge an alternative. it's theirs, not ours, and they will make their gains at the expense of our trust and hopes. RIP 'europe'. let's just hope that nationalism follows suit in a microcosmic manner. in this country at least.
proud? of what?
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burn down our home, RAPE OUR DEAD MOUTHS. Just as long as I don't have to hear anymore of your disgusting babble
I have to say, I´m not really the biggest fan of the "global village" as people call it today. Yes it´s nice to be able to see places in the world, that would have been impossible to get to even about 25 years ago, but when will people stop and ask what it is that we have lost at the expense of globalisation?
to my mind, and i´m afraid i have to admit to being an old romantic and idealist, i think that we have lost a lot. the trend towards free market capitalism, and the industrialisation resultant from that, means that the health and welfare of individuals is placed in greater detriment. when the free market model of economy is in place, people don´t give a crap about the "little man", or even about the "other man" - and why not? the reason is that free market capitalism, and the trend towards globalisation tends to ruin the uniqueness, and in fact the fabric, of community.
hands up who lives in a community? i do, but then i live in the middle of nowhere, and even so, our sense of community there is fast fading.
europe? as a state? no thanks.
sasha, talking a load of sh*te xxx
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Three things that mark the Good Man: Truth, Honour and Love
