More Europe – the solution or the suicide pill?

Every time there is a problem in Europe, our European leaders tell us that the solution is “more Europe, not less” – meaning the faster Europe moves towards a single unified Super-State, the better for all its citizens.

A few days ago, I posted some quotes about the EU and its inevitable drive towards a single, unified European Super-State ruled by greedy, corrupt, self-serving, unelected bureaucrats in Brussels www.snouts-in-the-trough.com/archives/5025

I put a shorter version in the comments section of a Times leader and here’s one of the reader reactions I found interesting and perhaps worth repeating:

“Thanks for this précis, it is indeed brilliant. If the British public ever do get a chance to have their say in a new referendum, the Europhile politicians and ‘commentariat’ will use every deception and scare tactic to manipulate the public into narrowly voting for the status quo on the basis of ‘better the devil you know’. David Craig’s précis should be plastered on giant billboards up and down the length of the country to remind us of the real narrative.”

(OK, sorry for singing my own praises. But I so seldom get the chance. Anyway, to continue the reader’s comment)

“I find particularly poignant Mikhail Gorbachev’s quote: “The most puzzling development in politics during the last decade is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in Western Europe”. Do politicians never learn anything from history? Not just the Soviet Union but also the Austro-Hungarian Empire, both of which sought to force different nationalities, cultures and traditions into an imposed straightjacket. Particularly poignant in the case of Austria-Hungary, as we approach the 100th anniversary of an event in Sarajevo in June 1914, caused directly by seething nationalist resentment, that had unforeseen and outsized consequences for the world (not just over the ensuing 4 years).”

“Today, the Europhile establishment parade the EU as having kept the peace in Europe since WWII (wrongly, since this was NATO and the need for a united front against the common ‘bogeyman’, the Soviet Union) and repeatedly stress that what is required is “more Europe”. Yet, we look around Europe and witness the very public rise of the type of nationalist feeling that seeks to find scapegoats in foreigners. Greece, Hungary, Poland, Italy, Spain, Portugal – all experiencing a breakdown in trust for ‘mainstream’ politicians. Mrs Merkel may be many things … but Adolph Hitler she is not, yet I have been amazed at how frequently I have seen images on the Continent of her depicted as a modern day Hitler.”

“Lack of trust in politicians, combined with economic hardship perceived as being imposed and prolonged by foreigners, leaves a dangerous vacuum. We have seen this before and ignore it at our peril. More “Europe” is not the answer, it is the suicide pill.”

Of course, the current problems are not going to lead to another European war. But history has shown that there may be serious risks to democracy by imposing central, unelected control on different countries with different cultures and different traditions. The eurocratic elite don’t care as they have such huge salaries, expenses and pensions that they are all multimillionaires. But we plebs may be the ones to suffer for their eurocratic dreams of a single European superstate.

Oh, and here’s picture of one of Europe’s greatest troughers (oink oink)