The problem with the EU

V0.1  05sep23

#1 "... the EU is a confluent mass of vanity, arrogance and undisguised contempt for anything that stands in its way..."

This is compilation of interesting pieces "borrowed" at random from many sources. This piece is from Douglas Bulloch, @douglasbulloch 

"... In order to understand the ferocity and relentlessness of the demonisation of Brexiters, one need only read this article.

We didn’t just leave the EU, we turned down a future that Remoaners yearn for, but were utterly unprepared to make the argument for.

It is the process of integration and the grandness of a United Europe that they have attached themselves to, seeing an independent UK as an insult to their own vision, faith, and most importantly to their judgement.

This is why they scorn the UK and wish the UK to collapse in on itself. Not simply in order to ensure we rejoin the EU (the temple they worship at) but because the faith of Brexiters (in their own country) must be exposed (forcibly and by subterfuge if necessary) as a heresy and cleansed in a purging fire. Most of all, however, it is their judgement that has been exposed, and that cannot be permitted.

But their faith is also sustained by fairy stories like this. We can all see that the EU, in order to function, has to transform itself, but we also know that will not be cost free, that there will be resistance, and that the whole process will be violent and undignified, exposing once again that the EU is a confluent mass of vanity, arrogance and undisguised contempt for anything that stands in its way.

The real story is that this proposed ‘giant leap’ is a response to a crisis. The EU is like the proverbial shark, if it isn’t moving forwards, it is stalling, suffocating and people increasingly see that it has no real purpose or answers to everyday problems. So when the EU is in question, the answer is always that there must be more of it.

The EU creates the ‘constitutive lack’ that the EU itself is the solution to. So it must proceed, deepen, widen, intensify. More flags, more money, more values. And concomitantly less money for anything else, fewer flags (apart from pride flags) to nurse contrary sentiments, and the proscription of any values that aren’t approved.

And all the while people in Europe see problems worsening with no solutions at hand, or even in prospect. And they see their ordinary lives and loyalties being progressively constrained and forbidden, even their freedom to speak suppressed.

And they see that the UK has left with its economy intact. So it must be desecrated, in word and in deed. At least part of which involves a renewed parade of grand hopes all over again, to make it seem like there is a glorious future from which the UK will be absent.

Well I for one am very glad about that. And for all the brio and confidence heralded by initiatives like this, emanating from the centre, there will be deep unease reflected back. If they were wise they would see the enthusiasm with which such initiatives are met is itself a sign of that same unease.

But they are not wise. They are dogmatic and fixated on a future that is already falling away.

The EU is poised for a giant leap towards further integration 

https://www.ft.com/content/2183b4a4-5ed8-4163-8d6a-a533bb0a3f8f

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