Stance on the European Union

What is your opinion on the European Union?

  • Favorable

    Votes: 14 70.0%

  • Unfavorable

    Votes: 5 25.0%

  • I don't know / other

    Votes: 1 5.0%
  • Total voters
    20
Living in a non-EU country, it looks great

Im not quite knowledgeable on the EU though so can't comment on it much

 
its got problems primarily because it won't piss and won't get off the pot either with regards to real federalism, but the European Union as a concept is a powerful and important one that should be preserved

 
For me, the European Union helps establish unity and prosperity within Europe. It helps unite countries under one strong identity. With the EU, it's economy can rival that to the United States and at the same time make its members stand a little taller against Russia. Sure the EU is in a mess right now, but eventually the EU will be remember as a force to be reckoned with.

 
Ryan Miller said:
For me, the European Union helps establish unity and prosperity within Europe. It helps unite countries under one strong identity. With the EU, it's economy can rival that to the United States and at the same time make its members stand a little taller against Russia. Sure the EU is in a mess right now, but eventually the EU will be remember as a force to be reckoned with.
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Yeah heard this crap about EU economically rivaling the USA before, total pie in the sky. Most of the EU's economies are junk, propped up by a few select rich nations, one of which is leaving the Union. Too many free loaders in the EU.

 
Angevin said:
Yeah heard this crap about EU economically rivaling the USA before, total pie in the sky. Most of the EU's economies are junk, propped up by a few select rich nations, one of which is leaving the Union. Too many free loaders in the EU.
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see the funny thing is that if you imagine the states of the usa as independent nations then this is also the case with the united states. without the federal structure of the united states we would have an endless crisis where the states where wealth is concentrated (New York, California, etc) and the low population states with great deals of resources (North Dakota, Alaska) have to ~bail out~ states like Mississippi or West Virginia that have more poverty and less wealth (which despite the smug dickery of some of my fellows in the ~big cities~ has less to do with their policy and much more to do with the flows of globalization and capitalism far beyond their control).

the federal structure of the USA makes it possible, even if the structure is archaic and stupid in some of its specifics and if the political will is lacking in the face of a national crisis of identity, for the federal government to use income tax to redirect the wealth of the wealthy states to that of the less wealthy states, through things like unemployment benefits, supporting jobs through military installations and federal projects in political climates that favor their application, subsidies for agriculture or specific industries, federal spending in general. It also allows the USA to borrow on the credit of the entire continental economy including that of the wealthiest states and then use that money to help prop up the less wealthy states.

eurosceptics don't have the political imagination that is necessary for Europe to reach its potential. further integration that allows all of the EU members to benefit from the good credit of Germany, Sweden, Netherlands, etc would make it so that the Greeces of the union don't have to flounder on their own. I know its a crazy idea in 21st century neoliberalism but they could invest in their less fortunate partners and end up with a stronger whole at the other end. Right now it is in an untenable middle ground between everybody hanging separately and everybody being a part of one true polity. The wealthy nations got all of their neighbors to sign on to this idea of one Europe that prospers together and now dictates to their supposed equals that they need to cut their standards of living to levels that they would never ever dream about imposing upon themselves. And if you wanna complain about how its unfair to subsidize these ~*~spendthrifts~*~, then you are not allowed to be surprised when the worst kinds of politics emerge amidst the resentment and deteriorating standards of living. The very basis of America's postwar prosperity is how the resources of the wealthy and the credit of the government were directed towards maximizing every bit of productivity on the continent in order to win the war, something that raised the standard of living throughout most of the (white) population. China will become more powerful by using their state capitalist powers to industrialize more and more of the country. Unless Germany et al. wanna keep being second tier spectators while China and the USA run the world, they better realize that the only way to be on the same level is to spread the wealth and push forward towards greater federalism and integration and a true continent-wide democracy. And they absolutely could be on the same level as the USA given the time and investment. China is another story as China will be on a greater level than everybody soon enough, but to think that the EU can't be like the USA shows a misunderstanding of the regional inequities and the nature of wealth concentration in this country.

 
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