If the EU is gone true democracy on earth will be on its deathbed essentially in the face of authoritarianism and fascism, and with it any hope of combating climate change.
To be honest, though I voted remain, the EU is not very democratic.
The EU managed to make fucking Europe peaceful only 30 years after World War 2 and has probably done more to strengthen liberal values more then any other body in the 20th century besides the UN, it being
gone would be a tremendous loss
The EU has been corrupted into an a sort of oligarchy, which is a shame because the concept of the EU was amazing.
its not exactly meant to be, it functions as an economic block first and a check against regional authoritarianism with its superior judicial status. Poland and Hungary are going authoritarian but they can't go full Russia without leaving the EU, and unlike Britain they aren't dumb enough to do that, so while their governments have expressed quite a lot of interest in smashing human rights they can't really deviate that far from the EU's rules nor can they block free movement of people and goods.
Further, while there is infighting, the EU is far more functional than the individual democracies inside and around it. The US has had a do-nothing government for the last 10 years and the next 2 are going to be more of that. Britain has been in dysfunction for a decade, germany has been trying to figure its centrism out while france italy and spain haven't been fairing that well for decades.
How is the EU corrupted? Could you provide some sources?
I said corrupted in the sense that it has turned into a sort of oligarchy, which was not what it was meant to be, thus it was corrupted from its original form.
Speaking for myself, I hold a strong bias towards anything political. Sources would be nice but most of the time I dont trust leaders.
My sentiment seems to be held by a few others here as well, in regards to a few people posting "eat the rich".
How is it in an oligarchy? The only unelected part is the commission which is completely beholden to the EU parliment and member states.
I don't disagree, I just wish the EU Commision had some reforms.
I don't see why Soros is so glum and is banking on the EU falling to bits. If the EU is going to collapse he can short the euro like he did with the pound.
Somehow I don't think a wealthy Jewish man has a lot to be happy about if one of the biggest obstacles of Fascism in many European countries collapses.
It'd all be because of EU monetary in relation to Italy and Greece's bad fiscal policy if I recall.. You guys remember Greece?
Sorry to say but monetary policy is pretty much the only thing that matters in politics and it's something nobody here seems to care much about.
It seems to me that the people responsible for most EU decisions are often out of touch with most European countries and are chosen mainly for their familiarity with the EU processes rather than their ability to represent their countries.
That's just how I see it though and I could be wrong. I hope I am wrong.
Like I said before I am not against the EU, I'm in favor of it, I just feel like it's ideals are being destroyed from within. Let's not forget that Article 13 happened.
All we can do right now is vote in whoever we believe to be the best bet for an united Europe.
Says the man that didn't live in the soviet union.
What the fuck kind of metaphor is that? Can anybody parse it?
surely that doesn't completely disqualify him from making observations
Not observations, but that comparison is just complete nonsense.
To all european FP users who rants about the EU: you better vote left on the upcoming elections in May. All the shittiest decisions of the last decade ( and a half ) have been made by the EPP ( the conservatives ) and sometimes helped by the "socialists".
We can't allow the fascists to destroy the EU, it would give them free reign about every single country. We can solve all the current problems.
that isn't the comparison, though, he's talking within the realm of governmental politics. leaders projecting power they no longer have. instability generating backlash. you're free to say the instability was so, so much worse in the USSR that it makes for a weak comparison, but it's rather obvious that soros doesn't believe EU countries are going through the exact same pains of the soviet union, so when you act as as if he were, it makes for weak criticism too
Considering who is making this comment I don't think comparing the EU to the USSR is a good thing, it will just fuel the Soros conspiracy theorists who will go "see, we're winning and he finally admits the EU is totalitarian".
I always thought that the EU countries were p sovereign compared to the USSR. Mom from Poland left that shitshow basically because of the Lithuanian guy's story. They rolled in tanks in the middle of the night in response to mass protest and what it ultimately came down to Grobechev's decision to either start cracking skulls or give Poland its sovereignty. He chose the first one.
USSR wasn't so terribly bad in respect to how engineered the culture was. People were friendly and had a "what's mine is yours" attitude as far as what she told me. Wasn't too terribly difficult for her to go on vacation to Greece and not come back, either.
It's a dumbass comparison.
The article doesn't really compare the EU to the USSR, only the situation of its perceived imminent collapse.
This only works for outside observers. If you're more familiar with USSR, it would be more appropriate to point towards slightly earlier, the perceived imminent collapse was a state of society from 1988 to 1991. In 1991 the collapse was already happening, with all the different republics starting to move away from USSR politically and the whole thing breaking down.
The same EU brought you the GDPR. Is article 13 good? Fuck no, it shouldn't exists, and I'm 100% against it. But if this one thing can completely sour your perception of the EU, then it's you that has a
problem.
Where the hell did this "wow, <insert organisation> that has done a lot of really good shit does one thing bad, I guess we should abandon ship!!!" spawn from? When a leak appears in the ship you've
collectively built, you don't jump ship or get an axe to make it bigger, you come together to find a way to fix the leak.
Is this a joke?
The only way the EU would break up is if Putin manages to keep subverting democracy and instilling extreme right governments in the great bastion of liberalism, Western Europe.
That's the only way? Why are you ignoring the big EU's internal problems that cannot be tied to external forces?
I not aware of those problems as I don't live there, please tell me.
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