Europe Must Heed Voice of Democracy (A "Must Read")

The Scotsman ^ | 5/29/2005 | Staff Opinion

[Calvin Locke]

ex-Tex said The Scotsman's opinion section is balanced.

I was talking about general news items that gave me that impression.

[mthom]

Why do we pity the Europeans for this when the Summit of the Americas and the Organization of American States will become the same supra-national structure without any vote at all?

[libertylover]

I didn't read this article and I won't. Why? Because you labeled it as "A Must Read". No, I don't have to read it and you don't have the power to give me a homework assignment. This is FreeRepublic and I choose what to read and I choose what to comment on, so there.

I'd suggest you label it as "A Good Read" if you want obstinate SOBs, like me, to read it.

[trebb]

Since when did insolvents have the right to impose their failed prescriptions on flourishing entrepreneurs?

Any bets on how the average Dim would answer that one?

[SubMareener]

Let me guess, your age, mod ten, is two. ;-)

[Kolokotronis]

I just got back from Greece, where I tend to spend a lot of time. Right across the political spectrum there is support of the EU, but this is understandable considering how much money the EU has poured into Greek infrastructure over the past 15 years or so. It is truly mind boggling to see what EU money has done for Greece. It has even extended into the villages which have been the poor step children of Athens ever since the fall of the Junta in the 70s. Today EU regulations make it mandatory that some of the money go off into the countryside and there it is having a major impact for the better. As for burdensome regulations, well Athens has always pumped out more laws and regulations than you can shake a stick at and the Greeks tend to ignore many of them anyway so EU regulation doesn't seem to be much of a problem except in the area of immigration, which is crushing Greece right now. In a population of 11,000,000, 1,500,000 are immigrants, the majority Albanian Mohammadens who are causing crime all over the country. The other problem is the Euro, which has caused a dramatic rise in prices without a concomitant rise in incomes. Working class Greeks are getting squeezed big time. On the other hand, others have become quite rich, with the middle class expanding and their money is being invested all throughout the Balkans and Turkey to such an extent that Greece or Greeks now control most of the banking, construction and utilities (telephone, power, gas, etc.) there. In fact, the National Bank of Greece just bought the National Bank of Turkey!

For a poor country like Greece, the EU has been a godsend, but sitting over here in America I can certainly see why the British would resent picking up the tab while at the same time turning their sovereignty over to a bunch of statist socialists in Brussels!

[hinckley buzzard]

For a poor country like Greece, the EU has been a godsend,

So far so good, it seems, but what will the EU do to help after another million unsocialized savages stream across the border?

Pity that Greeks could not get Athens to address their own problems without the costs of outside help. EU aid to the villages, and the like, will turn out to be the Trojan horse!

[hinckley buzzard]

We are witnessing the spectacle of one of the most educated electorates in the developed world voting by superstition:

The same could have been said with respect to Germany in the 1930's. Let us hope the outcome this time will be different.

[Kolokotronis]

"So far so good, it seems, but what will the EU do to help after another million unsocialized savages stream across the border?"

Its a HUGE problem, HB! The EU will do nothing and the Greeks, eventually, will have to do what Greeks do in such situations...and the foreigners will leave, I hope. The entire discussion was interesting since I heard many of the same comments about the immigrants as I hear in the States about the Mexicans, with a couple of exceptions. The Greeks accept and like the Eastern European Orthodox migrants. They seem to fit in quite well. They want the African and South Asian Mohammadens gone and soon, though they seem to like the Kurds. The Albanians...well they simply and intensely loath them.

"Pity that Greeks could not get Athens to address their own problems without the costs of outside help."

You're absolutely right.

"EU aid to the villages, and the like, will turn out to be the Trojan horse!"

I'm not so sure about that. The Greeks have never been any good at "circle time" and when push does come to shove, Greece will do damn well as it pleases, EU or no EU.

[Betaille]

Excellent Editorial!

[monkeywrench]

"The entire discussion was interesting since I heard many of the same comments about the immigrants as I hear in the States about the Mexicans"

A couple of years ago, I stumbled upon a forum with Greeks discussing immigration. It was a translated page. They sounded just like us. They were getting fed the same lines we were, like, 'they're just coming to do the jobs the greeks won't do', etc. Strange. It just shows the immigration shifts worldwide are UN driven.

[Kolokotronis]

"They were getting fed the same lines we were, like, 'they're just coming to do the jobs the greeks won't do', etc. Strange. It just shows the immigration shifts worldwide are UN driven."

If I heard that line once, I heard it 100 times! And you're right, its the One Worlders at the UN who have peddled this garbage.

[monkeywrench]

I wish I could remember the treaty name, but many nations signed it, and we see these results. The un wants to destroy nationalism, to build their global villlage.

[livius]

Actually, it was helpful to Spain, too, initially. But now Spain is being forced to give up some of its traditional exports in favor of products from places like Morocco, which have entered into trade agreements with the EU. Some Spaniards have become quite rich, but most of them simply see the EU as guaranteeing their level of government handouts in perpetuity. Unfortunately, the Aznar government, which coincided with Spain's cash inflow under the EU and was very instrumental in liberalizing the economy enough so Spain could actually take advantage of it, has been replaced with a relentlessly statist Socialist government that is only going to make things worse, and stagnation is already becoming evident.

Furthermore, Spain has been an EU member long enough now for people to realize that they are losing control of their country, losing their way of life and distinctive outlook, etc., and there are many who are very uneasy about it. The socialists have gotten people behind the EU by portraying opposition to it as "right wing," which is something your average media-led Spaniard would consider a fate worse than death. Even then, while Spain passed the EU constitution (narrowly), it had an incredibly low voter turn-out, because most people didn't want it but were afraid to vote no.