European Union institutions no longer work. A radical financial and democratic settlement is neededThe Guardian (UK)
Our manifesto for Europe
Thomas Piketty and 14 others
European Union institutions no longer work. A radical financial and democratic settlement is neededThe Guardian (UK)
6 comments:
I am afraid It is too late now, EU reputation has been damaged by current politicians in Europe who don't see themselves as the ones who have ruined Europe, caused mass unemployment, forced emigration etc. And besides that political process in Europe is not working in the way that you could implement plans what Piketty and 14 others are proposing. EU has been an elite and utopian project from the very beginning. Federalism is not supported in member states, for further integration there need to be referendums held in member states and those referendums will produce no for federalism. There are European Parliament election campaigns going on in member states right now. It is amazing how out of touch the candidates are. Instead of talking about high unemployment and poverty levels and forced emigration in some states, they talk about how great free capital and labor movement really is. You know, most people in member states would never go to work in a foreign country if they didn't have to. Most people don't care about mobile phone roaming charges what the europhiles present as a great success. EU is not democratic, the upcoming elections are a circus. Parliament has no legislative power. So far the europhiles have got away with the fake democracy because of "we need this economic union, we will be much better off together even if we lose some sovereignity" but that is about to change because economy is doing not so great with no end on sight as when will this nightmare be over. Piketty's plan will not work, Mosler's plan for Europe will not work, James Galbraith's plan will not work and not because they are bad plans technically but because there is no political will to do It. Me being a citizen of a member state and having seen how these fuckers handled Greece, Cyprus etc.... if you asked me to hand over some more sovereignity of my country to Brussels then my answer is no, no, no. You send your MEPs to Brussels and you never hear about them again until the next elections. People don't know what they are doing there. It is "something that we have to do for the sake of economy". I am sure there is not going to be orderly deconstruction of the EU as there never is with utopian projects.
Kristjan
I completely agree with your assessment. I do not see any evidence of political will or even goodwill towards federalism.
If anything, it seems to me that authoritarianism is preferred by the ruling elite?
Seve,
There is no authority in view at all when everyone is going all around thinking "we're out of money!"...
So it is not authoritarianism you see it is perhaps better termed
'tyranny': noun, 1. cruel and oppressive government or rule. 2. a nation under cruel and oppressive government, cruel, unreasonable, or arbitrary use of power or control.
seasoned with a heavy measure of 'barbarism': noun, 1. absence of culture and civilization. 2. extreme cruelty or brutality.
Being applied in a general culture of 'libertarianism': Libertarianism (Latin: liber, "free") is a set of related political philosophies that uphold liberty as the highest political end. This includes emphasis on the primacy of individual liberty, political freedom, and voluntary association. Schools of libertarianism offer a range of views concerning the legitimate functions of government, while some contend that the state should not exist at all.
True 'authority' is not adequately in view, most remain blind and stupid towards authority, this is the main problem.
rsp,
Kristjan, seems like this part of the proposal would be hard to swallow with people generally in the current "tax and spend" paradigm rather than in the MMT paradigm ("spend and tax"):
"Concretely, our first proposal is that the eurozone countries, starting with France and Germany, share their corporate income tax "
and then:
"Our third proposal directly concerns the debt crisis. We are convinced that the only way to put this definitively behind us is to pool the debts of the eurozone countries. "
There is NO WAY people are going to go for this when they are thinking "tax and spend" ie "govt gets the money from the taxpayers, etc..." This is never going to happen as long as people keep thinking that "it is their money"....
rsp,
Matt:
You are correct, I characterized the ruling elite incorrectly.
It is a pity that this is the best that these reformers can come up with. The EU needs to be restructured on 'Georgist' lines.
* Member countries raise the bulk of their public revenue from an ad valorem tax on the rental value of land.
* Contributions to the EU central fund in proportion to each country's aggregate land rental value.
* No tariffs charged on imports to or within the Single Market area.
* No restrictions on imports to the Single Market area, subject only to the country of origin, and contents being clearly marked, unless there is a major issue of public safety.
* No sales taxes within the Single Market area (with the possible exceptions of alcohol and tobacco).
* CAP scrapped.
* VAT scrapped.
A Georgist EU
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