Graham of Anywhere

European breakdown

Unfinished thoughts

Spain and Greece can no-longer afford to run normal services and their unemployed citizens can't afford to fend for themselves. Charities struggle to feed the hungry. Pharmacies' stocks have been emptied. The dole queues lengthen daily. The UK lumbers on as the economy remains sick. Recession remains the word of the day. Nationalism is the only area in which we can find tangible growth. A desire to divide and shrink. An idealism borne of quasi-ethnic isolationism. Longing for self-rule as the EU superstate appears to lose its powers, or its prowess at least. A European breakdown and a fading dream.

In the end, co-operation is comforting and nationalism is not. Nationalism has quite a history. Nationalism masquerades as having all the answers in an uncertain world but the substance is thin on the ground. Would this really be a better world if it were divided into smaller jurisdictions? Would an independent Scotland, Quebec, Catalonia, Flanders benefit their peoples? And what of their neighbouring states? Do pooled resources not create a sum larger than their parts? Surely we can't all be winners in a messy divorce.

Europe is the first continent to create itself a government. It's a behemoth. It needs a whole lot of consolidation. But the idea is sound. Every continent should combine their efforts in this way. The continental governments can then co-operate, and hopefully in a more efficient manner than the national governments do at the moment, with their complex strategies and allegiances. Subgroups should be confederates. If regional priorities differ, and they will, they should break off into confederated states where appropriate. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland should be states of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland and The Republic of Ireland would probably be better served by a confederation called Ireland, if it weren't for religious nonsense. No state can hope to be truly independent. We're so far past that.

Why can't we be looking to address the bigger picture? Redefine our governmental structures and political relationships for mutual benefit. We don't operate in a vacuum. Build co-operation to the design.
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