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Monday 2 May 2016

THE EU: In? Out? Shake it all about!

I often feel on the wrong side of this argument but I have long had serious worries about the EU just as an informed observer. I suspect that had it not been the result of Cameron's Tory Drama and his weak leadership which prevented him from facing up to his ToryBastards, I probably would have confined myself to shouting at the radio when the next EU crisis emerges. But here we are and we are all asked to express an opinion in the ballot box.So here's mine...

I don't like how all the countries below the olive line are treated. I'm not sure I want to be part of a Union that will trigger crisis events for one of its members. I don't like the problems that the EU cartels cause for the developing world: we dumping cheap food on precarious communities which hampers their ability to build food networks of their own (and we have the cheek to expect better from China steel).  I don't like thatAmerican corporate sharks are not just circling but seem to be closing in.  I don't like that the EU will accept Turkey into the fold despite its horrendous record on humanrights  when already we are being asked to share a table with Poland whose Catholic government seems to be sealing the fate on abortion rights in there. and  France whose secularism is becoming increasingly more militarised.

Then there is Germany with its links to the Central Banks which together work to grind down the fiscal prosperity of any member state that has no manufacturing capacity. I hate that the EU Commission is headed up by the ex leader of one of the largest Tax Havens in the world and which has managed to get Luxembourg  excluded from the 2015 Tax Haven Blacklist - I wonder why? 

I don't like being asked to ignore all of the above as the price we have to pay for greater   trade, growth and prosperity in the face of a 'precarious future', since I think that all of the above are corporate pre-requisites to keep us in a state of fear, instability and precariousness.  In fact, the reality is that we are beginning to realise that it is not us, the commons, that experience growth and prosperity. It is 1% other people entirely.

Such an argument is also water off a duck's back as I am also not pro-growth. The entire mechanism of the EU is regulated by the myth of endless growth. It should be clear for all to see that we've reached the point of 'peak most things'. Some of what we do have, cannot now be used because it would be detrimental to the health of the planet. I want an EU made up of countries that are prepared more to listen to Paris rather than the siren calls of proxy oil wars. I want an EU that will protect all its members - no matter what their past misjudgements have been - from misery and abject poverty. I want an EU that refuses to countenance all efforts of corporate America to inveigle itself into every corner of our civil society. 

I want an EU that is not in the pocket of the Central Banks.  One which is prepared to curb the onward march of Capitalism and which will set up a social charter which is in the centre of its work and not, like everything else, just circling this chimera call "The Economy". I only think we can get this if we leave the current EU.For those who believe that we need to remain to ensure that our environment and our services are protected from the worst efforts of our horrendous Tory government my answer to you is that I honestly don't think it will, since TTIP will destroy protectionism of any kind - if not now, then later. Worst - it will be in place no matter what government we vote in.  And this for me is the sovereignty issue. TTIP shows that Capitalism is a virus not yet quite spent and the current EU is ripe for the picking.  

No. In terms of our current situation, we should take responsibility for  having put the Tories in power in the first place - for it happened on our watch - and ensure that we put in place a strong, progressive government that puts people first since this will be the only thing that will eventually ensure a strong, mixed economy that can withstand the sharks without and strengthen our communities within by building proper service infrastructures to cope with our increasing populations - including migrants.

We are no longer reliant on old democratic forms.  We have more control of the media than we ever have been.  The political process is still corrupt but it has never been more transparent. It will do us no harm whatsoever to allow ourselves the confidence to take more control over decision making and to curb the worst efforts of our current Tory government to undermine our systems and erode our freedoms;  to think small to start with, to get our house in order and then to model and start working to pick up the links with our European partners (which will never go away). 

If Brexit wins, there will be an horrendous interregnum led by Johnson probably.  He'll no doubt try to lead the asset-stripping brigade, fully taking advantage of the fears so carefully seeded.   If we let him. This man, embodying the complete triumph of form over content, will derail us for a while but through protest, constant activism, scrutiny and yes, even the withdrawal of labour, all such things come to an end.  We really are not as powerless as we have been hitherto led to think. Our critical thinking has been diverted by false dichotomies (think shirkers and strivers);  and manufactured moral panics (think migrants).Then we can be free to develop a more progressive way of life and only then, maybe, we can strengthen our alliances once again and help to build a much better - if different - EU....and if we remain?  Well, all the above still applies.  We'll just have to work harder within it.

There is not much reasoned material out there for a Brexit.  Here are some follow up sources from: 

Suzanne MooreGiles Frazer David Owen 
Paul Mason



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