A superb article in Le Monde which is a message to the British people
It’s in English and not too long, so definitely worth a read: Britain beware, Brexit could be your Waterloo !
But if you’re too lazy, the best part is the last paragraph: “Another spectacular achievement of Waterloo, though, may have been missed : two centuries of Anglo-French peace. Never again have we been at war with each other, except on rugby fields. Inevitable skirmishes have happened, at Fashoda and elsewhere, but from Suez to Libya, for better or worse, the Entente Cordiale has prevailed. This is why, on this bicentenary, we feel entitled to call on our British allies to resist the familiar temptation of splendid isolation. The country which cornered Napoleon cannot succumb to Nigel Farage. Today, we solemnly say to our friends across the Channel : beware, Brexit could be your Waterloo ! And to make sure the message is really heard, we have gone as far as to convey it in English. Messieurs les Anglais, don’t let the sirens of a fake independence pull you away from the continent. Just as in 1815, your future is in Europe.”
My Mazamet 
Tosh! [Sorry Mr. M]
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Not at all. Nationalism and isolationism haven’t helped any nation.
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Who’s talking about Nationalism and isolation Mr. M? I’m not a half-wit from UKIP; I’m on the radical Left as you may already have ascertained from your recent post ‘Some numbers that’ll shock you’. I just don’t believe in empire building, and that is what the EU is about in my opinion. I don’t believe in nation states either, but then we’re stuck with them. Now pass the Armagnac and argue back! 😉
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The EU has a million problems, but free circulation has changed the lives of millions of Europeans. You know how we now see African migrants on dangerous journeys? That used to be the Irish and southern Europeans desperately seeking work. The EU has (mostly) silenced fascism in Spain and Italy. It defends human and civil rights… that’s not empire building although that may go on in the background.
The EU’s major problem has been the age-old problem of aristocracy- but I was heartened this week when Luxembourg ruled against Germany and for Draghi and the ECB. Reason prevailed over power.
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I give in.
On second thoughts . . .
So, the EU creates a homogeneous political entity across a group of member nations which solves that group’s extant internal problems (or does it?) and then as a result of that, and fiddling in Africa and The Middle East, invites new ones in from outside – the current Arab exodus.
Human and civil rights seem to obtain and flourish outside of the EU, and I don’t see it as imperative that European countries need EU directives so as to advance in those areas. Canada appears to do just fine in that respect for example. The EU didn’t invent moral enlightenment any more than Sepp Blatter invented football.
I’m just in contrarian mode Mr. M. – don’t take me too seriously. And by the way, what is the problem of aristocracy with specific respect to the EU?
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Don’t get me wrong, I do think the EU needs a slapdown; but we’re not Canada. We’re little countries, all bordering each other, all influencing each other’s economies and politics- and with big populations. The UK alone has double the Canadian population (in a whole lot less space.)
The concept of the EU and collaboration can and should be a force for good. At the moment it isn’t because spineless politicians are leading the way for the usual suspects of the financial markets to continue to pillage the people- so it’s up to us, the people, to push for a better EU. For example, I’d rather align myself with you than with Marine Le Pen who happens to have the same passport as me.
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How do we ‘push for a better EU’ when the governing body are unelected Eurocrats, advised, but not controlled, by elected representatives, or ‘wankers’ as I call them?
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Reform. And we finally tell the Germans to go F themselves in the ear with a dildo because their model is a giant failure that exploits the working classes to pay dividends to company owners 😀
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XD Solidarity! . . . and careful with that dildo soldier.
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My solidarity goes to the Greek people who have been screwed by just about everyone.
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I thought Waterloo was Our Waterloo…
with some help from the Prussians, though it was us, really, their role should not be overplayed. Then the Entente came about because Prussia was clearly the major threat, especially after thumping Denmark in 1864 then France in 1870. Supporting the second power in Europe was English policy for centuries.
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You have to see it from the historical French perspective, Waterloo as a loss 😉
Your Waterloo was a victory- which it turns out was a victory for all of Europe and the world. And the French revolution was a victory, as was the Scottish Enlightenment, and Garibaldi, and the first Spanish republic- and so we should unite or divide based on ideas, not on accident of geography and silly nationalisms.
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BBC4 is currently arguing that Napoleon was defending the Revolution, and that his legal codes were a major advance on freedom.
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Legal codes:good
Separation of church and state: good
Pillaging other countries and empire building: not so good.
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Just finished reading and it is a brilliant article, although I’m not convinced by its final conclusion. With Greece ready to default, there’s a strong chance the rest of the union will unravel as well, with or without the defection of the UK. Not being a European, I can’t comment on the value of that one way or the other.
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That’s another story. Greece should default, in my opinion, and leave the EU. The EU can only be fixed if there’s a crisis of that magnitude. But as a concept it’s a good thing.
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I understand the principle of collective bargaining, but I’m not quite sure what member states gain in payment for what they give up? Here in Australia we have constant tension between the Federal government and the States, and yet we all see ourselves as ‘Australians’ rather than Victorians or Queenslanders etc. Keeping the EU going must be an order of magnitude harder.
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I suspect we’ll find out sooner rather than later.
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