Dr. M on Nostr: The European Union today stands at a crossroads, between two extremes that threaten ...
The European Union today stands at a crossroads, between two extremes that threaten its future. On the one hand, we have nationalists like Marine Le Pen in France to Viktor Orbán in Hungary – who dream of returning to the era of closed borders and dismantling the European project. For them, the EU is the enemy of sovereignty, a bureaucratic monster that stifles national identity. On the other hand, there is the European aristocracy – the politicians in power and the unelected bureaucrats in Brussels – who want to turn the Union into a centralized superstate, a kind of European empire under their control.
Both approaches lead to ruin. Instead of demolition or excessive centralization, the EU needs reform that will return it to its core values: freedom, the market, and economic progress.
Let’s look first at this “aristocracy.” For decades, European leaders and bureaucrats have built a system that increasingly resembles a self-service supermarket for their own interests. The flu pandemic was a clear example: hundreds of billions of euros were spent on recovery programs, vaccine procurement and other measures, but where is the transparency? How much of that money ended up in the pockets of well-heeled entrepreneurs and lobbyists, and how much actually helped citizens? Now, under the pretext of “defense” and geopolitical tensions, they are trying to repeat the same trick – “investments” that sound noble, but often serve to finance their political allies and increase their own power.
The result? Europeans are getting poorer while the elite and their cronies are getting richer at the expense of taxpayers.
On the other hand, nationalists offer a false solution. Their recipe for Europe – a return to the 19th century with hard borders and protectionism – forgets that it was cooperation within the EU that made decades of peace and economic growth possible. Trump’s “America First” approach may sound appealing in America, but applied to Europe would lead to fragmentation, trade wars and weakness in the face of global challenges such as China, Russian imperialism or climate change. Nationalism is not the answer; it is an illusion that sells a nostalgic past instead of a realistic future.
So what would be the solution? The EU should neither be dismantled nor transformed into a single state. It needs reform to make it leaner, more efficient, and focused on citizens, not elites. That means less bureaucracy and more freedom for entrepreneurs and innovators. Instead of Brussels using public money to determine winners in the market – whether through subsidies or dubious “investments” – the focus must be on creating the conditions for free economic growth. Reducing regulation, easing taxes, and decentralizing decision-making would put power back where it belongs: in the hands of the people, not the aristocracy.
#EU #aristocracy #bureaucracy #taxation #freedom #progress #defense #peace #war #Nationalism #growth #regulation
Both approaches lead to ruin. Instead of demolition or excessive centralization, the EU needs reform that will return it to its core values: freedom, the market, and economic progress.
Let’s look first at this “aristocracy.” For decades, European leaders and bureaucrats have built a system that increasingly resembles a self-service supermarket for their own interests. The flu pandemic was a clear example: hundreds of billions of euros were spent on recovery programs, vaccine procurement and other measures, but where is the transparency? How much of that money ended up in the pockets of well-heeled entrepreneurs and lobbyists, and how much actually helped citizens? Now, under the pretext of “defense” and geopolitical tensions, they are trying to repeat the same trick – “investments” that sound noble, but often serve to finance their political allies and increase their own power.
The result? Europeans are getting poorer while the elite and their cronies are getting richer at the expense of taxpayers.
On the other hand, nationalists offer a false solution. Their recipe for Europe – a return to the 19th century with hard borders and protectionism – forgets that it was cooperation within the EU that made decades of peace and economic growth possible. Trump’s “America First” approach may sound appealing in America, but applied to Europe would lead to fragmentation, trade wars and weakness in the face of global challenges such as China, Russian imperialism or climate change. Nationalism is not the answer; it is an illusion that sells a nostalgic past instead of a realistic future.
So what would be the solution? The EU should neither be dismantled nor transformed into a single state. It needs reform to make it leaner, more efficient, and focused on citizens, not elites. That means less bureaucracy and more freedom for entrepreneurs and innovators. Instead of Brussels using public money to determine winners in the market – whether through subsidies or dubious “investments” – the focus must be on creating the conditions for free economic growth. Reducing regulation, easing taxes, and decentralizing decision-making would put power back where it belongs: in the hands of the people, not the aristocracy.
#EU #aristocracy #bureaucracy #taxation #freedom #progress #defense #peace #war #Nationalism #growth #regulation