Re: [cicdd] EU Referendum and EU Constitution

[richard(at)cyberjournal.org]

> C THOMSON wrote:
> > So, I have to question the "European
> > project". I am all in favour of people living in peace with each
> > other. But I do wonder whether a project designed mainly to increase
> > GDP and maximise profits for eternity is really what human beings were
> > designed for.

Hi Chris,

Its nice to hear from someone who is willing recognize the neo-economics issue!

I'd like to comment on the issue of "living in peace".

I suggest that "avoiding European warfare" has been the most hypocritical of the propaganda reasons given for European unification.  Belief in this myth is due to a misunderstanding of what has caused European wars in the past few centuries. Each of those wars has been the result of competition for imperial territories. WWI was basically about who was going to gobble up the declining Turkish Empire, while WWII was basically about Germany wanting to conquer Russia (i.e., "lebensraum"). It is instructive to notice that territorial adjustments within Europe after each war have been relatively minor, while big territorial adjustments took place on other continents.

The point here is that after WWII, with the establishment of the Pax Americana regime, the dynamics that generated European warfare were removed. European corporations were now able to invest and expand on a worldwide basis, without a need to defend imperial territories. There has been no possibility of European warfare (among what were the 'great powers' that is) since WWII - EU or no EU.

rkm