The European Union - the New Soviet Union? (weapons, military, companies)

[jja100]

YouTube - The European Union - the New Soviet Union?






Your views regarding this video?

I would like an intelligent debate with no caparisons to the United States to support or discredit what this speaker has said.

[jja100]

Does anybody have any input?

[mwruckman]

The point of view of the speaker is interesting but seems to miss one thing. The EU rose out of the ashes of WW2 Europe. The advances of modern warfighting technology like atomic weapons suggested that a future war in Europe might be the last war and result in the annihilation of all Europeans. Europe is a small crowded continent with many nations each struggling for power and dominance. Europe in its modern history has been through a number of conflicts since the 16th century when modern great powers emerged. Conflicts of increasing violence and destruction. Such a history strongly suggests that the differences between nations have to be either transcended or erased. Europe looks at America and sees a continental union of states that has lived in peace for at least 150 years since it settled the question of states rights. Europe would like that but getting there is harder because the Americans largely started with a clean slate. Things might have been different if the relations between New York and Pennsylvania had been like France and Germany and New Jersey got the role of Belgium.

[jja100]

Originally Posted by mwruckman

The point of view of the speaker is interesting but seems to miss one thing. The EU rose out of the ashes of WW2 Europe. The advances of modern warfighting technology like atomic weapons suggested that a future war in Europe might be the last war and result in the annihilation of all Europeans. Europe is a small crowded continent with many nations each struggling for power and dominance. Europe in its modern history has been through a number of conflicts since the 16th century when modern great powers emerged. Conflicts of increasing violence and destruction. Such a history strongly suggests that the differences between nations have to be either transcended or erased. Europe looks at America and sees a continental union of states that has lived in peace for at least 150 years since it settled the question of states rights. Europe would like that but getting there is harder because the Americans largely started with a clean slate. Things might have been different if the relations between New York and Pennsylvania had been like France and Germany and New Jersey got the role of Belgium.

That is an interesting take. I don't think that the EU will be like the Soviet Union in the sense of complete militarisation (unless Europol commences to dissolve the individual country's military and enlarging itself).
But I do think that complete and utter communist control in the sense of the economy will exist where you have 10% controlling the other 90% that are poor.

[mwruckman]

Originally Posted by jja100

That is an interesting take. I don't think that the EU will be like the Soviet Union in the sense of complete militarisation (unless Europol commences to dissolve the individual country's military and enlarging itself).
But I do think that complete and utter communist control in the sense of the economy will exist where you have 10% controlling the other 90% that are poor.

The idea that concentration of economic power in a few hands is not really communist. It is more a description of the United States and every other capitalist state like Japan or Russia or modern Europe. Socialist Europe has less income concentration in its elite earners and has strong unions to may the voice of workers stronger. In Germany unions control as much as 30% of German companies so they are not just adversaries but share in company management and are true stake holders.
Rich Europeans pay higher taxes and this is why these countries have superior public infrastructure than the United States.