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. Just as China dumped steel
on us, we dump cheap food on precarious communities which hampers their ability
to build food networks of their own. I don't like that American 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 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 without a 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 another 1% of 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, the physical embodiment of
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 distracted
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:
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