Comments on Europe

[F2d5thCav]

The New Way to establish an empire; or, Stukas and Panzers are so twentieth-century . . .



A misleading aspect of the history of the World Wars is that they lend the impression that obtaining control over other countries is a matter of military conquest.

The truth of the matter, as usual, is far more nuanced.  Military conquest is indeed one method of establishing control over other countries, but one that is fraught with risk, the most important of which is a failed gambit resulting in one's own defeat.

Indeed, as far the EU goes, military methods must rank among the least important because so many EU countries have allowed their defense establishments to remarkably wither since the end of the Cold War.  Thus, for what is purported to originally have been a trade union, finances are of high importance.

Naked take-overs of a country's financial establishments (and currency abolishment), however, are hardly popular with an informed populace.  Thus, a second method of control is needed to ensure the people are not roused by opposing parties -- control of a nation's media.

Control of finances is control of a national economy.  It accomplishes the traditional goal of war without the messiness of battles, occupation regimes, and, if a country is so inclined, "nation building".  Control of the media makes it look like everything is hunky-dory because opposing voices can be censored, strongly limiting their reach.

One of the dirty secrets of the EU is that it is not a trade "union" at all.  It is an economic empire, a sort of successor to Napoleon's Continental System.  And, in this empire, not all of the animals are equal.  A handful of privileged countries are the economic engines (although one, Germany, is strongly dominant), and the rest are providers of labor and raw materials.  Despite open borders and no internal tariffs, it is remarkable how the bulk of national products remain within their countries of origin.  A "unified Europe" it may proclaim itself to be, but one won't find croissants of authentic taste outside of France.  There are some exceptions to this situation; certain alcoholic beverages, and, the troika of machines / vehicles / tools.  Very few other products cross national frontiers, revealing a protectionist attitude based on national lines, even if only informally so.  (Formerly communist countries suffer from a significant trade imbalance with other Union countries, having been effectively economically colonized following the fall of the Berlin Wall.  Thus, they import many Western products without exporting much in the other direction.)

The control of finances is a done deal in some countries (Euro users) and a running battle in others.  Likewise, control of media is an ongoing struggle, one in which Germany puts significant effort if the reach of German media kingpins is taken as an indicator.

Countries that have adopted the Euro have effectively surrendered their sovereignty.  They may occasionally bristle at regulation by Brussels or say something out of turn, but their economies have been "captured" without a single shot being fired.  Of course, a country might opt to abandon the Euro as a national currency, but that entails the risk of serious economic disruption as well as fiery condemnation by the officials of the Union, who will miss no opportunity to influence the politics of the targeted country (we begin to see why control of the media is important) and impose heavy economic penalties.  If anyone thinks I exaggerate here, I will only point to the example of BrExit to demonstrate how the Union "negotiates" with those who wish to leave the EU system in parts or completely.

But, to point to Brussels as a source of power is an exercise in self-deception.  For it is not the Belgians who call the shots in the Union.  Rather, it is (dominantly) Germany, and to a lesser extent, France.  With the U.K. out of the EU, all other EU members are now supplicants to the Franco-German alliance.  One might pointedly note that while Union propaganda stresses that Union citizens should think of themselves as "Europeans" (and not Czechs, Italians, etc.), that descriptor is seldom heard or used by Germans or Frenchmen.  They remain what they have always been, even if their national policies seem alarmingly at odds with their traditions and customs.

We are left to conclude that a true map of power in the EU would not count representatives in the EU parliament or other such meaningless indicators.  No, the "true map" would depict the extent of financial and economic influence of one country over other countries, as well as show who owns the national media of those countries.  Only then, would we grasp from where the tentacles of power extend, and how muscular they are.

Cheers