Who the Hell Do They Think They Are?

Nigel Farage is leader of the United Kingdom Independence Party and a Member of the European Parliament from South East England. In the clip below he addresses his fellow Eurocrats and demolishes their bloated pretensions so thoroughly that you could bury what's left of them in a hollowed out pepper corn.

That, gentle readers, is political rhetoric. Allow me to highlight the two themes of this brief, brilliant, and utterly unmerciful statement of the obvious truth. Powerline, where I first saw the clip, has a transcript.

We had the Greek tragedy earlier on this year, and now we have the situation in Ireland. Now I know that the stupidity and greed of Irish politicians has a lot to do with this: they should never, ever have joined the euro. They suffered with low interest rates, a false boom and a massive bust.

But look at your response to them: what they are being told as their government is collapsing is that it would be inappropriate for them to have a general election. In fact [EU Economic and Monetary Affairs] Commissioner [Olli] Rehn here said they had to agree to their budget first before they are allowed to have a general election.

Just who the hell do you think you people are?

That is the first thing. The grand project of European unification has been, from the start, anti-Democratic. This was partly so of necessity. The European Union is composed of a number of nations with very different national cultures. The cultural differences are linguistic, historical, demographic, political, and, last but not least, economic. There is no way you can unify such a gaggle of cultures except by imposing a heavy hand from above.

But the European Union is also anti-Democratic due to the political culture of the Eurocrats, who are quite sure that they know better what is good for the peoples of Europe than the peoples do. They were quite happy to circumvent democracy in the process of ratifying the European Constitution Treaty (which failed) and the Lisbon Treaty (which passed). Now they are prepared to tell the Irish when they can hold a general election for their own damn government. Just who the hell do you think you people are?

Farage's second point is that the Eurocrats care a lot more about a cherished a sacred dream than they care about actual people.

You are very, very dangerous people indeed: your obsession with creating this euro state means that you are happy to destroy democracy, you appear to be happy with millions and millions of people to be unemployed and to be poor.

Creating a free trade zone in Europe was always a good and manageable idea. The United States managed it more than two hundred years ago. Creating a European government and monetary union was something else. It was never clear what benefits it would bring to the peoples of Europe beyond a quixotic ambition of returning Europe to superpower status. I think that the Eurocrats have long forgotten why they set out on this path. They have continued on it for the simple reason that they became more powerful as it progressed. Farage may be right that they game is now up.

Untold millions must suffer so that your euro dream can continue. Well it won't work, because it's Portugal next. With their debt levels of 325 percent of GDP they are the next ones on the list, and after that I suspect it will be Spain, and the bailout for Spain would be 7 times the size of Ireland, and at that moment all the bailout money has gone - there won't be any more.

But it's even more serious than economics, because if you rob people of their identity, if you rob them of their democracy, then all they are left with is nationalism and violence. I can only hope and pray that the euro project is destroyed by the markets before that really happens.

That first paragraph is, paradoxically, hopeful. European monetary union is headed toward collapse. So far, only the economic power of Germany has sustained it, and German charity is not without its limits. If and when German voters overrule the ambitions of their Eurocrat elites, the electorate in other European countries will jump ship. Farage sees this salvation, and he may be right.

That's because his second paragraph above is terrifying. As Europe is divided by people's speaking different tongues, so each European nation is divided by ethnicity, ideology and class. There are only two ways to manage these tensions. One is by authoritarian power imposed from above. The other is democracy. All the factions compete for a share of the powers of government. What happens if you take away democracy at the national level? Farage thinks that all that is left is nationalism and violence. He may well be right.

To answer MEP Farage's question, we know who the Hell these people think they are. The problem is, they never thought things through and stopped thinking at all a long time ago.

Comments

[Donald Pay]

I'm not sure the EU parliament has that much power. When international bankers rule the world, democracy has to go. It's been that way in the developing world for 50 years. That's the way the banks work, whether they are based in America or Europe.

[William]

"then all they are left with is nationalism and violence."

[KB]

No Donald, no power. Except to tell the Irish when they can have an election and how to restructure their economy. Now go back to sleep and dream of big, bad, bankers.

[Miranda]

A Nigel Farage clip! My day is made!

This is not the first time Farage has spoken out. Indeed, he has made a habit of it, much to the distress of Herman Van Rompuy. See below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5r9fHdLXeM&feature=channel

[larry kurtz]

Using the European Union as an example of failure may dash the hopes of North American Unionists as it bolsters the concept of a United States of North America. We need a weak dollar right now, no doubt about it. The world's largest arms exporter needs conflict, paranoia, and disruption to stimulate the US economy by any means.

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/11/26/author_and_activist_derrick_jensen_the

Ken: Look at the sovereign nations within the borders of South Dakota. How has their isolation helped you?

[KB]

Larry: What?

[larry kurtz]

My poor metaphor supporting Don's post.

Money-laundering is an accepted banking practice, as per the link provided above. Arms sales drive banking when legitimate profits can't and passes for wealth and power in nations where the money is meaningless. You were employing Ireland as metaphor, right?

[Donald Pay]

Get real, KB. The international banks are in complete control of Germany's and England's financial policies. They hold Ireland's debt, and they don't want anything approaching democracy to upset their plans. They'll allow democracy as long as they get paid off. Even Kuwait's banking interests have more say over the Ireland situation than the EU parliament. The EU parliament is the wagging tail. It provides just another layer of corruption behind which the bankers hide.

[William]

The condition of sovereign nations within the borders of South Dakota ARE a pretty good example of what happens when government decides to "take care" of a group of citizens with "free" housing, schools, medical care and a monthly check...

[larry kurtz]

Thank you, Willy, you're the last place ip would look for support. http://interested-party.blogspot.com/2010/08/should-reservations-consider-secession.html

[larry kurtz]

Thank you, Willy, you're the last place ip would look for support: http://interested-party.blogspot.com/2010/08/should-reservations-consider-secession.html

[Bill Fleming]

Boy, I just hope nobody treats Mr. Nelson, our former SD Secretary of State, like that when he assumes his duties as SD's Public Utilities Commissioner. Nobody voted for him either. Yikes.

[William]

While I'm not in favor of "rewilding the lands west of Al's Oasis, north to the Arctic Circle and south to Wolf Creek Pass" taking the reservations out of trust and transferring the rights as private property to the tribal members would be a good first step to improving conditions and opportunity for those on the reservations.

If you get a chance to watch this show in re-runs, there's a good segment concerning Native property rights.
http://stossel.blogs.foxbusiness.com/2010/11/25/tonights-show-the-tragedy-of-the-commons-fbn-9pm-et/

[larry kurtz]

Dissolving reservation lands has no traction without representation. Land ownership is essential to integration on former treaty lands. A few very rich Native Americans would bolster identity and pride.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alaska_Native_Regional_Corporations

Same deal with Mexican Statehood. Free market capitalism? Think Cuidad Juarez.

[KB]

I am just not sure what Native American politics and the European Union have in common. If the Tribes were capable of acting as sovereign nations, that might well be the best path for them. For all sorts of reasons, I am doubtful that this is possible; but it is way out of my field of expertise.

[larry kurtz]

Ireland is the Native America of Europe, Ken. The last tribes to succumb to the will of majority rule. Think IRA...guns and god.

[William]

Sorry about veering so far off topic KB!

Larry, your last post reminds me of AIM, and I don't see a resurgence of that movement as a positive thing, for anyone. The "guns" part, is a really bad idea.

[larry kurtz]

Willy, I thought that's what Ken's post was about: Defund the Good Friday accords so that the people of Ireland erupt into anarchy. You mean you don't want that in South Dakota?

[William]

Observing that Europe is reaching a point where violent political eruption is possible is much different than wanting it to happen.

[larry kurtz]

Drive through Cherry Creek sometime, Willy.

[unicorn4711]

I've got to comment on this. I think your belief that the EU is anti-democratic is, in a sense, absolutely correct. The citizens of the two EU member states I've lived in (Sweden and Austria) have absolutely no idea who their representatives are at the EU's myriad institutions. Only about half bother to show up to pull the lever for bland Euro-parties like Von Rompuy's European People's Party. Those who do vote for European parties based on the corresponding national party with whom they became affiliated for predominant local concerns (EPP is composed of members of Austrian People's Party in Austria or Christian Democrats in Belgium, for example). Among even the highly educated, only social scientists really understand how the institutions of the EU interact with one another and affect national legislation through EU mandates and directives. The entire process is run by career politicians removed from direct oversight by the people they claim to represent. I feel, however, that the anti-democratic essence of the EU is negated by the democratization it has brought to Europe, specifically in Central and Eastern Europe. After the fall of communism, states like Poland, Lithuania, and Romania could have well become authoritarian, anti-liberal, anti-tolerant countries. Rather than choosing a despot to fill the power vacuum created by the absence of strong influence from the Soviet Union, each one of these countries chose to create the democratic institutions and free-market economies necessary to join the European Union. The same process is occurring in the former Yugoslavia as those states, led by Croatia, seek membership into the EU. Further, tensions in Ireland and N. Ireland are lower than they have been in decades. My suspicion is that shared EU membership and policies brought part of this about. The spread of peace and stability through EU affiliation is real. Finally, this stabilization of the region benefits the US more than anyone else. As recently as the 1990s the US has had to use force to stabilize parts of Europe. A stronger, super-national European Union that can project itself out into the world make life easier for the US in the greater European region. Though the EU may challenge the US in some aspects, the reality is that both the US and the EU are rooted in the ideals of the Enlightenment, Western thought, and a shared Western history. We might sensationalize our disagreements, but the real ideological confrontation in the next 100 years will be not within the West but between the West and the next superpower, China.

[larry kurtz]

Amen. Let's ask our troubled neighbors to the south to dissolve their constitution and petition for Statehood. Next, ask Canada, Central America, and the Caribbean.