> btw, am i to understand you correctly to be saying that you think that,
> among other things, the EU will prove a superior way of organizing a polity
> and economy-- a model for a broader world/internataionl form of
> cooperation/organization?
I don't trust the Eurocrats any further than I could throw them. I *do* trust the collective power of Europe's working-class to not only resist neoliberalism, but to go on the offensive and start building the very first institutions of multinational socialism in human history. Here's a laundry list of Cool Things The EU Already Has, Which Bananamerica Is Centuries Away From Acquiring:
1. electoral systems which -- gasp! -- actually count ballots 2. proportional representation in parliaments 3. tons of social protection 4. the shortest workweek and longest vacations of any other metropolitan zone 5. feisty, militant unions 6. intelligent policies on R&D, renewable energy, the environment 7. the world's biggest public bank, which invests piles of cash in poorer countries without stuffing IMF austerity packages down their throats
Of course, in the old days, the Bananamericans would argue that their culture/technology was just ever so much more innovative than Europe and, besides, the Dow Jones was going to 30,000 in no time at all. But with Max Payne coming out of Helsinki and STMicro coming out of France and Italy, even that feeble excuse has bit the world-historical dust.
-- Dennis