[lbo-talk] blog post: a nation in decline, part 2: signs of distress

[James Heartfield]

'IMHO, the most interesting political innovation since the creation of the UN is the creation of the EU - regardless of what one may think of certain EU policies.  I mean, the EU is the first ever created confederacy of independent states - and formed by mutual consensus of all participants rather than by a hegemonic force.  Not seeing the innovative character of that development smacks of British insularism and Europhobia :).'

There is innovation in the EU, and I would not and do not dismiss Europe's importance. Still, there is more wrong with the EU than its policies. The motor of European integration is a retreat from active political engagement. The 'mutual consensus' is an agreement amongst officials, not between peoples, who are pointedly unengaged in the whole process.