I can say from the Croatian perspective that the EU at least formally tries to stop various economic crimes which is commendable.
Where they fall flat is trying to re-engineer the very identity of Europe.
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I can say from the Croatian perspective that the EU at least formally tries to stop various economic crimes which is commendable.
Where they fall flat is trying to re-engineer the very identity of Europe.
What do you define as an economic crime? And I do not know as much as you about the EU helping Croatia more, but didn't it intervene on croat side against Serbia? Either way, the EU isn't a more benevolent empire then the US for a Czech. The EU is currently sanctioning the Czech government for not accepting illegal immigrants and not changing our border checks? Yet, the US has not ever interfered with Czech legislation. Certainly the EU is more benevolent then many other empires such as the USSR, allowing us an euro-sceptic government, but I am not convinced it is better and more benevolent for Czech than the US
Things like bad product quality depending on which nation is importing,banks charging silly credit rates etc.
The only reason my country tried to be less corrupt and inept is due to EU requirements.
I gues my nation is in that middle zone between being so wrecked that even the token EU efforts are beneficial,and also being to wrecked for most immigrants to even want to be here.
Hence why from my perspective it seems ok.
I will say certain things I have read have implied that for awhile history prior to Nazi Germany seemed "tainted" it for a while merely because the Nazis also liked these parts of German history.
Bad product quality means cheaper prices. Laissez-fair system. Anyway indeed, I guess different people have different perspectives. An average Czech has a different perspective from an average croat who has a different perspective from an average German. IMO, though I think the EU if it's an empire is probably like the HRE in terms of members still having some limited power
There's nothing about the term empire that requires or implies anything with respect to benevolence or harshness. However I would have to say, the US isn't currently in Empire. It was at one time, but that period was over by 1946, when it gave up the last of it's consequential territories. As of now it's merely a superpower.
France was a great power that also had an empire. Where else did all those senegalese, Algerian and other troops come from in the latter parts of WWI?
I was wrong on that one - I can come up with other examples.
SNIP - no serious comments here.
They sure did fight the 13 colonies - twice in fact. They also fought for Ireland, but then alter gave it up more or less peacefully. They gave up India. They gave Australia and Canada their independence. This differing treatment is a hallmark of Empire - territories are considered individually and get different treatment in different places at different times. By contrast the territory of nations is usually considered inviolable and is always fought for/over.
As for what NATO might do in the event of a conflict within/between EU members, we have no idea. Italy and Abyssinia in 1935 was long before NATO was imagined to exist.
As I noted earlier about sanctions - their effectiveness (or not) is a measurement of the power of a political entity - not a means of determining what kind of political entity it is.
In the most basic sense of empire as an aggregate of nations, the EU is one. Its control over those nations is however too relaxed to share any other characteristics common to empires. As a result the modern concept of imperialism fits very badly to the EU.
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Is this some veiled comment about something in particular? Both regions can point to different areas of success and failure with respect to criminal enforcement.
Adamgerd, comparing EU to US like that is stupid. Czechs are not part of US, but are part of EU (and joined out of their free will, fulfilling all EU demands set for them in the association process, no less) - and US states are much less free in what they can do than EU member states. How can you compare what US demands from you to what EU demands is beyond me, but is pretty telling.
Czechs are a funny bunch, loving to criticize over beer but usually offering few if any credible alternatives which are all things considered better AND currently possible, offering only half-assed solutions which fall apart when analyzed in detail and all consequences, or just status quo - and you cannot stand idly by when the world around you is changing constantly. We have that in common, and your current president is the ultimate representation of this mentality
Also, when viewed from the overarching idea of peacefully uniting and securing future prosperity for European countries, most decisions make a lot of sense, even if viewed from an individual perspective they look pretty stupid. What EU politicians fail at spectacularly is communicating with citizens of member countries - they leave that to the national politicians, who of course want to get as much political profit out of it as possible, often intentionally distorting reality because they can score more points that way. Also, let`s no forget national politicians trying to further their own agenda on the european level, hindering progress of the whole EU in the process - this goes equally for new and old members, with old members still being better at it for now so for example we have free flow of goods, but still not for services because its convenient for the politicians of France and Germany.
Don`t misrepresent my post, I`m not saying everything EU does is good and well thought out - my last sentence is representative that I do not hold this view. But the goal is usually good, and to ensure the implementation is good as well and not a compromize that does more bad than good, it is important to be more active in finding a good compromise instead of ignoring issues until they cannot be ignored, or just constantly criticizing everything - because if you only criticize and do not offer credible alternatives or are never willing to compromise, others will eventually just start ignoring you because you proved you cannot be reasoned with.
As for immigration as a question, I find this guy has a really good view on it (also, his channel is excellent and history focused, thought a bit British biased):
Czechs are a funny bunch, loving to criticize over beer but usually offering few if any credible alternatives which are all things considered better AND currently possible, offering only half-assed solutions which fall apart when analyzed in detail and all consequences, or just status quo - and you cannot stand idly by when the world around you is changing constantly. We have that in common, and your current president is the ultimate representation of this mentality
Also, when viewed from the overarching idea of peacefully uniting and securing future prosperity for European countries, most decisions make a lot of sense, even if viewed from an individual perspective they look pretty stupid. What EU politicians fail at spectacularly is communicating with citizens of member countries - they leave that to the national politicians, who of course want to get as much political profit out of it as possible, often intentionally distorting reality because they can score more points that way. Also, let`s no forget national politicians trying to further their own agenda on the european level, hindering progress of the whole EU in the process - this goes equally for new and old members, with old members still being better at it for now so for example we have free flow of goods, but still not for services because its convenient for the politicians of France and Germany.
Don`t misrepresent my post, I`m not saying everything EU does is good and well thought out - my last sentence is representative that I do not hold this view. But the goal is usually good, and to ensure the implementation is good as well and not a compromize that does more bad than good, it is important to be more active in finding a good compromise instead of ignoring issues until they cannot be ignored, or just constantly criticizing everything - because if you only criticize and do not offer credible alternatives or are never willing to compromise, others will eventually just start ignoring you because you proved you cannot be reasoned with.
As for immigration as a question, I find this guy has a really good view on it (also, his channel is excellent and history focused, thought a bit British biased):
Agreed - the US and the EU aren't comparable kinds of organizations. The US is a nation state (more or less) built on a shared legal tradition and ethos rather than a racial identity. The EU is an empire.
I understand him too well. What he`s saying is EU has a carrot and a stick, and when politicians and their friends are stealing too much of that carrot EU can use the stick (which usually means not giving the carrot until they behave). Being a poorer region means they get much more than they pay, but this money goes through EU bureaucracy and is subject to EU checks and balances which are usually much stricter than those at the regional level (which are often nonexistent, unless something accidentally leaks, and even then the money is usually long gone).
That's a very specific and complex statement to infer from such a vague comment, and it seems to be the opposite of what he is implying (I think)
This is mostly true up until the Cold War, even through the War of the Rebellion; although the racial identity of the US prior to the Cold War is pretty much monochromatic.
The Cold War transforms the Republic into a Democracy dominated by an Imperial Presidency with a far-reaching geo-political agenda no longer subject to domestic restraint. CIA abuses in Central and South America alone prove this point many times over. The model changed since days of a Mother Country and her Colonies; but the principle of economic domination through political manipulation remains the same.
I know, because although I live in a different country, sentiment is strikingly similar in many (most) post-communist countries in EU.
Agree to the point that EU is far more centralized than US. It does not change the fact that both political constructs basis their existence on cooperation between smaller "states" "countries".
I support the EU thanks to things which are based on this cooperation. No dotations, but common market, ability to travel freely among EU's territory and keeping conflicts between nations in peaceful rather then violent matters.
I don't need united Europe. I only want to have EU existing at all.
I can agree with that competely, but I'm telling about Poland's problem. The EU keeps PiS aside from most authoritarian decisions within the state to implement.
Without that and with current Polish political scene, it'd turn into Putin-like dictatorship preety soon.
Joined out of their free will. However things change. 62% of Czechs (even Vaclav Havel who was pro-EU) now want to leave the EU. The US like the USSR before it controls Czech Republic, we're a puppet. They're just a kinder master then the USSR
A credible alternative? How about what we had in the 6 years since dissolution of Czechoslovakia to joining the EU when we survived as a country with full territorial sovereignty.Czechs are a funny bunch, loving to criticize over beer but usually offering few if any credible alternatives which are all things considered better AND currently possible, offering only half-assed solutions which fall apart when analyzed in detail and all consequences, or just status quo - and you cannot stand idly by when the world around you is changing constantly. We have that in common, and your current president is the ultimate representation of this mentality
The EU politicians also have political profit from pushing them to be pro-EU. And who said peacefully uniting Europe is good? I want my country to be independent fully, not united under foreign rule, being outvoted. We have enough of foreign rule. First, Austria then Germany then USSR and now Europe?
Goal is usually good? Some of their goals like increasing Czech wealth are good, but still others aren't good.
Anyway I Can't load the video. Internet speed is too slow for me to watch the video. So what's the video's summary?
If you want to move out, then you're free to do so. I only want to keep my homeregion inside
.Everything else is irrevelant.
You're Czech or Polish?If you want to move out, then you're free to do so. I only want to keep my homeregion inside
Everything else is irrevelant.
I want my country to be fully independent and have absolute territorial sovereignty. We were under Austrian rule, German rule, Russian rule, etc. I want my country to stay indedepedent and free. Is that so bad?
Im personally fine with some superpower having us in its sphere of influence since i dont trust my countries leadership at all.
Although i have my doubts about Western powers due to their GMO stuff along with their habit of being magnets for extremist actions.
I feel my region would be safer in the Russian sphere.(awaits the assaults of angry east europeans and americans)
Although i have my doubts about Western powers due to their GMO stuff along with their habit of being magnets for extremist actions.
I feel my region would be safer in the Russian sphere.(awaits the assaults of angry east europeans and americans)
