Two
years after the end of WWII, George Orwell said that the only
political goal that is worthwhile, is a Socialist United States of
Europe. But some, instead of fighting for Orwell's vision, created
his nightmares: they united citizens in poverty and austerity, and
divided them with neo-nationalism. Once again, Europe is at the
crossroads. It has to choose between European civilization and the
European Union.
The euro was
constructed in Basel, which is where all the bankers are situated.
The people on the committee that designed euro were all bankers. This
is a monetary system designed to suit the finance system, not to suit
the people of Europe.
Before the
banks could add the finishing touches, the economic and political
elites had to be convinced that they needed the new currency. And
they would impose it on the citizens. It was a huge undertaking in
need of a gigantic lobby.
The AMUE,
the Association for the Monetary Union of Europe is a lobby, was
created in 1987. It is basically the offspring of another lobby, the
Round Table of Industrialists, which is perhaps the most important
lobby in the EU history. The initiative was taken by industries such
as Fiat, Philips, Total, etc.
The euro's
godfathers were also the godfathers of the financial deregulation in
the EU and almost all of them employed by major banks such as Goldman
Sachs, BNP Paribas and big insurance companies.
Everything
was ready for the euro to go into circulation. All that was needed,
was the politicians' consent to the demands of bankers and
businessmen. And this would take place in the Dutch city of
Maastricht, the birthplace of the European Union and where the
foundations of the new currency were laid.
The
Maastricht treaty is based on the ideology that if the government
spends it prevents the private sector from spending, and this is not
true. We know that the private sector needs the government to spend.
Mr. Apple, Steve Jobs, for example, needed the American government to
invest in the basic elements of the iPhone in order for him to
develop the iPhone as a private product.
The EU
institutionally supports the sorts of policies that Margaret
Thatcher, of course, is most associated with: deregulation,
privatization, cutting taxes on the rich, removing various
obligations on big business. So, it is an anti-government ideology
and it's deeply embedded in the construction of the eurozone. It's
also not just an anti-government ideology, it's an anti-democratic
ideology. It's the belief that, actually you cannot trust democracies
not to spend money.
As crisis in
the eurozone peaked, the EU distanced itself from any kind of
democratic control. Power that should be found in the parliament
building was at first concentrated in the EU Commission building.
From the non-elected commissioners, we went on to the independent
bankers in Frankfurt.
Europe has
not learned the lesson of what happens when you are trying to impose
from above an economic system which causes unemployment to rise. We
see the rise of Right-Wing populist parties. We see the fascist
appearing from out of the woodwork and we should not be surprised.
This is what happened in the 30s. The euro has become a doping for
nationalist parties. No one wants that, but this is the reality.
Two years
after the end of WWII, George Orwell said that the only political
goal that is worthwhile, is a Socialist United States of Europe. But
some, instead of fighting for Orwell's vision, created his
nightmares: they united citizens in poverty and austerity, and
divided them with neo-nationalism. Once again, Europe is at the
crossroads. It has to choose between European civilization and the
European Union.
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