Europe is Dead
author: scott pettigrew | contributor
Caption: MIH83 via pixabay
The European Union, as we know it now, has devolved into a monstrous political bureaucracy…
Britain’s recent vote to leave the European Union was one of epic historical value. David Cameron’s risky move of calling an early referendum on Europe dramatically backfired, placing the United Kingdom in the position of (assuming the government honours the result of the referendum) becoming the first EU member state to trigger article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, effectively removing the United Kingdom from the EU.
From the major news sources, and especially from the pseudo-intellectual thirty second video production hubs of Facebook, you have heard that the population of the United Kingdom has officially proven themselves as racists, bigots, and xenophobes by voting this way. You have heard that Britain’s economy will be completely destroyed by the aftermath of this vote, and that voting to leave was a completely uneducated and stupid decision to make. These assumptions and the implication that this decision was illogical is something that desperately needs attention. Naturally, an issue like this is vast and complex, and there are incredibly educated people speaking for both sides of the issue who have good reasons for why they believe what they believe; but that said, to myself and to the British voters, there was no other option on the table.
The European Union, as we know it now, has devolved into a monstrous political bureaucracy that regulates and standardizes everything it can possibly get its hands on. There is a European Council, a Council of the European Union, a European Commission, a European “Parliament” (I’ll explain the ridiculous nature of this body later), a European Court of Auditors, a Court of Justice of the European Union, and a European Central Bank. It has four Presidents, countless Commissioners, and a seemingly endless supply of committees, sub-committees, and sub-committees for their sub-committees. In short, the EU is a complete and total bureaucratic nightmare; even the most passionate defenders of the EU admit this much. What don’t they admit? That this organization, and the way in which European national sovereignty has been assaulted by EU legislation and treaties, is a very dangerous threat to democracy. That European Parliament that you’ve seen on TV? Newsflash: they have absolutely no ability to propose, pass, or repeal legislation. Who does? Appointed, unelected, EU officials. These officials pass laws behind closed doors, and the general public has absolutely no insight into the process whatsoever. The general public also has no ability to democratically oust these laws, created for them by ridiculously well compensated politicians of which they have never voted for nor heard of.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the cornerstone reason for why Britain left the EU, and why so many other European nations are looking to do the same. The EU as an institution is a crushingly bureaucratic, tyrannical, and dictatorial organization that is an insult to the democratic values that modern Europe was built upon. The European people are realizing this more and more with each passing day, and the “Eurocrats” in Brussels are shaking in their boots. With Eurosceptic parties polling higher than ever before in continental Europe, and the recent “leave” vote in Britain, the European Union as an institution is in seriously hot water. The fact that the European Union is in its dying days, to me, is painfully obvious. The signs of its demise are everywhere, and the dissatisfaction of the European people is growing.
As for the question of what will happen to the economy of the United Kingdom and any other nations that choose to leave, to me it would be ridiculous to claim that you could ever know. With seismic political changes such as this one, it is almost impossible to accurately predict the outcomes of the future. What I do know is that the British vote to leave will likely be one of “short-term pain for long term gain.” It is likely that the British economy will be subject to a bit of a pinch following the enacting of article 50, but in my opinion it is equally likely that Britain’s economy will benefit from possibilities previously unavailable while under the umbrella of the EU. New trade markets, labour markets, and internal deregulation are all exciting economic opportunities that can and will be explored.
I can’t come close to touching on everything about this subject in a simple op-ed, but one thing in all of this should be made clear; this vote was not a vote against the immigrant. This vote was not a vote against international co-operation. This vote was a vote against the super-state – the 21st century incarnation of the very tyranny that this organization was purportedly created to prevent. It was a vote against the idea that Europe should be slowly but surely dragged back to an era of pseudo-serfdom, where the political elite operates completely independent of permission from the “ruled.” This vote was an historic one, and none of us could ever truly know what the future will look like; but I suppose we never could anyway.
