Is the EU President a good choice?

[RSS News]

Belgian PM Herman van Rompuy is the EU president and the UK's Baroness Ashton is foreign policy chief. Are they the best choices?

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[Pierson's]

at least it wasn't blair.

[Sam_b]

Should we have the EU in the first place? :thumbdown:

[Uncle Ho]

So we have one politician from a bourgeoisie capitalist party and one landed gentry appointed to run a society which has been instrumental in wreaking European Socialism.

Something tells me there won't be much dissent on this one around these parts.

[Q]

Fun fact: Christine Van Rompuy, sister of Herman, is Maoist and member of the Belgian Workers Party (PVDA/PTB).

http://www.deredactie.be/polopoly_fs/1.504090!image/969352142.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape470/969352142.jpg

[Revy]

I wouldn't expect any EU President to be a "good choice" from our perspective, from theirs, certainly.

If the Euroscepticism on the left was not a complete submission to right-wing populist nationalism, I would probably view it more favorably.

If such a movement emphasized a world without borders and nation-states (and a world union, instead of regional one), I would be emphatically supportive.

But since Euroscepticism on the left really just looks to be a reflection of its right-wing reactionary counterpart, hoping for a more genuine left-Euroscepticism might just be futile.

But then again, how pointless could it be to fight against the EU? The real impetus behind this is sheer opportunism. The right-wing parties are more popular because of Euroscepticism, so the left just wants some of that. It's a distraction, basically, from genuine anti-capitalist struggle.

[FSL]

If the Euroscepticism on the left was not a complete submission to right-wing populist nationalism, I would probably view it more favorably.

It is not, you view it that way.


If such a movement emphasized a world without borders and nation-states (and a world union, instead of regional one), I would be emphatically supportive.

Unicorns for all children too?
I haven't seen any movement call for the abolition of trade. Not because it's not among our aims but because it is not in the agenda. Adding it would be pure opportunism since you'd be running a million miles ahead of the rest of the workers, just to prove your revolutionary credentials.


But since Euroscepticism on the left really just looks to be a reflection of its right-wing reactionary counterpart, hoping for a more genuine left-Euroscepticism might just be futile.

Opposing the free market seems to be genuinely leftist. Praising them for unifying nations, not so much.


But then again, how pointless could it be to fight against the EU? The real impetus behind this is sheer opportunism. The right-wing parties are more popular because of Euroscepticism, so the left just wants some of that. It's a distraction, basically, from genuine anti-capitalist struggle.

It's a necessary part of anti-capitalist struggle. Not all right wing parties endorse euroscepticism, you 're just generalizing because you 've seen Tories and some eastern europeans "doing" it.

[Sasha]

damn, the belgian dude got the job? i so hoped we would finaly get rid of our douchebag prime minister balkenende.

[Dimentio]

For anyone opposing federalism, van Rompuy is a bad choice as he is a traditional federalist of the old school. He is also opposed to the Turkish entry on the basis that Europe is "christian".

[Revy]

It is not, you view it that way.



Unicorns for all children too?
I haven't seen any movement call for the abolition of trade. Not because it's not among our aims but because it is not in the agenda. Adding it would be pure opportunism since you'd be running a million miles ahead of the rest of the workers, just to prove your revolutionary credentials.



Opposing the free market seems to be genuinely leftist. Praising them for unifying nations, not so much.



It's a necessary part of anti-capitalist struggle. Not all right wing parties endorse euroscepticism, you 're just generalizing because you 've seen Tories and some eastern europeans "doing" it.

When the Eurosceptic left stops glorifying the national bourgeoisie, acting like the history of Europe was not horrific before the EU, blaming immigrants for unemployment, talking as if the EU was some kind of NWO conspiracy, rambling on about "sovereignty", and attempting to hide their leftist views to cater to the right-wing, I will hold them in higher regard.

So until they get their shit together, the Eurosceptic left is reactionary, a deviation from genuine revolutionary politics.

[Wanted Man]

When the Eurosceptic left stops glorifying the national bourgeoisie, acting like the history of Europe was not horrific before the EU, blaming immigrants for unemployment, talking as if the EU was some kind of NWO conspiracy, rambling on about "sovereignty", and attempting to hide their leftist views to cater to the right-wing, I will hold them in higher regard.

What are you babbling about?

[Revy]

I'm "babbling" internationalism and working class solidarity.
anti-EU politics can be part of that as long as it is framed in the correct way.

[Wanted Man]

Yes, but which part of the left is actually "glorifying the national bourgeoisie, acting like the history of Europe was not horrific before the EU, blaming immigrants for unemployment, talking as if the EU was some kind of NWO conspiracy, rambling on about "sovereignty", and attempting to hide their leftist views to cater to the right-wing"?

Any specific parties? :confused: Or does the left include the Dutch SP, who are social-democratic and "patriotic" anyway? Or the likes of No2EU? In that case, I support your point fully. But you can't reasonably say that those who argue against the EU from a communist perspective are doing the same thing.

[Revy]

I guess I'm sounding confusing.

Yeah, that was kind of a huge generalization, I'm sorry. I should have said "some" or "many".

I applaud those willing to criticize the EU and its existence from a decently communist perspective.

I am not in love with the European Union, certainly not. I just find disheartening people who will criticize it from the same perspective as the right-wing. Things like how the EU is bad because immigrant workers take jobs, which is BS.

If someone were to say, abolish capitalism, abolish the EU, abolish the nation-state, abolish all borders, I would applaud that. Because they are thinking in a forward direction. Whereas....all that abolishing the EU does is take us back to how Europe was before it, divided completely between nation-states. And the point I'm making is, that period was nothing to be romanticized, and the nation-state does not protect anybody more than the EU does.

[Stranger Than Paradise]

The EU serves to further the neo-liberal agenda. That is why we should oppose it.

[FSL]

If someone were to say, abolish capitalism, abolish the EU, abolish the nation-state, abolish all borders, I would applaud that. Because they are thinking in a forward direction.


There is thinking in a forward direction and there is leftism. What you are suggesting is that until we can have a no-borders, no-to-capitalism movement across the whole of Europe we should sit and watch the Commision reign supreme.

[MeansOfDeduction]

The EU President was elected with strong support from France and Germany, who want to make sure that Turkey does not become a member of the European Union. This is quite distasteful, considering that Turkey is a predominately Muslim country, it would be progressive for the European Union to admit them and assimilate them into one of the most progressive transnational bodies of power in the world. This simply looks bad on the European Union's image, and also goes to show how influential Christian values are in the politics of Europe.