the E.U

[Holden Caulfield]

what is the modern leftist opinion of the E.U,

i fully support a 'free association of nations', however im not sure if the E.U would fall under this..

enlighten me..

[An archist]

Fuck the EU.
It stands for an authoritarian, neo-liberal fortress Europe, basically we're heading for the United States of Europe.

[Cymru]

Id welcome a withdrawel from the EU. Im praying we dont sell ourselves out to the Euro.

[The Advent of Anarchy]

The E.U. is an example of political and economic globalization. It should be smashed.

[Red_or_Dead]

EU is a capitalistic organization, aimed to strenghten the European bourgeoisie.

I like to think of it as a new Roman empire.

[Sentinel]

Please see this previous discussion (http://www.revleft.com/vb/showthread.php?t=61395&highlight=European+union) on the matter.

In there I explained my position more indepth. The point is, that the EU is a bourgeois interests project, created with the purpose of centralising European decision making, moving it away from the workers. While an initiative to unify Europe from below would be completely different and awesome, EU is far from that and we should indeed oppose it.

Many leftists, especially from the UK I have noticed, are a bit confused on this. I think this might largely be due to the fact that even the far right generally opposes the EU, and have been quite vocal in it in the UK. It must be remembered that they do it for entirely different reasons, however. In Sweden anyone left of right-wing socdems has luckily opposed the Union from the start.

Moved to Learning.

[TheDifferenceEngine]

I support the EU, if only to piss off conservatives.

[Red_or_Dead]

In there I explained my position more indepth. The point is, that the EU is a bourgeois interests project, created with the purpose of centralising European decision making, moving it away from the workers. While an initiative to unify Europe from below would be completely different and awesome, EU is far from that and we should indeed oppose it.


I agree, and I have to say that its pretty well done to, at least from what I can tell in the relation between the citizens of my country, our government and the EU. The only thing that people here see is the propaganda about bringing down borders (when actualy only border controls and customs are being abolished, borders themselves are still there), the common currency and stuff like that... But they simply fail to see that those are only the scraps from the bourgeois table, who are getting the most of it.

What also surprises me in the case of Slovenia, Croatia (which is not yet a member, but strives to be one asap), and the baltics, is that all these countries were struggling for their independance in only recent history, but now they are giving it up once again, completely volountarily, to join a union where their voice counts even less than in countries that we were a part of before 91.

[Sentinel]

I support the EU, if only to piss off conservatives.I hope you are joking? Support for the EU entails support for centralisation and strenghtening of bourgeois power, 'flexibility' on the European labor market -- but mainly for the employers and not the workers, etc. It's crap, and revolutionary leftists really have to oppose it, especially anarchists.

[Dimentio]

The only, if any, positive aspect of the EU is that it creates a bigger and more integrated economic unit, which means that turmoil could easier spread from one country to another.

[Qwerty Dvorak]

I support the EU within the context of a capitalist society. I think it's a massive step towards internationalism and the erosion of anti-materialist national borders. It has also done much for peace between European nations, and of course to combat racism and xenophobia. Probably the biggest success of the EU from a leftist perspective though is the increased freedom of movement of workers. The EU is no more authoritarian or capitalist a structure than any individual European government (less so I would say), and in terms of human rights the European courts tend to be quite progressive. Furthermore, while many have criticized the EU for creating a "fortress Europe" type scenario whereby it is extremely hard for immigrants from the third world to enter Europe, there is nothing to suggest that this situation would be any better without the EU. In fact, without the EU it would be much harder or even impossible for Eastern Europeans to migrate to European countries, whereas right now it is extremely easy.

Ultimately, the EU helps to build a strong international proletariat and facilitates the easy spread of class struggle throughout the continent and beyond.

[Red October]

Many conservatives in the US are scared that something similar to the EU will come about in North America because they believe these sorts of trade agreements violate American sovereignty.

[Dimentio]

Many conservatives in the US are scared that something similar to the EU will come about in North America because they believe these sorts of trade agreements violate American sovereignty.

Many conservatives in the USA also thinks that the UN is violating US sovereignity, and that NAFTA is a communist conspiracy. American conservatives are not really intellectual per se, and they live in a mental oblivion about how the world looks.

They apparently see the USA as an innocent small country which would lose its sovereignity for nothing, instead of a virtual Empire with global influence. But that is also a part of the American self-image.