Personally I want to see the EU fall. I understand your view, and would probably share it if I lived there. But from a selfish point of view, anything that helps or enables globalization is not something I want to see succeed. I am lucky enough to live in one of the few countries that could be 100% self sufficient. So the idea of tying our fates to an unstable global economy scares me. As recent history has shown,when your stability depends on your neighbors behaving themselves, things can and will be chaotic.
I get that most of the world does not have the luxury of self sufficiency and must count on their neighbors. So for them the pros outweigh the cons. But we're in a better position for it, and would be better off with an isolated economy.
And as far as Turkey goes, you are right that it will be less turbulent this way. But I don't see it solving the problem, just prolonging it. I hope I am wrong, but I think sooner or later the Turks are going to have to be dealt with in a decisive manner. Delaying that is more likely to make it worse when shit does go down. I may be wrong about that, and I hope I am. But I fear I'm not.
As a Canadian that is easily said. You got a massive land and resources. But let me sketch you my world.
I live in the north west of NL. "far from our landborders". If I step in my car and drive 2 hours i can be in Bel and GER, 3 hours and I got FRA, LUX. 6 hours and I can reach UK, DEN, Czech, Pol, Aus and Swi if I drive fast without traffic and 10-12 i can be in 3/4 of EU, by car.
I bet you would just have passed the state border and in the worse case you'd be in Yankville or speaking weirdy French! .^
Imagine having a trucking company and having to deal with beaurocratic nonsense on every of those bordercrosses. Having 4-5 different kinds of currency and having to exchange those for tariffs everytime. Qualified personell looking for a job in a sector that has demand and being able to move there. Get education of a certain level for your children, good food and infra. Being able to retire on the warm coast of Spain or Italy without losing healthcare benifits or standerds
I am not for TPP or globalism per se. I am for a free united zone where everyone has the same core rights and liberties. As a Dutchman and WW2 in mind (we are still paying off the massive debt for our rebuild, and it lies heavily on our political budget) also see the importance of the EU in light of our warthorn past. NL was never really the warmongering type on landbased Europe, rather stay neutral and fuck abroad. But that last blow kinda hurt. I still remember the fear for the Russians, bombshelters and conscriptions for all males from the 80's and early 90's. Tying economies together makes war futile, which is worth a whole lot in a highly evolved and populated area.
I think a French or German politician said something along the lines of this at a remembrance in the 2000's
"Our Fathers, Grandfathers and their fathers have fought eachother, for the first time in history our generations have not stood opposite of eachother in arms"
Roughly what I remember but i cant seem to find the quote
Not saying the EU in it's current form is good. It needs a lot of adjusting to function but remember; it's a very young organisation doing "the unthinkable" in Europe from the mind of someone growing up in the early 1900's
I can understand that view. And as I said I would likely share it if I lived there.
I was very excited about the idea of an EU when it was first proposed, but I have been disappointed in the execution. It has seemed that the idea was sold to the people for the reasons you listed, which are good ones. But in practice has been used for the benefit of big business and globalization.
The idea of putting business men in charge, with the power to change your laws and overrule your leaders scares me. If you have to give up democracy, is it worth It?
I also can't help but associate it with NAFTA, which was promised to increase our standard of living. In reality NAFTA only benefits big business and kicked off the destruction of the middle class in Canada. It was very very bad for us.
I would love to see an EU, but I feel it should be a democratic political alliance. It should include economic integration, but not be concerned solely with economics at the expense of all else. The people and their quality of life should be a bigger concern than profits, and control should be transparent and democratic.
In addition, I do not believe that all cultures are compatible and forcing integration between peoples that have wildly different ethics is not fair to the people.
Should you really be forced to deal with Turks rioting in your streets and calling you Nazis because your people have different opinions? Is it really racist or ignorant to think that if they don't like your ways, or if they only identify as Turks,maybe they should go home and not be allowed to return? Imagine how much worse things would be right now if Turkey had joined the union.
I can see an argument for the current union being better than nothing. But that is not the choice in front of you. If the current EU crumbles, there would eventually be a new union to replace it. Maybe one that would address some of the current problems.
It's a lot better then the two party dictatorships in the Americas in my opinion.
The system represents minorities
promotes cooperation
is 100% democratic
offers nuance
if you disagree with a party you voted on, you can switch to a likeminded party instead of having to walk over the line towards the other side.
It also has drawbacks:
we do not directly choose our PM
With cooperation and coalition come compromises
TBH I am happy Wilders didn't win big, I was dreading this. Imagine how the Turkey crisis would go if Wilders would be the PM versus Erdogan....
I also like being in the EU and see the tremendous profits for a trading country like ours in an open bordered EU. Leaving will cost us so many $ it would wreck us.