Is the situation in Catalonia
a dress rehearsal for the future of the European Union? Sadly the answer is
probably yes!
The Catalans argue for independence – many young people are
evident! – on the grounds that their psychological
and cultural identity is different from the rest of Spain . A well known 20th century tyrant – Joseph Stalin
– in a pamphlet written in 1913, also highlighted this aspect as being one of
the defining features of a nation: “… a common psychological make-up, which
manifests itself in a common culture, is one of the characteristic features of
a nation.” Even knowing this, Stalin did
not make a success of the multinational state that he created – the Soviet Union . The grim history of multinational states is
a warning to take note of.
The European Union does not have a common psychological
make-up, manifesting itself in a common culture. That is one of the lessons
that I have learned from spending the past 30 years working with just about
every nationality in the European Union, and spending much time in several
Member States. Yet the blue flag waving European Unionists seem to be in denial
about this. Many of these people are extremists, and European Unionists are
just – nationalists!
In the European Parliament there is a place where citizens
can be exposed to European Union propaganda. In this place there is a recording
of a very deluded MEP stating that the problem of nationalism in Europe
has been solved. Not so. The problems have been amplified and doubled, for not
only do we now see peoples of the Member States reasserting their national identities
as never before over the past 60 years, but we also see the creation of a new
form of nationalism – European Union nationalism. Like the Spanish who tried to
suppress Catalan cultural identity, the European Union nationalists, if they
ever gain power, will suppress the national cultures of the Member States
(actually they are already subtly trying to do this).
The conditions for conflict are being laid and if Junker
gets his way, on March 30th 2019 continental Europe
will begin the march down that old, well trodden road that leads to a very familiar,
very European destination. And yet anyone who speaks out and warns is treated
like ... This is also an old well
trodden road as well – the Nazis did this in their early days. Later they did
more. Will the European Union nationalists do they same? Of course they will,
for I have seen the wild empty stare in their eyes – it is frightening.
If we wish to preserve peace, harmony and prosperity in Europe , then it is time to take a stand against this
European Union nationalism. It is time to tell these people that the age of
grand overarching ideologies and utopian visions, is over. We have seen in the
20th century, where these fantasies lead. No more! It is also time to deal with the
problem that the European Commission has become. Alas, we cannot look to the
politicians for help here, because they are too preoccupied with matters
economic and monetary. So what to do? Time to take up the pen and the brush and
do what is necessary – ridicule and satire …
Being British, people might ask why I care about this, given
that we will leave the European Union on March 29th 2019. They might
say that it is not a British problem if the peoples of continental Europe once
more end up living in a dictatorship – this time of technocrats – with a sham
democracy that sends deputies to a parliament in Brussels that just rubber stamps decrees
handed down by an elitist body – a parliament that can in any case be
overridden.
It is a good question. Perhaps it is because I care. Perhaps
it is because, when these things happen in continental Europe ,
people end up dying in numbers that defy comprehension. Perhaps it is because I
have a conscience and cannot stand by and let the past become the future.
Perhaps it is because I have seen too much over the past 30 years of my
involvement in Brussels
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