We are fast approaching a point where is no way to preserve the kinds of democratic, liberal, tolerant, multicultural, humanistic and socially just standards that define our standards of what’s good in Western civilization than to form a closer European Union.
The European far right, from Meloni to the AfD and the RN in France is poised to establish a MEGA hellscape in the next election cycle. Only a liberal social democratic revolution, basically, can stop this.
An EU with common eurobonds, with a common nuclear capable Union Army, with the French UNSC permanent position becoming a European one, with common European taxation of wealth to reduce inequality and a common European welfare state. We should also establish universal jurisdiction for human rights abuses and put some teeth behind it.
We have already taken what is good from the American federalist tradition, and we have built new ones. We should forge a closer union while avoiding American mistakes like the imperial presidency, gerrymandering, and the influence of money in politics.
The MEGA fascists are like American Tories during the American Revolution: they serve the interests of foreign despots and pirates (to reference Jefferson): MAGA USA and Putinist Russia, peddling nothing but resentment politics that will solve none of our problems.
What would you have done to prevent the Nazis from ascending to power in 1933? That time is now. Leave your comfort behind. Get out on the street. Form alliances with people locally. There is no button you can press to make the future make a turn for the better. You cannot buy yourself democracy, liberty, equality and justice with free overnight shipping from Amazon. It’s not streamed to your living room where you sit on your comfortable sofa.
But you cannot do it alone. You need community and to show up for it. It does sometimes involve sitting in boring bureaucratic meetings of your local branch of a political party or filing the taxes for your local queer nonprofit. It means freezing your ass off on a cold Saturday morning on a pro-Ukraine rally in town. It means writing letters to your members of parliament. If you’re reading this, you’ll probably not attend a meeting in Brussels where the future of our union will be discussed. But the discussion can be had all around you. But your voice is never going to be heard if you voice it alone. You have to ally yourself with the people in your community. The ones are willing to do the scrappy, exhausting or boring work that can move society forward.
The E.U. is all that stands between civilization and a new dark ages.
The people are all that stands …
No matter who you are, or where you are from, we can work together against the powers that be. Even small nudges from each person collect to a large force.
Inspired by Ian Bremmer’s stark analysis: https://youtu.be/NXoreH_5coA
Stand up Europe, it’s time.
