How to Make Sense of the European Union Disaster

By T.S. Weidler

Everything you need to know to understand the European Union can be discovered by simply glancing at the location of its headquarters.  Brussels is in Belgium, which is not a real country, does not have a government, and does not have any money.

Belgium has not had a government for a year and half, yet the capital city (to the degree that a country without a government can have a capital) is host to one of the largest government organizations in the world.  The ironies and paradoxes of the EU are clearly seen in the microcosm of Belgium.

Belgium was invented in 1839, when the powers of Europe decided to carve out sections of the Netherlands and Luxembourg and assigned what resulted the name "Belgium."  This despite the fact that the bit of land was inhabited by Flemish, Walloons, Dutch, French, various Germans, and several other minority groups that had been hostile to each other for centuries.  A group of unelected European leaders stepped in and said, "Let there be Belgium," and suddenly, there was Belgium -- but it was not a nation.  Decrees do not make nations.  Belgium is a haphazard collection of once-independent states with no interest in joining together and substantial reasons not to.

Over the years, Belgian governments have maintained majority rule by offering entitlements and subsidies to every niche group they can find.  This is the only way to get a majority in a country with eleven major political parties divided on ethnic and linguistic lines.  Naturally, it leads to dangerous deficits.  It all came to a halt in the general election of June 2010.  No coalition has been able to strike a deal to create a majority.  Parties join together to form majorities only when there is a significant handout being offered, but with a crashing economy, nobody is willing to continue this charade.  Last week the interest rate on Belgian debt jumped into crisis levels.  Belgium's credit rating has been systematically cycling downward for the past two years.  There is a strong secessionist movement to break into at least two independent nations, while others push for a stronger central authority to enforce unification.  So Belgium hasn't had a government for seventeen months running.

Aside from debt, secession, and anarchy, there is also the matter of national defense.  The powers that breathed Belgium into existence did so on the condition that it remain neutral in military affairs.  Neutrality ensured that France, Germany, and Britain would have a low-lying, centrally located piece of land on which to fight wars, rather than having to deal with the unpleasantries on their own land.  Belgium is whatever Europe needs it to be: a buffer zone when things are hostile, a highway for tanks when you want to go on offense, and a shooting range when the war starts.  It was created for the purpose of hosting other countries' wars and is required to remain neutral so as not to spoil the fun.  It has served this purpose quite well over the years.  It doesn't matter that the various factions that happen to be stuck inside its borders have no desire to run a country of their own.  They have to do it anyway because it is convenient for the rest of Europe.  Belgium would be a joke if it weren't a tragedy.

So it goes for the EU.  Germany would rather not bail out Greece and Italy, and Greece and Italy would rather not be swallowed up by the European leviathan.  Doesn't matter -- they have to do it anyway because Europe is all roped together now.

The EU is not a real country.  It is a collection of independent states that have no national interest in joining forces, and substantial reasons not to.  It does not have a functional government, but it does have just enough of a government to make everyone's life worse, and to run up enormous deficits.  Like Belgium, it has no national defense to speak of and numerous factions that are hostile to one another.

All historical evidence suggests that Europe is a fragmented and dangerous place, with constant wars covering its entire history.  It is the only continent on which something called "The Hundred Years' War" ever happened.  In the last century, some of these constant small battles were saved up and unleashed as the two biggest wars in world history.  But even WWI and WWII were not enough to satisfy the bloodlust haunting Europe.  There was also the small matter of a Soviet occupation of half the continent and countless feuds within feuds.  Italy just completed its 61^st change in government in 66 years.  Spain was ruled by a dictator up until 1975 and had its first democratic election in 1977.  Germany, of course, tried to take over the world twice, and always followed the advice of bumper stickers by thinking globally and invading locally.  The effort to make these nations suddenly join together in happiness and love is one of the most foolish ventures ever conceived.  It is unraveling now.  It would be a joke if it weren't tragic.

The EU is Belgium writ large.  A group of unelected officials from around Europe got together and dreamed up the EU, then arbitrarily made it happen.  Now it is in the position of managing the countless factions of Europe.  Constant bailouts and subsidies are the only things that keep everyone happy.  There isn't enough money to keep up the charade, and there are considerable efforts to break it up.  Each nation of the EU is held together by nothing more than the selfish decrees of others.  It is crashing as you read.

Europe has come full circle.  The EU has taken over Italy and Greece and installed unelected puppet regimes there.  Belgium, a puppet nation dreamed up by Europe with no history, no government, and no money, finds itself ruling puppet governments of the two foundational sources of European civilization because they have no money.  In WWII Germany went through Belgium to take over France.  Now Germany is going through Belgium to take over Italy and Greece.

This is all you need to know about the EU.  It is a messy assortment of peoples haphazardly crammed together, with no functional government, saddled with extremely high debt.  Belgium was created as a puppet nation with no historical roots.  Now it's been converted into a base from which all of Europe is held together as a puppet nation with no historical roots.  The EU, like Belgium, is not strong enough to govern its various factions, nor does any freedom-lover desire it to be.  The cradles of European history, Athens and Rome, are swallowed up by a puppet newcomer.  It would be tragic if it wasn't an outrage.

The next EU takeover will probably be Spain, and there will be more after that.  At some point Europe will fall.  The only question is the direction in which it falls.  It may fall into totalitarianism, or it may dissolve back to its historical national divisions.  There are mounting efforts in both of these directions already, and there will be tremendous instability either way.  Do not be surprised if there is war.  Watch what Belgium does.