Sunday, April 29, 2012

The Death of Nation-States and the Rise of Empire

Some readers may recall the rant of a couple years ago by Nigel Farage, head of the United Kingdom's Independence Party, against Herman Van Rompuy, president of the European Union.  Mr. Farage described the gentleman from Belgium as possessing "all the charisma of a damp rag and the appearance of a low-grade bank clerk."  He also accused Van Rompuy of being a non-entity from a non-nation.
Regardless of Mr. Farage's insulting comments, the fact is that he has some valid observations about the nature and goals of the EU.
Farage pointed out that the European Union's unelected officials were asserting authority over (and oftentimes ruining) European nations, without those nations' peoples having any say in the matter.  Belgium, he said, tells Greece what to do if the latter desires to remain a vassal-state bound to the European Union. 
Unfortunately, Belgium has had far too much to say to member-nations.  It never stops chattering.
French-style bureaucracy -- one in four employees has a job as a civil servant -- has self-duplicated as an EU bureaucracy, which issues a constant stream of rules and regulations so finely precise that bananas are categorized based on size.  According to the Official Journal of the European Union, "having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union," the Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 133.2011 sternly lays down  "marketing standards for bananas, rules on the verification of compliance with those marketing standards and requirements for notifications in the banana sector."

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