| | | quote | Originally posted by MadMark:
It was pretty funny to watch. I guess the EU can't stand patriotism. |
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No, they can't... because it's antithetical to the EU movement that seeks to reduce the influence of the individual country, for the increased significance of the EU governing body. The EU sees themselves like the United States Federal government sees itself in comparison to the individual states. I absolutely cannot emphasize this enough.
I have... 100s of family members in the Netherlands. Most of them are wealthy because when my grandfather passed away, the family sold the business and split the 100s of millions between the 8 brothers and sisters. I should say 7 brothers and sisters, because my dad wasn't included since he had left to come to America in 1963. There were no hard feelings, my dad has had a very successful career and amassed his own wealth all on his own, which has put him in a far more financially better situation than any of his brothers or sisters (except for the guy who owns 3 BMW dealerships and goes to all the F1 races... hahah). Among the 7 brothers and sisters in Europe, they each have 2 or 3 children (my cousins), and each of them have 2 or 3 children. Needless to say, there's something like 100 cousins over there... and they've moved all over the place including the UK, Belgium, Germany, France, Spain, and of course the Netherlands.
As it stands, really none of them really consider themselves "Dutch." I mean, if you ask them outright... they'll say they're Dutch... but conceptualize it like this...
Except for our Canadian friends here... most of the people here are from the United States. If you were to go to another country, and someone asks you where you're from (knowing that you're in another country), you would answer... "I'm an American..."
Just as my cousins would respond... "I'm from Europe."
The goal of the EU was to give collective bargaining power in the new emerging global economy. But what it has become is a super-state that collectively and continually seeks to increase its own power, while decreasing the power of the partner member nations.
It would be hypocritical of me if I didn't see the reality of what this is. The United States is VERY MUCH what the European Union seeks to become. When our founders created the Constitution of the United States, we were committed in a common fight against an enemy, so the dissolution of those bonds, and the creation of new ones was a somewhat easy sell. But... the original 13 colonies were very much separate governing bodies. The way the United States currently exists is exactly what the EU has been working towards, where the EU rules / laws, and courts automatically overrule anything the individual member nations may have. I would never change this... I consider myself an American first and foremost, and I'm proud of that. While I love Florida, I'm originally from Illinois, but I have absolutely no allegiance to Illinois, and could care less about the state, quite frankly. And this is exactly how the youngest of my second cousins feel about the Netherlands, and the European Union.
The European Union just lost "Texas"... basically. But they are far from out... and it's inevitable. We are on a conservative momentum because the EU leadership became corrupt and started absorbing "refugees" from all over and there was pushback. But the pendulum will swing back again, and when it does, expect the EU to solidify their power over the individual nations.
[This message has been edited by 82-T/A [At Work] (edited 01-31-2020).]
