Can anybody redpill me on the EU and how it goes about perpetuating and consolidating the power of global capitalism/imperialism? The only criticisms of the EU I've ever heard are from Right Wingers. I honestly never knew such of a thing as "Left wing euroscepticism" existed until Melenchon tbh.
So exactly what are the biggest problems with the EU? What is its history and how does it relate the capitalist State and globalization?
Well Syriza was euroskeptic in their platform too
Yes it exists left wing euroscepticism. The communist party in my country was always against the EU, before we joined, after we joined, when we changed our currency to euro. They've always kept their position.
How doesit consolidate it's power? simple…throught ignorance. literally people are completely clueless of what's happenig in the EU. People don't know what happens in the EU parliament, in the EU comission. Some countries might have a referendum for EU related changes, but the majority doesn't even hold referedums and just do the changes without informin it's population of what is happening.
Most people think EU simply means you can cross the border without a passport, you can go on erasmus program and you can find work in another EU country.
The Euro is a tool to force austerity onto working class without firing up the old antagonisms that helped to sustain the European welfare states during the later part of the 20th century. The EU without the euro would probably be tolerable, but of course then it would also be nowhere near as politically powerful or relevant.
Than I guess my question is precisely WHAT IS the EU in the first place? Like I don't really understand it as an instution. It appears to be a federation of ruling class interests of Europe who only get together to consolidate power over the working class of Europe
That's precisely how they consolidate their power. The only people who are criticising them are demagogue morons, so all the pro euro parties have to do is point at them and say "look at them now, you don't wanna be THAT guy, do you?". And if the people say that they indeed want to be that guy they just resort to fear mongering, just look at brexit. It was supposed to be an immediate catastrophe and now it comes out that it's gonna take years of negotiations to even know how it will work. And btw, the only reason britain has a chance to go out is because they don't have the euro. Look at greece if you want to know what happens if you threaten to leave when you're in the eurozone.
The euroskeptics know this and they play into this scheme because they don't really need to be in a position of power to survive. All they have to do is land a parliamentary seat, either in the EU or in their country, and they get money. Then they just keep spamming their talking points so they can maintain their already established base.
Also what these guys said:
It's a union of countries. The EU's raison d'etre is to basically be a cartel so the countries are geopolitically relevant. Europe is both pushed by the US and China and Europe technocrats know that single states won't be able to keep up with them if they're not united in some way.
en.wikipedia.org
Problem is, the EU countries are very different from one another culturally and economically. Furthermore, their policies are very unpopular in the countries that get fucked over (duh) and so every one country just tries to oppose single policies. This leads to difficulties in trying to standardize policies, e.g. you have eastern countries where labor cost is very low and it's pretty hard to be competitive. Capital just flees there.
I'm pro EU because I believe in internationalism, but at the same time I know why people resist them and I think they're right. At this point though it's not like we have much of a choice.
I don't understand that argument. According to that logic you must support the US government too, because they hold the states together. I don't see whether or not solidarity with other proletarians stands and falls with he existence of the EU.
Why you say this? We got Brexit which was literally a choice for you to participate in.
Read Aldous Huxley's Brave New World then duckduckgo 'bilderburg group' then watch this youtube.com
My country wasn't united until a century and a half ago. I support a true federation in the same way I support my country's unity even though, because of capitalism, some areas have been and continue being fucked over, and you can believe that they have.
I support the idea of the US having a federation, I don't support the US using their tax money to destabilize entire continents and get oil. I don't support the EU destabilizing itself to suck capitalist cock either, doesn't mean I want it dismantled… Same way I don't want my country dismantled.
Because, as I said, different countries adopt different policies. Having stricter policies regarding labor means that your Italian boss can't threaten to delocalize to Poland because Poland has the same labor costs
As I said, it was hardly a choice. It's completely impossible to find out what would've happened before the vote (ie educating yourself before voting, like everyone with half a brain knows he should) because literally nobody knows what's supposed to happen to a country that wants to leave. All there is is shilling, fear mongering and speculation. That's hardly basis to decide what your country's gonna do. They're gonna waste years and years debating this. The people don't have years and years to just waste in the hopes that some german hag doesn't fuck up their future because of some loudmouth britbong who didn't even think he was gonna win the referendum.
The EU has spent its time assuring that leaving is gonna be shitty for the party involved, if not impossible. If you're in the eurozone they're just gonna rape you into submission, if you're not, assuming you manage to do it, you'll have a great time trying to get by when your domestic market is so dependent on trade, as it is with literally every single EU country. (That's the reason they entered.)
So yeah, unless you think the revolution is gonna happen 2 weeks from now I don't see the point in leaving the EU.
oh yeah I forgot to add in my previous post to look up the global minotaur by varoufakis.
It started out as the ECSC. One of its primary goals was to solve the Franco-German problem, where the border regions held vast reserves of coal and iron. Inevitable competition between the two was seen as a key reason to the two Wars.
This brings us to another point - it is at heart a bourgeois organisation. The road to peace and integration is economic interdependence and borderlessness, a logic that still permeats the organisation. Rules and guidelines against subsidies and nationalisation stem from this logic - integration happens through free intra-EU investment and trade.
EU rules against government control of economy is the main reason for left euroscepticism.
I agree with this position. I prefer a strong Europe to weak nation states to be picked off by Russian neo-tsarist divide-et-impera policy. The EU also provides balance against China and the US, even if EU and Nato are close.
Are you saying there shouldn't be a central government in the US?
It doesn't, but the EU does have a common European parliament. After some reforms it could be used to create a true European polity, which could then be used to aid the creation of a truly international political proletarian movement.
I like the EU it erodes nationalism
It's literally trying to create its own brand of pan-(western) european ethnic nationalism, kind of like what has happened in America.
Ethnic nationalism? Can you source that?
That's a bit of stretch fam
More or less since neoliberalism is 100% financierist, meaning all the countries who participate are somewhat dependent on the banks, S&P, Moody's et al and all of them are indebted they can't just walk away from it because their currency will devaluate and their economy will stall. This is why the UK will never recover from brexit.
In neoliberalism the bankers rule.
They always cuck for the EU when things come around. The EU top is made up of ex-communists. (Barroso, Cohn-Bendit)
Mogherini was in the Marxist youth, too.
I don't think it's directly comparable. The nationalism in the member states is still strong, so there's a kind of tension where acceptance of the EU has the net effect of discrediting nationalism.
youtube.com
its a bureocratic cage. thats about it
Really really bad