And not just because their proposed Constitution enshrines secular ideology and refuses to even mention Christianity.
It needs to reject the Constitutional Treaty because of what it will do to Europe in purely secular terms, leaving aside the question of religion.
Europe has a problem with statism.
Eastern Europe was only recently freed from crushing totalitarianism, and Western Europe has been rapidly giving up its freedoms to ever-more invasive nanny regimes who are out of touch with the people and who have implemented social policies that are crippling Europe’s economies.
But there is at least one candle shining in the dark in Europe: All these invasive nanny regimes at least aren’t the same nanny regime.
To the extent countries maintain national sovereignty, they retain the ability to serve as laboratories for experimentation. They can try different laws and policies and see which ones work best. That holds out the hope that someone, somewhere in Europe may one day vote people into office who are willing to try the kind of market and regulatory reforms that have, y’know, had something to do with America being able to become the first global hyperpower and stuff.
That’s what happened here: Back during the reign of History’s Greatest Monster we were on the Euro-track, with the welfare states of France and Germany being extolled as models and our own economy in the dumpster.
But then someone (figuratively) said: "Hey, maybe this being on the Euro-track thing is what’s The Problem. Maybe if we did something diff’rent, things would improve."
That someone was Ronald Reagan, and enough people thought it was worth a shot, and the shot hit the bullseye. Our economy started growing, people started leading better lives, we won the Cold War, and, while there have been ups and downs (like the reign of History’s Other Greatest Monster), the trendline has been upward.
So, in view of the demonstrable recent success of America, might some Europeans ever get fed up enough with their oppressive nanny regimes to try to vote into office people willing to try the America-track?
They might!
Only those people won’t be able to do diddly in office if national sovereignty has been erroded away to the point that all of the big-picture decisions are being made by an elite political uberklass that is the locus of nanny regime-ism.
The creation of a pan-European nanny regime is only going to make harder the experimentation that is needed for Europe to be able to see for itself that it’s current policies spell C-I-V-I-L-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N-A-L D-I-S-A-S-T-ER and either avert or blunt the force of the disaster.
FORTUNATELY, THE FRENCH SEEM TO BE TURNING AGAINST THE CONSTITUTIONAL TREATY.
We’ll see when it comes referendum time whether they have the wherewithall to say NO or whether they’ll in the end cave in to what their Political Masters want them to do.
According to the Financial Times:
The EU constitution, which contains new rules for the expanded union
and strengthens Europe’s foreign and security policy, can come into
force only when all 25 members adopt it.
That seems like a rater dumb way to write law to me, but if it’s true then it holds out hope that someone, somewhere in Europe will say no to the treaty.
Gotta protect those national laboratories of experimentation.
PREPUBLICATION UPDATE: Before this post went live, I found THIS PIECE that makes similar points and is well worth y’all’s while to read. (Cowboy hat tip: Southern Appeal).
Now hold on a minute Jimmy.
Are you telling me that economic policies that lead to the consistent near full employment levels of 4-6% unemployment and positive economic growth in the United States are more in line with Catholic Social Teaching™ than the economic policies that are driving much of old Europe into economic shrinkage and persistent unemployment of 10-13%?
But what about the part in the Gospel that says “from each according to ability, to each according to need” and all that?
Didn’t that warmongering, nuclear holocaust wanting Ronald Reagan eat little poor black babies for breakfast each and every day while he was President?
Excuse me, but it seems to me that the Europeans are on the America-trak.
At one time – say about 150 years ago – America was made up of sovereign and independent states. There were a sizable number of folks (including a number of the founding fathers such as Tom Jefferson) who felt that the union of these states was a purely voluntary affair. Some of the founding fathers (Jefferson & Madison) also believed that individual states had the right to nullify federal laws and make them non-applicable to themselves. They also felt that the power of the federal government was extremely limited and was only as great as was granted to it by the states. Eventually, the federal government bloodily supressed any notion that it was not supreme.
Yes, we maintain this illusion that the 50 states are “sovereign” but now they only exercise the power that the federal government allows them to follow.
Jimmy you speak with disgust of the European Nanny states. But the Federal government is no better and dispite lip service to individualism the power of the federal government continued to grow under Reagan and both Bush’s. Even now, look at how “conservatives” want to give power to the federal courts to help Terri S. – the same federal courts that forced free access to abortion upon all the states of the union.
I agree the EU is a BAD thing. However, it is because I have seen what happens when states surrender their sovereignty here in US. Once the states of Europe surrender their sovereignty they will be states in name only.
Just a few months ago, the pope was urging Croatia to join the EU. I hope people in the Vatican wake up before the EU has either imposed secularism continent wide or the Mohammadens have imposed the Sharia. The former, I think, is much more likely.
SJ: Was he urging Croatia join the EU, or saying that if they want to join, they should be allowed to, tiny state that they are. It’s a question, I don’t recall, but now you have me wondering.
Mr. Peters,
From this article, it appears that the Pope was encouraging Croatia to join the EU:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/06/06/world/main557284.shtml
I think the entire reason for the so-called “European Union” is to try to conjure up the impression that it can provide some “counterbalance” to the US. Does that mean that they will begin to take responsibilty and take action to clean up some of the messes in their own backyard? Don’t hold your breath.
I think the former Pope, in his zeal for that old thing that was Christendom, misplaced a lot of faith in the EU, thinking it was the second coming of the Holy Roman Empire. Did JPII urge Croatia to join before or after it was going to be clear that the EU constitution won’t even mention Christianity?