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Surely communism is prescriptive rather than libertarian?
What the Europe argument misses (as does its flip side, the question of how close we should be to the USA) is that it's already a done deal. Economically and socially we are already lashed firmly to the continent, and to the States, and to the Far East for that matter.
Every time Teresa and Eve fly off to holiday in the States, or Ming accepts work in Germany or Malaysia, or Whistler cheers a Marian Pahars goal, or we see Big Brother's Nadia in her underwear and think "Jesus Christ no", we're just reinforcing that. All that's left to argue about is the politics of it, and that's being made more and more irrelevant by the everyday actions of ordinary people every single day.
It's like the immigration argument. The right in politics gets very hot under the collar about it, whether they swerve into racism over it or not. But at the same time, the right believes in a free market economy and globalisation. That means the free movement of capital and goods.
But the logical consequence of this is also the free movement of labour - immigration. So it's a logical contradiction to be an anti-immigration free marketeer (not that this stops people trying).
Example: a pub landlord was interviewed in the Indy a couple of days ago saying he was opposed to greater European integration and was voting for the UK Independence Party. But he'd just hired a new barmaid - a Polish girl who came to Britain following the recent EU enlargement. The point here is that, once again, what ordinary people are doing is leaving the politicians and the theorists behind.
What I'm saying really is that it's irrelevant and unimportant what people think about whether Britain should be part of Europe or not, because their own actions have long since made it an inseparable part.
Phew, sorry about that. So, who thinks England have a chance in Euro 2004?
What the Europe argument misses (as does its flip side, the question of how close we should be to the USA) is that it's already a done deal. Economically and socially we are already lashed firmly to the continent, and to the States, and to the Far East for that matter.
Every time Teresa and Eve fly off to holiday in the States, or Ming accepts work in Germany or Malaysia, or Whistler cheers a Marian Pahars goal, or we see Big Brother's Nadia in her underwear and think "Jesus Christ no", we're just reinforcing that. All that's left to argue about is the politics of it, and that's being made more and more irrelevant by the everyday actions of ordinary people every single day.
It's like the immigration argument. The right in politics gets very hot under the collar about it, whether they swerve into racism over it or not. But at the same time, the right believes in a free market economy and globalisation. That means the free movement of capital and goods.
But the logical consequence of this is also the free movement of labour - immigration. So it's a logical contradiction to be an anti-immigration free marketeer (not that this stops people trying).
Example: a pub landlord was interviewed in the Indy a couple of days ago saying he was opposed to greater European integration and was voting for the UK Independence Party. But he'd just hired a new barmaid - a Polish girl who came to Britain following the recent EU enlargement. The point here is that, once again, what ordinary people are doing is leaving the politicians and the theorists behind.
What I'm saying really is that it's irrelevant and unimportant what people think about whether Britain should be part of Europe or not, because their own actions have long since made it an inseparable part.
Phew, sorry about that. So, who thinks England have a chance in Euro 2004?
Posted: 01:47 Jun 12 2004 
