Surviving Capitalism (Not) : The Long Arm Of The EU: The Association Agreement And Expansionist Policies

We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Thursday, April 30, 2015

The Long Arm Of The EU: The Association Agreement And Expansionist Policies

Click here to access article by Jürgen Wagner from The Greanville Post.

It appears to me that this author's article reveals the perspective of many right-wing members of the European elites who represent the European branch of the US Empire. They, as demonstrated in this article, have pretensions of forming their own empire, while vaguely acknowledging that it can only be a branch of the larger US Empire. In addition I think it is interesting because, unlike many other imperialist writers of our day, Wagner is rather candid about the imperial ambitions of the European capitalist elites who, I think, can be safely regarded as close collaborators with US ruling class directors.

Influential exponents of European politics are more and more openly articulating the pretension to join the front line of the battle for global power and influence. Thus Social-Democrat Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament, said in 2013:

“Whether it wants to be or nor, Europe is a ‘global player’. The EU is the biggest and richest single market in the world, our economic strength accounts for a quarter of the world’s GDP. The EU is the biggest trading bloc in the world, the biggest donor of development aid in the world - the EU is an economic giant. Global economic power goes hand in hand with global political responsibility; Europe cannot back out of that responsibility. Europe’s partners are justified in expecting that Europe will face up to its responsibility and that the economic superpower will also become a global political superpower”.