Why the EU Flag is Oh So Blue

Forget the English Civil War, the Chartist Movement, the Paris Commune, the French Revolution, the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War, the defeat of Nazi Germany by Soviet forces; Europe is the home of right wing, big business capitalism.

As the European debt crisis continues and once-sovereign governments now bend over backwards to appease the increasingly despotic Market, the working people of Europe are again held to ransom and forced to pay for a disastrous project that none of us actually wanted.

Sure, our economies have grown, some of us have had jobs, there has been increased tax revenue and government spending - I'm not about to argue that in the short term the European Capitalist Project hasn't been good for a few. In the short term. For a few.


But when the colossal towers of the super corporations are built on foundations of sand, it's not those who've been creaming off the profits who will feel the pain. As bailouts are signed and sealed it will be the public service and state sectors of sovereign economies that will be slashed to pieces. Government spending destroyed, all in the name of saving the Market and (with a few rather meaningless regulations) to set the monstrosity back on the tracks and hold on tight until the next train wreck.

But is there something else going on?

"Whenever Germany tells you how much the Greeks are costing them, remember this: German exports to Greece have risen by 133% since the single currency started. Greek exports to Germany have risen by 13%. The resulting trade gap between the two countries is one reason why German banks are now sitting on so much Greek debt." http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/stephanieflanders/2010/05/a_time_for_calmpanic_delete_as.html

Germany has called for stricter economic regulation and stronger budgetary discipline by European governments. One idea on the table is to look at national budget proposals in the first six months of the year instead of the second six months. That means the European Capitalist Project will not only run it's own economy, but also regulate the spending plans of sovereign nations.

The price that we have to pay to rescue the system, is to sell it our very souls. In order to help the Market, we will have to be more "flexible" (easier to sack); accept "more competitive" (lower) wages; allow "competition" (rationing) in health, education, arts and cultural projects; in short we have to become small, fully incorporated pieces of the system - an appendage to the machine.

From birth we will be taught to consume. We will be educated to become more employable. We will be sold commodities and judged not on who we are, but by what we own. We will have "lifestyle choices" and "leisure options" and buy a house and buy a car and reproduce and die before it costs too much to look after us sat in pools of our own urine.

Let the market collapse. See if we care. Lets rebuild it on our terms, so the system works for us and we own the system. The people will be the shareholders, the profits will be the people's.