Dutch Dump Euro Dreams?

But first . . .

The Dutch just added another blow to the European Union constitution. First in all matters of nay-saying and recalcitrance were of course the French.

(The French! says the Citizen. Set of Dancing Masters!)

I am following this with great interest because of the great historic drama of it all. Will Europe unite? Equal or surpass America? Become the new bastion of progressive humanity? Ban Big Mac's from Bologne to Barthelona?

First the French and now the Dutch have put the nix for now on such expansive dreams. In fact:

"Europe no longer inspires people to dream," [according to]Luxembourg Prime Minister and current EU president Jean-Claude Juncker after Dutch voters rejected the charter by a margin of 62 to 38 percent.

It seems that while many European leaders have a proper sense of historical sweep, with their own names no doubt borne loftily along the historic wind, the citizens of Europe aren't so sure any longer, at least for the moment. Little things like hordes of Turks migrating to little Luxembourg gives them pause. How horribly complex and unidealistic.

--I vaguely remember the Four Downfalls of the Roman Empire (and no, decadence was not one of them) from my BA History undergraduate days: Inflation, Taxes, Migration, and, er, the other one (not decadence). Thank you Dr. Clarke!--

But despite such down-in-the-face Euromen as Juncker, the like of the Christian Science Monitor is still positive on E.U. progress, as Peter Ford reports, "Reports of the European Union's death are greatly exaggerated."

[great interest/great drama, little things/little Luxembourg, reports/reports--I'm having a redundancy redundancy problem today.]

Eamonn FitzGerald is likewise unworried at his site, Eamonn FitzGerald's Rainy Day. In addition to appropriate skepticism over the EU's unravelling, he reminisces about those "heady $2.40 dollars to the pound" days of the 70's and early 80's. Ah yes, it warms my heart to recall having my money cut in more than (less than?) half every summer holiday!

Meanwhile, many Brits are no doubt laughing up their tweed sleeves, but the Irish know the real value of Union. Guilty of occasional outburts of xenophobia themselves, the Irish have to consider the ol' EEC an unmitigated economic success. The sudden and dramatic explosion of better income, better roads, and of course more and better bypasses(!) attest to this.

Ironically, I have only just begun The United States Of Europe: The New Superpower and the End of American Supremacy, by T.R. Read. Interesting, but perhaps reports of America's demise are greatly exaggerated?