Music and Texts of Gary Bachlund

"He shouts into the room: 'Help us to win, help us to fight back.' He says he wants to assemble an 'army of supporters' to fight Europhobia in Britain." In "The Mad Men of Smith Square: A Lonely Battle To Save Europe in Britain," by Juan Moreno and Christoph Scheuermann in London, Der Spiegel, International, 16 February 2013

                  You're a phobic, adjudges a phobe, by which folks are accused of hate. Such psychological twiddle twaddle grows popular of late. Europhobe and homophobe, new scalpels honed to probe: Islamophobe and other-ophobe, such words spin round this globe.
                  But wait a moment, stop and think -- which phobe is the newest tripe? And why so great this phobic stink? Words suggest the time is ripe, as out the accusing press drops a word, one hard upon another, and mounting up in piles absurd, each pretends to be man's brother. But accusing easily of bilious hate is not the most civil game, cynical it is to bait in the wordy game of blame.
                  Serfs were surely aristo-phobes; as aristocrats sought serf's rent. Slaves were surely master-ophobes, as backs went broke and bent. Today new serfs again do roil as new masters seek new rent; tentacles reach with taxing coil as new minted phobias are sent to make the masses pliable such that they might bark not back, but rather think they're liable in the -phobia word attack.
                  You're a phobic, adjudges a phobe, by which you are accused of hate. Such psychological twiddle twaddle supports fat causes great, atop which sit new master men who'd batter down their masses with accusations, guilt, and then each greater wealth amasses.
                  Europe? It cannot be saved; never was it threatened at all. It's only the politicians who've paved their way with lordly gall. They need their supporting armies' press to stay a top their thrones, as ever was in history's mess, the masters require their drones. Charlie Main once, like bony Parte, like Willy and like Adolf Asshole, worked off the same political chart to unite Europe beneath one flagpole. Europe -- think continentally -- is not its governing class. History shows repeatedly all Europe's masters pass. But before, they loose a wordy war. They've always stirred up hate, as proven through centuries before, once upon a time, and again as of late.
                  You're a phobic, adjudges a phobe, by which one's accused of hate. Such psychological twiddle twaddle grows popular again of late. Europe is not diminished by freedom for free men all. But those whose power could be finished? It fills such men with gall. Ergo the accusations dripping from their lips for those with reservations who'd reject dictatorships. Tyranny, a composer once said, comes through ordinary men, who'd trample those they led, as can happen yet again.

NOTES WITH A VIEW TO HISTORY

The French socialists Saint-Simon and Augustin Thierry would in 1814 write the essay De la réorganisation de la société européenne, already conjuring up some form of parliamentary European federation...." and "Here the anarchist Mikhail Bakunin stated "That in order to achieve the triumph of liberty, justice and peace in the international relations of Europe, and to render civil war impossible among the various peoples which make up the European family, only a single course lies open: to constitute the United States of Europe". The French National Assembly, also called for a United States of Europe on March 1, 1871." In "Ideas of European unity before 1945," Wikipedia.

"Napoleon had wanted to conquer Europe (if not the world) and said, 'Europe thus divided into nationalities freely formed and free internally, peace between States would have become easier: the United States of Europe would become a possibility.'" In "Napoleon and the Unification of Europe," by Matthew D. Zarzeczny, The Napoleon Series.

"He, too, then, is nothing better than an ordinary man! Now he will trample on all human rights only to humor his ambition; he will place himself above all others,--become a tyrant." Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827)

In a letter to his sister Princess Margaret in 1940, Kaiser Wilhelm wrote: "The hand of God is creating a new world & working miracles... We are becoming the U.S. of Europe under German leadership, a united European Continent." Quote of Kaiser Wilhelm, in "Royals and the Reich," Jonathan Petropoulos, Oxford University Press (2006).

"The 2012 EP budget amounts to € 1,718 billion of which 37% is for staff expenses, mainly salaries for the 6000 officials working in the General Secretariat and in the Political Groups." Source: European Parliament/About Parliament.

"For some time now, the European Parliament's multi-seat operation has been a thorn in the European Union's side. Originally devised to symbolise unity, it has become a symbol of waste and inefficiency - which is often seized upon by the EU's critics as a stick to beat the union with at every opportunity. At a time of fiscal difficulties, it is impossible to justify the avoidable additional cost that results from shifting thousands of people and resources from place to place. Rough estimates place this cost at €200m. That is €200m that could be better spent on stimulating the economy and creating employment." In " Costly European Parliament 'travelling circus' must end," by Rebecca Harms, Public Service Europe, 11 September 2012.

"MEPs in Brussels cost three times more than MPs in Westminster, shocking new figures reveal. The annual bill for a member of the European Parliament is almost £1.8million, compared to £590,000 for politicians in the House of Commons. Critics condemned the ‘eye watering’ sum, and blamed the insistence of the European Parliament on having three different homes. Eurocrats said it was like ‘like comparing apples and oranges’." In "Every MEP in Brussels costs an 'eye watering' THREE times more than MPs in Westminster," by Matt Chorley, Daily Mail UK, 14 January 2013.

And as to this brief history to unify Europe from the Holy Roman Empire to the French socialists of the early 19th century, Napoleon, the Kaiser and Hitler, one learns that the dream of unifying Europe is burning brightly if undemocratically: "'We want to unify Europe and we have to do it together, and I think there are a lot of common ideas with the British side and the German side on it,' he told the BBC. 'I think we are open for arguments." In "Tories build secret alliance with Eurosceptics behind Merkel's back," Bruno Waterfield in Brussels and Jeevan Vasagar in Berlin, Telegraph UK, 12 April 2013.

"To have a face, in the European sense of the word, it would seem that one must not only enjoy and suffer but also desire to preserve the memory of even the most humiliating and unpleasant experiences of the past." W. H. Auden (1907-1973)

See: Kellogg-Briand - 1928 and also Europe 4 all? Yea!

Addendum of Soaring Unemployment: "Figures from Eurobarometer, the EU’s own polling organisation, suggest that anti-Brussels feeling has spread far beyond Britain and is rising in both poor and better-off EU nations. It follows the continuing euro-zone economic crisis which has sent unemployment soaring and led to a string of multi-billion pound taxpayer-funded bailouts. Results showed 66 per cent of voters in Britain say they 'tended not to trust the EU as an institution'. A majority shared that view in Italy (53 per cent), France (56 per cent) and Germany (59 per cent) while in crisis-hit Spain the figure has soared to 72 per cent." In "Support for the EU plunges to all-time low across Europe," by Macer Hall, Express, 26 April 2013.

Addendum of Monarchical/Imperial Arrogance: Ah, but coining words is the province of the many, as "Europhilia" comes to sit alongside "Europhobia."

One reads: "Devaluation and enforced losses on creditors won’t make Iceland much more popular within the EU, but then again the EU’s rather arrogant attitude towards Iceland’s membership of the zone helped force a dramatic turnaround in sentiment away from the pro-European integration government, which was roundly defeated at the weekend. Part of the reason for that defeat lay in Brussels’ demonstrating the worst of monarchical/imperial arrogance in expecting hard-pressed Icelanders to be utterly supplicant to the daft dogmas of myopic Europhilia." In "Iceland’s economic thaw a thorn in EU’s side," by Patrick Young, RT, 1 May 2013.

Addendum of a Bureaucratic Monstrosity: It seems "Europhobia" is spreading now to the higher ranks in some government. One notes that whether or not the UK would leave "Europe" as defined by the bureaucracy, it was and remains a part of the geographic definition of Europe, and therefore in the most basic sense can never leave Europe, though it most certainly can leave "Europe" as defined by the European Union's bureaucracy.

It seems that almost 200 hundred years after the views of the historical "anarchist" Mikhail Bakunin, that again European union under yet another unification is proceeding apace to its collapse with burgeoning separatist movements within "member states" like Spain, as well as "member states" balking at paying more and more to those who plead "mutualization" of debt after having run up essentially insurmountable debt themselves, separatism is becoming the new political trend, upsetting the "unification" supporters.

For this one reads, "The peer, writing in The Times, says that the economic gains from a British exit 'would substantially outweigh the costs'. The EU had become “a bureaucratic monstrosity” from which the UK should break free. After an association with Brussels of 40 years, he said: 'The case for exit is clear'." In "Lord Lawson: It’s time to quit EU," by Roland Watson, The Times UK, 7 May 2013.

Addendum of Fearing Revolution: "German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble warned on Tuesday that failure to win the battle against youth unemployment could tear Europe apart, and dropping the continent's welfare model in favor of tougher U.S. standards would spark a revolution. Germany, along with France, Spain and Italy, backed urgent action to rescue a generation of young Europeans who fear they will not find jobs, with youth unemployment in the EU standing at nearly one in four, more than twice the adult rate." In "Germany fears revolution if Europe scraps welfare model," by Ingrid Melander and Nicholas Vinocur, Reuters, 28 May 2013.

Addendum of a Lack of Leadership: " 'The state of Europe is problematic. European institutions are not really functioning any more. Why? Because of a lack of leadership.' Schmidt says he is concerned about the 'enormous, outlandish'" debts of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Cyprus and Ireland and about the lack of jobs for the young." In "Helmut Schmidt: 'The state of Europe is problematic'," by Larry Elliott, Guardian UK, 22 December 2013.

Addendum of Falling Out of Love: "In an interview with Der Spiegel last year, Konrad Adam, a 71-year-old former journalist for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung who is now one of the leading figures in the AfD, compared the party’s opposition to Merkel with resistance against the Nazis. Some influential figures on the left also increasingly share the concerns of these right-wing Eurosceptics. Perhaps the most influential is Wolfgang Streeck, the director of the Max-Planck Institute, who argued in a recent book, to be published in English in May as Buying Time: The Delayed Crisis of Democratic Capitalism, that the EU is a 'liberalization machine' that makes labour markets more flexible and enforces budget cuts against the will of citizens. Meanwhile, Heribert Prantl, a commentator for the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the leading centre-left newspaper, has been as critical as right-wing Eurosceptics about the perceived violation of the no bailout clause of the Maastricht Treaty which specified that member states should not be liable for, nor assume, the commitments or debts of any other. Thus, whereas in much of Europe pro-European elites are under attack from Eurosceptics claiming to speak for the people, in Germany the elites themselves may be changing their minds. As Gideon Rachman of the Financial Times has pointed out, two of Germany’s most respected institutions – the Bundesbank and the Constitutional Court – have now declared their opposition to the Outright Monetary Transactions programme." In "Even Germany's intellectual elite is falling out of love with the EU," by Hans Kundnani, EU Observer, 28 March 2014.

Addendum of Europeans Seeking Self-Determination: "Several thousand European separatists, overwhelmingly Flemish but also Catalans, Scots and South Tyroleans, demonstrated in Brussels on Sunday for the right to self-determination. Under a forest of yellow flags emblazoned with black lions, Flemish separatists dominated the procession through the European Union's capital, which marched from Parc du Cinquantenair near the European Commission's headquarters towards the European Parliament. The crowd, which marched under a banner proclaiming 'Europe, we'll vote for self-determination', numbered almost 3,000 people, according to a senior police officer." In "Thousands of European separatists protest in Brussels," Agence France Presse, 30 March 2014.

Addendum of Power Back to the People: "At one time Europe seemed to be moving inexorably towards 'ever closer union'—and many federalists hoped the euro crisis, like previous crises, would mean another leap forwards. Yet in the wasteland left after the crisis, voters are shaking their pitchforks at the notion of a United States of Europe. Rather than seek to expand the role of the EU’s institutions, it would be better to reinforce the nation-states where legitimacy lies. Europe’s broad strategic direction should be set by heads of government, not by the European Commission, even though that body proposes the detailed laws. The European Parliament should be downgraded, with more democratic control given to national parliaments. If the EU is to survive, it must hand powers back to the people." In "Europe goes to the polls," Economist, 17 May 2014.

See: Fat, fat government and the quote by "European" William Shakespeare