What you describe is not an unreasonable assessment, but it is very pessimistic. I don't think it's a matter of bleak reality, where a more optimistic assessmen

What you describe is not an unreasonable assessment, but it is very pessimistic. I don't think it's a matter of bleak reality, where a more optimistic assessment is naive or less reasonable. Europe is generally a peaceful place, a decent political culture with relatively low tolerance for overtly sociopathic political actors. The corrupt cronyism is a real problem, a bigger problem outside the EU than in and most certainly not a new problem.