> Whereas everyone who joined the EU in the decade of 2000 (and the Washington Consensus before that in the nineties) is now a pawn of the Western capital with

> Whereas everyone who joined the EU in the decade of 2000 (and the Washington Consensus before that in the nineties) is now a pawn of the Western capital with no clear path of escaping the trap of mediocrity. Not true. I hope you are joking. Most countries that joined the EU in the 2000s and 2010s become pretty westernized within 5 years of joining. Have you ever spent significant time in these countries, pre-EU or post-EU? Also, the countries that benefit the most from being EU members are the new members. > So far, the standard of living in post-Soviet EU countries is still higher than in China, but that's because of the much better starting point and also because it's just hard to provide wealth for over a billion people in a modern, heavily automated economy. The standard of living is pretty high in a lot of those countries, and not all of them are post-Soviet. Look at Malta or the ex-Yugoslav countries (Slovenia, Croatia) for example. I do not understand why westerners (particularly Americans) like to talk trash about the EU. I hope the Americans doing this realize where they are going, as in the wrong way, or on the wrong trend line. Of course America can wake up from being on some trend line, but to win the battles they are up against, profound societal changes will need to occur. U.S. life expectancy will soon be on par with Mexico’s and the Czech Republic’s: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/02/21/us-life-expectancy-will-soon-be-on-par-with-mexicos-and-croatias/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/0... Also, according to that article, American women's life expectancy is soon to mirror Croatia. You know, that war-torn, ex-Yugoslav country that had a nasty war in the 90s and displaced a lot of people. Americans should be embarrassed.