4 ms·

It’s far too easy to regard the EU as some distant entity that doles out laws. Who is in the EU? People. People from where? The countries within the EU. Often t

It’s far too easy to regard the EU as some distant entity that doles out laws. Who is in the EU? People. People from where? The countries within the EU. Often the diplomats were politicians in their own country before going to the European Parliament. So who should you be angry at? Some make believe distant evil council, or your local parties? They are the ones sending over the people who vote on these things, you can complain locally about the policies “far away”. So I am not saying laws like these aren’t wrong, they are and it is very frustrating that wrong decisions like these might influence stuff happening in my own country, but let’s not pretend that the EU is run by aliens from some sort of Death Star. Pretending like that is the case is what makes accountability seem impossible.

mpfundstein 5y ago
of course its not run by aliens from some sort of death star. stop being ridiculous. i never even implied that. but the whole circus in Brussel is a huge black box bureacracy run by politicians that no one really knows. the politicans that are sent there by local parties are usually not very well known by the local populace, and even if, their doings are not really of influence on how poeple view their local parties. heck I bet 95% of voters cannot even name 5 eu politicians in the parlament and to which local party they belong to. and thats the power. the citizens are busy with national politics and in the meanwhile the death star aliens can do whatever they want. and yes. its not an unsolvable problem. people could educate themselves. all the info is there. but its a very laborous job. so maybe the media is just doing it wrong?
- dijit 5y ago
  > and yes. its not an unsolvable problem. people could educate themselves. all the info is there. but its a very laborous job. so maybe the media is just doing it wrong? EU Parliament is by-in-large more transparent and direct than the UK one (not sure where you're from, but I'm from the UK so that's the lens I have). But you're absolutely right, for some reason the EU "feels" quite closed off, and it's almost entirely the medias fault. Media is driven on eyes, and the further away a thing is the more difficult it is to have eyes on it. It takes huge issues to get international attention, natural disasters that kill hundreds in another EU country are barely mentioned on british media. It's also very boring, so it's not surprising. But, it's actually very easy to read the EU parliamentary, commission documents, and the documentation on how all the processes work is quite clear (even if it's a bit alien on first look because you're taught your own system and have to "unlearn" that a bit first). I'd give it a go, it's not as intimidating as it first appears. But I fully agree that the media should do this, it's literally their job.
- deleted 5y ago
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mpfundstein 5y ago

of course its not run by aliens from some sort of death star. stop being ridiculous. i never even implied that. but the whole circus in Brussel is a huge black box bureacracy run by politicians that no one really knows. the politicans that are sent there by local parties are usually not very well known by the local populace, and even if, their doings are not really of influence on how poeple view their local parties. heck I bet 95% of voters cannot even name 5 eu politicians in the parlament and to which local party they belong to. and thats the power. the citizens are busy with national politics and in the meanwhile the death star aliens can do whatever they want. and yes. its not an unsolvable problem. people could educate themselves. all the info is there. but its a very laborous job. so maybe the media is just doing it wrong?

dijit 5y ago
> and yes. its not an unsolvable problem. people could educate themselves. all the info is there. but its a very laborous job. so maybe the media is just doing it wrong? EU Parliament is by-in-large more transparent and direct than the UK one (not sure where you're from, but I'm from the UK so that's the lens I have). But you're absolutely right, for some reason the EU "feels" quite closed off, and it's almost entirely the medias fault. Media is driven on eyes, and the further away a thing is the more difficult it is to have eyes on it. It takes huge issues to get international attention, natural disasters that kill hundreds in another EU country are barely mentioned on british media. It's also very boring, so it's not surprising. But, it's actually very easy to read the EU parliamentary, commission documents, and the documentation on how all the processes work is quite clear (even if it's a bit alien on first look because you're taught your own system and have to "unlearn" that a bit first). I'd give it a go, it's not as intimidating as it first appears. But I fully agree that the media should do this, it's literally their job.
deleted 5y ago
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