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The effectiveness of EU machinery is overrated. EU is a large organization with lots and lots of money. The people who go there are largely unaccountable to the
by seydor 4y ago
The effectiveness of EU machinery is overrated. EU is a large organization with lots and lots of money. The people who go there are largely unaccountable to their countries, and are likely to do things that are popular, and they like to show off their work. There is no repercussions for the decisions taken though, because the only elected positions (the parliament) are far removed from legislating and limited to just approving what other people promote.
In the case of privacy laws, they sometimes don't even follow their own laws. E.g. as participants in an H2020-funded project, we were asked to add google-analytics to our website, because for EU officers, social proof is very important. We still have it btw, even though it's likely illegal. The privacy laws were enacted because some groups (led by german greens) were pushy about them -- there was very little push from the populace to enact such a kafkaesque system, and I am sure, that , if the populace were asked, the police and other authorities would not have been exempt from all these laws.
I think it's popular in american (left) media to deify the EU as some kind of wise leader, while it's just as susceptible to corporate lobbying (and bribes , as shown recently) as any other government. This depiction of sainthood has not helped the EU evolve to fix its own problems.
Recently in a podcast i heard Eric Schmidt admit that they were successfully pushing back against privacy regulation for at least 7 years.
- systemvoltage 4y agoIt troubles me deeply that we in America often cannot make an argument about advocating something without using EU as a crutch. Both left and right wings of the political sphere. Examples: Ok: We shouldn’t allow abortion beyond trimester. Better: We shouldn’t allow abortion beyond trimester, that’s how it works in most EU countries. Ok: Vaccine mandates are not cool. Better: Vaccine mandates are not cool, just look at Sweden. Ok: Voting should require IDs. Better: Voting should require IDs, just look at EU. My country has a deep malaise of insecurity and inability to rationally think for itself. We were leading our ideas with basis of good arguments in 1950-1980s, then came all the things we want to idealize about EU. Nothing against EU, they should be promoting independent thought and not copy Americans either. Please don’t make arguments about what specific examples I gave. They may not be accurate but there are many more like this. The point to argue is not about vaccines or whatever, it’s about independent thought and policy.
- hackeraccount 4y agoI don't think that's just America. I think everyone in world and throughout history uses foreign countries as a stand-in to make an argument. I remember reading an article about about some Roman writer - Tacitus? I don't remember who - who was describing the German tribes. The article though questioned just how much we could really learn about those people from the Roman writer because it seemed like they were just using the Germans as - like you say - a crutch to make an argument about how Romans should be. The Germans respect their parents. They serve in the military. they're brave and loyal. They're not merchants - etc. etc. And heck, it's an effective argument - this isn't just what I think, look with your own eyes at those people who aren't us that do this thing so well. Sometimes it's ever true. :-)
- systemvoltage 4y agoYou’re right. Let’s be better, especially people that are enamored irrationally with the EU (or country X's policies) without arguing the underlying rational and objectivity.