4 ms·
Sure, they gave us 100 years of peace on the European continent, and hassle-free commerce, travel and communication across borders, and the freedom for any of i
by Tijdreiziger 3y ago
Sure, they gave us 100 years of peace on the European continent, and hassle-free commerce, travel and communication across borders, and the freedom for any of its citizens to study and work anywhere within its borders, and modern mobile phone networks [1], and universal phone chargers, and strong protections of our personal data, etc., etc., etc.
…but other than that, what has the EU ever done for us?
https://genius.com/Monty-python-what-have-the-romans-ever-done-for-us-annotated https://genius.com/Monty-python-what-have-the-romans-ever-do...
[1] GSM was created as a European standard by the EU
- carlosjobim 3y ago> 100 years of peace on the European continent Absolutely, if you discount minor regional conflicts such as Word War II.
- pavlov 3y agoThe first version of the EU is about 70 years old, so it surely can’t be blamed for WWII either.
- lupusreal 3y agoNo matter which way you slice it, 100 years of peace in Europe is an absurd claim.
- Tijdreiziger 3y agoOK, I admit to being (more than) a bit overzealous on that point. Still, peace has existed within the borders of the EU and its predecessors since the formation of the ECSC (one of the EU’s predecessors) in 1951. Even if you disregard that point, though, the overarching point of my comment still stands.
- carlosjobim 3y agoAfter WWII Europe was occupied by the allies on one side and the Soviet Union on the other side. It was called the cold war and peace was guaranteed by mutually assured nuclear destruction. Not by the European Union.
- carlosjobim 3y agoSo, the EU is 70 years old. But we should thank them for bringing 100 years of peace. From 1924 to 2024. I'm starting to understand why the sentiments around EU here on HN is completely different from what I hear from anywhere else.
- reisse 3y ago> Sure, they gave us 100 years of peace on the European continent Ah, the famous European continent that includes only Western Europe. Approximately one million people died in the process of breaking up Yugoslavia.
- Tijdreiziger 3y agoOK, I admit to being (more than) a bit overzealous on that point. Still, peace has existed within the borders of the EU and its predecessors since the formation of the ECSC (one of the EU’s predecessors) in 1951. Even if you disregard that point, though, the overarching point of my comment still stands.
- reisse 3y agoTechnically speaking, you're still incorrect. Algerian War happened inside the ECSC borders, however outside the European continent. Then, there were much smaller Basques-Spain and IRA-England conflicts. The right wording might be "there were not yet a war between internationally recognized acting EU member states". That may still be an achievement, because you cannot say the same for a lot of other alliances, e. g. for NATO.
- selimthegrim 3y agoSource?