The Illusion of the European Dream

Many EU leaders are in denial as the illusion which is the European dream of ever-closer integration and prosperity becomes more and more stark.

Last night’s statements on Greece’s future within the Eurozone were intended to reassure markets, monetary inspectors and the public but their banality have had an opposite effect: observers, rightly, are speaking openly now of the likelihood of Greece defaulting on its debt and leaving the Eurozone, and speculating on the dramatic impact that would have on the currency and the solidity of the EU itself as a political and economic community.

They are right that a huge shake-up in the constitution of the EU is likely particularly as all member states are involved, needing debt relief on a massive scale or suffering the results of unsustainable bank and state lending to encumbered countries. An uncomfortable time lies ahead particularly since the people of the countries in both camps are in revolt over the situation their leaders have brought them to, which will affect them personally.

The European dream of prosperity for all is a little like pyramid selling – it sounds good but the reality is that the people at the top benefit for a while and the people at the bottom of the pyramid have little apart from a lost investment. Countries clamoured to join the golden gravy train lured by the promise of money, and most leaders chose to ignore the fact that strict rules and clear understanding would have to apply to every member state. Instead, rules were disregarded and the consequences ignored, and the illusion of economic well-being was created and sustained relatively successfully until now.

Most importantly, what has been forgotten in all this is the will of the people of Europe, the European community. They have been given no direct say in the expansion of the EU, in the bail-out decisions, in the future of the Euro and the future of the EU itself. What is being decided will affect not only the global structures but every European citizen personally, and as they feel the effects of political incompetence and corporate greed in their lives they will protest.

The situation reminds me of certain established religions where for reasons of power and control the priest insists on being the didactic intermediary between man and God. It only works for a time and then man realises he can connect perfectly with Spirit on his own and determine his life for himself. That is the illusion of the European dream, and soon European man will demand the right to self-determination in the way he chooses, not the way he is told.

It may bring chaos, but change is good, however it comes about, if it comes from the heart, and is honest.