From
 haven.umd.edu!darwin.sura.net!mips!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!
uunet!mcsun!sunic!dkuug!daimi!simonl Mon Aug  3 01:18:53 EDT 1992
Article: 10988 of soc.culture.europe
Path:
 wam.umd.edu!haven.umd.edu!darwin.sura.net!
mips!swrinde!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcsun!sunic!dkuug!daimi!simonl
From: simonl@daimi.aau.dk (Simon Laub)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.europe
Subject: Greece says no to democracy and yes to maastricht
Keywords: maastricht , Greece ratifies , democratic deficit
Message-ID: <1992Aug1.175958.7472@daimi.aau.dk>
Date: 1 Aug 92 17:59:58 GMT
Sender: simonl@daimi.aau.dk (Simon Laub)
Organization: DAIMI: Computer Science Department, 
Aarhus University, Denmark
Lines: 54

Greece says no to democracy and yes to Maastricht.


  After a five days debate Greece has ratified the
Maastricht-deal with an overwhelming majority.
  But as usual ( in Europe ) with no (or little)
public debate. The consensus so great , that one
gets the feeling , that Maastricht simply must be
the deal of the century for Greece.

  Taking a closer look , it will be obvious , that
Greece will not be able to fulfill the requirements
for the economic union in the coming 5 - 10 years.
This alone should have made someone in Greece
sceptical - but apparently not so.
  Likewise no critical voices on the democratic
deficit in EC- institutions and no one worried
about Greece having its industry bought up or bullied
out in the context of the internal market -
  Leaving Greece with only a tourist industry.

  I find it alarming , that such major legislation
can pass through without opposition. And its
certainly not a promising sign for democracy
(Govt. with and through the people) in the
future Europe.

  Some of us would like to see a european
union being build on strong and free people.
  Instead another image is emerging, that of
a continent of rulers and ruled , that of
centralism and weakened democratic institutions.

  Thomas Jefferson advocated around 1790 , that
to uphold democracy a little rebellion was
needed once in a while . Thomas Jefferson
had faith in ordinary people and what they
could accomplish. People like Lewis and
Clark , who explored the west ,was among
his heroes - he detested regal tendencies.
And oh boy --- 200 years later Europe
can still learn from him.

  If not it will be the third disaster of the
century. A disaster nobody apparently wants
to avoid. And if you do , then you should
seek political asylum in the US.
  Europeans are suffering from the incurable
disease of putting political systems and
statutory instruments ahead of ordinary
people on the agenda . This is not only
dangerous , but also dead wrong.

Simon Laub.