Ireland and the EU.

A lot of talk about the Irish vote on whether to expand the European Union. Most of it seems to be making this an "Irish" issue, focusing on what the EU's done for Ireland and such. But really the only reason the focus is on Ireland is because Ireland is the only country where the people are able to vote on it. I'd bet my bottom dollar that if all of the countries voted, there'd be at least one other who'd vote no.

What this issue really illuminates is just how undemocratic the EU really is at this point, and that many people have serious doubts about the direction it's taking. And of how much contempt for the voters the leadership clearly has. The Irish already voted against this. To come back and ask them to vote again, just because the leadership (read "the rich"), didn't like the results is incredibly insulting, and profoundly elitist and undemocratic. If I was Irish and voted 'Yes' the first time, I'd definitely vote 'No' for that reason alone.

They claim it's because of a low turnout, but that doesn't seem to apply in any other case. Personally, I don't feel that any vote should be valid unless at least 50% of the eligible (eligible, not registered) voters participate. But that's not the rule, and until it is they should stick to standard practice.

I've always (and still am) a strong supporter of the European Union, and in fact would welcome a strong Europe as a counterweight to America, if nothing else. But this trend is extremely disturbing. And I'm absolutely amazed that everyone in the EU doesn't get to vote on something this big, with such major long-term implications. I guess this would also apply to the people in the nations applying to join.

This lack of democracy, basically the retention of the power of the very, very old ancien regime that has been messing Europe up for centuries, affects other things as well. While I'm a strong supporter of international courts, and of international government in general, that's only if they're run by democratically elected people.

Bush objects to the International War Crimes court because he's opposed to the rule of law; I'm opposed to it because there are no established rules or processes for selecting the judges, no legislation enacted by any democratically elected legislature for them to enforce, and so on. In the US all judges are either directly elected or appointed by elected officials. That's not the way they do it in Europe, at least not in most countries. (As far as I know.) Surprisingly and unfortunately.

While I'm on the subject, I have to say I don't think the enlargement is a good idea. Not for the current members, and especially not for the new ones. I'd rather see two smaller but more focused unions. And I think the Eastern European countries are in a much stronger position than they think they are. For one thing, they're greatly underestimating the possible income from tourism and the arts, infinitely more important in the 21st economy than farming. But mostly, as an American, I can assure you that bigger does NOT necessarily guarantee better. As far as I can see it's just more expensive. If I were them I'd form my own union, use the Euro without paying for it, and play Russia and the EU off against each other.

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