Pigdogfucker

Fuck you in the arse and the eye

March 13, 2007

Perspective, and its absence

by @ 12:04 am.

I like ranty libertarian Devil’s Kitchen. However, this may be the most inaccurate statement ever:

The EU isn’t a side issue: it is the only truly important issue in politics right now.

Now, let’s have a brief think about what happens in politics that actually fucking matters. I’m going to try and be impartial about this:

What about the EU, then? Just for the sake of argument, I’ll accept UKIP’s contention that the EU costs us £40bn a year, or 3% of GDP - under their own estimation, this covers everything from direct transfer payments to “over-regulation”. I’ll also accept the point that – at least among some EU lawmakers – there is a drive to establish certain things that are legal in the UK at present and should remain so (e.g. Holocaust denial) as EU-wide crimes.

So, bending over backwards to paint the most damaging picture of the EU that I can, we’ve got something which makes us 3% less rich than we should be and that might exacerbate our own government’s attempts at restricting free speech.

If you accept those premises, then the EU is a bad thing – it would be nice if everyone were 3% richer and x% freer. But it’s still fucking trivial compared with any of the issues above (and they’re just a starting point of non-EU things that, as far as I can make out, everyone cares about…)


5 Responses to “Perspective, and its absence”

  1. Devil's Kitchen Says:

    I like ranty socialist Pigdogfucker but…

    All three of your main points can be addressed by reference to the EU, and I shall do so tomorrow (Tuesday). The trouble is that the silence of both press and politicians makes no one aware of how far the EU is complicit or, in actual fact, instrumental in our application.

    DK

  2. Devil's Kitchen Says:

    P.S. You utterly fail to take into account lost opportunities, such as the fact that we could have had free trade with the US from 2003...

    These lost opportunities are now running, in some estimates, at £100 billion per annum [PDF].

    Rather more than your £3bn, je crois…

    DK

  3. Doormat Says:

    Devil, erm, PDF said 3% of GDP, or 40bn GBP, not 3bn GBP. It makes a little difference.

    And, free trade with the US? Don’t make me laugh. Or did you miss the bit when Bush throw a import duties on steel and then had his butt sued at the WTO (but, I think, the EU).

    And PDF a socialist? Don’t make me laugh… etc. etc.

  4. Neil Says:

    “It is the only truly important issue in politics right now for failed and wannabe politicians” is more accurate.

  5. dsquared Says:

    All three of your main points can be addressed by reference to the EU

    I love the game “Six Degrees Of It Is All The Fault Of The European Union”, it’s much better than that Kevin Bacon one.

    By the way, if you really think that the USA would have established a free trade area with the UK in 2003, then I have a fantastic bridge to sell you; delivery after the “Open Skies” agreement comes into force.

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