General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA European's opinion on Trump's EU-comments:
1.
The Brexit-vote was driven by a misinformation-campaign. It turned out to be flagrant lies and now there's a massive case of buyer's remorse.
Although not legally bound by the result of the referendum and although the british people NOW are against Brexit, the british politicians cannot simply ignore the will of the people because that would be reaaaaaaaaally bad publicity. Whichever politicians would step forward to declare that there will be no Brexit after all, no matter what the people said, they would be secretly hailed as heroes and publicly demonized as tyrants and their political career would be over.
2.
Trump's obsession with european illegal immigrants is further proof that this man defines societies via a negative argument: a society as defined by who's NOT in it. It only further highlights this man's lack of ideals, lack of morals, lack of patriotism.
The US is defined by ideals, not by who's in it.
The EU is defined by ideals, not by who's in it.
It is no surprise that an utterly amoral (not immoral, but amoral) man like Trump cannot understand that.
3.
The current crisis of the EU is that the EU-citizens don't value it, because they are taking it for granted.
People can hardly imagine what Europe would be like if every country had to fend for itself on the international stage.
What the european economy would be like without the streamlining of international trade-agreements.
What the culture would be like without the freedom to just hop into a train and cross the border into another sovereign nation, just like that.
It's a simple, very common psychological problem: People take note of bad things and take good things for granted. And that's where the current trend for nationalism comes from in the EU. The people don't realize how good their lives actually are and how much they owe it to the EU.
madaboutharry
(40,153 posts)Trump is amoral. His understanding of right and wrong is what is right for himself and the small world he inhabits.
I also believe he is racist. He grew up in a racist home with a racist father. He was not taught to respect people. His father was a slum lord. Woody Guthrie's famous song about evil landlords was about Fred Trump.
I think most people do take what they have for granted. We grow complacent and don't guard what needs to be valued. When it's gone we first appreciate what we no longer have.
mopinko
(69,806 posts)agree w everything you said.
esp about people taking things for granted. sad human trait.
Pachamama
(16,875 posts)Chasstev365
(5,191 posts)Compromising videos, owing millions to Russia, a fondest for dictators, and an America public that is more concered about next week's episode of the Bachelor is a recipe for disaster.
but I think many core EU (French, German, etc) do appreciate the EU. We British have been fed a decades long anti-EU propaganda war by our MSM for a long time. So much so, that enough of our people decided that the EU was against our interests, in spite of evidence to the contrary. Apparently UK now hates all experts.