Most of young people today (and I am relatively young, too), takes freedom and peace for granted. Yet they just don’t happen, just as gasoline just does not get out of pump from the ground, and just as on the Internet, your Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail does not sits “in the cloud”. Complex infrastructures are needed to make this things happen.

The EU flag does not represents the hired or elected bureaucrats in Brussels, but it represents the “club” of the member states, and all their citizens. It represents me, for instance (I’m a EU citizen, who moved in US, so I am American by “adoption”, and European by birth).

Ideals need a concrete form to materialize, and the EU is the political and juridical construction. Complex infrastructures. Ideals are perfect, real “things” are not. Brussels, like any other administrative body, is subject for improvements. After all, anywhere in the world people complain about their governments, bureaucracy, etc, not only in EU. Just ask. Are you happy with the Brown government? Are you happy to have CCTVs everywhere, like Stalin never dreamed of, for example?

The question is how can the citizens improve what they have. Being skeptic is a start, because Decartes (hey, that’s a French guy!) said “Dubito ergo cogito” (I doubt, therefore I think). But once a problem is discovered and accepted as a problem by many others, pro-active action is needed to fix it. Lamentation is not a solution. “How can I help?” shall be the mood.

Lisbon Treaty attempts to do that. It is the only solution? Of course not. Does EU needs to improve? Definitely! Just as the US government does. Or just as my local administration (I just wait to vote out our current mayor!).

In the end, no nation is forced to be part of the EU. Greenland, exited from EC in mid 80s. Lisbon Treaty has a special provision for that, just to be sure there is a clear way out. I am sure that if the majority of the UK citizens would vote to exit the EU, UK will exit. If your will is shown, it shall be respected. Why and if you would be allowed to vote for such a move lies in UK government hands, not in Brussels one. If the job of your democratically elected government to handle this, it is an attribute of your own democracy to decide on this matter, it is your problem. Of course, a lot of current things taken for granted will vanish: British goods and services will pay custom duties. Imports of raw materials as well. Exports to the EU will be affected, foreign multinational companies will relocate on the continent, jobs will be lost. You will have to carry passports and perhaps even get a visa (damn, I’ve always hated visas, thanks God with my dual EU/US citizen ship I can travel free on 2 continents, both in EU and US I get on the “Citizen” fast lane, no finger prints, yay!).

The reality is that the nation states have risen during XVIII-XX centuries as the Industrial Revolution started in UK unfolded. The nation states were “demanded” by the advances of the economics and of the free markets, where supply chain interdependency could not cope anymore with the isolated and unstable feudal system.

But nation states grew strong, so strong that they fought wars over domination of others and control of resources. They were so efficient, that their technologies and wars “produced” victims in millions, wish as just as much “efficiency” as their industries.

Globalization is taking place for a few decades now, and EU is nothing else than a localized and accelerated globalization process. Former “small” national aircraft industries could not survive in their “small” and fragmented national markets, in the face of global competition from Boeing (which has a home market of 50 states and 300M citizens). Could BAC compete with Boeing globally? Could Dassault? Could others? No. But Airbus can! With ups and downs, Airbus is a same size category for Boeing (hey, Continental Airlines runs Airbuses, too!), and a perfect example about how the EC/EU can enable Europeans to grew stronger and become a stronger player globally. Not only in aircraft industry.

China is coming fast from behind, being big, focused and driven. US, like always, it will emerge stronger from this crisis (housekeeping with just take a little bit more than usual, too many ate at the table more than they can chew). After all, US is already light-years ahead in how efficient it runs it 50-states union (EU is now about how the 1st US confederation was 230 years ago). In the face of this global competition, I think that is childish for any European nation to assume that it can be a strong player alone. Someone is not strong by himself, but by its “affiliation” or “network” (sadly, US just re-discovered this in Iraq). Being part of the EU club make any participating nation more stronger than being outside, isolated, and alone. Georgia was an easy prey for the KGB-elite in Moscow, Baltic states by contrary, are more secure being EU nations and NATO members (NATO itself cannot bring prosperity - soldiers win wars, politicians make peace, that’s why EU is also needed for Baltics - I am not Baltic). Even France or Deutchland has more to say on a global scale as EU members that just by themselves. Is different when you represent 500M citizens than just 40M (France).

But in the end, it’s your choice. You can leave the club if you do not consider that you get enough value from the membership. I, for one, I am a proud American, as I am a proud European national AND EU Citizen.

Peace!