Repost from https://todon.eu/@marcohackney/115992340469511552 with ALT text added.

@mfru @jwildeboer

You seem to complain about both the glass being half full and the glass being half empty.

As difficult as it is for a 27 member bloc (now including a couple of bad faith actors) to operate on the basis of unanimity, we are way better off with the EU in place. It's amazing how far something that started as an economic agreement among a handful of countries has gotten.

I hope there'll be a day when it'll be possible to reform the treaties to adapt them to the times.

@jwildeboer
Und das lieber @Bundesregierung ist die "Bürokratie" den ihr immer abbauen wollt.

Bürokratie schütz Verbraucher: innen.

Abbau von Bürokratie bereichert nur die Superreichen

@jwildeboer you can tell how useful the EU is by the amount of effort various corporate and state bad actors are putting into crippling it. Here in Brexitland some of the people who voted Leave are finally realising that, but still complaining that nobody told them they weren't going to get the Brexit they voted for.

@jwildeboer the fast bank wire is my favorite out of these. It really makes payments across Eurozone simple and i have begun to favor that over all other payment forms.

Another great thing from regulation not mentioned here is the single link on all e-mail newsletters to unsubscribe from them. Before that, it was a terrible headache to try to get rid of marketing spam that you got into by accident.

@jwildeboer I miss them particularly their Court of Human Rights

@jwildeboer

In theory, you can "work and study with the same rights" within the EU as an EU-citizen.

The reality is unfortunately far from that theory. One has to be very white, blonde and privileged to be spared xenophobia and discrimination, and very blind not to see it.

@jwildeboer Yeah but, but… North America is much better at separating consumers from their money!

@jwildeboer Yes, the EU tries to outlaw strong encryption.

Actual trickle down is when the EU makes a good regulation, and it ends up de-facto regulation in the US because manufacturers want to sell the same products across markets.

@jwildeboer in an on-topic reply, I was rather taken aback by the USB-C regulation. They claimed that it would reduce waste, but in reality all the cheap chinese outlets are just making shitty USB-C cables instead of other shitty cables.

A far more effective solution would have been to start setting minimum standards for each class of cable, including throughput, SNR, and expected longevity. Then, to enforce those standards, require a license obtained via a test certificate from an approved testing facility within the EU. No license? Big fine, amounting to at least 140% of the revenue generated from unlicensed sales. Amazon would have to shell out millions in such a case.

And the licensing would have to be carried out at the retailers expense, which means the testing facilities would generate jobs and taxable income within the EU. Plus, auch a regulation wouldn't stymie innovation and new cable/connector specs.

Instead, we got a poorly thought-out solution that will lock us in to a standard that will eventually no longer be suitable or fit for purpose. Grumble.

@mfru @jwildeboer

- a lot of what humans do ends up complex. It is unfortunate but we have to live with it.
- slow is usually good in politics.
- that is federalism
- define dubious in this context.
- there have been no wars on EU soil.
- yep. and frontex is not what you think it is.
- it isn't.
- that is a detail. Compromises are needed to keep everyone happy sometimes. See the first item. But yes, everything should be in Strasbourg.

@jwildeboer you are surprised you get "yes/but" answers to a "yes/but" post

@ahltorp @jwildeboer the regulation.