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

@jwildeboer For all its faults, I think the EU is an important stepping stone towards the European Federation, which is an important stepping stone towards Gaia Republic, which is an important stepping stone towards The Sol Federation. And then we'll see.

I really don't understand why people would rather identify with something small than something larger.

@jwildeboer I for one wish you only joy.
And I too really appreciate all the good things that EU has brought us.

@larsmb A lot of people don't want to identify with or support anything bigger than themselves. So they are simply against everything. It's saddening to me how the internet seems since many years to have made that way of thinking take more hold. We need communities, not factions

@jwildeboer

All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?'

Brought peace?

REG: Oh. Peace? Shut up!

@jwildeboer

but the EU:

- is intransparent and complex
- is slow to move when it matters the most
- is a supranational entity that can overrule local legislature
- is in many regards a dubious democracy
- did not hold its promise of no more wars on its soil
- has frontex
- is a neoliberal economic bloc
- drives a parliament around between belgium and france for no other reason than pettiness and costs laughably high amounts in the process

@mfru As someone who actually changed EU politics through real, personal action back between 2002-2005, resulting in a 90+% vote against an EU directive in the EU parliament, I don't agree with all of those points. You can fight and win. I did. Not alone, with many other people. We stood up, had good, convincing arguments and won.

@jwildeboer

completely understand - that is why conscious breaks are so important - a few hours at least…

or even better: a few days offline and more days in nature

@jwildeboer And peace! Never has Europe been more peaceful! That alone is reason enough for me.

@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