Petition Idea
Dear European Attacs,
although I follow your discussions with sympathy, I must repeat that you are going around in a circle, which is another way of saying that you are trying to re-invent the wheel. The goal, that is, the European Union, is not one that can be achieved by way of Petitions.
One can not have Democracy by way of Petition, either. Democracy must be conquered, it is the people which takes the power. It is not the people which asks (petitions) for power.
Perhaps you object that the goal is NOT the European Union. Now if that is your sincere opinion, please say so clearly. The "10 Principles"-document leaves the reader in too much doubt on this point. It is not clear what Attac means.
However, I have interpreted the document to signify that Attac IS in favour of a European Union. Therefore, I have also insisted that Attac Finland signs it, which actually happened in connection with our yearly meeting in Helsinki some days ago.
Now, let's suppose that we all agree on this, namely that our 10 principles do mean that we say YES to Union. This is good, but it is evidently not good enough. Please remember what the Bible (The Revelation to Saint John) says, and what the great Rosa Luxemburg often repeated:
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King James Version
3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Bible in Basic English
3:16 So because you are not one thing or the other, I will have no more to do with you.
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In accordance with this, please make up your mind: do you REALLY want it - the European Union - or not?
If you really want the European Union, then you have to go out to the the people and tell your opinion! That is what Altiero Spinelli, the "founding father" did. And, not only did he just say YES. What he did was to present a detailed and sincere - yet very concise and short - proposal for a constitution of the European Union. Such a proposal is badly needed if you are to explain what you mean by "European Union". If you don't have that proposal, then you don't really know what you want. Then you will just create confusion!
So Spinelli did that. It has ALREADY been done. What is more, Spinelli succeeded in convincing the People, that is, the European Parliament, of the matter, so that the European Parliament, acting as a constituent assembly, approved of that Treaty of Spinelli with a great majority in February 1984.
The rulers of the Nations, however, did not approve and ratify it! Why? Because the European Union would have given power to the people! Because it would have taken power from them, the rulers! Because they are Nationalists. And, because they are only interested in Union as long as it furthers Capital. The European Union, however, is not a Capitalistic idea. In order to get oneself an idea of what the European Union is meant to be, one should read the Manifesto from Ventotene (1941), written by some exiles of Italian Fascism, among them the same Altiero Spinelli.
Ok, it is not necessary that everybody digs Spinelli. Spinelli, too, had his faults and limitations. And, of course, he already belongs to the past. As bright and educated as he was, he could not foresee the internet, or the nanotechnology. Yes, the times have changed since the time of Spinelli! Yet we are threading in his footsteps. Or we are heading towards disaster.
The European Union must succeed. The alternative is that Europe goes on like it has hitherto, that is, the continuation and amplification of all the horrors of the present.
Yours in peace,
- Mikael
