Hi John,
Do you belong to that crazy mob of Southern paranoids who're expecting a UN-led invasion of the USA any day??
As far as Swiss elections are concerned, it was never an issue of "surrendering Swizterland's sovereignty to the UN"!! BTW, Swizterland already hosts several UN facilities....
Even within the European Union, member countries do keep the upper hand over sensitive matters such as immigration, residency/work permits, voting rights (in general, municipal,.... elections), access to public posts (EU countries may restrict police/military jobs to nationals only). In Belgium, for instance, even other EU citizens are denied the right to vote in Belgium's general poll because the Flemish bourgeoisie fears that allowing fellow EU residents in belgium to vote would tip the 'linguistic balance' in froggie parties's favour....
Besides, I think that, back in the 1930s, the US was a favorite destination for most deprived Italians, Poles, and other Germans who sought their fortune abroad. At that time, the US didn't fear to become a 'refugee swamp'.
Actually, this whole far-right issue is more nasty than one might think at first sight: John, you're dealing with countries as if they could be managed like gated communities! It may be OK for a bunch of wealthy American retirees to fence themselves off in several of these golden cities --granted with their own internal rules-- that have mushroomed all over the most gorgeous estates but such a mirador-based isolation just does not fit the political decency that is expected from most democratic countries. It's impossible to circle the whole of Europe with high-voltage barbed wire fences.
True, there're gonna be a lot more civil wars in the years ahead.... However, I don't think that Europe was confronted to massive arrivals of Indonesians or East-Timoreses, for example. Yet, Europe does have a geopolitical responsibility when it comes to her immediate environs --such as the Balkans.
The fact is that Europe still nurture a 'colonial' relationship with most of her underdeveloped Hinterland --especially in Northern/subsaharan Africa. But then the issue for Europe is either to allow African (and Central European) countries to participate in a genuine, lasting economic development --preventing their destitute populace to seek fortune in fortress Europe-- or to keep them in the current vicious circle of underdevelopment AND allowing a fraction of their idle workforce to jump ship.... towards Europe.
Gus. |
