ugh

Transnational progressivism once again rears its ugly head. The article talks about the EU as a possible template for a world government, but I think the EU model is as toothless as the UN is. You can't have such a government unless it's also provided with the means to enforce its dictates, and like it or not, that's going to mean military power, not just economic power. The problem, then, is persuading the more powerful national entities to submit to such authority.

We can already see how seriously people take the UN: its resolutions are routinely ignored or flouted by both powerful and weak nations. The EU isn't much different from the UN on this score: France and Germany have already demonstrated their willingness to defy conventions set forth in EU economic policy, which throws the legitimacy of such policy into question.

Perhaps something like a world government might be possible in the far future, but for the moment, I don't think the planet's ready for it, and I wonder whether a world government is even desirable. Some folks on the left, accustomed to top-down thinking, might see such government as a boon; personally, I'm more with the libertarians on this one.


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