Sunday Times: The peasant's revolt

Sunday Times OnlineThe peasant's revolt

Though the French and Dutch votes have been given wildly differing analyses they have much in common. Both display the new politics of Europe. This no longer trusts those in power to protect the public’s demand for commercial, social and ethnic sovereignty. It is the politics of protectionism in every sense of the word. The Dutch may be less chauvinist than the French, and less committed to a “social” Europe, but they too see the EU as no longer a defence but a threat. British Eurosceptics may welcome the no vote for their own reasons, but they should not be fooled. With the kitchen of global competition hotting up, the no vote is mostly a vote to leave it for the comfort of protectionism. Note EU-Digest: Global Competition is a choice, not a given. Isn't trade in the true sense of the word a far better alternative? As John Kenneth Galbraith wrote "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral
justification for selfishness."