Should North America join the EU ?

MikawaObasan

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I think Canada and the United States should have the UNITED STATES AND PROVINCES OF NORTH AMERICA or the PAN American dollar. Now, if both Canada and the US were willing to change it to a different kind of a dollar, I think it would be game. Each country will stay distinct as it is now, although access will be made the same as EU rules.

I wonder if Canada asked to Join the EU, if Europe would accept? What about US and Canada together? That will be two more stars on the European North American Union. Old and New World currency. Now if this occurred, Britain will give up its pounds and jump into the Pan American Euro currency.
 
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The European Union is European and thus limited to Europe. Canada and the USA have no place in them, and are not even so close in terms of shared history system and culture. => see the thread What makes Europeans similar compared to the Americans. Anyway the US and Canada couldn't even agree to form a single country between them, and the gap between the US and Europe has been widening for over 50 years, so I really don't see that happening.
 
What ever happened to NAFTA?
The EU began as an
European Economic Union and not political at first as well.

Afterall,
capitalism philosophy bases on the idea of the free movement of capital
as well as the free movement of labor.
(Just, for now, ignore that that philosophy's origins didn't have the modern day form of the corporation)

Author John Ross has written
Annexation of Mexico: From the Aztecs to the IMF with an interesting sounding title.
 
If the EU is willing to accept Turkey and even entertain the idea of Russia entering 5the EU then it is possible for it to expand beyond the borders of Europe. After all both Turkey and Russia have more land mass in Asia than Europe. More to the point, despite Cyprus saying is is European , it is closer to Asia and should really be conuted as an Aisan island rather than a European one. It is only because of its contections with greece that it become European. I could envision Canada would be up for it, but not the US. After all the US couldn't even change to the metric system despite saying so, when Mexico and Canada did.
 
I think the only plausible scenario of having the EU join is some kind of politico-economic union with north america would be if a third world war or a major world wide conflict began involving the west on one side and a common enemy...
 
The European Union is European and thus limited to Europe. Canada and the USA have no place in them, and are not even so close in terms of shared history system and culture. => see the threadAnyway the US and Canada couldn't even agree to form a single country between them, and the gap between the US and Europe has been widening for over 50 years, so I really don't see that happening.

That seems a somewhat silly statement - of course North America and Europe share common history and culture. I can compare citizens of Minnesota vs New York and find many dissimilarities. The fact is the US or American culture is not distinctive to this continent and was basically taken from teh settlers, colonizers home culture (almost predominantly Northern European). Did you forget it was settled and founded by Europeans? As for EU expansion into North America, I cannot see that happening, however perhaps a North Atlantic Trade Union as has been proposed a very times.
 
With regards to Canada, yes I can see them joining the EU. Their main trading partner is the USA, and in second place is the UK. It appears to me that they need to seriously consider just how long their relationship with the USA can continue given the new economic realities (ie Monopoly money in the US economy being routed out).

The EU would gain a culture that is European, it is a European colony after all and has a Parlaiment and National Health Service. Contrast with the USA's exploitative Health system.

The EU would also gain one of the G8 members into the fold and we could see Sarah Palins house from British Columbia!
 
Global inter-dependance is partly what created the worst global recession since 1945. Less is more, in my view.
 
Yes, while Canada could probably be assimilated by the EU, I fear the USA remains too socially backwards.
We "progressives" in the USA can see the advantages to the socially more advanced character of nearly every other developed nation... but we languish due to the backwards reactionism of much of the population which thinks we're still in the days of the self-sufficient pioneer or cowboy. We don't need no dang gubmint helping us...
Much of the brunt of the economic inequality fostered by USA corporations falls on Mexico. It would be nice if some advancement could be made based on NAFTA (a bad idea in the first place), so that the USA could find a better arrangement than to maintain its huge neighbor as a cheap labor camp.
EU... I wish. If I currently had the money, which I don't thanks to the lovely economic mess we're in, I'd move with my family to Spain in a moment. Frankly I have fairly well given up on the USA, though I'm stuck here.
 
Should North America join the EU ?
A better question might be: "Should North America be allowed to join the EU?" The answer ought to be: Heavens NO!
If the EU is willing to accept Turkey and even entertain the idea of Russia entering 5the EU then it is possible for it to expand beyond the borders of Europe. After all both Turkey and Russia have more land mass in Asia than Europe.
"More land mass" is a long way from "geographically TOTALLY excluded". Anyway, I may be an idiot but my gut tells me that a great part of being EU is being NON-American.
There is comfort in the thought of being less influenced by the U.S. - though I´m definitely only dreaming to consider it being anything resemling reality!
 
Very bad idea for many reasons: cultural, economic, geographic. Same reasons why Turkey should not become a member. The E.U. already contains member countries that really do not fit "European categories". But, who am I to say...
 
Very bad idea for many reasons: cultural, economic, geographic. Same reasons why Turkey should not become a member. The E.U. already contains member countries that really do not fit "European categories". But, who am I to say...

Very true...
 
Somehow, I knew you´d agree with that about Turkey, Marianne.

I guess because Im Greek? :unsure: :grin:

I personally have no hate towards Turkey and our friends the Turks for the 400 years of slavery by the Ottomans. I wasn't alive back then and now that I am I never had any problem with any of them.:)

So I just consider the facts and those are that: Turkey, except for the Constantinople area is an Asian country. Turks are muslims and not christians. They don't even have pure democracy, the army runs the country. Women clearly are considered inferior, even by the religion, so even if they change their laws they will never change their mind. All in all the way of thinking of the people and their religion is way more Asian than it is European.

So I don't understand why Turkey's entry in the European Union is even on consideration. The way I see it, a major role in the unity of the EU plays the religion and the geographical position of the countries-memebers and Turkey is neither European nor Christian. I also don't understand why, because of USA's interests in the Middle East, EU and especially UK must accept Turkey in the EU.:unsure:

I also don't like the current propaganda, of websides refering to Turkey as a European country and of Turkey taking part in European surveys and contests (Eurovision song contest, sports contests etc).

When I was at school, at geography class, our books had (and still have from what I see) Turkey in Asia and in brackets was written that a very small part of Turkey, where Constantinople is, belongs to the European continent.
Since countries don't change position overtime :LOL: and Turkey is still in the same place in the map where I left it when I was at school, I don't see why I and everybody else should start calling a clearly Asian country a European one just because some have money/military interests in the area.
 
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I have nothing against Turkey or its people but they do not belong in Europe, for the reasons discussed by my friend Marianne and myself...
 
Parts of France are in South America and Africa (Guyane and Djibouti), parts of Portugal are in Africa and Asia (Madeira and Macao), and well .... whether or not countries like Bulgaria are in Europe or Asia depends upon supersticious, political-ethnic map makers of ancient times. The fact that any country is "Christian", "Muslim" (or whatever) is quite simply due to the majority remnants of earlier conquerors whims.

I don´t know, but I often think about how it would be if the map were drawn up today, for the very first time. I don´t believe that it would resemble this one. How would you draw it up? For example, would you cut through, leaving all Slavik-speaking people to themselves? Or would you consider Euro-Asia one continent? I mean, why cut through the Bospherous at all? Would the concept of "continents" even be born if it were all done today?


Answering a question with another question is probalby boring and tedious but I must ask anyway: How many countries of the Euro Song Contest are actually non European and how many NATO member-countries are not in the North Atlantic?

In English, one talks about North and South America being two distinct continents whereas in Swedish we consider both of them one, single continent.

In any case, it´s a bit like a strict, 3 movement concerto. It eventually went on to 4 movements - but is still called concerto. It´s all about definition and how (or if) it´s allowed to progress. Personally, I find the importance of continents (particularly euro-asia) rather childish.
 
Parts of France are in South America and Africa (Guyane and Djibouti), parts of Portugal are in Africa and Asia (Madeira and Macao), and well .... whether or not countries like Bulgaria are in Europe or Asia depends upon supersticious, political-ethnic map makers of ancient times. The fact that any country is "Christian", "Muslim" (or whatever) is quite simply due to the majority remnants of earlier conquerors whims.
I don´t know, but I often think about how it would be if the map were drawn up today, for the very first time. I don´t believe that it would resemble this one. How would you draw it up? For example, would you cut through, leaving all Slavik-speaking people to themselves? Or would you consider Euro-Asia one continent? I mean, why cut through the Bospherous at all? Would the concept of "continents" even be born if it were all done today?
Answering a question with another question is probalby boring and tedious but I must ask anyway: How many countries of the Euro Song Contest are actually non European and how many NATO member-countries are not in the North Atlantic?
In English, one talks about North and South America being two distinct continents whereas in Swedish we consider both of them one, single continent.
In any case, it´s a bit like a strict, 3 movement concerto. It eventually went on to 4 movements - but is still called concerto. It´s all about definition and how (or if) it´s allowed to progress. Personally, I find the importance of continents (particularly euro-asia) rather childish.

BTW, Portugal no longer controls Macao as it was turned over to China in 1999. Madeira is technically listed as an Atlantic island and does not form part of any continent, per se. It has autonomy status although it is legally part of the Portuguese Republic.

Turkey is a VERY poor fit for the E.U. on many levels. Current member Cyprus is also not a good fit (only in for political reasons). The main problems with some other E.U member countries like Bulgaria and Romania are general backwardness and rampant corruption.
 
The main problems with some other E.U member countries like Bulgaria and Romania are general backwardness and rampant corruption.
Indeed. For those reasons I´d rather see Turkey IN and those two countries OUT.
 
To be honest, I beleive that the momentom of the EU is slowly being transfered to Romania and Bulgaria. EU money goes in with conditions, conditions are slowly met and institutions are built up with the economy. Then we lock it into the Eurozonw with currency union and political union converges naturaly.

If we have any luck, Britain will be joining the Eurozone before too long, given how it is regarded by the rest of the world due to Londons trade power, the shockwaves will be palpable all over the stockmarkets methinks.

With regards to Turkey.... they just aren't Europeans, they are a self contained civilisation and have little in common with our Civilisation-State.
 
Wouldn't you all like to see the EU becoming more then just Europe? A way of bringing peaceful democracy to other nations. As the 21'st century comes rolling in I would like to see it uniting nations peacefully instead of that of conquest. The EU being the revolutionary idea it is should not be limited by the continent it is on. The EU was created to make peoples lives better.

Peace wont happen in our life time but the only way things are going to get better is if a few people take the first steps to make other lives better.
 

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