by talos
Sun Jul 24th, 2011 at 08:15:32 AM EST
In a recent essay in Der Spiegel, titled "Democratization Can't Save Europe, The Need for a Centralization of Power", Prof. Herfried Münkler (of "post-heroic society" fame) states, more clearly than anyone else I've read, the demand for an elite dismissal of democracy in Europe. This is not an exaggeration:
In light of this failure of the elites, it is hardly surprising that we are hearing renewed calls for the democratization of Europe. Suddenly, the people are expected to fix what the elites have botched. Since they are already being asked to pay for the problems caused by the elites, many believe that the people should have more say in how and by whom Europe is controlled.
As reasonable as this might sound, by no means does it make as much sense as it seems at first glance. Even after the democratization of Europe, the elites in Brussels and Strasbourg will still be in charge. The only option available to the European people, to the extent that they can be referred to as such, would be to react to obvious failure by voting their leaders out of office -- and to vote an opposing elite to take their place. Whether this would fundamentally change anything is open to question. [...]
Pushing for the democratization of Europe is akin to playing a reckless game that can quickly lead to European disintegration. Those who see democratization as a logical reaction to the crisis may not even be aware of this risk. They see democratization as an automatic reflex in response to the crisis. But democracy needs the kinds of conditions that do not exist in Europe today.
The essay (a point-by-point response to which might be in order) is disturbing in its unashamed bluntness and its disdain for democracy, using against European peoples the same sort of arguments that, until now, Western elites were reserving for the Third World and its alleged unpreparedness for democratic governance. The author was, I note, a supporter of western adventures against those Third World politically-challenged inhabitants (and, one assumes, understanding of the noted mass extermination of natives these sort of "wars" entailed).
Prof. Münkler's article is also disturbing in its calls for centralizing power in the EU to its core members, which at this point means Germany basically. This has predictably led to the essay being characterized as "The political declaration of the 4th Reich" [in Greek].
I guess the reason this article feels like an actual threat, is that one has the sense that it captures the mentality of large sections of the "serious people" in Europe, as it promotes an idea of European elites being their own salvation, even after admitting that they are currently failing miserably. This is a confirmation of the elites' usual "passionate hatred of democracy", in an especially blunt form. But given the current climate of austerity and uneasiness in Europe (the 2010's as the new 1930s) Münkler's article seems to be just a written account of an ongoing political project.
The WSWS, claims that "Herfried Münkler... has close links to the SPD and the Greens". Is that true, or just paranoia? What sort of political connection (if any) does this man have with parties and think-tanks?
