alt Hacker NewsAs a European, I see the word "change" used all the time as if it is a good thing. Change is good, bad or indifferent depending on circumstances. It is not automatically progress.
As a European, I see the word "change" used all the time as if it is a good thing. Change is good, bad or indifferent depending on circumstances. It is not automatically progress.
>It is not automatically progress.
Irrelevant. The world changes for better and for worse, whether you want to or not, and you can only ignore it and piss against the wind so long before you get wet.
Ignoring, resisting or opposing global change only works if you're THE global hegemon and can bully everyone else to operate by your rules. Europe is not, therefore it can't dictate terms for others so it can't keep resisting global changes without loosing more of its prosperity, leverage and influence to the rest of the world.
EU is stuck in the middle of the race between two superpowers, and if it refuses to take part in the race and sit it out, it will simply become a colony of the winning power(s). It's why the US entered WW1 and WW2 even if it didn't have to. Because if it didn't and just decided to sit it out chilling away from the conflit, it would have missed out on all the major industrial and technical progress the war effort has led to and the USSR would have swallowed everything. That's how it became the world hegemon.
EU on the other hand keeps deciding to sit out most of the global battles and gets left behind with no leverage in key sectors, then complains that its trading partners are treating it "unfairly". Well yeah, when you have no leverage you will only get sloppy seconds, that's how the world works. If you want a piece of the action, you have to get in the fight, get a little bloody, and take what you want, not sit by and expect the victor will share a piece of the spoils with you for free.