Europe: Looking to the future
Malcolm Edmunds poses some questions
The quality of public debate on the forthcoming EU referendum has, sadly, rarely lifted above the level of pantomime.
Are we better off in the EU? The media seems to be filled with cries of ‘Oh yes, we are’ or ‘Oh no, we’re not’. It has been hard to get trustworthy facts and realistic probabilities.
In my opinion, the most important questions that we should be asking are really very straightforward – even if the answers are less clear – yet few of these questions have been aired recently. They are:
- will people in UK (especially the poor and disadvantaged) be better off in terms of health, wellbeing, justice and fairness?
- will the government be more likely to move towards a steady state rather than a perpetual growth economy?
After balancing imports and exports, we currently import two thirds of the food that we eat. It is because we are rich that we can buy this rather than leaving it to sustain starving people elsewhere; so:
- will the UK move more quickly towards sustainability of food and other essential resources?
- will the UK encourage a progressive but ethically acceptable reduction of population so that it gradually becomes sustainable?
However, because our future is intimately linked to that of Europe and the rest of the world, we cannot solve these problems on our own. We simply must begin to solve them in the next few years; so:
- will we be able to influence and work with our neighbours in Europe in the drive towards sustainability and justice?
No two members of the EU have had armed conflict since it was established, whereas the non-EU Balkans has suffered terribly; so:
- will we be better able to reduce the likelihood of conflict and war, not just for ourselves, in the UK but throughout Europe?
Urgent attention is required on the ethical issues of reducing both population and profligate consumption, with their devastating impact on the environment; so:
- will we be better able to work towards sustainability, justice and a more equitable lifestyle for people in the rest of the world, most importantly nations in Africa, Asia and Latin America?
It is simply not sustainable for millions of people to migrate to already overcrowded nations, so the refugee and economic migrant crisis needs to be solved. However, this must be achieved in an ethically acceptable way; so:
- will we be able to support nations in working towards a situation where the numbers who wish to leave their country is balanced by those seeking to move there?
- will we be able to work with other nations (or through the United Nations) in the drive to reduce weaponry and to use the resources so released for sustainable peacebuilding purposes?
I am sure Friends will have other questions to ask. The important aim should be to take a decision on the referendum that looks far beyond short-term interests and the next general election.
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