Stop freaking out about Steve Bannon’s new anti-European Union group.
I say this because Twitter is wailing over the Daily Beast’s reporting on Bannon’s new group, “The Movement,” which will work to degrade the EU’s power. Alongside British Euro-skeptic, Raheem Kassam, Bannon will use his movement to assist anti-E.U. political groups in gaining more influence.
Cue the five alarm fire!
Pundits are up in arms, the leader of the EU democratic socialist bloc is now pushing to ban Bannon from Europe, and others are warning of a fascist revolution.
An attack on freedom and democracy in Europe. We will not stand idle. We will respond. #nopasaran #BanBannonhttps://t.co/6oOxfpACAh
— Udo Bullmann (@UdoBullmann) July 22, 2018
Chill out. This is a storm in a teapot.
First of all, Bannon and Kassam are not brown-shirts. I know Kassam a little bit, and while I don’t share many of his views, I can attest that although he is hyper-intelligent and passionate about his views, he is not some racist fascist trying to turn Europe into a nightmare. That’s not to say that the Bannon-Kassam ambitions don’t align with Putin’s objective of a fragmented Europe, they do (as do the German government’s policies). Nevertheless, perspective matters here.
Because perspective will show that “The Movement” isn’t a cause for panic, but rather a challenge to EU officials to reform their organization. In the context of Brexit, the Italian government, and other rising democratic-nationalist sentiments across Europe, you would think that individuals like Bullmann would have a little humility. That they might, just might, put more power back in the hands of national governments and instead focus on making the EU do what it has historically done best.
Namely, providing a vast free trade zone that allows for investment, consumer opportunity, jobs, and economic growth. That shared economic interest has always been the better angel of the EU’s power, but it has lost ground to the superstate fanatics: those who believe national identity is immoral.
And that speaks to how pro-EU realists should respond to “The Movement.” Rather than complaining they should focus on capitalist reforms to the EU that win voter affections. The lesson of recent years is that the present EU political approach: taking power from parliaments and putting it into the hands of bureaucrats in Brussels or Strasbourg, is not terribly popular.
Ultimately, unless EU officials like Bullmann realize this truth, they will continue rendering themselves that which they most claim to most despise. Namely, authoritarians dedicated to ideological purity before individual empowerment.
