Written by John Lounsbury
Econintersect: Historian, writer, film director and activist, Tariq Ali is one of the key figures of the British left. He studied political science, philosophy and economics at the University of Oxford and was one of the leaders of protests against the Vietnam War. He is a member of the editorial board of the New Left Review. He has published over 30 books.
From Mr. Ali at YouTube:
The European Union is designed to be a union of bankers, not people, and therefore is doomed to fail. It is the union of making profit which was expanding very quickly, and without alternative social politics. Rationally speaking, it would have made more sense if France, Germany, Belgium and the Scandinavian countries had formed the core of Europe with a clear social and economic politics that would not be neoliberal. And then any country that would want to join them, would have meet these conditions. However they did not do this, but they adopted neoliberal methods and now they are paying the price for that decision. Europe still has not look up to Latin America, although, there, social movements have been going on for twenty years. This is because Europe lives in its own bubble.
In my essays and books I have long been advocating the opinion that the European left has to observe what is happening in South America. This is not exactly a revolution, but awfully big movements for social and structural reform of society. Political awareness in countries such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia and even Paraguay has grown a lot and I think they are years ahead of Europe. South America is still in the process of evolution, there are participatory movements in all these countries. The very fact that there is the idea that every citizen should participate in how the society will be organized is itself very important. And, most importantly, I believe it will be difficult to return to some form of neoliberal capitalism, because they already broke that line.
Source: YouTube