In France there has been a huge increase in burglaries in recent years. Ten years ago most burglaries were amateur, impulsive and committed by disorganized thieves. Now there is a tsunami of theft, organised by professional gangs from Roumania, Poland, Albania and Georgia. These gangs concentrate upon a single Department at a time in a thorough, planned manner, creating a big problem for everyone, especially insurance companies. Whereas these thugs, in their country of origin, would be sentenced to long terms of harsh imprisonment, French judges put them away for two or three months. It is a serious problem, which is appearing, not just in France, but all over the EU.
One has to bear this unpleasant fact in mind when thinking about the result of the French EU elections, where the National Front did so well. People are getting very disillusioned. Epicurus would not be impressed. This is no way to achieve contentment.
Why was it thought appropriate to offer even associate membership to these East European countries, which have little cultural affinity to the rest of Europe? I support the idea of the EU, but everlasting expansion does not necessarily bring better quality of life, just more problems. The ultimate stupidity would be Turkey. The EU has become like any other empire, expanding until it becomes unsustainable (read Rome and Britain) . Epicurus would not be impressed.
Greece is a nice country to visit on holiday, but it should never have become a member of the EU. Some people are influenced by the history of Athens as “the cradle of democracy”. Excuse me! That was two and a half thousand years ago! Now it is just an Ottoman left-over, corrupt and incapable of organisation, more oriental than European. The irony is that this blog promotes the philosophy of Epicurus, but I believe Epicurus, if he could see what his country had become, would despair.