Heritage

I have always been interested in history, I suppose other than politics, history is something I find fascinating. I would rather read a historical book than a fictional novel; what I find interesting about history is how things came about and the reason behind certain behaviour and customs. Many people would like to disregard their heritage and may look at what happened in the past with disdainful eyes, almost looking down their noses at peoples behaviour as if the way they are behaving now is better and more enlightened. We are all moulded by certain events, either in our; childhood, environment or history and I believe it is important to never forget this.

We live in a society which is forever changing, just look at technology and how that effects all our lives. The fact I am sitting here typing on a keyboard and anyone in the world can look at what I am writing is a very good example of this. But I feel it is very important, (even with our ever changing world) not to forget our heritage. Many people over recent times have tried to insist that much of what went on in the past was awful, and I will admit that a lot of it wasn't good. But what I believe is that we should always remember were we came from.

As those of you may have realised who read this blog, I have some subjects which I feel very strongly about, and probably the one I feel most strongly about is the EU. I have many concerns about the EU, and one of them is the way they have tried to destroy nation states. Over recent years I have noticed the EU is becoming bolder in the way it behaves, and in some ways it is now not hiding its ultimate agenda, which is total political domination of Europe. If the EU wants total domination it needs to change our belief in nation states, the signing of the Lisbon Treaty is almost the final part of the jigsaw.

I have mentioned the Lisbon Treaty before and I just want to say something quickly here about it. It is important to remember that this treaty means the EU can now do what they want, without any consultation with any Government. If you don't believe me, this is what it says in the Lisbon Treaty, that every nation in the EU signed:

'Article 48 of the Lisbon treaty allows the Council of Ministers (unelected and behind closed doors) to vote by unanimity to change any text or part of the treaty on the functioning of the treaty.'

This basically means they do not have to consult with anyone, and unelected members can make decisions which effect all our lives. Prior to this treaty the EU would have had to ask the Governments of each EU nation to agree to changes and new laws, now they don't.

Now what has this got to do with our heritage? One of the things I have realised is that people like to feel they belong, one of the things that make people belong is a joint heritage. Having a heritage gives people a sense of purpose and importance, and most importantly identity. I am very proud of my parentage and heritage, I am originally from N.Ireland but I am very much proud of the fact I am British and no one can take that away from me.

If we look at history you will notice that all empires have eventually collapsed; either violently or have come to a natural end. The interesting thing I have found is that when so many of these empires have collapsed, the peoples within many of them have returned to their original identity. If you take the Soviet Union as an example you will notice many of those nations within that empire have reverted back to their original state.

The EU is an empire very similar to the Soviet Union, you might disagree with me, but if you look at its behaviour and the way it is set up there are an awful lot of comparisons. What is most important to remember is that whatever happens it is unlikely that the people of Europe will ever call themselves European, but will always identify themselves with their nation of birth. As the EU grows, and its power grows I believe we will see a growing nationalism; as the EU seeks to destroy the nation state we will see people unite under their national flag, not an artificial flag which means nothing.

The interesting thing is, this is already happening in Belgium. Belgium was official recognised as a country in 1839, two different peoples were brought together under one flag. For the last 165 years two languages have been spoken in this country, and this has meant that two different people have lived together. What has happened over recent years is that a growing resentment has been rising; this year The New Flemish Alliance party, which is dedicated to the break up of Belgium won June's parliamentary elections. I think this highlights how difficult it is to destroy peoples identity, and I think it is dangerous to try and do this.

Many people have argued that we should get rid of all nations and just live under one flag, but history shows this to be an impossible dream. Many wars have been fought over the years, for many different reasons, but I do not think bringing many different people together under an artificial flag is going to change that. I believe the best way to stop wars is for people to talk, and with a growing nationalism if we do no talk we may see conflict again. The simple truth is, the EU is not bothered about the people in Europe, only power. As its power grows we will see growing resentment with the people as they realise they have no voice, and without a voice people will use the only power they have left, and that can only lead to violence. This is the history of most empires, but unfortunately those who rule are not interested in the lessons of history.