I have been a Europeanist all my life. I grew up in a country that Europe rescued from poverty and isolation. I have made the case for the Union at dinner tables, in classrooms, in print. I know the defence by heart — it used to be mine.
This essay is what forty years of belief look like after an honest audit. A single market, unfinished after seven decades, whose internal barriers the IMF compares to a 44% tariff on goods and 110% on services — we tariff ourselves more than any rival ever dared. A currency without a treasury; my country paid that bill in 2011. Not one company worth €100 billion built from scratch in fifty years, by Draghi's own count. A war on the very continent the project existed to make war impossible on. And, along the way, an ideal citizen — I call him the Euroman — designed to replace the nations the founders had only meant to reconcile.
The conclusion is a fork. Either Europe becomes a real federation — real budget, real army, an executive we can vote out — or it retreats to a union that does one thing ruthlessly well: the single market, and almost nothing else, returned to proud, distinct, rival nations. I argue for the second. What is indefensible is the limbo in between: too weak to act, too intrusive to be ignored.
Written from inside the church, by someone who has not stopped loving Europe — only stopped confusing it with its administration.
Nobody has fought harder for full release of the Epstein files and prosecutions of those who abused children more than I did, knowing full well that the legacy media, far-left propagandists and those who are actually guilty would:
1. Admit nothing
2. Deny everything
3. Make counter-accusations against me
I knew that I would be smeared relentlessly, despite never having attended his parties or been on his “Lolita Express” plane or set foot on his creepy island or done anything wrong at all.
Nonetheless, the extreme pain of being accused of being the opposite of who I am was worth it.
The strong must protect those cannot protect themselves, especially vulnerable children. I will gladly accept any amount of future pain to do more to protect kids and give them a chance to grow up and have happy lives.
@grok I need to fly from [recife, brazil] to [lisbon, portugal] between [april, may 2026]. Analyze the typical pricing patterns for this route. What are the cheapest days to fly, best times to book, and any seasonal price variations I should know about?