1822
The “Union” in “European Union” seems very similar to the Confederate interpretation of “United” in “United States of America.” I wonder if the EU will work any better than the Confederacy did. They’re coming at it from opposite sides, which does make a significant difference, but they’re similarly bureaucratic and individual members are similarly touchy about issues of pride and independence. So I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
What brought all this up was thinking about my wallet, which has been singularly empty of American currency of late. To make me feel slightly better about myself, I’ve started carrying around various European banknotes instead, some of which are no longer recognizable as money anywhere due to the advent of the Euro. So I started reading the wikipedia article on the Euro, which started bringing up all sorts of questions on whether or not I support the idea of the European Union in the first place, and that question is about as complicated as asking me whether I support the Union or the Confederacy. One thing I do feel fairly confident in asserting though is that if the South had won the war and thereby created not only two countries on this continent (Canada doesn’t count, and for all practical purposes I list Mexico along with South America) but set the precedent for more to form, there would be no need for a European Union today.
