Psyringe: I don't know SimonG's answer, but personally I'm not at all bothered by the things you mention, because the argument that Germans could live "better" if they didn't have to "save Greece" is rubbish. It's an incredibly short-sighted way of thinking. Yes, the current economic situation is stressful. Yes, Germany would have more money for itself if it didn't pump so much into the EU and (currently) specifically Greece. But whatever good that might do, they long-term negative effects would be _much_ worse. There isn't any alternative to the EU if you want a future in which the people still have power. Lots of people seem to think that they'd have _more_ power if they'd be "on their own", each country for itself, but that's an illusion. In reality, the biggest threat to people's well-being does not originate from political institutions, it originates from unchecked corporations who can render the individual states' legislations meaningless by playing them against each other. A strong EU is the best weapon that citizens could possibly have against that. Look at it this way: There is the political world, where people actually have power, by voting for their government. Then there is the economical world, where people have very little power - apart from their ability to go on strike, all the power that they _do_ have is due to legislation provided in the political world. Now, during the past few decades, the economical world has become globalized and hyper-mobile, while the political world still stayed mostly fractioned. The result is that global corporations can easily play countries against each other. The countries' administrations are incapable of keeping them in check because even if _one_ country issues some legislation that improves the rights of the people, the biggest corporations will just move on to the next country - so, instead of improving the situation of the workers, the administration has in fact only raised unemployment. The only viable remedy to this situation is to let the political institutions keep up with the economical ones. A unified EU with a strong, unified legislation can do far more for its citizens than any individual country could. The EU is by far the best chance to secure a good future for our kids, squandering that chance would be inexcusable.

stoicsentry: After Europe destroyed itself, no one has done a better job of rebuilding Europe than Europe. Congratulations Europe for fixing part of the mess you created.

Psyringe: I don't know SimonG's answer ...

bazilisek: Well, we are. Slovaks, not so much :)

SimonG: ] As long as it isn't about Steam, I can pretty much agree with that brain. ;-) Germany is probably the country that profited most from the EU.

keeveek: Especially when Greek coasts are all German now, right? :D

SimonG: I think that this is perfect. Honestly. Take a look at Europe through history. When was a time when we weren't at each others throat? The EU changed that. It connected Europe politically, economically and culturally. Now France and Germany are in each others arms, and no longer at each others throat. If the only thing the EU ever did was to stop that repeating circle of killing that Europe was under since the dawn of men, it was worth every single penny.

Lone3wolf: How many times has there been a reason for someone to go invade another country, and the EU stepped in to moderate the dispute? I'll hold my breath waiting for an answer to that one...

SimonG: Hey, does that mean we can keep Kafka now?

Tantrix: You know what the absurdity is? The head nominators is the general secretary of the Council of Europe. Basically it means the EU nominated itself.

SimonG: It reigns supreme above every nation and supra-nation because we have the f'cking DIE HARD soundtrack as our (supra-)national anthem http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jF_WA9eOjTk#!