a Rhinelandian
Absolute aside: I've always heard this as Rhinelander, not Rhinelandian. Is there a consensus on this term?
In day to day talk I say Rheinländer
No idea what the proper English term is. You're probably right though - Rhinelander sounds more natural.
Again, that's partly why I'm asking. But I'm not even necessarially saying have a visa, but at least present ID and sign a paper before crossing borders and have the ability for countries to close borders on safety concerns without much fuss from the rest of Europe. I get why it could be annoying, but sometimes I even wish they'd set something up in the US giving some semblance of security against other states and we don't even have that many interstate safety concerns. From the news I've been getting and from my vague notions of various attitudes in Europe, it seems to an outsider like y'all do. Also, while the convenience of the Euro is nice on principle, it requires a fiscal responsibility from constituent nations to be run by some sort of federal power source and to maintain relatively even, interconnected economies, doesn't it? That seems like a detriment rather than a boon. I mean, why have a single currency that'll outrageously overinflate and wreck your economy because of factors in a different, economically unique state? ( I find this to be a problem with the dollar even. It does provide a bit of a common trade factor, but that doesn't matter much when things can be/usually are so vastly different from state to state. Again, maybe it's just because I'm underestimating the size and diversity of Europe, but it seems like that'd be a problem. I gotta admit I'm biased because I just plain don't like the Euro, but aren't there serious negative consequences and haven't countries who haven't adopted it or adopted it as the sole currency doing better economically right now than the average EU state?
- Allow for controlling ID, and you introduce the possibility of discriminating against folks from other EU countries. "He's Romanian? Must be a filthy criminal - just arrest him, we'll find something to charge him with later." Apart from the obvious problems with that, it would be a great step away from the goal of a truly united Europe - and thus appealing to all the nationalists and crypto-nationalists running around. Similarly restricting the free flow of goods would quickly be abused by nationalist politicians to 'protect' their countries' economies.
Any restriction on the freedom of movement, the free flow of goods, and the freedom of inter-national commerce should be in the hands of EU-level institutions, not in those of the individual countries. That would allow for the quarantine measures scriver mentioned - which I'll gladly support - without endangering the unity of our proto-USE.
- Interstate safety concerns are overexaggerated: It's basically "Think of the children!" with 'children' exchanged by 'national security'. Nobody would suggest border posts along the Rhine to prevent crime, even though that would make much more sense than putting them along the German-Belgian (or -Dutch, or -French) border. Imagine how 'just having to sign a paper and show ID' would hurt those who live in one country and work in another: Their commute time would increase horribly, because oh boy will there be lines. And again the ideological damage would be immense, though if you say you'd support controls along US state borders you might have a different point of view. Increased controls along borders already happen: In Germany for example we have the Bundesgrenzschutz, literally 'Federal Border Protection', though it's called Bundespolizei now. It's tasked with just that: Protecting the borders. They're pretty busy in the East right now, what with all the meth smuggled in from the ex-Eastern Bloc countries. Open borders does not mean unprotected borders.
On a more emotional level closing the borders again reminds me unpleasantly of that other time
they restricted the freedom movement around here. By the way, the Soviet Union had restrictions like that - you needed a passport and permit to travel
inside that country. There's a reason we now consider the
freedom of movement a human right.
- The same as above holds for interstate commerce and the Euro: Do you realize
how much easier business is if you don't have to exchange currencies all the time? I still find piles of foreign coins around my parents' house, leftovers from travel overseas. It's just so goddamn
inefficient. And again the ideological argument applies.
- Why don't you like the Euro? Surely there must be some reason, ideological or psychological, for that. Enlighten me - it would probably make for interesting discussion material.