What A Difference A Recession Makes

The last time that Ireland voted on the new European Union treaty, times were good. So good, in fact, that there was no end in sight.

The end did indeed come, and emigration is once again the job seeker's route to work.

Without the great incoming rush of tax revenues from a buying-mad public, even the government is going under.

What better time than now to ask the Irish people, once again, if they'd like to approve the Lisbon Treaty?

In flush days, it was a no. Why let Europe push Ireland around, with its low, low corporate tax the envy of the French who'd raise it the minute they had a chance? Ireland was doing just fine, on the fringes of the EU, and who would ask for more restrictions?

What a difference an economic downturn can make in a nation's outlook.

The Lisbon Treaty is passed with a resounding majority in favor. The people voted Yes to the promise of jobs that would appear on the heels of the Treaty's approval. They voted yes so that Ireland wouldn't be pushed aside in the EU, knowing that membership has done more good than harm to the little island nation.

Like any other enormous document of bureaucratic legalese, it remains to be seen if things will work as promised, or if there are enough loopholes for the larger countries to jump through and avoid some restrictions. All for one and one for all is grand, until you're the one (Ireland) that watches another country (Poland) steal away your Dell franchise and have to pay to relocate the firm on top of it.

The U.S. Constitution, which made thirteen states into one nation, was a small document that was written by hand. The Lisbon Treaty, which is meant to make European Union members into one nation, is cumbersome and complex.

The United States did not truly become united until the separate states fought a bloody civil war. The EU plans to do their squabbling in the courts and hope that legal judgments are equally as effective.