In his honour I am attempting to coin a new phrase; since calling someone an authoritarian is a bit out a mouthful, and often fails to connect with the less educated man, I propose we introduce the word Rompuy instead. It's accurate, concise and will forever engrave our dear Herman, deservedly so, in history.
After all he earned it during the lecture he gave us "delusional" common folk last Tuesday;
"We have together to fight the danger of a new Euroscepticism. This is no longer the monopoly of a few countries," ... "In every member state, there are people who believe their country can survive alone in the globalised world. It is more than an illusion: it is a lie."
As the more astute reader will have noticed, Switzerland and Norway seem to be doing pretty well for themselves outside of the EU. Not to mention that most of the counties in the EU had their economic revolutions well before the EU even existed, or that the British Empire, that unrivaled period of economic growth, all went ahead just fine without the European Union. Not only that, but he offered us a second little piece of golden Rompuy philosophy;
"The biggest enemy of Europe today is fear. Fear leads to egoism, egoism leads to nationalism, and nationalism leads to war."
I'm not sure how he made the mammoth leap from fear to egoism, but even more perplexing is the conclusion that egoism leads to nationalism! Nationalism, in the truest definition of the word, simply means to take pride and identify with your fellow countrymen, seeking advancement along the lines of your own countries interests. Nationalism requires common interests amongst a community, so it's quite a stretch to call Nationalism egotistical.
Authoritarianism (doing a Rompuy), on the other hand, is the exertion of control over the economy and populace by the state, in order to advance a nation in a particular direction. Becoming a Rompuy is a far more likely outcome from an egotistical ideology than becoming a Nationalist. Take a look at the so called "eco-friendly" policies, forcing people to comply to specific conditions courtesy of some high and mighty principle. Poor Herman seems a bit confused.
It would seem that Herman has also unintentionally given us a perfect Freudian profile of himself. A man scared of losing his grip on his beloved EU project, who seeks more and more dangerous powers in an attempt to get his egotistical opinions forced onto the rest of us? The very fact that Rompuy has taken it upon himself to lecture other nations about their patriotism shows just how egoistical his agenda is, he blindly believes that he is right and the rest of us are wrong.
So, Rompuy a pretty suitable synonym for authoritarian?
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