I wasn't saying any thing about the EU. It's quite different from America, if for no other reason than because citizens of EU nations see themselves first and foremost as citizens of said nation, not the EU (which is understandable, as that is the case). The question here was concerning America. Do you really believe the bulk of federal overreach in America is comprised of "standardization"? The Constitution authorizes such measures: weights and measures, currency, etc. That's not part of it.
Long ago, citizens of US states saw themselves first and foremost as citizens of said states, not of the US. Famously, this influenced Lee's choice to serve in the Civil War, so the change in viewpoint is more recent than then.
Maybe the EU ought to take a lesson from the fate of America, and remain a voluntary confederation of states. For reasons outlined in my above post, it may be better that way.
It was tongue in cheek, for sure. My contrast of the EU was to draw a parallel between many sovereign nation states falling under a common union. Hey, kind of like a United States or something. We are not in disagreement there... and also, I'm definitely not against standards... as long as said standards are electively participatory, and not mandated from a high level government.
I wasn't saying any thing about the EU. It's quite different from America, if for no other reason than because citizens of EU nations see themselves first and foremost as citizens of said nation, not the EU (which is understandable, as that is the case). The question here was concerning America. Do you really believe the bulk of federal overreach in America is comprised of "standardization"? The Constitution authorizes such measures: weights and measures, currency, etc. That's not part of it.