How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs • Hacker News Board

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#401

Post by mrtksn » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

antiloper wrote: post #378

mrtksn wrote: post #354

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope, less power means the current situation will be the default as each country by default will have their own body and rules to govern instead of one rule and one body that handles the whole continent. Unlike what you appear to believe Europeans are not some libertarian captured by the EU socialist, most europeans do want less wasteful and less harmful packaging.

Do most Europeans want all of their E-commerce to be only handled by American and Chinese megacorporations without local players? Because that is the effect of this regulation. Instead of a SME shipping a cardboard box, it will be Amazon or Temu.

You are not arguing in good faith, such a loaded question. I will leave it here, too much BS in one comment to deal with it

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#402

Post by HWR_14 » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

voakbasda wrote: post #358

r3trohack3r wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America does it with 50 states

In theory, true. In practice, state independence has been dead for the better part of a century. The 10th amendment has been eviscerated by the courts. By a strict reading of its relatively simple language, most of what the federal government does is unconstitutional. Today, USA is unabbreviated as the “United States of America”, but the country was founded as the “United States for Anerica”. As such, I am strongly i…

> state independence has been dead for the better part of a century.

Can you please put a date on when you think this happened and what were the turning event(s)?

Because you could mean a lot of different points over decades. And what and when you think was the turning point is pretty significant.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#403

Post by phazerfamza » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:23 PM UTC

as a european, the biggest problem with the EU is the actual EU, the core idea is good, but they have massive over reach and way to much power, they are supposed to be there for european countries, instead it's the other way around.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#404

Post by drchickensalad » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:24 PM UTC

AndroTux wrote: post #43

As someone living in the tiny country of Estonia with just about 1.2 million residents, this worries me. No one but the biggest online shops in the EU will bother with the paperwork for such a small market. I'm expecting my import options to drop sharply in the coming years because of this.

Sorry for the off topic but I absolutely love the Estonian House in NYC. Wonderful people, events, and food

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#405

Post by moezd » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:24 PM UTC

There is one thing European countries all agree on: Their lawmakers know it the best, thus all create their own carve outs and exceptions.

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#406

Post by HWR_14 » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

marky1991 wrote: post #313

akie wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Yeah, obviously we wouldn't try to do that. Our laws, cultures, and priorities are wildly different. By this lens, the main problem seems to be that the eu expanded too much and grew too large to actually have a coherent purpose.

How is "single purpose plastic wrapping" a cultural priority? Or how is an agency to collect the fees something that needs recreating?

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#407

Post by ericmay » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:26 PM UTC

voakbasda wrote: post #358

r3trohack3r wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

America does it with 50 states

In theory, true. In practice, state independence has been dead for the better part of a century. The 10th amendment has been eviscerated by the courts. By a strict reading of its relatively simple language, most of what the federal government does is unconstitutional. Today, USA is unabbreviated as the “United States of America”, but the country was founded as the “United States for Anerica”. As such, I am strongly i…

Add in the function of the senate and the ongoing public perception of it, and as/if the senate is neutered by populist parties (MAGA/DSA) as they intend to also do with the courts, the argument that the states are sovereign (and they are by definition and constitutional agreement) becomes more and more practically useless, unfortunately (in some ways).

I'm not anti-federal government or anything but clearly we can see that there are issues in how the federal government has become so powerful and yet we're beholden to these two big-tent political parties leaving folks across the various states unhappy with decrees from Washington. Don't like Donald Trump's power over you? Maybe the federal government shouldn't have that power then?

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#408

Post by RandomLensman » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:27 PM UTC

psychoslave wrote: post #382

tchalla wrote: post #341

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems you have an issue with representative democracy.

There is no such a thing as "representative democracy", that’s antinomic bullshit throw at people to lower it down to powerless populace. Either citizens have the power, exercise it continuously in practice and are supplied with everything it takes to assume that role properly with all the duties it implies, or there is no democracy beyond empty words.

Has such a system ever existed anywhere? How would citizens even have the time?

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#409

Post by aristofun » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:27 PM UTC

Ylpertnodi wrote: post #292

aristofun wrote: post #183

Europe has been steadily eradicating freedom and entrepreneurial spirit for the past 50 years. They will suffer badly many years later. They are slowly walking to disaster, but nobody cares. Go on, downvote me for telling the obvious truth :)

After so long living in each EU country, your 'obvious truth' is neither obvious or truthful..

That is exactly why. You are blind to your own problems :)

Re: How Europe is killing makers and micro-entrepreneurs

#410

Post by shimman » Mon, Aug 24, 2026, 4:27 PM UTC

myaccountonhn wrote: post #327

Kudos wrote: post #239

Anti-EU regulation sentiment really seems to have an uptick in line with widespread availability of LLMs. The EU isn't perfect, but the catastrophising I read feels mostly like astro-turfing attempts at destabilisation. It's probably more easily noticed from inside the EU.

Yeah any thread on the EU is full with that on HN.

They want the lifestyle of Europe but do not want the rich to pay more taxes to support it.