The End of Another European Utopia
December 24, 2011
2011 will be remembered as the year that the latest European utopia began to unravel. The experiment begun after the second world war that tried to tie together a group of nations with diverse culture and languages into a loose confederation have failed. Europeans believed that they could put their vast difference aside working on a common economic project held together by the serious business of sharing a currency. The crisis of 2011 however showed once again that economic and national interests cannot converge where there big cultural differences persist. Most countries in Europe prefer living the good life while shying away from making sacrifices unless they have to. They do not have the self-discipline that a few Northern European countries, Germany especially, are capable of. This is why Europe has once again come at a fork in the road. Europeans can decide to recognize their differences and go separate ways, letting the euro currency crumble, or they can submit to the discipline that Germany requires for rescuing indebted nations. Those that will submit to Germany’s authority will deeply regret it because the cultural divide will lead to resentment and feeling of oppression and unfairness that in Europe have led to much bloodshed in the past.
