Whatever the weather

I don’t claim to be much of an expert on Europe. After all, I'm British. So I tend to be European only when it suits me. I can't speak a word of the languages and have only ever been to France and Spain, and when I did I was usually segregated into one of those temporary refugee camps they keep open for us British folk - otherwise known as Haven holiday parks. Little Britain’s with a warmer climate, great places.

But yet I do have this strange feeling that Europe is a place full of weird and wonderful people that are somehow also our best hope for the future. We spent so long fighting each other over who controlled the earth, and it is only now – when the earth is deciding that it would actually much rather rule itself – that we are starting to come together in search of safety and comfort in an increasingly scary world.

To be honest, there isn’t a whole lot to this Blog entry, I merely saw the above poster and thought ‘yes’. That is exactly how it should be. The poster was trying to promote the Marshall Plan after World War II, yet it seems to apply today just as it did then. We have the EU today, and despite what all these reactionary newspapers keep on saying – I think it’s actually a pretty good thing. For all the bureaucracy and erosion of national democracy – I believe its pros greatly outweigh its cons and as such it deserves our increased love and support. Why should England, France and Germany bully the world for lucrative trade deals alone? We may as well get our other European chums in on the racket, and who knows – we may even end up liking each other.

And notice the American flag there in the picture, supporting the whole windmill. The American people – for all my bad words towards them, are probably the world’s best hope for prosperity and peace in the future. This is of course a terrifying prospect, entrusting the world to a group of people that 'believe in a man in the sky who makes things' is never going to be easy. Yet the bonds that unite Europe and America are so strong – we should never allow petty national interests to blind us from these realities.

In today’s world, both Europe and America need each other perhaps more than ever.

Whatever the weather.

p.s. Note the Turkish flag - Come on Turkey, you can do it.