What they need is Lyndon Baines Johnson.
REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Arthur Cordell Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 10:01 AM To: 'Keith Hudson'; 'RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION'; 'de Bivort Lawrence' Subject: Re: [Futurework] What an interesting week to come! Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxemburg. He recently said: "We all know what to do, but we don't know how to be re-elected once we've done it." -------------- This is the problem facing democracies that have to make tough decisions.. Govts. want to be re-elected and so there is usually the promise or at least the hint of good things ahead. arthur From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson Sent: Tuesday, December 06, 2011 9:40 AM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, , EDUCATION; de Bivort Lawrence Subject: Re: [Futurework] What an interesting week to come! Lawry, At 13:14 06/12/2011, you wrote: Good morning, everyone, Great post, Keith. While language is important and can serve as an attractant during times of crisis, this is neither automatic nor necessarily predominant over other attractants. As a near ex-Swiss, I can testify that Switzerland works well, politically, and even during times of internal stress, despite having four official languages -- German, French, Italian and Romanche. One of the reasons that this works well, is that each of these languages is recognized officially and reflected in all official documents, including, last time I checked, Switzerland's banknotes. What I suggest is that although language (like religion) is an important factor in many cases of culture demarcation it's not the only one. Both social and trading relationships can exist happily between different cultures which speak different languages. It's when matters like economic stress and governance issues become involved with it that trouble starts to occur. For example, think of the former Yugoslavia. After all the different cultures within it became united under Tito in order to fight Hitler and then, still united, remained communist under Tito with a fairly common living standard, then in many parts Muslims, (Serbia-type) Orthodox Christians and (Croatia type) Roman Catholics lived happily side by side. When communism collapsed and economic stress appeared then religious differences (and other relatively minor cultural differences) started looming very large and the country split up into the four (or is it five?) today. Much the same happened in Iraq when the secular authority of the Baathists was removed after the invasion. The previous slowly reducing differences (in the cities) between the Shias and the Sunnis suddenly broadened out again. The Shias started their medieval flailing processions again; the Sunnis responded with terrorism. In the case of Switzerland (which had already become a unified country for much the same reasons as Yugoslavia) they had managed to make sure that very many of the functions of governments were retained at local level. It's also a small population country. This helps to overcome language differences by cementing other more common cultural aspects. The same applies to Luxemburg with its three languages -- very happily united. (In the case of Belgium, which is rapidly splitting, there are huge cultural (and economic) differences between north and south besides language. In the case of the UK, which is also splitting up [though much more slowly], it's not language but other cultural factors (and economic) which are responsible. I think that we'll have the north of England splitting away from the highly prosperous. much better educated south within the next century.) Many years ago, when I was taught Switzerland's creation myths (though as reality, rather than myths!) we came away with a strong sense of Swiss unity, pride in the accomplishments of its parts -- regardless of language -- and with great affection for its founding cantons -- Uri Schwiez and Unterwald, despite the fact that they are German speaking and I was living in Geneva. Europe, of course, does not have a comparable creation myth, but then, neither did Switzerland at the time of the confederation. Fortunately, myths are there to be created, and to create a true United Europe the appropriate creation myths will have to be, well, created. Then the excellent quote that Keith gave us from Jean-Claude Juncker may be answered: politicians are re-elected when their policies and actions line up agreeably with the polity's creation myths. If, somehow, a United Europe came about then it would undoubtedly develop cultural myths about itself. Keith Cheers, Lawry On Dec 6, 2011, at 3:45 AM, Keith Hudson wrote: At 19:55 05/12/2011, Ray wrote: Keith, you make it seem like the Tower of Babel. The irony is, however, that all well-educated Europeans speak English. Even though we're not members of the Eurozone, English is the language used by officials when negotiating. But this English-facilitated "European-ness" doesn't translate to the worker level in the 17 countries! Keith REH From: [email protected] [ mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Keith Hudson Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 4:31 AM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, , EDUCATION Subject: [Futurework] What an interesting week to come! The Merkel-Sarkozy plan (that of a new Eurozone government with taxation powers) which they'll be cooking up today at lunch-time is bound to fail for one simple reason. Indeed, it was for the same reason that it wasn't dared to be instituted right at the beginning of the Euro-banknote era in 1999. This is that humans, being an intensely social species, will instinctively revert to their nearest convenient denominator when stressed. We clump together even more tightly. This applies whether we are talking of cultures, or religions, or languages, or tribes, or social classes, or professions, or work groups, or neighbourhoods, or ultimately, families. The idea that Germans, Italians, French, Greeks, Portuguese, Spaniards, Irish, Flemish, Luxembourgians, and eight more cultural denominations (at their largest linguistic dimension, never mind smaller ones) will cheerfully submit to a centralized budgetary authority is crazy in the extreme. Even if Merkel and Sarkozy are so desperate to agree today on some sort of formula, and even if the Eurozone leaders agree to it on Friday, then the only epithet we can apply is the old one: "Those whom the Gods wish to destroy they first make mad". The only eminent politician who has put his finger on the problem so far is the Prime Minister of the smallest country of the Eurozone, namely Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxemburg. He recently said: "We all know what to do, but we don't know how to be re-elected once we've done it." Precisely. Never mind the social eruptions, revolutions or even coups d'etat that would inevitably follow such a proposal, it is the amour propre of the career politicians alone (or even their lives if they ever wish to show themselves in public in the coming years) that will prevent any sort of United Europe. What an interesting week to come! Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/2011/11/ Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/2011/11/ _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com/2011/11/
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