Eurothink & Eurospeak
The following is off the subject of the Constitution, but, given contemporary events in Boston, I found myself compelled to offer my two cents - or should I say francs? Oops! There aren't any francs anymore! But there are two-cent Euro coins. How convenient!
“Ideas Have Consequences” sayeth Richard M. Weaver in his 1993 book of the same title. When one first considers the consequences suffered in the Twentieth Century and offered as sacrifice to ideas of varied pedigree, the statement may seem merely trite. Of course, ideas have consequences. So? One could let things stand there if it were not for the blind insistence of so many – mainly but not exclusively in Europe – that the tree of their ideas will bear fruit only sweet and that no lemons will grow from the flower of their thought. After all, Marxism was such a great success as a boon to humanity.
Bat Ye'or is a Jew of Egyptian birth who has written frequently and scholarly about Islam, Muslims, and the history and consequences of the Islamic view of the world. Recent articles by Ye’or for FrontpageMag.com chronicle the Europeans’ pusillanimous, voluntary surrender to the ongoing Arab Muslim invasion of that continent. In a piece dated today, she references a study done for the European Union and states that --
Most recently, this program of Euro-Arab symbiosis has been codified in a detailed report entitled, “Dialogue between Peoples and Cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean Area.” Released last October, this report (whose contributors included Umberto Eco and Tariq Ramadan) was to establish complete interdependence between Europe and the Arab-Muslim world. Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, established the High-Level Advisory Group which stated the aims, policies, and routine functions of the foundation. The Advisory Group mandated that the foundation have complete financial and administrative independence in managing its budget and in choosing its partners. In support of this remarkable request, the Advisory Group argued that the foundation needed considerable resources to cover its activities that would be extraordinarily expensive, as they will encompass all the countries of the EU. The Advisory Group further justified such conditions by invoking its lofty aim, which “is nothing less than peace itself.” And this “peace” -- accomplished through “brotherly love” and “dialogue” between the North and the South of the Mediterranean -- will be achieved by a total economic, political, and cultural fusion.
The full report is forty-four pages long. I have not read the whole thing. But the first few paragraphs of the introduction on page five will suffice to impart the flavor and gist of this example of Eurothink and Europseak --
Recent history has been marked by a rapid succession of ruptures, approximately once every ten years. The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, then the fall in 1989 of the Berlin Wall and, more recently, the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre towers on 11 September 2001. Each one has defined its era. Together they have fashioned the world of uncertainty and fear in which we now live. First symptoms and then causes of major historical changes, these crises have undermined the established forms, methods and rules of the international order.
These crises have combined with globalisation to subject contemporary societies to changes of all kinds the cumulative effect of which has led to major evolutions or even transformations in the very nature of those societies. This state of affairs calls for new paradigms.
The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, was acutely aware of these background movements long before the tragedy of 11 September 2001 and had long drawn attention to the urgency of working to ward off the malaise and forge positive links between peoples and societies. Because the dialogue between peoples and cultures1 is based on the equal dignity of cultures, it seemed to him the most promising way of achieving this while avoiding any cultural relativism in terms of fundamental rights for each human being. On the basis of this starting point, he formulated two key questions:
How can we contribute to the emergence of a "society of peoples and cultures", alongside the society of states, in the Euro-Mediterranean area?
What shape should such a dialogue between cultures take, a dialogue conducted primarily among the peoples who inherit and pass on those cultures, bearing in mind that it should be governed by at least the three principles of equality, co-ownership and cross-fertilisation?
The Symposium on Intercultural Dialogue held on 20 and 21 March 2002 in Brussels was the occasion on which this political will was first expressed, and President Prodi took the opportunity to emphasise the need to rethink this dialogue, bearing in mind - in the words of the UNESCO Constitution - that "since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed".
“Ruptures”? The Iranian Islamic revolution, fall of the Berlin wall and the attacks of 9/11 are decadally spaced ruptures? No distinctions considered or made. Just periodic bumps on the rupture scale. At least the Richter scale has provision for variations in magnitude. No need for such complexity to be here considered. And I thought we Americans were the un-nuanced simpletons? Perhaps the term is used in its medical sense and refers to the combined European frontal cortices.
“. . . these crises have undermined the established forms, methods and rules of the international order. “ The fall of the Berlin wall was a crisis? I thought it was a triumph. A banner day for Truth, Justice and the American Way. But the Europeans think of it as a crisis equivalent to the “tragedy of 11 September 2001.”
“Tragedy”? The twin towers were felled, the Pentagon set ablaze and three-thousand human beings were incinerated and crushed by an earthquake? Meteorite or comet impact? Flood? Global warming? Solar flares? This was an act of war! Not tragedy! Can’t these people call even a single spade, a spade?
I will be forever grateful to Mr. Prodi, EU Commission President, for being “acutely aware of these background movements long before the tragedy of 11 September 2001” and for having “long drawn attention to the urgency of working to ward off the malaise and forge positive links between peoples and societies. “ About the only thing he and his cronies seem to have warded off is sanity and the only thing they’re forging are shackles for themselves.
“What shape should such a dialogue between cultures take. . .”? Doubtless the American and European answers to that question differ substantially in both form and content. I fail to see how Senator/Candidate Kerry’s answer of groveling before the European pacifists is one that Americans would find acceptable -- let alone preserve our freedom.
“President Prodi took the opportunity to emphasise the need to rethink this dialogue, bearing in mind - in the words of the UNESCO Constitution - that ‘since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed’”. Thus speaketh and thinketh the cradle of our civilization. The font of our wisdom. I shudder at the very thought of an American President succumbing to the temptation to bind our fate to that of such fools.
Peace at any price. Indeed.
Oh, and one more thing, if you ever see anything datelined "Brussels", I would suggest that you avoid reading it. Would most likely be dangerous to your mental, if not your physical health. I failed to adhere to this dictum and now look at the induced allergic reaction. Where's my Benadryl?
“Ideas Have Consequences” sayeth Richard M. Weaver in his 1993 book of the same title. When one first considers the consequences suffered in the Twentieth Century and offered as sacrifice to ideas of varied pedigree, the statement may seem merely trite. Of course, ideas have consequences. So? One could let things stand there if it were not for the blind insistence of so many – mainly but not exclusively in Europe – that the tree of their ideas will bear fruit only sweet and that no lemons will grow from the flower of their thought. After all, Marxism was such a great success as a boon to humanity.
Bat Ye'or is a Jew of Egyptian birth who has written frequently and scholarly about Islam, Muslims, and the history and consequences of the Islamic view of the world. Recent articles by Ye’or for FrontpageMag.com chronicle the Europeans’ pusillanimous, voluntary surrender to the ongoing Arab Muslim invasion of that continent. In a piece dated today, she references a study done for the European Union and states that --
Most recently, this program of Euro-Arab symbiosis has been codified in a detailed report entitled, “Dialogue between Peoples and Cultures in the Euro-Mediterranean Area.” Released last October, this report (whose contributors included Umberto Eco and Tariq Ramadan) was to establish complete interdependence between Europe and the Arab-Muslim world. Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, established the High-Level Advisory Group which stated the aims, policies, and routine functions of the foundation. The Advisory Group mandated that the foundation have complete financial and administrative independence in managing its budget and in choosing its partners. In support of this remarkable request, the Advisory Group argued that the foundation needed considerable resources to cover its activities that would be extraordinarily expensive, as they will encompass all the countries of the EU. The Advisory Group further justified such conditions by invoking its lofty aim, which “is nothing less than peace itself.” And this “peace” -- accomplished through “brotherly love” and “dialogue” between the North and the South of the Mediterranean -- will be achieved by a total economic, political, and cultural fusion.
The full report is forty-four pages long. I have not read the whole thing. But the first few paragraphs of the introduction on page five will suffice to impart the flavor and gist of this example of Eurothink and Europseak --
Recent history has been marked by a rapid succession of ruptures, approximately once every ten years. The 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, then the fall in 1989 of the Berlin Wall and, more recently, the terrorist attack on the World Trade Centre towers on 11 September 2001. Each one has defined its era. Together they have fashioned the world of uncertainty and fear in which we now live. First symptoms and then causes of major historical changes, these crises have undermined the established forms, methods and rules of the international order.
These crises have combined with globalisation to subject contemporary societies to changes of all kinds the cumulative effect of which has led to major evolutions or even transformations in the very nature of those societies. This state of affairs calls for new paradigms.
The President of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, was acutely aware of these background movements long before the tragedy of 11 September 2001 and had long drawn attention to the urgency of working to ward off the malaise and forge positive links between peoples and societies. Because the dialogue between peoples and cultures1 is based on the equal dignity of cultures, it seemed to him the most promising way of achieving this while avoiding any cultural relativism in terms of fundamental rights for each human being. On the basis of this starting point, he formulated two key questions:
How can we contribute to the emergence of a "society of peoples and cultures", alongside the society of states, in the Euro-Mediterranean area?
What shape should such a dialogue between cultures take, a dialogue conducted primarily among the peoples who inherit and pass on those cultures, bearing in mind that it should be governed by at least the three principles of equality, co-ownership and cross-fertilisation?
The Symposium on Intercultural Dialogue held on 20 and 21 March 2002 in Brussels was the occasion on which this political will was first expressed, and President Prodi took the opportunity to emphasise the need to rethink this dialogue, bearing in mind - in the words of the UNESCO Constitution - that "since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed".
“Ruptures”? The Iranian Islamic revolution, fall of the Berlin wall and the attacks of 9/11 are decadally spaced ruptures? No distinctions considered or made. Just periodic bumps on the rupture scale. At least the Richter scale has provision for variations in magnitude. No need for such complexity to be here considered. And I thought we Americans were the un-nuanced simpletons? Perhaps the term is used in its medical sense and refers to the combined European frontal cortices.
“. . . these crises have undermined the established forms, methods and rules of the international order. “ The fall of the Berlin wall was a crisis? I thought it was a triumph. A banner day for Truth, Justice and the American Way. But the Europeans think of it as a crisis equivalent to the “tragedy of 11 September 2001.”
“Tragedy”? The twin towers were felled, the Pentagon set ablaze and three-thousand human beings were incinerated and crushed by an earthquake? Meteorite or comet impact? Flood? Global warming? Solar flares? This was an act of war! Not tragedy! Can’t these people call even a single spade, a spade?
I will be forever grateful to Mr. Prodi, EU Commission President, for being “acutely aware of these background movements long before the tragedy of 11 September 2001” and for having “long drawn attention to the urgency of working to ward off the malaise and forge positive links between peoples and societies. “ About the only thing he and his cronies seem to have warded off is sanity and the only thing they’re forging are shackles for themselves.
“What shape should such a dialogue between cultures take. . .”? Doubtless the American and European answers to that question differ substantially in both form and content. I fail to see how Senator/Candidate Kerry’s answer of groveling before the European pacifists is one that Americans would find acceptable -- let alone preserve our freedom.
“President Prodi took the opportunity to emphasise the need to rethink this dialogue, bearing in mind - in the words of the UNESCO Constitution - that ‘since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed’”. Thus speaketh and thinketh the cradle of our civilization. The font of our wisdom. I shudder at the very thought of an American President succumbing to the temptation to bind our fate to that of such fools.
Peace at any price. Indeed.
Oh, and one more thing, if you ever see anything datelined "Brussels", I would suggest that you avoid reading it. Would most likely be dangerous to your mental, if not your physical health. I failed to adhere to this dictum and now look at the induced allergic reaction. Where's my Benadryl?
posted by Dennis Sevakis at 12:15:00 PM
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