According to the British press, the Euro hardly exists anymore. European countries - or as they like to call it - the "Eurozone" are destitute, people staging angry protests, imploring their leaders to abolish the Euro. I have a few things to say about that.First of all, Europe is not a zone. Just because Britain would not (or could not - remember those desperate John Major days when even hyper-interst inflation would not help) join in, does not make anybody else a "zone". It's like Cuba calling the US the "Democracy-zone".Secondly, more importantly, and probably totally outside the British "zone" of imagination: Europe isn't a sort of Poundstretcher shop where you go if you want something cheap. Europe is first and foremost a dream. Why should "The United States of Europe" be less feasible than the "United States of America", the beloved and only wished-for partner Britons would be happy with. (Shame, the US is both broke, and doesn't give a hoot about Britain.) So, why is "The United States of Europe" such anathema? "Oh, it would never work... the countries are too different". I see, but Florida and Alaska are quite similar are they? Red Necks in Minnesota really gel with New York metropolitans, do they? So that's not it. It is of course, as ever the fear of a powerful Germany. The perma-bind of British thinking that finds it impossible to get beyond the mindset of the Yalta conference.Few memories are more off-putting than a hysterical Margaret Thatcher screeching "No, no, no". Even the unspeakable Ian Paisley had more dignity with his infamous "Ulster says no"slogan.
But why always say "No" to everything which doesn't automatically translate into some grubby "And now we're quids in" thinking? Britain's attitude to the Euro is unfortunately typical of its general world-view. Like suspicious peasants who hate anything that smacks of idealism and has an intellectual underpinning, they nevertheless would like to go on a profiteering spree. When it looked as if the uniquely strange British housing market - with its hyper-inflated prices for something objectively worthless - could be extended into the Eurozone, Brits were not above to doing a few deals. Busloads of wannabe-Euro landlords turned up in far-flung countries like Bulgaria, gobbling up off-plan housing that never materialized. British pensioners flocked to bungalows in Spain, hoping to make a killing via the Euro. A very British way to participate at the wrong end of something which is outside their grasp.So the Euro is going through a difficult patch? So maybe it could have been forseen that Greece and Ireland didn't have the economic muscle of Germany and France? Big deal. Big intellectual insight. The Euro - being a common European currency is the first step towards a united, peaceful, and non-antagonistic Europe. A Europe without squabbling, internecine warfare, and tribalism - all of which are not just wrecking Britain atmospherically, but are also responsible for its abysmal economic performance. Saying "No" to everything is easy, but it is neither attractive, nor admirable. It's just sad.
I've been taking a blog break. I didn't visit my site at all, in fact I pretended I didn't have a blog (consequently I haven't looked at my blog roll either and haven't written any comments on my favourite blogs... apologies for that!)I just felt I needed a break from the relentless (if self-imposed) ritual of writing a post every other week.I have been thinking about blogging though, and why - for me - it's a chore rather than a pleasure. I hope that by reflecting about it, I can overcome my hesitations, and I'm also hoping for some tips - maybe from people who've been doing it for longer than me. The following are my thoughts, they're not complaints or rants, or anything serious - just some reflections.(1) I am still struggling with the formatting and layout. When I upload photos, it can still happen that my whole body-copy gets messed up and shaken around. That's defintely something I find discouraging... but of course I know this is my own fault and could be overcome by better know-how!(2) I am very very interested in my chosen "field". I find inter-/cross/-meta-cultural communication and everything related to it fascinating. However, this subject doen't easily find a like-minded community, like say Food, or History, or Photography. I therefore feel I lack community-support. Like I'm just writing about some odd-ball topic which people are happy to share to a certain extent, but don't find very relevant.(3) I'm not totally comfortable with the shifting balance of personal confession and purveying of information. I know some people are happy writing about their dog, husband, or innermost feelings. And that's perfectly alright. But that sort of public diary-confessional isn't me. I recently read a post which got 30 comments, almost all of which said "Great post, thank you for sharing". That's not what I want to do at all. But it's not possible to go all scientific, and technical because a blog just isn't the right format, and readers aren't sufficiently interested (quite rightly!) to go down that route with you. So for me, there remains an uneasy balance between information and confession.(4) Whilst a blog is your very own form of expression, and can in theory be written and designed however you want to, I feel that would be an imposition on my readers. It cannot for example, be terribly long. People would quite rightly switch off. Which means you have to talk about a subject which can easily be handled in bite-size pieces. Ideally with a short intro, a bit of banter, and own experience, and then rounded up with a question or statment at the end which makes readers want to comment. But a lot of interesting topics cannot be presented in such a way. Are they therefore unbloggable? I fear that's the case.(5) My last point, and by far the gravest, is the promoting of posts. I really really (and I mean really) dislike hawking my stuff around and getting on people's nerves. But there's so much pressure - after all the comments are what connects you to your readers, so you need to pull' em in. I have been very fortunate with my comments, and have often felt that the comments were more interesting than what I'd written. But that doesn't make the promoting any easier....How do you feel about blogging? Do you have similar concerns? Do you feel blogging is fun and worthwhile? I feel I could really do with some advice...
