In Germany, tabu had entered common parlance by the 20th Century, referring to things restricted by custom more so than law. They are the things that are implicitly excluded from society, rather than explicitly ban. They are unspoken of, unrecognised even. They are one of the tricks of human social interaction, and that is what makes them so mysterious.
Looking on what’s happening in Britain makes me increasingly dispirited and pessimistic. Already the politics in the country have turned utterly inwards – were it not for the fact she is leaving a European Union you’d have no idea Brexit had anything to do with the continent.
Europa is the home of difference and diversity, where new influences are not added to anything but clash and conflict with each other, fighting on the great Hegelian battleground of culture, creed and beliefs. The problem is of course, when this civic conflict of words, arguments, images and sounds becomes one of bullets and bayonets; it is then that we remember why we need a United Europa.
A gap between Britain and Europe is rapidly growing to become a chasm. And it is not just between the Island and the mainland, but within Britain as well. British identity is weakening. It has just rejected its European links, but in favour of Trump’s America? I hope not.
Europe is caught between a rock and a hard place, between an unbendingly centrist status quo, and increasingly unpleasant populism. The question remains; is there a way out for constitutional democracy?
The Chilcot Report highlights the series of similarities between the disaster in 1956 during the Suez Crisis, again during the Iraq War 2003, and finally the EU referendum, 2016.
The Union is incomplete – it is half-baked and poorly constructed. But worse, it is built upon deceit and the misleading of Europe’s peoples.
As we enter exam season, the blog must take a backseat whilst I redirect my attention and energies elsewhere. However before the hiatus, I present you with a quick update of recent news.
An unravelling of the EU would be a major setback for European civilisation, and could cause major shock waves across our geopolitical system – why we must avoid the disintegration of the Union at all cost.
Here I provide an essay I recently had to write regarding the reasons why the European Union is so much further integrated that other free-trade areas. In it can also be found nuggets of my beliefs as to why the Union should exist at all.
In Search of Europa 