Vanity of vanities; all is vanity --- Mr. Esteban Gonzalez Pons offers, presumably from his sincerity, a metaphorical melange of ideas and idioms, on the 60th anniversary of the European Union. After articulating a list of problems, from his perspective, he sadly observes: “Europe is, however, for that reason the best solution and we do not know how to explain that to our citizens. Globalisation teaches us that today Europe is inevitable, there is no alternative.”

To position one’s argument as inevitable, without alternatives, is an undiplomatic position. It assumes an all-knowing understanding.

My response to this speech, despite any linguistic merits it may have, is to remind myself of the human capacity for vanity; as Blaise Pascal wrote: “Vanity is so secure in the heart of man that everyone wants to be admired - even I who write this, and you who read this."

Source author: John D. Hipsley jhipsley@igc.org