How I see Europe

When I stop to look at the political climate of the UK I have a deep sense of foreboding dread. The ever expanding EU has resulted in a populous who are now living on each others door steps but not passing the time of day with each other. The indigenous population feels hard done by and the imported cultures feel victimised and unwanted. To an extent both sides are correct in their thinking, but neither are proposing any realistic solutions to the problem. There has been much written about the effects of immigration and I for one have become rather fatigued by both sides of the argument.

Europe is a very old place with a jumbled history and many contradictory ways of life. The two world wars at the start of the century have shaped it to such an extent that it can be argued we are still feeling the effects of them. The old guard of Europe, namely, Great Britain, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, & Germany have all have all been shaped by the the events of the early twentieth century and old rivalries are still very much apparent. How many times have you heard of people expressing their disdain for all things German? The joke shared between two Englishmen stating that "France is a lovely place. It's a shame it's full of French" is still met with much laughter. In my opinion this is a good thing as we can all make light of each others differences.

In Britain it is common knowledge that the rest of Europe views us as a nation who are proud to be a pain in the arse. Our present generation is notorious for being the worst behaved when on holiday and our delusion that every English sporting team is better than everyone elses is chortled at in equal to jokes about the Germans in England. A Dutch colleague often jokes that English teams are rubbish at their respective sport, but the English fans make up for it by winning their fights after each game. But we manage to get along and havent had any wars for a long time so I guess we must be doing something right.