The past couple of weeks have been punctuated by intense moments of hilarity and idiocy. The libertarian-values-espousing and self-styled newspaper Economist declared that it was time for Belgium to call it a day as “the country has become a freak of nature, a state in which power is so devolved that government is an abhorred vacuum. In short, Belgium has served its purpose. A praline divorce is in order.”
The inability of the Belgians to form a viable and stable governing coalition three months after elections only evinces the ironic axiomatic reality of Europe as a whole: for all their shared values and common european identity, they are unable to form a coherent political policy, i.e., a single voice. If the Belgians cannot get their act together, so to speak, can one realistically expect the europeans under the aegis of the European Union to speak and most importantly, act as one?
Having said this, why does the Economist focus on the Belgian political fracas while not commenting on the desire of the Scots to end their Union with England? Indeed, would not an independent Scotland with the euro in the E.U. be better served?