Friday 9 December 2011

'Why NOT European Coordination?'

When we make use of our 'common cultural features' we are by definition excluding others. We are picking out those that serve our purposes, that tend to serve the interests of the group identified with those common cultural features, and we will at some point ignore or minimise the interests of those outside this group.

These identifications which seem so 'natural' to us now are part of the divisive processes of the culture we have grown up with..... ie are you male or female? married or unmarried? employed or unemployed? black/white/asian/etc? European is just another division that we have to overcome. If we want face to face meetings we could define the group by those who have time/money to travel, which matters as much as location. If I define myself as European then I begin to think like a European.

This is not a frivolous issue, this is fundamental to seeing the world as one family and all as my brothers and sisters. It may be more convenient organisationally to divide ourselves up into locations, but this is not about convenience. This is about stretching ourselves beyond the borders which have divided us, to see our commonalities as human beings.

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