It is the Europeans' right to be worried. One need only follow the cries for help on television screens, coming from beleaguered and troubled states. In recent months, there were voices saying that Europe had been hasty in embracing a union of this kind. Some believe that life under the Euro should have come about in gradual stages, and that the Germans shan't continue paying for the sloth of the Greek or of other Europeans, forever. It is the Europeans' right to be worried. There are armies of unemployed people all across the Old Continent. There is inflation and there is resistance by many segments of the population to the bitter medicines proposed by the governments to address the economic situation. The Europeans are finding it difficult to give up some of the welfare benefits hitherto provided by the state, but which now severely burden it. Meanwhile, pessimists speak of the aging continent and the decline of its economic weight, compared to the rapid rise of China, and that of the other Asian titans. The Europeans are facing serious problems that vary in severity from country to country. However, they in reality possess an effective weapon that can prevent their countries from sinking into total chaos or bloody violence. By this I mean the weapon of the institutions, which give European citizens the right to question and hold officials accountable, and introduce new faces and policies. This weapon can restore hope, renew wagers, and correct courses. It is the weapon of deferring to the ballot boxes and conceding their results. For no European politician would dare expropriate his post, forcibly extend his term in office, and disregard the people's decision to drive him out therefrom. Any attempt by such politician to falsify figures would only hasten his exist, and any attempt to invent enemies to cover up his failure would only be faced by severe punishment from the populace. These observations come to your mind as you follow, from Beirut, the progress of the French presidential election. The Lebanese then compare the course of the debate between Nicolas Sarkozy and Francois Hollande, on the one hand, and the vitriol of the political discourse in Lebanon, on the other. No candidate there would dare accuse his rival of being a traitor or a foreign agent. When Sarkozy accused Hollande of lying, the answer came firmly but politely as well. French institutions do not allow assassinations to become an instrument of settling electoral battles ahead of time or after the results come out. In democratic countries, people go to the ballot boxes to defend their interests and their rights. They go for a better life for themselves and their children. But in the beleaguered state, the fragility of the institutions renders the elections just another chapter of the civil war. We go and we vote for the past, for dusty vestiges and to renew our partisanships. We go as though the elections are an opportunity to repress others, to break their will, and abuse their rights and their aspirations. We defer to the ballot boxes, provided that the results come out in our favor, but we resort to force if they disappoint us instead. We observe elections elsewhere, and we become envious. There is a wide gap between us and them. We do not have real institutions, and our public opinion is only inflamed rather than showing insight, and observing and holding officials accountable. Our schools are backwards, and our universities spawn nervous men who do not believe in the need to respect others. I am thinking of the countries struck by the Spring. It is not enough for the tyrants to go. We need a cultural and intellectual revolution, and we need a modern education. We need institutions that can allow us to find stability and prosperity. For we live in societies that have no safety valves.
