José Ignacio Torreblanca on haiku and the sinking ship of Europe

The ship of Europe has plunged into a crisis which only strong leadership and decisive action can resolve. But instead it remains passive and threatens to sink, political scientist José Ignacio Torreblanca writes in the left-liberal daily El País: "Despite the repeated warnings the Economic and Monetary Union has collided with an iceberg in the middle of the night. Because its design doesn't incorporate mechanisms to deal with crises like the present one, unless decisive measures are taken the water will flood one compartment after another. However, like the President of the European Council Van Rompuy, who ... presented his book of haiku, those adorable little Japanese poems about the ephemeral nature of life and beauty, we Europeans prefer contemplation to action. And Rompuy's haiku poems play the same role as the Titanic's orchestra, which kept on playing right until the last minute: Whether it's Belgium or the monetary union that is sinking into the sea, at least they should do so with beauty."

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