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A few days on and I realised that my previous piece (see WR 138) could have created the wrong impression of me as the sort of ham-fisted person who craves for war or leadership. Don't ever contradict, I keep telling myself, but outline the consequences instead, as this will at the very least keep everyone occupied mentally, which in turn should soothe my community conscience for the time being - for should I lose any sleep over establishing that not enough people heed my words to make those who crave sound advice decide that this is, or is not, the right thing to do, urgently hoping all the while that the net yield from the exercise will be the awareness that it is difficult if not impossible objectively to measure commitment? I should know, for I've been trying for years to prove the opposite. However, it's not quite that simple in this particular case, in that I'm not sure whether it's alright for me to offset self-interest against a politically correct stance. You see, I recently learned from the papers that the USA intends to launch a boycott of French wines. This instantly provides you with two options for doing the right thing: you can either become an alcoholic (or remain one) because you want to bait the USA, or you can do the same in the knowledge that you're bailing out the French winegrowers. Notwithstanding my conviction that intellect and alcohol consumption go together as frequently as the former is lacking, I'm nevertheless convinced that this is one of those instances where contentment and discontent effortlessly mesh. And this is precisely what makes it so difficult selflessly to do the right thing, especially given that the Dutchman in me all of a sudden anticipates plummeting wine prices. And yet I'll keep looking. Although it hasn't yet become second nature to me to let European interests prevail over domestic ones, in addition to which I have to confess to being unfamiliar with the French version of occupational disability benefits, despite the sombre times we're going through I'm finding it hard from time to time to keep a straight face. |