Wednesday, October 05, 2011

2012, here we come.... (#12)

Jason O'Mahoney in Marketwatch yesterday:

"It’s kind of like being on a family safari: There’s a herd of elephants charging towards you, but your young kids just love the cute elephants and if you shoot them they’ll never forgive you. Yet if you don’t shoot them, there’s a very good chance the elephants will trample both you and your whole family. Welcome to the choices facing the leaders of the European Union."

Later in the article the author manoeuvres his elephantine prose into a new metaphor of impending yet (supposedly) avoidable calamity:

"There are some who argue that if Captain Smith had turned the Titanic into the iceberg and rammed it direct, the move would have damaged the ship but left it afloat while at the same time destroying his reputation. Today, Titanic would be a metaphor for a crazy captain who annoyed 2,223 passengers, instead of a maritime disaster. Europe’s leaders don’t need the benefit of historical hindsight. They can see the disaster coming and they know that the only way to save the ship is to go at it with overwhelming force, even if it destroys their political names in the process. The iceberg is looming out of the night. It’s time to decide."


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