EU’s European way of life policy is a mistake
In my understanding, the expression of the “European way of life” (Daniel Trilling, 20 September) is as diverse as its geography, regions, landscapes and cities and as dynamic as its long history of migrations.
From the Sahara to the Arctic circle, from the Tundra to the Atlantic Ocean, Europe exists as regions. Nation states are – in contrast – territorial. They tend to impose a “national” way of life on their citizens, centralising power. Since the 16th century they have fenced off their territories and fought wars to expand or defend them.
It was after the last of those wars that the European Union was created, to transcend the nationalisms that kept generating new wars. The regions within the nation states could breathe more freely, their ways of life, their cultures and their languages were more readily recognised and appreciated.
Excessive waste like “milk lakes” and “butter mountains” might have been teething problems, but the policy was part of an ideological imposition that made Brussels look like the capital of a new, super nation state.
I tend to agree with Trilling: imposing a “European way of life” does not protect Europe from nationalism; rather, it fuels it.
Henk Bak
Trentham, Victoria, Australia
Architectural planners need to chill out
With reference to Stephen Buranyi’s article on air conditioning, The Big Con, (6 September), I agree that our architects and urban planners have badly let us down. I’ve lived in the tropics for most of my adult life and I’ve never had an AC unit. In the desert we lived in adobe buildings that had a natural cooling property, in the Australian Outback we had large screened verandahs that naturally circulated air, and in Puerto Rico we either had a central open patio that sucked hot air up and out, keeping the corridors windy and cool, or, as in the present arrangement, we have lots of patios and terraces that face the prevailing trade winds or away from the sun.
Not only does “post planning” show a lack of responsibility for the disaster of global warming, passing the consequences of bad design to future generations, but it suggests all sorts of complacency in our attitudes to so many things we take for granted.
Perhaps society has lapsed into some form of cold addiction. Like any addiction, it is killing us in stages. Before it is too late, social planners should take matters in hand and bring us back to our senses.
Richard Druitt
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico
Criticism of Cameron overstates the case
John Harris rightly lambasts the performance of the Tories in recent times, in particular David Cameron. (20 September). But like many well-meaning polemicists of the progressive left, he goes too far. He criticises Cameron for his promises to limit immigration, shut bogus colleges, require foreign visitors to pay for NHS treatment, and to end free legal aid for immigrants accused of illegal entry to the country.
None of these define a political doctrine of the Tories. They are practical measures to address the real problems of overpopulation in Britain and exploitation of government services.
Overstating Harris’s case doesn’t make it stronger. It gives his opponents the excuse to portray the left as unreal and impractical.
Robert Horn
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Tracing the damage of Windrush deportations
The hostile environments article (20 September) on the Windrush generation, besides highlighting the almost vicious manner in which deportations were handled – viz an attempted deportation on Christmas Day, when the deportee had specifically asked to spend a last time with family – raises questions on how deportees are viewed in recipient countries.
From their point of view, anyone deported must be a criminal. This is one of the unintended, badly thought-out consequences of deporting people without due process and justification. It does not show the UK government in a good light.
Stephen Banks
Birmingham, UK
Poetry can bring distant events closer to home
Re: “The global heating crisis you haven’t heard of” (27 September). Gaia Vince writes, “Our lives affect, and are affected by, these tropical glaciers”. But those living thousands of kilometres away may disagree; Himalayan ice-loss can feel remote.
For the truth let’s turn to our poets. WH Auden said, “The glacier knocks in the cupboard.” He knew that seemingly distant calamities are not so distant after all.
Gideon Forman
Toronto, Canada
