The Complicated Euro

The Complicated Euro

     During my lifetime, I can not think of a time where I thought the countries of Europe were seriously suffering. That statement has recently changed. It seems as though the European countries are having trouble with their currency. Catherine Mayer scrounged to find details that made the story in TIME Magazine named “Germany: Grappling with the Euro, and with Its Own Complicated History” worth reading.

Mayer expresses in her article the immediate importance of the decline in the worth of Europe’s main currency, the Euro. The Euro, which according to Wikipedia, is the second most traded currency next to the US dollar, has decreased in value. The same quote was used in several different articles on this issue: “If the euro fails, the Europe fails.” Chancellor Angela Merkel told her parliament on September 7^th while expressing her concern.

     The picture that was chosen to represent this story fits the story perfectly. It is a photograph of Germans scrambling about outside the European Central Bank dressed in business attire. The background is blurred and the sign of the Euro is very bright and attracts the reader’s attention. It is a beautiful picture. I wondered what the citizens are thinking. Also, how will this huge change in their life change them, their careers, and their life in general? Hopefully, the impact will not continue to grow. I hope the issue settles down miraculously, and everybody’s life will go back to normal. This is not what the Europeans are expecting, however.

     To get this story up to par, Catherine Mayer contacted the president of the ECB, the Chancellor, German citizens, business owners, CEO’s taxpayers, and anybody else who may make up the neighborhoods of Europe. She obtained several wonderful quotes, all adding significance to the article. She also worked very hard to learn each person’s viewpoint on the issue. Each person had something unique to add to the story. I’m sure she spent hours on the telephone, knocking on doors, and asking passerby’s for their input. With such an upstanding issue, everybody she would have encountered would be able to comment.

      By using statistics, she was able to add factual information that is vital to the story. She obtained these statistics by reading about other countries; she was able to make great comparisons. It was probably unusual for somebody in Germany to be comparing themselves to others in Greece for example. This is a new issue, new dealings, and new worries. The time it took Mayer to obtain this information is probably longer than I want to imagine. I am grateful for all of her hard work, as are the rest of her readers, because she was able to come up with a great article. One that is unforgettable is one that readers love to read. The word spreads about a good article, people begin reading, and in today’s society we get involved in the media. Without the media, would this issue even be an issue?

     More often than not, we love to read about hard news. Hard news and hard ledes keep our attention tighter. I think this article is a combination of hard news and soft news. The issue is hard, the article itself is not as hard. Mayer expresses the immediate importance for this issue. The quote stated by the ECB President jean-Claude Trichet said that this has been “the worst crisis since World War II.” The world can only hope that we never re-live that time again.

     Chancellor Angela Merkel’s quote is probably my favorite of all in this article. She says, “The euro is much, much more than a currency. The euro is the guarantee of a united Europe.” Germany is, in fact, at the epicenter of the world. Each country depends on Europe for different things. Europe needs, for the sake of its people, to remain united now and forever. I think that it is important for the world, and especially those with power in Europe, to work together to remain united. I believe that if everybody practices teamwork, there can be much improvement made.

     By reading some of the comments on this article, and other article’s on the same issue I was saddened a little. Several comments by readers point the blame in one certain direction. I feel that this is unfair to do. I believe that a series of devastating events have all helped to create this issue. To point the finger of anybody in one direction is wrong. No matter what country is examined, negative events can be found.

     The tone I found this article to take would have to be a nervous tone. “Germany is in the hot seat,” Catherine Mayer says a little ways into the story. She says that the peoples of the weaker euro zone countries have to be made to behave like sensible Germans. Later, the Greeks are discussed in a negative overtone. “I’m fed up with working hard sot he Greeks can sit in cafes and drink coffee with brandy all day”, Uli “grumbles.” Jens, a sausage vendor agrees by saying, “We’re slaving while Greece parties.” This isn’t a fair situation. As I stated earlier, I feel that teamwork is an important gesture to get the situation back to an acceptable standing.

     People of Europe have a negative attitude about the whole issue but it seems as though each person is looking to his or her left and right and waiting for somebody else to come up with a solution. The sausage vendor, Jens age 28, says Germany “worries too much about history and too little about the future.” Even if this is true, where are these thoughts getting anybody? What would happen to him, his business, and his country if the euro fails? Instead, I feel that business owners should be working together to make more jobs, save money but invest more, and spread knowledge.

     All of the issues mentioned in this story add up to a very unfortunate event that Europe will remember forever. I hope that the problems can be solved before they get even more out of hand. Catherine Mayer is a talented journalist who uses techniques to add emotion to her story. She chose great quotes that exemplify her own feelings. However, even with her own feelings expressed, her article is not biased. Donald Murray’s “line” shows form in this article, and therefore, the story is an interesting read.