"The feeling that contradictory truths exist, or that we can challenge our social groups, is accounted for by this notion of truth. Conflicting truths arise when two or more validating contexts have opposed meanings. For example, people may be torn between the desire to further the common welfare and the desire to protect self-interests (Brummett 35)."The European Union is having to deal with trying to balance the interests of individual nations with the idea of maintaining a common currency to help smaller European nations with transaction costs. The idea of the Euro began in an attempt to make trade easier between European countries that used each others exports. The Euro was meant to stabilize the markets of all the nations involved while providing a stable economy that would allow neighboring countries to loan money to each other as they needed it. It was originally a cyclical process and countries were able to pay each other back with relative ease. Within the last several years, the economies of many European countries have began to separate drastically, leaving the burden with the larger countries. The exports of Greece, Italy, and France have all declined drastically while Switzerland and Germany have actually had to put a cap on the appreciation of their exports so that other countries can afford their products. This has created a sharp divide in the European Union, with truth becoming relative based on economic situations (http://moneyland.time.com/2011/09/12/its-time-to-admit-the-euro-has-failed/).
The stronger countries are tired of continuously bailing out the smaller ones. To put it into perspective, Germany has loaned Greece the equivalent of the $700 billion plan that President Bush proposed here in the United States. As certain economies continue to fall, values cannot be accurately placed on the assets that companies have. This makes companies like AIG and Accenture nearly bankrupt because they cannot use their assets to offset their debt (http://newsflavor.com/politics/us-politics/what-is-an-economic-bail-out-and-what-does-it-mean/.) The truth as it would appear to Greece is completely different than the perspective of Germany, The Netherlands, or Switzerland.
Its also interesting to view this financial crisis from an idealist perspective. Richard Weaver would argue that the ideal would set the standard of the ultimate good, and it would be a fixed standard that decisions could be measured against. This is difficult, if not impossible, to apply to these circumstances. At what point does the truth shift from helping other countries to the idea of self preservation? The stronger countries have been helping the weaker ones for several years now, with no indication that they will regain stability. At what point does one country's perceived truth become more significant than the rest? The economies of European countries can certainly be measured, providing data that can produce concrete arguments from both sides.
This video shows arguments from both sides and demonstrates the relative truths that exist between countries. A capitalist economy is based on credit and debt, and the rotation of that exchange is what holds a country together. The public debt ratio is becoming too much in certain countries while the more stable ones cannot continue to support them. I honestly have no idea what the solution is, but I think this is a perfect example of the struggle between contradictory truths.
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