Europe - the ancestor of America, probably the most powerful country in the world right now. Europe - a mixture... dare I say, a melting pot of cultures which span several millenia. We look at her history, her languages, the scenic views, and fall in love right away. We marvel at how a relatively small area Britain currently occupies used to span all continents except Antarctica. We marvel at how the French, currently typecasted by self-righteous, line-drawing Americans (among many others) as romantic yet overly lazy to survive in this harsh world, managed to colonize about half of Africa; even today, many Africans speak French, and some even regard themselves as French. As long as Europe's influence and presence continues to exist, so will our love for it. In fact, judging by how historians are, our love for Europe will continue to exist long after its demise (if that ever comes without necessitating the destruction of the rest of the world as well).

 

But at what cost, love? We gaze starry-eyed at European culture, but forget the blood strewn across those mosaic patterns. We forget how various ancient European empires such as Rome and the Byzantine Empire conquered many by crushing their opponents. We forget how Spain, France and Britain drove the slave trade on in the 15th to the 18th centuries. We forget how the slave trade is still going on in parts of Africa today. So I ask again: at what cost, love? Death and destruction?

 

We call our partners our "other halves", almost as if we were originally like East and West Germany, and only recently tore the Berlin wall down. Armed with this, we claim love is beautiful. We claim love is the sweet union of two mercilessly and unjustifiably divided people. This, however, is specious. No higher order dictated that we call our partners our "other halves". We coined this phrase; we beautified our love for each other. We colonize each other - Don Juan wannabes go to bars and return home (or proceed to a motel) with different women every time. Bimbotic chicks flaunt their assets to rich, older men. These people colonize other's hearts (or sexual organs), and virtually everyone else is envious of them. Why? Because by colonizing each other and building huge monuments to our ego is the only way to increase our self-esteem? Because we desire to convince ourselves that at the end of the day, we are not alone, or that we are better than others? Is that not why many European countries possess castles and cathedrals? Is that not why Portugal built a castle-fort in each African port it conquered? Is that not why Britain ventured off its island? Is that not why... we love? It seems then, that above all else, we love our god damned egos.