A Society Needs Something in Common

A strange idea has taken root in parts of Europe: that asking what we still have in common is somehow morally suspicious.

It is not. It is one of the most adult questions a society can ask.

Every functioning community relies on common rules, shared reference points and a minimum level of mutual obligation. That is how trust grows. That is how people accept inconvenience, taxation, compromise and the thousand small frustrations of life among strangers.

Difference can enrich a society. It cannot replace the glue. A country cannot be governed by diversity as if diversity were itself a plan. You still need language, institutions, manners, limits, expectations and a clear idea of what the common space is for.

Calling that bigotry is not brave. It is lazy.