Literature Network » Jonathan Swift

The erosion of national sovereignty.

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From: National Observer - Australia and World Affairs
Date: 20011222
Author:Gibbs, Harry

Jonathan Swift told the story of an island on which there was a spring whose water, when tasted, drove men mad. The water was so attractive that everyone drank it, except for one philosopher who was too wise to do so. In the end, however, the philosopher could not bear to be the only sane person left on the island and he too drank the water. Swift's point was that even the wisest person cannot free himself from the delusions of his time. The truth illustrated by that fable seems to me to provide as good an explanation as any for the fact that so many nations have bound themselves ...

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