????今夏的歐洲之行讓我看清了一些：歐洲對于保住歐元并無太多熱情。是的，解體會很痛。但看起來，歐洲南部一些弱國已經(jīng)覺得自己不再需要“歐洲”了。

????至少在我這個近期到過馬耳他、意大利、瑞士和比利時（甚至還有柏林機場）的人眼里，情況看起來就是這樣。這些歐洲人以自己身為馬耳他人和西西里島人倍感自豪。為自己是大歐洲的公民而自豪？談不上。

????歐元的確幫助了歐洲南部這些經(jīng)濟相對落后的國家。以西西里島為例，當布魯塞爾規(guī)定歐盟國家20%的電力須來自清潔能源，企業(yè)家和黑手黨都抓住了這個機會。媒體報道將西西里黑手黨稱作“風能的主人”，黑手黨大佬們也從布魯塞爾發(fā)放的逾56億歐元清潔能源補貼中分得了一杯羹（有些補貼可能在這場金融危機中化為烏有）。得益于這臨時性的饋贈，西西里島成了意大利風能發(fā)電最多的地區(qū)。不錯，有補貼發(fā)，總會有領補貼的人。

????但是，我遇到的很多人似乎并沒有把這些新的風電場、歷史古跡的游客中心以及高速公路看成是可以提供穩(wěn)定收入的“年金”投資。他們更多地把這看成是碰運氣：能贏一次就好，但也就這樣了。他們的態(tài)度總是：“好了，一切已經(jīng)結束了。誰在意呢？我要回到自己的生活中去了，謝謝”。在受強風侵襲的希臘小鎮(zhèn)安哥拉，一個人說：“我的家就是我的生命——就這么回事?！痹诎屠漳覇枺骸叭绻麣W元垮了，情況會很糟糕嗎？”一位30多歲男子的回答更直接：“沒那回事。為什么會很糟糕？”他挑釁地反問，顯然在他看來，我問這個問題就是出于偏見。

????與這些南歐人一樣，我相信大“歐洲”的最大受益者是德國和法國。沒有歐元，它們在全球最大經(jīng)濟體中的排名分列第四和第五。有歐元，它們是第一，歐元區(qū)的GDP規(guī)模是中國的3倍，比美國也高出幾萬億美元。歐元讓歐洲最強大的經(jīng)濟體具有了舉足輕重的地位——匯成了一股巨大的力量。

????因此，它們需要四面楚歌的南歐國家，包括意大利（世界經(jīng)濟排名：第八）和西班牙（世界經(jīng)濟排名：第十二）。

????如果歐盟解體，南歐將面臨太平洋投資管理公司（Pimco）分析師托尼?克雷森茲所說的“德拉克馬難題”，即以德拉克馬、里爾或比薩塔償還原先由歐元計價的債務將“極其”困難。

????但南歐經(jīng)濟的韌性或許超乎人們的想象。以西西里島最大的魚市所在地馬扎洛德爾瓦洛為例。西西里島的漁船數(shù)量是意大利最多的。西西里島最大的出口市場是哪里？不是歐元區(qū)兄弟法國或德國，而是日本。就算意大利脫離歐元區(qū)，只要西西里島的金槍魚是最好的，日本人還是會買。而在本地市場，今天夏天我看到的是漁民們把魚賣給他們認識的人，雙方握握手就達成了交易。他們自豪于這樣的本地經(jīng)濟，并不需要德國人參與其中。

????馬耳他給我的感覺是更像耶路撒冷或突尼斯（不像柏林）。西西里島地區(qū)呢？更像北非（不像米蘭）。如果要保住歐元，就需要建立更緊密的歐盟，這必定會緩慢、但不可避免地抹去這諸多文化差異。但這不是華山一條道。畢竟，12年前這里就存在17種不同的貨幣。當時也挺好。解體帶來的金融沖擊必定會伴隨著痛苦。但談到日常生活，我相信歐洲人能應對好，翻過這一篇。

????譯者：早稻米

????This summer trips to Europe opened my eyes to something: There's a lack of passion in Europe for keeping the euro. Yes, the pain of a breakup would be severe. But many of the poorer southerners of Europe don't seem to feel that they need "Europe" anymore.

????That, at least, is the way it appeared to me after spending time recently in Malta, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium -- and even the Berlin airport. These Europeans are proud of being Maltese and Sicilian. Proud of being citizens of greater Europe? Not so much.

????Sure, the euro has helped the poorer Southern European nations. Take Sicily: When Brussels mandated that European Union countries get 20% of their power from green sources, entrepreneurs -- and the Mafia -- jumped at the opportunity. Press reports refer to the Sicilian Mafia as "lords of the wind" after bosses took a piece of the more than $5.6 billion worth of green-related subsidies that Brussels doles out (some of those subsidies may fall victim to the financial crisis). As a result of the temporary largesse, Sicily is Italy's top producer of wind power. Hey, where there's a subsidy, there's a taker.

????Still, the people I crossed paths with didn't seem to think their new wind farms, visitor centers at historic sites, and motorways are annuities. They saw them more as a lottery: something nice to win once, but that's about it. The attitude was consistent: "Okay, this is over. Who cares? I'll go back to my life now, thanks." In the windswept hill town of Agira, Greece, one man said, "My family is my life -- that's it." In Palermo, the answer to my question "Would it be bad if the euro died?" from one thirtysomething man was even more direct: "No. Why would it be bad for us?" He asked it in a challenging way, making it clear, politely, that in his view I was biased even to ask the question.

????I believe, as do the southerners, that the biggest beneficiaries of "Europe" as a statelike concept remain Germany and France. Without the euro, they're No. 4 and No. 5, respectively, on the list of the world's biggest economies. With it, they're No. 1 -- triple the size of China and a couple trillion dollars in GDP ahead of the U.S. The euro keeps Europe's most powerful economies relevant -- in league with the juggernauts.

????So they need the much-maligned South -- including Italy (world economy rank: No. 8) and Spain(world economy rank: No. 12).

????If the European Union broke up, the South would suffer from "Drachmageddon": That's how Pimco's Tony Crescenzi describes the "exceedingly" difficult process of paying back debts that used to be in euros in drachmas, liras, or pesetas.

????But Europe's South is more economically resilient than you might think. Take Mazara del Vallo, home to Sicily's biggest fish market. Sicily's fishing fleet is Italy's biggest. The biggest export destination for Sicily? Not Euro-pals France or Germany, but Japan. If Italy left the euro, Japan would still buy Sicilian tuna if Sicilian tuna was the best. And closer to home, fishermen this summer were selling to men they knew, sealing the deal with a handshake. It's an economy that prides itself on being locally driven. They don't need the Germans for that.

????Right now, Malta to me still feels more like Jerusalem or Tunis than Berlin. Parts of Sicily? More like North Africa than Milan. A tighter European Union, which is needed for the euro to survive, would slowly but inevitably erase many of those cultural differences. But there is another way. After all, 12 years ago there were 17 separate currencies. That worked fine. The financial pain of breaking up this European marriage would hurt. But when it comes to daily life, I'm betting that Europe can handle it and move on.