Final Word from Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Speaker of the House Markéta Pekarová Adamová of TOP 09 told Czech TV on Mon. that the assassination attempt on Donald Trump shows that "you reap what you sow," given that Trump had himself incited violence at Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Instead of just dismissing this as an unfortunate or foolish comment, as some politicians on both sides did, it would be useful to ask Pekarová if this also applies in other situations. Did the West reap what it sowed in Ukraine, for example, by pressing ahead with Nato enlargement, as Trump has argued? He said a month ago that he really thinks the war started because Joe Biden was saying all the wrong things and that one of them was that Ukraine would join Nato. Or, as discussions on the Green Deal heat up in Prague, might it be fair to say that Europe is reaping what it sowed by trying to fight climate change and Russia at the same time? And if European governments start falling because of this, will they be reaping what they sowed? [ Czech Republic Television president elections ]
Glossary of difficult words
to reap - to cut or gather (a crop or harvest);
to sow - to plant (seed) by scattering it on or in the earth;
to reap what one sows - to have to face up to the consequences of one's actions;
to heat up - to become more active or intense.