The well known art historian and true committed European Philippe Daverio used to say that there is one only word echoing consistently across all European languages: “wine”! And this is not due to a universal inclination towards alcohol, but for a more spiritual reason: this linguistic uniformity emerged when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire, shipping “vinum” to altars throughout Europe for Eucharistic celebrations, even in regions where it was previously unfamiliar.
Recently, I have realized that there is also a second (and final) word resonating uniformly across all Western countries. This word is “Finance”.
Again, the linguistic coherence can be traced back to Latin roots. For the Romans, “Finis” denoted the land’s end, symbolizing the boundary between what is one’s own and what is considered foreign. In medieval times, “Finance” evolved into the skill of managing the border between one’s resources and those of others. One word to mean the activity of keeping and exchanging wealth.
From Italy (Finanza) to Sweden (Finansiera), from Portugal (Finança) to Poland (Finanse), from New York (Finance) to Moscow (Financy), Finance remains Finance. Anyone dealing with finance carries forward the idea of that subtle line (ie.: finis) that – at the same time – keeps apart what should be kept separate and allows the connection of what needs to be brought together.
It’s interesting to note that:
– these two universal words (ie.: wine and finance) are tied to what Yhuval Noah Harari identifies as the two most robust trust systems in the world: religion and money.
– in western culture Finance deals much more with dynamic idea of cross-border exchanges to create value, than with the concept of still wealthy. (Otherwise, looking into far eastern languages, Finance shows ethims root related to the possession of wealth in itself).
– Not all negotiations are financial, but Finance always includes resources exchange. So, Finance is always (also) a negotiation.
Photo: Barcelona, old financial office
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