Swiss Think Tanks Speak Out
In a Thursday, 30 November 2006 "Ideas Fair" at Technopark Zurich, the Swiss political think tanks Avenir Suisse (i.e. "Swiss Future", group headed by Thomas HELD) and Liberales Institut(Robert NEF), together with a dozen groups with similar activities, presented their concepts for initiating political and economical reform in Switzerland. Among the central subjects discussed was the question why Switzerland is so much behind schedule - in contrast to many countries in Europe with a heavy socialist tradition - when it comes to break down state monopolies.
It was found that the multi-layer federalist system demands extremely fine-tuned long-term campaigning in order to win the confidence of voters. Political analyst Claude Longchamps pointed to example of the popular vote in 2004 on stem cell legislation - the most liberal in Europe - for the sometimes excellent results of a more technically than politically inspired campaigning. Martine Brunschwig-Graf, a liberal Congresswoman from Geneva, called for a serious effort to define liberalism as a "state of the mind" and for more encouragement for individual citizen to take risks, to succeed or to fail without beeing punished by rigid regulations.
There were calls for serene optimism for the national elections of 2007 among warnings of a slow but inexorable decline of the welfare state into general depression. It was a meeting that clearly showed the enormous difficulties to implement change in a system full of perfectly interconnected stakeholders on every possible level of political decisionmaking.
One participant privately talked of "Leibeigenschaft im Sozialstaat" ("wellfare state slavery")...
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Ποντίφικα επίσκεψη στην Κωνσταντινούπολη - Papa İstanbul trafiğini kilitledi
The following text has been found on the Turkish TV Channel ATV
Papa 16. Benedict'in İstanbul'u ziyareti sırasında yolların güvenlik nedeniyle kapatılması vatandaşa zor anlar yaşattı Tam anlamıyla arapsaçına dönen trafikte araçlarında uzun süre mahsur kalan İstanbullular saatler sonra yollarına devam edebildi
Simultaneously, Greek National TV reports as follows:
Είκοσι εφτά χρόνια μετά την τελευταία Ποντίφικα επίσκεψη στην Κωνσταντινούπολη, ο Πάπας Βενέδικτος ΙΣΤ έγινε θερμά δεκτός στο Φανάρι από τον Οικουμενικό Πατριάρχη Βαρθολομαίο. Σε μια ιστορική στιγμή για την πολυπόθητη ενότητα των εκκλησιών, οι κορυφαίοι πνευματικοί ηγέτες εκατομμυρίων πιστών συναντήθηκαν στην έδρα του Οικουμενικού Θρόνου. Προηγουμένως οι δυο θρησκευτικοί ηγέτες παρακολούθησαν μαζί τη δοξολογία στον Πατριαρχικό Ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου, προσκύνησαν από κοινού τα λείψανα των Αγίων Γρηγορίου του Θεολόγου και Ιωάννου του Χρυσοστόμου, και αντάλλαξαν θερμούς λόγους με την ευκαιρία του ιστορικού γεγονότος
Some 27 years after the last time a Pontiff had visited Istanbul, once known as Constantinople, Pope Benedict XVI was warmly welcomed Wednesday evening in Phanar by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew-"first among equals" of the leaders of the Orthodox Christian churches. In a landmark moment for the much-anticipated reconciliation of the two Churches, the spiritual leaders of millions of Christians held talks at the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Earlier, they had attended a mass at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, bowed to the holy relics of Saints John Chrysostom and Gregory and exchanged warm greetings on the occasion of such a momentous event.
It is comforting to see that for Turkey, the papal visit caused more problems on a practical (traffic) level than on religious grounds, whereas the relationship between
East and West Rome appeared to be more complex. The english translation of the Greek text contains a description of the Orthodox Patriarch which is not mentionned in the original: "first among equals". Has the english translation been manipulated for the use of those who do not understand Greek, in order to mark the difference of hierarchical status of the two church leaders?
Whatever the reasons for these linguistic contorsions, the most impressing phenomenon during the formal meeting, as shown on Greek TV, was the contrast between the impressive and wellarticulated, musical voice of Patriarch Batholomew and the thin voice and heavy German accent in the response (in English) of the Pope.
The following text has been found on the Turkish TV Channel ATV
Papa 16. Benedict'in İstanbul'u ziyareti sırasında yolların güvenlik nedeniyle kapatılması vatandaşa zor anlar yaşattı Tam anlamıyla arapsaçına dönen trafikte araçlarında uzun süre mahsur kalan İstanbullular saatler sonra yollarına devam edebildi
Simultaneously, Greek National TV reports as follows:
Είκοσι εφτά χρόνια μετά την τελευταία Ποντίφικα επίσκεψη στην Κωνσταντινούπολη, ο Πάπας Βενέδικτος ΙΣΤ έγινε θερμά δεκτός στο Φανάρι από τον Οικουμενικό Πατριάρχη Βαρθολομαίο. Σε μια ιστορική στιγμή για την πολυπόθητη ενότητα των εκκλησιών, οι κορυφαίοι πνευματικοί ηγέτες εκατομμυρίων πιστών συναντήθηκαν στην έδρα του Οικουμενικού Θρόνου. Προηγουμένως οι δυο θρησκευτικοί ηγέτες παρακολούθησαν μαζί τη δοξολογία στον Πατριαρχικό Ναό του Αγίου Γεωργίου, προσκύνησαν από κοινού τα λείψανα των Αγίων Γρηγορίου του Θεολόγου και Ιωάννου του Χρυσοστόμου, και αντάλλαξαν θερμούς λόγους με την ευκαιρία του ιστορικού γεγονότος
Some 27 years after the last time a Pontiff had visited Istanbul, once known as Constantinople, Pope Benedict XVI was warmly welcomed Wednesday evening in Phanar by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew-"first among equals" of the leaders of the Orthodox Christian churches. In a landmark moment for the much-anticipated reconciliation of the two Churches, the spiritual leaders of millions of Christians held talks at the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Earlier, they had attended a mass at the Patriarchal Church of St. George, bowed to the holy relics of Saints John Chrysostom and Gregory and exchanged warm greetings on the occasion of such a momentous event.
It is comforting to see that for Turkey, the papal visit caused more problems on a practical (traffic) level than on religious grounds, whereas the relationship between
East and West Rome appeared to be more complex. The english translation of the Greek text contains a description of the Orthodox Patriarch which is not mentionned in the original: "first among equals". Has the english translation been manipulated for the use of those who do not understand Greek, in order to mark the difference of hierarchical status of the two church leaders?
Whatever the reasons for these linguistic contorsions, the most impressing phenomenon during the formal meeting, as shown on Greek TV, was the contrast between the impressive and wellarticulated, musical voice of Patriarch Batholomew and the thin voice and heavy German accent in the response (in English) of the Pope.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Sunday, November 26, 2006
"Ausgebürgert" - Eine kulturelle Massenblutung"
Deutscher Text des Post von 2006, auf ausdrücklichen Wunsch aus den Reihen der Blogger-Gemeinde übersetzt von Osservatore Profano
In Nazi-Deutschland war rassische Reinheit das Kriterium für die Ausgrenzung, die Verfolgung und schliesslich die Vernichtung der Juden. Nach dem 2.Weltkrieg, wurde rassische Reinheit durch ideologische Reinheit ersetzt. Ethnische Reinheit erschien als Kriterium auf dem Balkan nach 1989. Religion ist das dominierende Ausgrenzungs-Kriterium geworden nach dem 11.September 2000. Die verzweifelte Suche nach "objektiven" Kriterien für die Ausgrenzung von Individuen und Gruppen scheint ein charakteristisches Phänomen in politischen Systemen zu sein, die in Auflösung begriffen sind. Hinter einer Nebelwand wechselnder Ideologien stehen häufig wirtschaftliche Motive. Das einfache Konzept des Klassenkampfes nach Karl Marx ist in 150 Jahren praktischer Experimente mit den Massen verfeinert und restrukturiert worden und erscheint dann zum Erstaunen jeder neuen Generation in einer neuen Maske.
Um die kulturelle Massenblutung, welche die Ausgrenzung aufgrund ideologischer Kriterien in der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, der DDR, ausgelöst hat, zu illustriere, zeige ich im Folgenden eine Liste von Künstlern, denen ihre Staatsbürgerschaft durch die DDR-Regierung in der Zeit zwischen 1949 und 1989, also bis zum Fall der Berliner Mauer, aberkannt wurde.
Sie stammt aus dem Katalog einer am Albertinum Dresden und 1991 in der Kleinen Deichtorhalle Hamburg veranstalteten Ausstellung, herausgegeben von Werner Schmidt bei Aragon, ISBN 3-87024-160-8.
Die Illustrationen dieses Blogs sind Werke von Klaus Staeck, einem der prominentesten Ausgebürgerten der untenstehenden Liste (http://www.klaus.staeck.de).
Klaus Staeck hat seine ätzende Kritik adn sozialer und politischer Heuchelei und Ungerechtigkeit nie aufgegeben und ist auch nach dem Verlassen der DDR in Westdeutschland ein unabhängiger "agent provocateur" geblieben. Sein Fall zeigt dass ausgebürgerte Künstler nicht automatisch in ihrer neuen Umgebung willkommen geheissen werden, aber selbst deren unwillkommenste Provokation ist ein wichtiger Beitrag zur kulturellen Entwicklung einer freien Gesellschaft.
"Ausgebürgert" - A Cultural Hemorrhage
In Nazi Germany, racial purity was the criterion for exclusion, prosecution and finally annihilation of the Jews. After World War II, racial purity was replaced by ideological purity. Ethnic purity appeared as a criterion in the Balkans after 1989. Religion has become the dominant discrimination criterion after September 11. The desperate search for "objective" criteria for the exclusion of individuals and groups appears to be characteristic phenomenon in disintegrating political systems. Behind the curtain of changing ideologies, economical reasons are most often present. The simplistic concept of class struggle defined by Karl Marx has been refined and restructured in 150 years of practical mass experiments and continues to reappear to the astonishment of the next generation under a new mask.
To illustrate the cultural hemorrhage that exclusion on ideological criteria caused to the former German Democratic Republic, here is a list of artists stripped of their citizenship by the GDR government between 1949 to 1989, i.e. until the downfall of the Berlin Wall.
It has been drawn from the catalogue of an exposition organized at the Albertinum Dresden and in 1991 at the Kleine Deichtorhalle Hamburg, edited by Werner Schmidt and published at Argon, ISBN 3-87024-160-8.
The Illustrations of this blog post are works of Klaus Staeck, one of the most prominent expatriates listed below ( http://www.klaus.staeck.de ). Klaus Staeck has never abandoned his acid criticism of social and political hypocrisy and injustice and has continued to be an independent "agent provocateur" in West Germany, after having abandoned the GDR in 1956. His case shows that expatriate artists are not automatically wellcome in their new environment, but even their most unwellcome provocation are an important contribution to cultural development of a free society.
Katherina Albert, Gerhardt Andrées, Helmut Apmann, Tina Apmann, Kerstin Arnold, Adline Assmann, Dorothe Aurich, Hermann Bachmann, Frank Badur, Ulrich Baehr, Meinhard Bärmich, Elfriede Bätz, Gerhard Bätz, Jan Bammes, Petra Bammes, Tina Bara, Ulrich Barnickel, Margarete Bartens, Friedrich Bartel, Dorte Bartky, Kurt Bartsch, Georg Baselitz, Martin Bauss, Gabriele Bechtle, Herbert Beck, Olaf Beck, Jan Bontjes van Beek, Norbert Behnk, Bernd Benedix, Karl-Heinz Benndorf, Peter Berndt, Dieter Otto Berschinski, Gert H.E. Beyer, Barbara Berthold-Metselaar, Bernd Bieder, Karlheinz Biederbick, Bärbel Biskop,
Christine Blei, Andreas Bliemel, Christine Bliemel, Michael Blumhagen, Hans-Joachim Bober, Andreas Boeckh, Hildegard Böhm, Rudolf Böhm, Maritta Böhme, Michael Böhme, Hanns Bönnighausen, Bernhard Bos, Bernhard Boeske, Peter Böttcher, Rainer Bonar (Lietzke), Thomas Gerd Bonfert, Hartmut Bonk, Harro Boos, Reinhard Boos, Jürgen Bordanowicz, Christian Brachwitz, Gottfried Bräunling, Hans-Otto Brambach, Heidi Brambach, Werner Brand, Andreas Brandt, Lutz Werner Brandt, Petra-Brandt-Herrmann,
Hans Breker a.k.a. Hans van Breek (his brother Arno Breker was a sciulptor cherished by the Nazis), Annette Brömsel, Hans Brosch, Dietrich Brüning, Astrid Büttner, Bernd Büttner, Dietmar Büttner, Kurt Bunge, Ernst Bursche, Barbara Cain, Detlef Carsten,
Rolf Christiansen, Vera Marie van Claer-Crodel, Matthias Creuziger, Carl Crodel, Christine Damerau, Lutz Dammbeck, Jonas Dangschat,Andreas Deckhardt, Michael Dehnert, Dagmar Denning, Klaus Dennhardt, Hans Holger Dettmann, Christina Diapari, Reinhard Dickel, Gunna Diehl, Helmut Diehl, Rolf Diess, Paul-Uwe Dietzsch, Dagmar Dimitroff,
Heinz Dinter, Susanne Doberschütz, Volker Döring, Martin Domke, Dottore (Wolfgang H. Lehmann), Dieter Dressler, Karl-Heinz Droste, Harald Eberlein, Rainer Tobias Ebert, Siegfried Eck, Albrecht Ecke, Andreas Eckardt,Friedrich Einhoff, Ulrich Eisenfeld, Klaus Elle, Margit Emmrich, Monika Engelhardt, Claudia Esch-Kenkel, Irina Esser,
Ulrich Ewald, Dorothea Eymess, Dirk Gerald Fabrian, Thomas Feldmann, Sabine-Feldtner-Horwarth, Conrad Felixmüller (1897-1974, member of the "Dresdner Sezession 1919", 40 of his works had been shown at the exposition "Entartete Kunst" in 1933), Henryk Fiedler, Karin Fiedler, Lutz Fiedler, Günter Firit, Birgit Fischer,
Heribert Fischer-Geising, Michael Flade, Marlis Flaig, Thomas Florschuetz, Christel Föllmer, Günter Föllmer, Ulrich Follmer, Sabine Franek-Koch, Thomas Franke, Antje Freiheit, Wolfgang Freitag, Fridolin Frenzel, Sofie Frenzel, Achim Freyer, Ilona Freyer, Lutz Friedel, Hartmut Friedrich, Jürgen Friedrich, Michael Friedrich, Georg Frietzsche, Norbert Fritsch, Horst Frörich, Elke Frühauf, Rainer Funck, Jürgen Gäbler, Harald Gallasch, Ginas Gass, Thomas Gatzemeier, Johannes Gebhardt, Eva Maria Geisler, Irino Georgio, Joseph Gerats, Siegfried Gerhardt, Joachim Gessner, Helmut Ginevra Weidenbach, Art Glöckner, Reinhard Glöde, Werner Goehle, Johann Görke, Erwin Görlach, Gerhard Görner, Christian Goetze, Ekkeland (Ekkehard) Götze, Eberhard Geier,
Hubertus von der Goltz, Ludwig Gosewitz, Detlef Gosselck, Jörg Gottschalk, Jürgen Gottschalk, Dietrich Grabas, Peter Grämer, Jürgen Grafe, Gotthard Graubner, Herbert Greif, Jürgen Grenzemann, Matthias Grimm, Raimund Gross, Helene Brigitte Grossmann,Hans Hendrik Grimmling, Reinhard Grütz,Traute Gruner, Andreas Grunert, Waldemar Grzimek, Otto Günther, Werner Günther, Hannelore Gutt, Ingo Haas, Jürgen Gustav Haase, Heinz Hadelich, Christina Hänsel, Claus Hänsel, Ingrid Hagedorn, Heidemarie Hagen, Reiner Hahn, Monika Hamann, Dieter Hanisch, Gudrun Hanisch, Monika Hanske, Natalie Harder, Ulrich Hartenstein, Claus Hartmann, Gertrud Hartmann, Horst Hartmann, Linde Hartmann, Manfred Hartmann, Ulrich Hartung, Reinhard Harz, Sigrid Haun, Florian Havemann (son of physicist Robert Havemann), Joachi Hawlik, Markus Hawlik, Bernhard Heiliger,Wolf Heinecke, Barbara Heinisch, Holm Heinke, Claudia Heinrich, Sabine Heinrich, Gerhard Helwig, Andreas Hentshel, Sibille Hentschel, Otto Herbig, Peter Hermann, Georg Herold, Marita Herold, Jürgen Herrmann, Peter Herrmann, Rolf Heym, Christine Hielscher, Elke Hildebrandt, Gero Hilliger, Hasso Hinke, Matthias Hintz, Barbara Hinz,Gabriele Hirsch, Gerhard Hoehme, Claus Hösselbarth, Anne Hoffmann, Bernd Hoffmann, Frank Hoffmann, Irene Hoffmann, Jörg Hoffmann, Hans Hoffmann-Lederer, Brunhild Hoffmann-Monnerjahn, Otto Hofmann, Rudolf Hofmann, Jean-Paul Hogère, Iris Hohlbein, Rüdiger Hohlbein, Matthias-Hohl-Stein, Ute Hoinkis,
Matthias Hollefreund, Georg Honerla, Barbara Honigmann, Georg Hornung, Ebergard Hückstädt, Regina Hückstädt, Ute Hünninger, Uta Hunninger, Harry Huster, Inge Jaeger-Linthoff, Wilhelm Jaeger, Jutta Jaehngen, Helmut Jagusch, Roland Jahn, Helga Jahnke, Kari Jarusch, Michael Jastram, Jürgen Jentzsch, Thomas Joachim, Peter Junghanss, Rudolf Kämmer, Sabine Kahane-Noll, Susanne Kahl, Dietrich Kahnert, Matthias Kaiser, Thomas Kaminksy, Ludwiga Kammerer, Detlev Karsten, Lilo Karsten, Thomas Karsten, Sabine Kauker, Stefan Kayser, Hans Kazzer, Andreas Kehler, Claudia Kenkel, Wolfgang Kenkel, Ralf Kerbach, Ina Kerkhoff, Georg Kern a.k.a. Georg Baselitz, Jürgen Kessler, Matthias Kessler, Lutz Ketscher, Stefanie Ketzscher, Jens Kilian, Hermann Kirchberger (1905-1983), Herbert Kitzel, Mareile Kitzel, Dieter Klass, Christa Klatt, Hans J.Kleinhammes, Peter Klube, Gustav Kluge, Hans-Dieter Kluge, Ulrich Knispel, Hans-Joachim Knobloch, Wolfgang Knorr, Ruth Koban, Peter Kober, Rolf König, Hans Körnig, Lisbeth Körnig, Wolfgang Koethe, Lutz Kommalein, Thomas Koppenhagen, Andreas Kopylowski-White, Dieter Koswig, Peter Kothe, k Passant (Stefan Kayser), Wera Krafft, Günter Kraska, Klaus-Dieter Krause, Rainer Krienke, Rainer Kriester, Peter Krüger, Eckehard Krummel,Ulrich Kubiak, Brigitte Kühlewind, Kattrin Kühn, Renate Kühn, Henning Kürschner, Manfred Küster, Ursula Küster, Volker Küster, Gebhard Kütbach, Fridun Kuhle, Wolfgang Kuhle, Joachim Kuhlmann, Alois Kuhn, Hans-Jürgen Kummer, Steffen Kunert, Susanne Kunjappu-Jellinek, Dieter Kunz, Ludwig Kunze, Helmut Lander, Fred Lang, Wilfried Lange, Johannes Lebek,Gottfried Legler, Wolfgang G.Lehmann (a.k.a. Dottore), Helge Leiberg, Lutz Leibner, Udo Lenkisch,
Rudolf Leonhard (Born 1910, exiled in 1955. Had been been denounced by a colleague after a professional dispute with Conrad Felixmüller), Sabine Lessig, Andreas Leupold, Matthias Leupold, Via Lewnadowsky, Werner Lichtner-Aix, André Liebscher,
Frank Rainer Liebscher, Hans-Jürgen Linge, Sabine Linge, Hans-Michael Linke, Karin Lobedann, Jutta Löffler, Christian Löser, Christian Löwenstein, Roger Loewig, Manfred Lohse, Peter Lohse, Rainer Luck, Thomas Ludwig, Wolfgang Ludwig, Lusici (Dietrich Schade), Renate Maak-Voigt, Jutta de Maizière, Wilfried Manthei, Georg Manthey, Horst de Marées (1896-1988), Ruth Markmann, Bernd Markowsky, Gerhard Markwald, Klaus-Reinhardt Marx, Willi Mathay, Friederike May, Claudia May Barthel, Günter Meck, Wilfried Meder, Gert Meier, Thomas Meinicke, Walther Meinig (1902-1987), Annemone Meisel, Eckardt Meisel, Jürgen Mesik, Christian Mewes, Fritz Meyer, Winfried Mikolajczyk, Dietmar Milke, Karl-Heinz Moeller, Steffi Mönich, Gerhard Moll, Sabine Molter, Gisela Moritz, Klaus Moritz, Astrid Mosch, Christiana Mucha, Andreas J.Müller,Frank Müller, Frithjof Müller, Knut Müller, Marion Müller, Thomas Müller, Ursula Müller, Brigitte Narasimhan-Bundtzen, Carla Naumann, Dieter Naumann, Dieter Nentwig, Jutta Nentwig, Karin Nenz, Hans Neubert, Martin Neufert, Sabine Neumann,
Thomas Neumann, Werner Neumeister, Emilia Nikolowa-Beier, Wolfgang Nieblich, Dieter Noack, Hans Noll, Barbara Nonnenbruch, Jörg Olberg, Karl Oppermann, Gerd Otto, Günter Otto, Helmut Otto, Ulrich Otto, Joachim Palm, Gottfried Pank, Ullrich Pannendorf, Thomas Pantke, Karl Papesch, Eva Paul, Thorsten Paul, Siegfried Paulhardt, A.R.Penck (Ealf Winkler), Gerhard Petri, Werner Petzold, Hans-Christian Pfeiler, Ulrich Pietzsch, Karin Plessing, Heinz Plier, Ruth Plier, PLON (Jürgen Jentzsch), Klaus Poche, Sieghard Pohl, Dieter Pohlers, Nora (Doris) Pollatschek-Jeitner, Walter Pomikalko, Maria Sibylla Ponizil, Christine Prinz (Christine Hänsel), Friedrike Prusky, Günther Prusky, Wolf Raimann, Sigrid Reeckmann, Thea Reichardt, WernerReifarth, Andreas Reinhardt, Wolfgang Reinke, Günter Reinz, Peter Rensch, Annegret Richter, Gerd Richter, Gerhard Richter, Jürgen Richter, Rolf Richter, Roswitha Richter, Bernd Ringel, Hildegard Risch, Horst Ritzert, Christian Roeckenschuss, Frank Rödel, Karl Rödel (1907-1982), Karl-Hermann Roehricht, Leoni Roehricht, Harald Röhrig, Martina Röhrig, Ralf-Peter Rösner, Gerhard Rohn, Cornelia Rohne, Joh.-Christian Rost, Gudrun Roth, Valentin Rothmaler, Rotraut, Reinhard Roy, Eve Rub, Frank Rub, Frank Ruckhäberle, Siegfried Rudolf, Fritz Rübbert, Angelika Rübesamen, Gisela Rüger, Thomas Rug, Ekkehard Ruthenberg, Ellen Sachtleben, Barbara Sander, Ernemann F.Sander, Eberhard Sasse, Gertraud Schaar, Dietrich Schade, Karlheinz Schäfer, Emanuel Scharfenberg, Bernd Schaudinnus, Udo Scheel, Wolfram Adalbert Scheffler, Hans-Jürgen Scheib, Ursula Scheib, Lothar Schelhorn, Linde Scheller-Freudenberg, Bernd Scheubert, Einar Schleef, Christine Schlegel, Cornelia Schleime, Gil Schlesinger, Bernd Schlothauer, Alfred Schmidt, Inge Schmidt, Peter-Michael Schmidt,Peter Schmiedel, Torsten Schneider, Gisela Schnelle, Helmut Schobbert, Doris Schober, Hans Georg Schöne, Eugen Schönbeck, Jörg Schötzau, Petra Schötzau, Wolfgang Scholz, Ute Schreiber, Ernst Schroeder, Annette Schröter, Erasmus Schröter, Jochen Schröter, Peter Schubert, Werner Schubert-Deister, Jens Schubring,
Ernst Schütte (1890-1951), Frank Schult, Hans-Joachim Schulze, Joachim-Fritz Schultze, Brigitte Schuster, Rolf Schuster, Eckardt Schwandt, Petra Schwandt, Oliver Schwarz, Vera Schwelgin, Eberhard Schwenk, Eva Schwimmer, Karl-Henning Seemann, Hans-Joachim Seidel, Jan Seifert, Gustav Seitz (1906-1969), Elisabeth Selle, Gertraud Senf, Roger David Servais, Waltraud Servais, Hans-Martin Sewez, Eva Sickert, Doris Sidor, Henryk Sidor, Georg Siebert, Gerdt Marian Siewert, Frank Silberbach, Klaus Simon, Gerald Sippel, Tatjana Sitte-Schaarschmidt, Sibylle Sommer, Kristina Sonnenberg, Hans Speidel, Hans Sperschneider, Ragna Sperschneider, Klaus Staeck,
Rolf Staeck, Brigitte Stamm, Annette Stams, Reinhard Stangl, Katja-Regina Staps, Klaus Staps, Wolfgang Stark, Fritz Stehwien, Hans Stein, Volker Stelzmann, Holle Stentzel, Hildegund Stibenz, Otto Stich, Falk-Ullrich Stiller, Gabriele Stirl, Max Jürgen Stock, Dagmar Stoev, Elmar Stolinski, Rainer Stoltz, Stefan Stolze, Horst Strempel,
Else Sturm-Lindner, Darja Süssbier, Wolfgang Sulek, Peter Sykora, Rolf Szymanski, TERK, Sabine Teucher, Wolfgang Teucher, Ines-Thate Keler, Christiane Theise, Norbert Thiel, Gudrun Thiele, Susanne Tischewski, Bärbel Töpfer, Peter Töpfer, Enzo Toffolutti, Hans Tombrock, Petra Trautwein, Carl Friedrich Treber, Max Treizschke,
Gero Troike, Günther Uecker, Conrad Ufer (Joachim, geb. Conrad), Gerhard Ullmann,
Günter Ullmann, Peter Umlauf, Detlef Uttikal, René Vinke, Karl-Heinz Viol, Nora Vocke, Klaus Völker, Klaus Vogelsang, Herbert Volwahsen, Thomas Wachweger, Michael Wackwitz, Katharina Wagner, Kurt Wallstab, Pan Walther, Annette Wandrer, Gerd Wandrer, Rainer Weber, Peter Wegner, Dieter Weidenbach, Gustav Weiss, Ute Weiss-Leder, Erich Wellhöfer, Ekhard Werner, Gerd Werner, Herd Hermann Werner, Thomas Wetzel, Margot Wiener-Wendschuh (born 1927, father Holocaust victim, herself target of antisemitic agitation in RDA from 1951 on), Monika Wilimzig (born Hanske),
Brigitte Willbarth, Ralf Winkler (a.ka. A.R.Penck), Dieter Winzer, Kurt Woelke, Manfred Woitischek, Christina Wolfgramm, Franziska Wosnitza, Klaus von Woyski, Luise Monika Wünsche, Ralph Wünsche, Andreas Zausch, Heidemarie Zehmisch (born Garde) Beate Zeiss, Dieter Zöllner, Heiko Zolchow, Sabine Zotter, Michael Zschocher.
Deutscher Text des Post von 2006, auf ausdrücklichen Wunsch aus den Reihen der Blogger-Gemeinde übersetzt von Osservatore Profano
In Nazi-Deutschland war rassische Reinheit das Kriterium für die Ausgrenzung, die Verfolgung und schliesslich die Vernichtung der Juden. Nach dem 2.Weltkrieg, wurde rassische Reinheit durch ideologische Reinheit ersetzt. Ethnische Reinheit erschien als Kriterium auf dem Balkan nach 1989. Religion ist das dominierende Ausgrenzungs-Kriterium geworden nach dem 11.September 2000. Die verzweifelte Suche nach "objektiven" Kriterien für die Ausgrenzung von Individuen und Gruppen scheint ein charakteristisches Phänomen in politischen Systemen zu sein, die in Auflösung begriffen sind. Hinter einer Nebelwand wechselnder Ideologien stehen häufig wirtschaftliche Motive. Das einfache Konzept des Klassenkampfes nach Karl Marx ist in 150 Jahren praktischer Experimente mit den Massen verfeinert und restrukturiert worden und erscheint dann zum Erstaunen jeder neuen Generation in einer neuen Maske.
Um die kulturelle Massenblutung, welche die Ausgrenzung aufgrund ideologischer Kriterien in der ehemaligen Deutschen Demokratischen Republik, der DDR, ausgelöst hat, zu illustriere, zeige ich im Folgenden eine Liste von Künstlern, denen ihre Staatsbürgerschaft durch die DDR-Regierung in der Zeit zwischen 1949 und 1989, also bis zum Fall der Berliner Mauer, aberkannt wurde.
Sie stammt aus dem Katalog einer am Albertinum Dresden und 1991 in der Kleinen Deichtorhalle Hamburg veranstalteten Ausstellung, herausgegeben von Werner Schmidt bei Aragon, ISBN 3-87024-160-8.
Die Illustrationen dieses Blogs sind Werke von Klaus Staeck, einem der prominentesten Ausgebürgerten der untenstehenden Liste (http://www.klaus.staeck.de).
Klaus Staeck hat seine ätzende Kritik adn sozialer und politischer Heuchelei und Ungerechtigkeit nie aufgegeben und ist auch nach dem Verlassen der DDR in Westdeutschland ein unabhängiger "agent provocateur" geblieben. Sein Fall zeigt dass ausgebürgerte Künstler nicht automatisch in ihrer neuen Umgebung willkommen geheissen werden, aber selbst deren unwillkommenste Provokation ist ein wichtiger Beitrag zur kulturellen Entwicklung einer freien Gesellschaft.
"Ausgebürgert" - A Cultural Hemorrhage
In Nazi Germany, racial purity was the criterion for exclusion, prosecution and finally annihilation of the Jews. After World War II, racial purity was replaced by ideological purity. Ethnic purity appeared as a criterion in the Balkans after 1989. Religion has become the dominant discrimination criterion after September 11. The desperate search for "objective" criteria for the exclusion of individuals and groups appears to be characteristic phenomenon in disintegrating political systems. Behind the curtain of changing ideologies, economical reasons are most often present. The simplistic concept of class struggle defined by Karl Marx has been refined and restructured in 150 years of practical mass experiments and continues to reappear to the astonishment of the next generation under a new mask.
To illustrate the cultural hemorrhage that exclusion on ideological criteria caused to the former German Democratic Republic, here is a list of artists stripped of their citizenship by the GDR government between 1949 to 1989, i.e. until the downfall of the Berlin Wall.
It has been drawn from the catalogue of an exposition organized at the Albertinum Dresden and in 1991 at the Kleine Deichtorhalle Hamburg, edited by Werner Schmidt and published at Argon, ISBN 3-87024-160-8.
The Illustrations of this blog post are works of Klaus Staeck, one of the most prominent expatriates listed below ( http://www.klaus.staeck.de ). Klaus Staeck has never abandoned his acid criticism of social and political hypocrisy and injustice and has continued to be an independent "agent provocateur" in West Germany, after having abandoned the GDR in 1956. His case shows that expatriate artists are not automatically wellcome in their new environment, but even their most unwellcome provocation are an important contribution to cultural development of a free society.
Katherina Albert, Gerhardt Andrées, Helmut Apmann, Tina Apmann, Kerstin Arnold, Adline Assmann, Dorothe Aurich, Hermann Bachmann, Frank Badur, Ulrich Baehr, Meinhard Bärmich, Elfriede Bätz, Gerhard Bätz, Jan Bammes, Petra Bammes, Tina Bara, Ulrich Barnickel, Margarete Bartens, Friedrich Bartel, Dorte Bartky, Kurt Bartsch, Georg Baselitz, Martin Bauss, Gabriele Bechtle, Herbert Beck, Olaf Beck, Jan Bontjes van Beek, Norbert Behnk, Bernd Benedix, Karl-Heinz Benndorf, Peter Berndt, Dieter Otto Berschinski, Gert H.E. Beyer, Barbara Berthold-Metselaar, Bernd Bieder, Karlheinz Biederbick, Bärbel Biskop,
Christine Blei, Andreas Bliemel, Christine Bliemel, Michael Blumhagen, Hans-Joachim Bober, Andreas Boeckh, Hildegard Böhm, Rudolf Böhm, Maritta Böhme, Michael Böhme, Hanns Bönnighausen, Bernhard Bos, Bernhard Boeske, Peter Böttcher, Rainer Bonar (Lietzke), Thomas Gerd Bonfert, Hartmut Bonk, Harro Boos, Reinhard Boos, Jürgen Bordanowicz, Christian Brachwitz, Gottfried Bräunling, Hans-Otto Brambach, Heidi Brambach, Werner Brand, Andreas Brandt, Lutz Werner Brandt, Petra-Brandt-Herrmann,
Hans Breker a.k.a. Hans van Breek (his brother Arno Breker was a sciulptor cherished by the Nazis), Annette Brömsel, Hans Brosch, Dietrich Brüning, Astrid Büttner, Bernd Büttner, Dietmar Büttner, Kurt Bunge, Ernst Bursche, Barbara Cain, Detlef Carsten,
Rolf Christiansen, Vera Marie van Claer-Crodel, Matthias Creuziger, Carl Crodel, Christine Damerau, Lutz Dammbeck, Jonas Dangschat,Andreas Deckhardt, Michael Dehnert, Dagmar Denning, Klaus Dennhardt, Hans Holger Dettmann, Christina Diapari, Reinhard Dickel, Gunna Diehl, Helmut Diehl, Rolf Diess, Paul-Uwe Dietzsch, Dagmar Dimitroff,
Heinz Dinter, Susanne Doberschütz, Volker Döring, Martin Domke, Dottore (Wolfgang H. Lehmann), Dieter Dressler, Karl-Heinz Droste, Harald Eberlein, Rainer Tobias Ebert, Siegfried Eck, Albrecht Ecke, Andreas Eckardt,Friedrich Einhoff, Ulrich Eisenfeld, Klaus Elle, Margit Emmrich, Monika Engelhardt, Claudia Esch-Kenkel, Irina Esser,
Ulrich Ewald, Dorothea Eymess, Dirk Gerald Fabrian, Thomas Feldmann, Sabine-Feldtner-Horwarth, Conrad Felixmüller (1897-1974, member of the "Dresdner Sezession 1919", 40 of his works had been shown at the exposition "Entartete Kunst" in 1933), Henryk Fiedler, Karin Fiedler, Lutz Fiedler, Günter Firit, Birgit Fischer,
Heribert Fischer-Geising, Michael Flade, Marlis Flaig, Thomas Florschuetz, Christel Föllmer, Günter Föllmer, Ulrich Follmer, Sabine Franek-Koch, Thomas Franke, Antje Freiheit, Wolfgang Freitag, Fridolin Frenzel, Sofie Frenzel, Achim Freyer, Ilona Freyer, Lutz Friedel, Hartmut Friedrich, Jürgen Friedrich, Michael Friedrich, Georg Frietzsche, Norbert Fritsch, Horst Frörich, Elke Frühauf, Rainer Funck, Jürgen Gäbler, Harald Gallasch, Ginas Gass, Thomas Gatzemeier, Johannes Gebhardt, Eva Maria Geisler, Irino Georgio, Joseph Gerats, Siegfried Gerhardt, Joachim Gessner, Helmut Ginevra Weidenbach, Art Glöckner, Reinhard Glöde, Werner Goehle, Johann Görke, Erwin Görlach, Gerhard Görner, Christian Goetze, Ekkeland (Ekkehard) Götze, Eberhard Geier,
Hubertus von der Goltz, Ludwig Gosewitz, Detlef Gosselck, Jörg Gottschalk, Jürgen Gottschalk, Dietrich Grabas, Peter Grämer, Jürgen Grafe, Gotthard Graubner, Herbert Greif, Jürgen Grenzemann, Matthias Grimm, Raimund Gross, Helene Brigitte Grossmann,Hans Hendrik Grimmling, Reinhard Grütz,Traute Gruner, Andreas Grunert, Waldemar Grzimek, Otto Günther, Werner Günther, Hannelore Gutt, Ingo Haas, Jürgen Gustav Haase, Heinz Hadelich, Christina Hänsel, Claus Hänsel, Ingrid Hagedorn, Heidemarie Hagen, Reiner Hahn, Monika Hamann, Dieter Hanisch, Gudrun Hanisch, Monika Hanske, Natalie Harder, Ulrich Hartenstein, Claus Hartmann, Gertrud Hartmann, Horst Hartmann, Linde Hartmann, Manfred Hartmann, Ulrich Hartung, Reinhard Harz, Sigrid Haun, Florian Havemann (son of physicist Robert Havemann), Joachi Hawlik, Markus Hawlik, Bernhard Heiliger,Wolf Heinecke, Barbara Heinisch, Holm Heinke, Claudia Heinrich, Sabine Heinrich, Gerhard Helwig, Andreas Hentshel, Sibille Hentschel, Otto Herbig, Peter Hermann, Georg Herold, Marita Herold, Jürgen Herrmann, Peter Herrmann, Rolf Heym, Christine Hielscher, Elke Hildebrandt, Gero Hilliger, Hasso Hinke, Matthias Hintz, Barbara Hinz,Gabriele Hirsch, Gerhard Hoehme, Claus Hösselbarth, Anne Hoffmann, Bernd Hoffmann, Frank Hoffmann, Irene Hoffmann, Jörg Hoffmann, Hans Hoffmann-Lederer, Brunhild Hoffmann-Monnerjahn, Otto Hofmann, Rudolf Hofmann, Jean-Paul Hogère, Iris Hohlbein, Rüdiger Hohlbein, Matthias-Hohl-Stein, Ute Hoinkis,
Matthias Hollefreund, Georg Honerla, Barbara Honigmann, Georg Hornung, Ebergard Hückstädt, Regina Hückstädt, Ute Hünninger, Uta Hunninger, Harry Huster, Inge Jaeger-Linthoff, Wilhelm Jaeger, Jutta Jaehngen, Helmut Jagusch, Roland Jahn, Helga Jahnke, Kari Jarusch, Michael Jastram, Jürgen Jentzsch, Thomas Joachim, Peter Junghanss, Rudolf Kämmer, Sabine Kahane-Noll, Susanne Kahl, Dietrich Kahnert, Matthias Kaiser, Thomas Kaminksy, Ludwiga Kammerer, Detlev Karsten, Lilo Karsten, Thomas Karsten, Sabine Kauker, Stefan Kayser, Hans Kazzer, Andreas Kehler, Claudia Kenkel, Wolfgang Kenkel, Ralf Kerbach, Ina Kerkhoff, Georg Kern a.k.a. Georg Baselitz, Jürgen Kessler, Matthias Kessler, Lutz Ketscher, Stefanie Ketzscher, Jens Kilian, Hermann Kirchberger (1905-1983), Herbert Kitzel, Mareile Kitzel, Dieter Klass, Christa Klatt, Hans J.Kleinhammes, Peter Klube, Gustav Kluge, Hans-Dieter Kluge, Ulrich Knispel, Hans-Joachim Knobloch, Wolfgang Knorr, Ruth Koban, Peter Kober, Rolf König, Hans Körnig, Lisbeth Körnig, Wolfgang Koethe, Lutz Kommalein, Thomas Koppenhagen, Andreas Kopylowski-White, Dieter Koswig, Peter Kothe, k Passant (Stefan Kayser), Wera Krafft, Günter Kraska, Klaus-Dieter Krause, Rainer Krienke, Rainer Kriester, Peter Krüger, Eckehard Krummel,Ulrich Kubiak, Brigitte Kühlewind, Kattrin Kühn, Renate Kühn, Henning Kürschner, Manfred Küster, Ursula Küster, Volker Küster, Gebhard Kütbach, Fridun Kuhle, Wolfgang Kuhle, Joachim Kuhlmann, Alois Kuhn, Hans-Jürgen Kummer, Steffen Kunert, Susanne Kunjappu-Jellinek, Dieter Kunz, Ludwig Kunze, Helmut Lander, Fred Lang, Wilfried Lange, Johannes Lebek,Gottfried Legler, Wolfgang G.Lehmann (a.k.a. Dottore), Helge Leiberg, Lutz Leibner, Udo Lenkisch,
Rudolf Leonhard (Born 1910, exiled in 1955. Had been been denounced by a colleague after a professional dispute with Conrad Felixmüller), Sabine Lessig, Andreas Leupold, Matthias Leupold, Via Lewnadowsky, Werner Lichtner-Aix, André Liebscher,
Frank Rainer Liebscher, Hans-Jürgen Linge, Sabine Linge, Hans-Michael Linke, Karin Lobedann, Jutta Löffler, Christian Löser, Christian Löwenstein, Roger Loewig, Manfred Lohse, Peter Lohse, Rainer Luck, Thomas Ludwig, Wolfgang Ludwig, Lusici (Dietrich Schade), Renate Maak-Voigt, Jutta de Maizière, Wilfried Manthei, Georg Manthey, Horst de Marées (1896-1988), Ruth Markmann, Bernd Markowsky, Gerhard Markwald, Klaus-Reinhardt Marx, Willi Mathay, Friederike May, Claudia May Barthel, Günter Meck, Wilfried Meder, Gert Meier, Thomas Meinicke, Walther Meinig (1902-1987), Annemone Meisel, Eckardt Meisel, Jürgen Mesik, Christian Mewes, Fritz Meyer, Winfried Mikolajczyk, Dietmar Milke, Karl-Heinz Moeller, Steffi Mönich, Gerhard Moll, Sabine Molter, Gisela Moritz, Klaus Moritz, Astrid Mosch, Christiana Mucha, Andreas J.Müller,Frank Müller, Frithjof Müller, Knut Müller, Marion Müller, Thomas Müller, Ursula Müller, Brigitte Narasimhan-Bundtzen, Carla Naumann, Dieter Naumann, Dieter Nentwig, Jutta Nentwig, Karin Nenz, Hans Neubert, Martin Neufert, Sabine Neumann,
Thomas Neumann, Werner Neumeister, Emilia Nikolowa-Beier, Wolfgang Nieblich, Dieter Noack, Hans Noll, Barbara Nonnenbruch, Jörg Olberg, Karl Oppermann, Gerd Otto, Günter Otto, Helmut Otto, Ulrich Otto, Joachim Palm, Gottfried Pank, Ullrich Pannendorf, Thomas Pantke, Karl Papesch, Eva Paul, Thorsten Paul, Siegfried Paulhardt, A.R.Penck (Ealf Winkler), Gerhard Petri, Werner Petzold, Hans-Christian Pfeiler, Ulrich Pietzsch, Karin Plessing, Heinz Plier, Ruth Plier, PLON (Jürgen Jentzsch), Klaus Poche, Sieghard Pohl, Dieter Pohlers, Nora (Doris) Pollatschek-Jeitner, Walter Pomikalko, Maria Sibylla Ponizil, Christine Prinz (Christine Hänsel), Friedrike Prusky, Günther Prusky, Wolf Raimann, Sigrid Reeckmann, Thea Reichardt, WernerReifarth, Andreas Reinhardt, Wolfgang Reinke, Günter Reinz, Peter Rensch, Annegret Richter, Gerd Richter, Gerhard Richter, Jürgen Richter, Rolf Richter, Roswitha Richter, Bernd Ringel, Hildegard Risch, Horst Ritzert, Christian Roeckenschuss, Frank Rödel, Karl Rödel (1907-1982), Karl-Hermann Roehricht, Leoni Roehricht, Harald Röhrig, Martina Röhrig, Ralf-Peter Rösner, Gerhard Rohn, Cornelia Rohne, Joh.-Christian Rost, Gudrun Roth, Valentin Rothmaler, Rotraut, Reinhard Roy, Eve Rub, Frank Rub, Frank Ruckhäberle, Siegfried Rudolf, Fritz Rübbert, Angelika Rübesamen, Gisela Rüger, Thomas Rug, Ekkehard Ruthenberg, Ellen Sachtleben, Barbara Sander, Ernemann F.Sander, Eberhard Sasse, Gertraud Schaar, Dietrich Schade, Karlheinz Schäfer, Emanuel Scharfenberg, Bernd Schaudinnus, Udo Scheel, Wolfram Adalbert Scheffler, Hans-Jürgen Scheib, Ursula Scheib, Lothar Schelhorn, Linde Scheller-Freudenberg, Bernd Scheubert, Einar Schleef, Christine Schlegel, Cornelia Schleime, Gil Schlesinger, Bernd Schlothauer, Alfred Schmidt, Inge Schmidt, Peter-Michael Schmidt,Peter Schmiedel, Torsten Schneider, Gisela Schnelle, Helmut Schobbert, Doris Schober, Hans Georg Schöne, Eugen Schönbeck, Jörg Schötzau, Petra Schötzau, Wolfgang Scholz, Ute Schreiber, Ernst Schroeder, Annette Schröter, Erasmus Schröter, Jochen Schröter, Peter Schubert, Werner Schubert-Deister, Jens Schubring,
Ernst Schütte (1890-1951), Frank Schult, Hans-Joachim Schulze, Joachim-Fritz Schultze, Brigitte Schuster, Rolf Schuster, Eckardt Schwandt, Petra Schwandt, Oliver Schwarz, Vera Schwelgin, Eberhard Schwenk, Eva Schwimmer, Karl-Henning Seemann, Hans-Joachim Seidel, Jan Seifert, Gustav Seitz (1906-1969), Elisabeth Selle, Gertraud Senf, Roger David Servais, Waltraud Servais, Hans-Martin Sewez, Eva Sickert, Doris Sidor, Henryk Sidor, Georg Siebert, Gerdt Marian Siewert, Frank Silberbach, Klaus Simon, Gerald Sippel, Tatjana Sitte-Schaarschmidt, Sibylle Sommer, Kristina Sonnenberg, Hans Speidel, Hans Sperschneider, Ragna Sperschneider, Klaus Staeck,
Rolf Staeck, Brigitte Stamm, Annette Stams, Reinhard Stangl, Katja-Regina Staps, Klaus Staps, Wolfgang Stark, Fritz Stehwien, Hans Stein, Volker Stelzmann, Holle Stentzel, Hildegund Stibenz, Otto Stich, Falk-Ullrich Stiller, Gabriele Stirl, Max Jürgen Stock, Dagmar Stoev, Elmar Stolinski, Rainer Stoltz, Stefan Stolze, Horst Strempel,
Else Sturm-Lindner, Darja Süssbier, Wolfgang Sulek, Peter Sykora, Rolf Szymanski, TERK, Sabine Teucher, Wolfgang Teucher, Ines-Thate Keler, Christiane Theise, Norbert Thiel, Gudrun Thiele, Susanne Tischewski, Bärbel Töpfer, Peter Töpfer, Enzo Toffolutti, Hans Tombrock, Petra Trautwein, Carl Friedrich Treber, Max Treizschke,
Gero Troike, Günther Uecker, Conrad Ufer (Joachim, geb. Conrad), Gerhard Ullmann,
Günter Ullmann, Peter Umlauf, Detlef Uttikal, René Vinke, Karl-Heinz Viol, Nora Vocke, Klaus Völker, Klaus Vogelsang, Herbert Volwahsen, Thomas Wachweger, Michael Wackwitz, Katharina Wagner, Kurt Wallstab, Pan Walther, Annette Wandrer, Gerd Wandrer, Rainer Weber, Peter Wegner, Dieter Weidenbach, Gustav Weiss, Ute Weiss-Leder, Erich Wellhöfer, Ekhard Werner, Gerd Werner, Herd Hermann Werner, Thomas Wetzel, Margot Wiener-Wendschuh (born 1927, father Holocaust victim, herself target of antisemitic agitation in RDA from 1951 on), Monika Wilimzig (born Hanske),
Brigitte Willbarth, Ralf Winkler (a.ka. A.R.Penck), Dieter Winzer, Kurt Woelke, Manfred Woitischek, Christina Wolfgramm, Franziska Wosnitza, Klaus von Woyski, Luise Monika Wünsche, Ralph Wünsche, Andreas Zausch, Heidemarie Zehmisch (born Garde) Beate Zeiss, Dieter Zöllner, Heiko Zolchow, Sabine Zotter, Michael Zschocher.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
"Ausbürgern" (stripping of citizenship): Stalinist and Nazi methods of social control reinvented by Swiss right-wing populists
Osservatore Profano, in a recent blog (From gender discrimination to gender war), reported on a gang rape of a 13 year old school girl in Switzerland, as an example for aggressive behaviour in male adolescents. Now, as media reports on the sociological background of the involved gang have shown, a majority of them are Swiss citizen of East European origin and appear to be poorly integrated. The Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei SVP) of the Canton of Zurich, in an newspaper ad published today, demands the stripping of the Swiss citizenship forcitizen of foreign origin who show criminal behaviour, as one of several political measures to stop adolescent violence. According to SVP, "adolescent violence has a name - it is synonymous to criminality by foreigners".
Criminal behaviour by poorly integrated foreigners from countries with atavistic moral codes left over from pre-industrial, pre-modern times is a real problem of growing importance, not only in Switzerland. Improving methods for integration of foreigners has been a central subject recently, in political discussions throughout our country, on the local level as well as on the level of federal legislation and authorities.
But while naming the problem, analyzing the underlying mechanisms and preparing and implementing measures (prevention, criminal investigation, prosecution, regular trials and execution of penalties) are desirable and necessary, the idea to strip individuals with aberrant and/or criminal behaviour of their citizenship is a totalitarian method used e.g. by the staunchly stalinist authorities of the German Democratic Republic(RDA). During nearly 40 years, it was current practice in the RDA to strip artists who did not comply to the rules imposed by the regime of their citizenship. One of the most prominent victims of the RDA's tradition of dumping unruly citizens was German singer and poet Wolf Biermann.
Far from being an invention of the post-war communist regime in Berlin-East, stripping of citizenship had been used as a method of systematic reprisal by both the Soviets and the Nazis regime during the Thirties To strip a person of her citizenship was part of the preparatory scheme of the Holocaust.
Among the expatriates from Nazi Germany stripped of their citizenship: author Bertolt Brecht, theater director Erwin Piscator and Thomas Mann's children Erika and Klaus.
Dumping unwanted citizens may be an economic way to get rid of social problems, according to the old proverb that says: "Aus den Augen, aus dem Sinn" - "Out of sight, out of mind". This may be useful for a demented single person in serious difficulty, but it is an inappropriate method for a modern state. Dumping citizens is comparable to dumping toxic waste on African shores (see earlier blog post by Osservatore Profano).
Osservatore Profano, in a recent blog (From gender discrimination to gender war), reported on a gang rape of a 13 year old school girl in Switzerland, as an example for aggressive behaviour in male adolescents. Now, as media reports on the sociological background of the involved gang have shown, a majority of them are Swiss citizen of East European origin and appear to be poorly integrated. The Swiss People's Party (Schweizerische Volkspartei SVP) of the Canton of Zurich, in an newspaper ad published today, demands the stripping of the Swiss citizenship forcitizen of foreign origin who show criminal behaviour, as one of several political measures to stop adolescent violence. According to SVP, "adolescent violence has a name - it is synonymous to criminality by foreigners".
Criminal behaviour by poorly integrated foreigners from countries with atavistic moral codes left over from pre-industrial, pre-modern times is a real problem of growing importance, not only in Switzerland. Improving methods for integration of foreigners has been a central subject recently, in political discussions throughout our country, on the local level as well as on the level of federal legislation and authorities.
But while naming the problem, analyzing the underlying mechanisms and preparing and implementing measures (prevention, criminal investigation, prosecution, regular trials and execution of penalties) are desirable and necessary, the idea to strip individuals with aberrant and/or criminal behaviour of their citizenship is a totalitarian method used e.g. by the staunchly stalinist authorities of the German Democratic Republic(RDA). During nearly 40 years, it was current practice in the RDA to strip artists who did not comply to the rules imposed by the regime of their citizenship. One of the most prominent victims of the RDA's tradition of dumping unruly citizens was German singer and poet Wolf Biermann.
Far from being an invention of the post-war communist regime in Berlin-East, stripping of citizenship had been used as a method of systematic reprisal by both the Soviets and the Nazis regime during the Thirties To strip a person of her citizenship was part of the preparatory scheme of the Holocaust.
Among the expatriates from Nazi Germany stripped of their citizenship: author Bertolt Brecht, theater director Erwin Piscator and Thomas Mann's children Erika and Klaus.
Dumping unwanted citizens may be an economic way to get rid of social problems, according to the old proverb that says: "Aus den Augen, aus dem Sinn" - "Out of sight, out of mind". This may be useful for a demented single person in serious difficulty, but it is an inappropriate method for a modern state. Dumping citizens is comparable to dumping toxic waste on African shores (see earlier blog post by Osservatore Profano).
Royalism and Socialism - A Contradiction?
To the astonishment of many profesional observers, Ségolène Royal has emerged as the queen of the socialist camp in France. The conservative views on family values expressed by this unmarried mother of four and compagnon of party chief François Hollande have won the confidence of an impressing majority of 61% of the party electorate. If she had been married in a traditional way to François Hollande, she
might have been considered an alien because of her husband's unfamiliar family name, but "Royal" appears to be an excellent trademark these days in socialist circles. Why is there no contradiction between socialism and royalism? History teaches us that monarchs have always tended to suppress individual initiatives and preferred to venture into what is called "Les grands projets". François Mitterand was the perfect incarnation of this monarcho-socialist approach to political power, and his "grands projets", from the "Grand Arche de la Défense" to the "Bibliothèque Nationale" are proof of the quest for "grandeur de la nation", for representation.
Socialists easily succomb to the seductive charm of "grand projets", to the phenotypical equality that monarchism seems to provide. In tiny Switzerland, the turbulent history of the Canton of Neuchâtel, a one-time Prussian duchy that became a full member of the Swiss Confederation as late as 1857, after several attempts to maintain monarchist rule between 1814 and 1856, the affinity between socialists and royalists
was evident throughout the conflict. Even in the late 20th century, modern socialist "Neuchâtelois" were proud to evoke their royalist traditions in private conversations.
Intelligent socialist leaders never touch monarchist privileges, and the "grand projets" are their "opium for the people".
This socialist support for "grandeur" is one of the fundamental problems of classical liberalism. Once socialist majorities are established, it is extremely difficult to fight them because of the visibility of big public spending for "grand projets". Liberals who are brave enough to oppose the most extravagant "grand projets" easily become victims of media critique for lacking the sense for representation by the state that appears to be "good for everyone",
Ségolène Royal's chances to be elected are therefore linked to her capacity to give a sense of "grandeur" to the nation's ego much more than to her political concepts or to her gender. Senior right-wing condottiere Le Pen, still a possible presidential candidate for the extreme right, used to make Jeanne d'Arc
his point of reference in France's glorious history, but Mme Ségolène clad in shimmering Royal Armour could easily overshadow "La Pucelle".
If she wins, public spending on "grand projets" certainly will not suffer...
On the other hand, if the winner is Nicolas Sarkozy, chances for abandoning the quest for "grandeur de la nation" are minimal.To be elected, Sarkozy needs the support of the entire Gaullist establishment, and who would be fool enough to deny to the late General Charles de Gaulle the honour of being a "republican monarch".
To the astonishment of many profesional observers, Ségolène Royal has emerged as the queen of the socialist camp in France. The conservative views on family values expressed by this unmarried mother of four and compagnon of party chief François Hollande have won the confidence of an impressing majority of 61% of the party electorate. If she had been married in a traditional way to François Hollande, she
might have been considered an alien because of her husband's unfamiliar family name, but "Royal" appears to be an excellent trademark these days in socialist circles. Why is there no contradiction between socialism and royalism? History teaches us that monarchs have always tended to suppress individual initiatives and preferred to venture into what is called "Les grands projets". François Mitterand was the perfect incarnation of this monarcho-socialist approach to political power, and his "grands projets", from the "Grand Arche de la Défense" to the "Bibliothèque Nationale" are proof of the quest for "grandeur de la nation", for representation.
Socialists easily succomb to the seductive charm of "grand projets", to the phenotypical equality that monarchism seems to provide. In tiny Switzerland, the turbulent history of the Canton of Neuchâtel, a one-time Prussian duchy that became a full member of the Swiss Confederation as late as 1857, after several attempts to maintain monarchist rule between 1814 and 1856, the affinity between socialists and royalists
was evident throughout the conflict. Even in the late 20th century, modern socialist "Neuchâtelois" were proud to evoke their royalist traditions in private conversations.
Intelligent socialist leaders never touch monarchist privileges, and the "grand projets" are their "opium for the people".
This socialist support for "grandeur" is one of the fundamental problems of classical liberalism. Once socialist majorities are established, it is extremely difficult to fight them because of the visibility of big public spending for "grand projets". Liberals who are brave enough to oppose the most extravagant "grand projets" easily become victims of media critique for lacking the sense for representation by the state that appears to be "good for everyone",
Ségolène Royal's chances to be elected are therefore linked to her capacity to give a sense of "grandeur" to the nation's ego much more than to her political concepts or to her gender. Senior right-wing condottiere Le Pen, still a possible presidential candidate for the extreme right, used to make Jeanne d'Arc
his point of reference in France's glorious history, but Mme Ségolène clad in shimmering Royal Armour could easily overshadow "La Pucelle".
If she wins, public spending on "grand projets" certainly will not suffer...
On the other hand, if the winner is Nicolas Sarkozy, chances for abandoning the quest for "grandeur de la nation" are minimal.To be elected, Sarkozy needs the support of the entire Gaullist establishment, and who would be fool enough to deny to the late General Charles de Gaulle the honour of being a "republican monarch".
Thursday, November 23, 2006
The condom question - is the Vatican ready to kick the habit of adoration of a rubber fetish?
According to recent media leaks from the Vatican, the Pope is considering to lift the ban on the use of condoms for those married heterosexual couples where one partner is HIV-positive, as a means to reduce the danger of infection for the healthy partner. Who would benefit from such a gracefully offered minimal exception from the general rule? The answer is as simple as it is cruel:
wealthy people living in developped countries with excellent public health systems which garantee the availability of clinical pathology resources, testing for HIV-status plus determination of HIV viral load at regular intervals, support financing of antiviral drugs, provide professional counselling and therapeutic outcome measurements etc.etc.
For the rest of the world, nil.
To the profane observer, the fact that the Vatican considers the absence of sexual activities not directly linked to procreation as the only irrefutable proof of human purity produces a depressive effect, to say the least. Ironically, the obstinate prosecution of the condom as material representation of evil by theological dignitaries of male sex is nothing short of fetishism. It might be helpful for the credibility of the Catholic Church and the Christian Oecumene as a whole, if the CEO of the most successful global player in the faith industry could persuade his subordinates (or vice versa) to kick the habit of paradoxical adoration of the rubber fetish...
According to recent media leaks from the Vatican, the Pope is considering to lift the ban on the use of condoms for those married heterosexual couples where one partner is HIV-positive, as a means to reduce the danger of infection for the healthy partner. Who would benefit from such a gracefully offered minimal exception from the general rule? The answer is as simple as it is cruel:
wealthy people living in developped countries with excellent public health systems which garantee the availability of clinical pathology resources, testing for HIV-status plus determination of HIV viral load at regular intervals, support financing of antiviral drugs, provide professional counselling and therapeutic outcome measurements etc.etc.
For the rest of the world, nil.
To the profane observer, the fact that the Vatican considers the absence of sexual activities not directly linked to procreation as the only irrefutable proof of human purity produces a depressive effect, to say the least. Ironically, the obstinate prosecution of the condom as material representation of evil by theological dignitaries of male sex is nothing short of fetishism. It might be helpful for the credibility of the Catholic Church and the Christian Oecumene as a whole, if the CEO of the most successful global player in the faith industry could persuade his subordinates (or vice versa) to kick the habit of paradoxical adoration of the rubber fetish...
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Downgrading the Male - from Gender Discrimination to Gender War?
Filelefteros has never made a secret of his gender: male. But reading the Sunday, November 19, 2006 edition of the "NZZ am Sonntag", the author of this blog has become aware of a conflict that may become one of the most virulent subjects of disussion soon.
To cite only a selection olf subjects treated in the Swiss sunday newspaper:
1. The question why a male leopard killed his longtime female partner in a surprise
attack at the "Dählhölzli" zoo of Swiss federal capital Berne
2. a discussion on the role of a surplus of men in a population in violent behaviour (e.g. in the Palestinian territories)
3. An analysis of the recent case of repeated gang rape of a 13 year old school girl by a group of at least 12 school boys aged 15 to 18 in Zurich, videotaped by one of the presumed aggressants on a cellular phone. One of the key elements brought forward in the analysis: at high school level, male youths tend to be outperformed by girls who are better motivated to sit down, to learn and to comply with educational demands and objectives, while their male classmates see their perspective for the future dwindling and tend to recur to violent behaviour which is enhanced by peer group pressure
4. The proposal of a parliamentary committee for a fundamental change in Swiss federal legislation on family names which would permit the choice of a child's name exclusively to the mother if no agreement was reached by both parents
5. The fact that in the person of Ségolène Royal, a female candidate for the presidency was nominated for the first time in the history of the "République Française", amidst acid remarks by defeated male contenders like former ministers Jack Lang, Laurent Fabius and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and to the apparent irritation of Royal's partner and father of her 4 children, Socialist party chief François Hollande.
But even more symptomatic perhaps is the fact that this nomination earned the immediate cordial applause of Swiss socialist party chief Hans Jürg Fehr and harsh critique by the (male) chief of Swiss socialist youth organization.
The central questions that arises from such subjects are the following: is the gender balance of our society, instead of following it's course of elimination of gender discrimination, shifting from authoritarian male dominated structures to towards another, female domination? Are policy makers and legislators aware of the impact of a fundamental swing in gender relations? Will males be able to adapt to this swing? Will males become more violence-prone in such a process? What will be the role of religious communities in the process?
One thing is clear: the election of a female president in France would represent a major step away from the institutional discrimination against women that had started with the French Revolution, as documented by the suppression of the movement of Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793)- cf. Textes fondateurs des droits humains - and ended a period of relative freedom of (upper class) women during the age of enlightenment les Femmes de l'Ancien Régime>
and never ended throughout the 19th century despite pictorial documents telling another story
Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863): La liberté guidant le peuple, 1830. Paris, Musée du Louvre
There is a fine line between gender discrimination and equal rights.The challenge which our society faces is to be aware of that line.
Filelefteros has never made a secret of his gender: male. But reading the Sunday, November 19, 2006 edition of the "NZZ am Sonntag", the author of this blog has become aware of a conflict that may become one of the most virulent subjects of disussion soon.
To cite only a selection olf subjects treated in the Swiss sunday newspaper:
1. The question why a male leopard killed his longtime female partner in a surprise
attack at the "Dählhölzli" zoo of Swiss federal capital Berne
2. a discussion on the role of a surplus of men in a population in violent behaviour (e.g. in the Palestinian territories)
3. An analysis of the recent case of repeated gang rape of a 13 year old school girl by a group of at least 12 school boys aged 15 to 18 in Zurich, videotaped by one of the presumed aggressants on a cellular phone. One of the key elements brought forward in the analysis: at high school level, male youths tend to be outperformed by girls who are better motivated to sit down, to learn and to comply with educational demands and objectives, while their male classmates see their perspective for the future dwindling and tend to recur to violent behaviour which is enhanced by peer group pressure
4. The proposal of a parliamentary committee for a fundamental change in Swiss federal legislation on family names which would permit the choice of a child's name exclusively to the mother if no agreement was reached by both parents
5. The fact that in the person of Ségolène Royal, a female candidate for the presidency was nominated for the first time in the history of the "République Française", amidst acid remarks by defeated male contenders like former ministers Jack Lang, Laurent Fabius and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and to the apparent irritation of Royal's partner and father of her 4 children, Socialist party chief François Hollande.
But even more symptomatic perhaps is the fact that this nomination earned the immediate cordial applause of Swiss socialist party chief Hans Jürg Fehr and harsh critique by the (male) chief of Swiss socialist youth organization.
The central questions that arises from such subjects are the following: is the gender balance of our society, instead of following it's course of elimination of gender discrimination, shifting from authoritarian male dominated structures to towards another, female domination? Are policy makers and legislators aware of the impact of a fundamental swing in gender relations? Will males be able to adapt to this swing? Will males become more violence-prone in such a process? What will be the role of religious communities in the process?
One thing is clear: the election of a female president in France would represent a major step away from the institutional discrimination against women that had started with the French Revolution, as documented by the suppression of the movement of Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793)- cf. Textes fondateurs des droits humains - and ended a period of relative freedom of (upper class) women during the age of enlightenment les Femmes de l'Ancien Régime>
and never ended throughout the 19th century despite pictorial documents telling another story
Eugène Delacroix (1798-1863): La liberté guidant le peuple, 1830. Paris, Musée du Louvre
There is a fine line between gender discrimination and equal rights.The challenge which our society faces is to be aware of that line.
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Mutual Extinction?
The never-ending violence between the state of Israel and it's neighbours, the Palestinians, carries the risk of mutual extinction of two nations that could contibute to economic prosperity and cultural enrichment of the Middle East and of the entire Mediterranean. Looking at contributing factors to the continuing inability of both the government of Israel and the Palestinian authority to reach durable bilateral agreements, financial support by third parties emerges as first line elements. The motives for this support for one or the other side are multiple: friendship, religious attachment, fundamentalism, geopolitical power play etc. etc... How much time would it take for the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach agreements on the most important issues for their respective populations if there were no financial support from the United States, the oil-producing Arab countries, from religious communities or the United Nations? Osservatore Profano's guess: One year.
The never-ending violence between the state of Israel and it's neighbours, the Palestinians, carries the risk of mutual extinction of two nations that could contibute to economic prosperity and cultural enrichment of the Middle East and of the entire Mediterranean. Looking at contributing factors to the continuing inability of both the government of Israel and the Palestinian authority to reach durable bilateral agreements, financial support by third parties emerges as first line elements. The motives for this support for one or the other side are multiple: friendship, religious attachment, fundamentalism, geopolitical power play etc. etc... How much time would it take for the Israelis and the Palestinians to reach agreements on the most important issues for their respective populations if there were no financial support from the United States, the oil-producing Arab countries, from religious communities or the United Nations? Osservatore Profano's guess: One year.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Circumstantial Evidence - What History Can Learn from Art
From an article published in Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag, November 5, 2006*
Piero della Francesca 1453 Galleria Nazionale Urbino
Bernd Roeck is professor of history at Zurich University.
His research focus is on visual arts as testimonials of historical events and on the methodology of extracting historical data from works of art. In a new book:
Mörder, Maler und Mäzene - Piero della Francescas "Geisselung" (Murderers, Painters and Maecenes - "The Flagellation" by Piero della Francesca. A criminal story from the history of art) Eine kunsthistorische Kriminalgeschichte, München 2006, he presents his analysis of the parallel stories told by Piero della Francesca on his famous painting.
Roeck has been able to identify the three persons in the right foreground of the painting. The bare-foot person clad in red (young duke Oddantonio di Montefeltro) as the victim of a brutal murder committed about ten years before the creation of the painting, and the two other persons being the masterminds behind that crime, commissioned by Oddantonio's successor and half-brother, Federico.
There have been numerous interpretations of this painting before, but the painstaking analysis of Roeck offers the most convincing interpretation so far.
A wonderful example of modern iconographical analysis. Are we ready to read the visual evidence that is brought before us from day to day b the media with the same devotion to careful scrutiny for hidden messages?
* P.S. A more detailed description of Bernd Roeck's analysis has been published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung FAZ on October 4, 2006:
From an article published in Neue Zürcher Zeitung am Sonntag, November 5, 2006*
Piero della Francesca 1453 Galleria Nazionale UrbinoBernd Roeck is professor of history at Zurich University.
His research focus is on visual arts as testimonials of historical events and on the methodology of extracting historical data from works of art. In a new book:
Mörder, Maler und Mäzene - Piero della Francescas "Geisselung" (Murderers, Painters and Maecenes - "The Flagellation" by Piero della Francesca. A criminal story from the history of art) Eine kunsthistorische Kriminalgeschichte, München 2006, he presents his analysis of the parallel stories told by Piero della Francesca on his famous painting.
Roeck has been able to identify the three persons in the right foreground of the painting. The bare-foot person clad in red (young duke Oddantonio di Montefeltro) as the victim of a brutal murder committed about ten years before the creation of the painting, and the two other persons being the masterminds behind that crime, commissioned by Oddantonio's successor and half-brother, Federico.
There have been numerous interpretations of this painting before, but the painstaking analysis of Roeck offers the most convincing interpretation so far.
A wonderful example of modern iconographical analysis. Are we ready to read the visual evidence that is brought before us from day to day b the media with the same devotion to careful scrutiny for hidden messages?
* P.S. A more detailed description of Bernd Roeck's analysis has been published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung FAZ on October 4, 2006:
Quod licet bovi non licet Iovi - What politicians can learn from Borat a.k.a Sacha Baron Cohen
Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedian by profession and he seems to be able to earn his life by exercising it, at least one could guess so according to the reactions to his film "Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan".
As a global yard fool, he shows no respect for any religious or national sensitivities and apparently is spraying his sarcasm in a quite even way over the Jewish, the Christian and the Muslim communities.
Politicians must be able to play roles, sometimes even comic roles, in order to be elected, but in general, they cannot use the method of Sacha Baron because they would offend their own constituency doing so. The problem with politicians fooling around is that they are taken quite seriously by their own folks when they occasionally insult other parties or their front personnel, and that their adversaries react accordingly. The result is a buildup of verbal injuries that can easily turn violent, with the consequences that history has shown us in abundance.
An ancient latin proverb said: "Quod licet Iovi non licet bovi" (what is licit for
Jupiter (God) is inadmissible for an ox).
The recent row in Switzerland over Justice Minister Christoph Blocher's remarks in Turkey concerning Federal legislation against racism is a good illustration for the inadequacy of the latin proverb for our times. Sacha Baron Cohen, the comedian, the jester, is in the position of the ox and it is probably absolutely okay to let him
fool around. If racist and/or nationalist phrases are uttered at pubs by uneducated people who do not know better, this may be considered a variant of normal behaviour under the influence of alcohol.
But if the same type of rhetoric is used by politicians, it's effect will be what
German Law after World War II has defined as "Volksverhetzung" (incitement to hatred)in the Criminal Law Code (Strafgesetzbuch or StGB) § 130, a criminal offense prosecuted by law.
In Switzerland, this type of legislation was introduced only lately, in 1995,
in Art. 261bis 1 of the Criminal Law Code
An interesting detail for the slow pace of Swiss legislation on such subjects is the date of the ratification of the convention on the prevention of genocide of 1948
this convention was ratified by Switzerland in the year 2000.
If the Swiss are reluctant to restrict the freedom of thought and of speech through international conventions of little practical value (even Sudan, with it's notorious repression and genocidal activities against parts of it's population, has ratified the convention on the repression of genocide), it would be wise for our politicians to avoid fooling around and be aware that nowadays "quod licet bovi non licet Iovi", i.e. that political leaders should avoid to behave like brawlers in the pub.
Sacha Baron Cohen is a comedian by profession and he seems to be able to earn his life by exercising it, at least one could guess so according to the reactions to his film "Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan".
As a global yard fool, he shows no respect for any religious or national sensitivities and apparently is spraying his sarcasm in a quite even way over the Jewish, the Christian and the Muslim communities.
Politicians must be able to play roles, sometimes even comic roles, in order to be elected, but in general, they cannot use the method of Sacha Baron because they would offend their own constituency doing so. The problem with politicians fooling around is that they are taken quite seriously by their own folks when they occasionally insult other parties or their front personnel, and that their adversaries react accordingly. The result is a buildup of verbal injuries that can easily turn violent, with the consequences that history has shown us in abundance.
An ancient latin proverb said: "Quod licet Iovi non licet bovi" (what is licit for
Jupiter (God) is inadmissible for an ox).
The recent row in Switzerland over Justice Minister Christoph Blocher's remarks in Turkey concerning Federal legislation against racism is a good illustration for the inadequacy of the latin proverb for our times. Sacha Baron Cohen, the comedian, the jester, is in the position of the ox and it is probably absolutely okay to let him
fool around. If racist and/or nationalist phrases are uttered at pubs by uneducated people who do not know better, this may be considered a variant of normal behaviour under the influence of alcohol.
But if the same type of rhetoric is used by politicians, it's effect will be what
German Law after World War II has defined as "Volksverhetzung" (incitement to hatred)in the Criminal Law Code (Strafgesetzbuch or StGB) § 130, a criminal offense prosecuted by law.
In Switzerland, this type of legislation was introduced only lately, in 1995,
in Art. 261bis 1 of the Criminal Law Code
An interesting detail for the slow pace of Swiss legislation on such subjects is the date of the ratification of the convention on the prevention of genocide of 1948
this convention was ratified by Switzerland in the year 2000.
If the Swiss are reluctant to restrict the freedom of thought and of speech through international conventions of little practical value (even Sudan, with it's notorious repression and genocidal activities against parts of it's population, has ratified the convention on the repression of genocide), it would be wise for our politicians to avoid fooling around and be aware that nowadays "quod licet bovi non licet Iovi", i.e. that political leaders should avoid to behave like brawlers in the pub.
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Switzerland at War with Herself
It is interesting to observe - as Osservatore Profano does - the war (so far of words) which has erupted in Switzerland about the role of our country in international relations. While Switzerland appears to be a point of reference for many smaller countries even in the third world, our country has yet to find out a) if our active contributions to world politics are really significant and b) which fields of activity we choose. Justice minister Blocher's adventurous remarks on visit to Turkey have been followed by a visit of foreign minister Calmy-Rey to China, with the intention to sign an accord of understanding, the success of which had been questioned by her colleagues even before she departed and again at her return. Now, a group of mainly left-wing politicians from Basel has come to the conclusion that it is capable of bringing the conflict between Turks and Kurds to an end. At the same time, an ecological activist, Martin Vosseler, tries to cross the Atlantic on a solar-powered Catamaran, firmly convinced that he is the one and only person capable of teaching ecological ethics to the United States.
If the Swiss pharmaceutical industry has proved to be good at manufacturing and selling drugs worldwide, a new form of global business is being launched by Swiss citizens who feel the urgent need to preach the gospel of righteousness worldwide. The conflict between these two types of global players is then projected on the local level of politics, resulting in bizarre "ready made" coalitions and fissures within the political spectrum.
It is interesting to observe - as Osservatore Profano does - the war (so far of words) which has erupted in Switzerland about the role of our country in international relations. While Switzerland appears to be a point of reference for many smaller countries even in the third world, our country has yet to find out a) if our active contributions to world politics are really significant and b) which fields of activity we choose. Justice minister Blocher's adventurous remarks on visit to Turkey have been followed by a visit of foreign minister Calmy-Rey to China, with the intention to sign an accord of understanding, the success of which had been questioned by her colleagues even before she departed and again at her return. Now, a group of mainly left-wing politicians from Basel has come to the conclusion that it is capable of bringing the conflict between Turks and Kurds to an end. At the same time, an ecological activist, Martin Vosseler, tries to cross the Atlantic on a solar-powered Catamaran, firmly convinced that he is the one and only person capable of teaching ecological ethics to the United States.
If the Swiss pharmaceutical industry has proved to be good at manufacturing and selling drugs worldwide, a new form of global business is being launched by Swiss citizens who feel the urgent need to preach the gospel of righteousness worldwide. The conflict between these two types of global players is then projected on the local level of politics, resulting in bizarre "ready made" coalitions and fissures within the political spectrum.
Sigmund Freud e l'Osservatore Profano
Gli atti sintomatici, di una incredibile varietà sia negli individui sani che nei nevrotici, meritano il nostro interessamento per più di un motivo. Essi forniscono al medico delle preziose indicazioni che gli permettono d'orientarsi nel cumulo di circostanze nuove o ancora poco note e rivelano all'osservatore profano tutto ciò che desidera sapere e qualche volta anche di più di quel che vorrebbe. Chi sa servirsi di queste indicazioni deve, all'occorrenza, procedere come faceva il re Salomone che, secondo la leggenda, comprendeva il linguaggio degli animali.
della pagina web: aforismi e pensieri di Freud(a cura di Diego Fusaro)
The German original text and an English translation will follow
Gli atti sintomatici, di una incredibile varietà sia negli individui sani che nei nevrotici, meritano il nostro interessamento per più di un motivo. Essi forniscono al medico delle preziose indicazioni che gli permettono d'orientarsi nel cumulo di circostanze nuove o ancora poco note e rivelano all'osservatore profano tutto ciò che desidera sapere e qualche volta anche di più di quel che vorrebbe. Chi sa servirsi di queste indicazioni deve, all'occorrenza, procedere come faceva il re Salomone che, secondo la leggenda, comprendeva il linguaggio degli animali.
della pagina web: aforismi e pensieri di Freud(a cura di Diego Fusaro)
The German original text and an English translation will follow
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