Freiheit und Anstand bedingen sich gegenseitig
Zum Einstand des neuen Chefredaktor der Basler Zeitung, Markus Somm
Der in einem Überraschungs-Coup eingewechselte Chefredaktor der Basler Zeitung (von Tito Tettamantis und dessen Famulus Wagners Gnaden) meldet sich gleich an seinem ersten Arbeitstag mit einem Tageskommentar zu Wort. Er wählt als Thema die Kontroverse um Thilo Sarrazins Äusserungen zur Immigration, lobt die Freiheit des Wortes und kommt zum Schluss:
"Nicht Redeverbote schützen die Demokratie, sondern das freie Wort für jeden - ganz gleich, wie höflich oder unanständig es vorgetragen wird."
Grundsätzlich ist an dieser Aussage nichts auszusetzen, und doch "steckt in ihr so viel verborgenes Gift", wie Mephisto in Faust I es in der Theologie vermutet.
Das verborgene Gift ist die Verknüpfung von Freiheit und Unanständigkeit.
Es kann der Freiheit nicht dienen, wenn Anstand als etwas Minderwertiges betrachtet wird. Die Medien haben gerade in dieser Hinsicht eine grosse Verantwortung, und wenn sie diese nicht wahrnehmen, kippen scheinbar liberale Kulturen rasch in postfaschistische, neofeudale Systeme um.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Cristoforo Blocher, por Gracia de Dios Caudillo de Suiza ?
Christoph Blocher, von Gottes Gnaden Führer der Schweiz ?
Cristoforo Blocher, Unto del Signore, Presidente della Svizzera ?
Christophe Blocher, par la grace de Dieu Président de la Suisse ?
Christoph Blocher verfügt gewiss über eine überdurchschnittliche Intelligenz, eine solide Bildung, gute geschichtliche Kenntnisse und ein gerüttelt Mass an Machstreben.
Dies Alles wäre noch kein Grund, den Mann zu fürchten. Problematisch ist das Gottesgnadentum, aus dem der Sohn eines protestantischen Pfarrers seine politische Mission ableitet. Sein Wirken auf Erden steht unter dem Schutz des Höchsten, die Geistesgaben und die Gesundheit, die ihm von Gott verliehen wurden,befähigen ihn nicht nur dazu, ein erfolgreicher Unternehmer zu sein, sondern verpflichten ihn auch, (heils-)geschichtliche Grosstaten zu vollbringen und zu diesem Zweck mit allen Mitteln an die Hebel der Macht im Lande zu gelangen.
Die Titel seiner jüngsten öffentlichen Auftritte sprechen eine deutliche Sprache. In einem Inserat in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung vom heutigen 20.Februar 2010 kündigt er ein Referat mit dem Titel "Warum stehen unsere Eliten mit dem Rücken zur Wand? - Eine Klarstellung" an.
Was soll das heissen? Wie soll der einfache Bürger diesen Satz verstehen?
Wozu diese pauschale Verunglimpfung der Eliten, welche in der komplexen Realität eines Kleinstaates, einen Weg zwischen den Polen eines wirtschaftlichen Global Players und eines komplizierten, auf Konsens angewiesenen direktdemokratischen politischen System suchen müssen?
Ist es eine versteckte Aufforderung, diejenigen Angehörigen der Eliten, welche nicht bereit sind, nach Blochers Pfeife zu tanzen, an die Wand zu stellen?
Ist sich Christoph Blocher, der Gesalbte des Herrn, der zerstörerischen Energie, die in seiner Rhetorik steckt bewusst? Ist er letztlich ein Bussprediger?
Als guter Protestant sollte er sich im Alten Testament gut auskennen. Kein Prophet Israels, der das Gottesvolk zur Umkehr aufrief, hatte Teil an der Macht, suchte die Macht. Aber auch die noch immer gültige politisch-religiöse Referenz der katholischen Schweiz, Niklaus von Flüe, war kein Machtmensch. Er beschränkte sich auf Ratschläge, die gehört und beachtet wurden. Das Gottesgnadentum des deutschen Kaiserreichs war einer der Schlüsselfaktoren für die Katastrophe des 1.Weltkriegs und selbst der rücksichtslose Francisco Franco, por gracia de Dios Caudillo de Espana, erkannte in seinen späten Jahren die Notwendigkeit, die Diktatur in eine konstutionelle Monarchie zu überführen. Die Schweiz eignet sich schon von ihrer Geschichte und von ihrer Grundstruktur her nicht für die Monarchie, aber ebenso wenig verdient unser Land eine Einparteienherrschaft. Wir sind zur Konsensfindung verdammt, was nicht heisst, dass wir faule Kompromisse schliessen sollen. Wir müssen miteinander ringen, aber wir müssen uns auch an Spielregeln für dieses Ringen halten. Dazu gehört Fairness und Verzicht auf Hetzreden und Schreckung der Bevölkerung. Auch wenn Einer sich wie Christoph Blocher berufen fühlt, auszuziehen, um das Land zu retten, muss er diese Spielregeln einhalten, andernfalls erreicht er das Gegenteil dessen, was er vorhat.
Christoph Blocher, von Gottes Gnaden Führer der Schweiz ?
Cristoforo Blocher, Unto del Signore, Presidente della Svizzera ?
Christophe Blocher, par la grace de Dieu Président de la Suisse ?
Christoph Blocher verfügt gewiss über eine überdurchschnittliche Intelligenz, eine solide Bildung, gute geschichtliche Kenntnisse und ein gerüttelt Mass an Machstreben.
Dies Alles wäre noch kein Grund, den Mann zu fürchten. Problematisch ist das Gottesgnadentum, aus dem der Sohn eines protestantischen Pfarrers seine politische Mission ableitet. Sein Wirken auf Erden steht unter dem Schutz des Höchsten, die Geistesgaben und die Gesundheit, die ihm von Gott verliehen wurden,befähigen ihn nicht nur dazu, ein erfolgreicher Unternehmer zu sein, sondern verpflichten ihn auch, (heils-)geschichtliche Grosstaten zu vollbringen und zu diesem Zweck mit allen Mitteln an die Hebel der Macht im Lande zu gelangen.
Die Titel seiner jüngsten öffentlichen Auftritte sprechen eine deutliche Sprache. In einem Inserat in der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung vom heutigen 20.Februar 2010 kündigt er ein Referat mit dem Titel "Warum stehen unsere Eliten mit dem Rücken zur Wand? - Eine Klarstellung" an.
Was soll das heissen? Wie soll der einfache Bürger diesen Satz verstehen?
Wozu diese pauschale Verunglimpfung der Eliten, welche in der komplexen Realität eines Kleinstaates, einen Weg zwischen den Polen eines wirtschaftlichen Global Players und eines komplizierten, auf Konsens angewiesenen direktdemokratischen politischen System suchen müssen?
Ist es eine versteckte Aufforderung, diejenigen Angehörigen der Eliten, welche nicht bereit sind, nach Blochers Pfeife zu tanzen, an die Wand zu stellen?
Ist sich Christoph Blocher, der Gesalbte des Herrn, der zerstörerischen Energie, die in seiner Rhetorik steckt bewusst? Ist er letztlich ein Bussprediger?
Als guter Protestant sollte er sich im Alten Testament gut auskennen. Kein Prophet Israels, der das Gottesvolk zur Umkehr aufrief, hatte Teil an der Macht, suchte die Macht. Aber auch die noch immer gültige politisch-religiöse Referenz der katholischen Schweiz, Niklaus von Flüe, war kein Machtmensch. Er beschränkte sich auf Ratschläge, die gehört und beachtet wurden. Das Gottesgnadentum des deutschen Kaiserreichs war einer der Schlüsselfaktoren für die Katastrophe des 1.Weltkriegs und selbst der rücksichtslose Francisco Franco, por gracia de Dios Caudillo de Espana, erkannte in seinen späten Jahren die Notwendigkeit, die Diktatur in eine konstutionelle Monarchie zu überführen. Die Schweiz eignet sich schon von ihrer Geschichte und von ihrer Grundstruktur her nicht für die Monarchie, aber ebenso wenig verdient unser Land eine Einparteienherrschaft. Wir sind zur Konsensfindung verdammt, was nicht heisst, dass wir faule Kompromisse schliessen sollen. Wir müssen miteinander ringen, aber wir müssen uns auch an Spielregeln für dieses Ringen halten. Dazu gehört Fairness und Verzicht auf Hetzreden und Schreckung der Bevölkerung. Auch wenn Einer sich wie Christoph Blocher berufen fühlt, auszuziehen, um das Land zu retten, muss er diese Spielregeln einhalten, andernfalls erreicht er das Gegenteil dessen, was er vorhat.
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Vor der Wiederkunft des "Volksstaats"
Als im Jahr 2005 Götz Aly seine Analyse der Finanzpolitik der Nationalsozialisten unter dem Titel "Hitlers Volksstaat" veröffentlichte, löste er damit eine heftige Diskussion darüber aus, ob seine klarsichtige Berichterstattung ein Versuch sei die "Kollektivschuld" des deutschen Volkes am Holokaust herabzustufen. Der unbestreitbare Sachverhalt, dass das Finanzgebahren Deutschland nach der Machtergreifung Hitlers darauf ausgerichtet war, die Staatsschuld zu reduzieren und den Zufluss von Cash sicherzustellen - nicht nur für die militärische Rüstung, sondern auch für das "tägliche Brot"des einfachen deutschen Bürgers (inklusive der Renten) - wurde als zu simplistische Erklärung für das möderische Tun des Regimes, inklusive des Holokausts betrachtet.
Nun hat dieser Tage die Frage, ob der Staat das Recht brechen darf, um in einer Situation der finanziellen und ökonomischen Krise die Wirtschaft wieder anzukurbeln, eine neue Virulenzu gewonnen, und Götz Alys Analyse könnte in diesem Lichte an Plausibilität gewinnen.
Die heutige deutsche Kanzlerin Angela Merkel mag eine gute Christin sein, aber die chronische marxistisch-leninistische Indoktrinierung, der sie in ihrer Schulzeit ausgesetzt war, dürfte doch Spuren in ihrem strategischen und taktischen Denken und Handeln hinterlassen haben.
Wir mögen zwar in einer postmarxistischen Aera leben, und traditionelle Werte sind wieder hoch im Kurs, aber das Gesetz des Dschungels in Finanz und Wirtschaft gilt noch immer.
Frau Merkel ist gewiss nicht die Einzige, die der Versuchung eines Handelns im Sinne von Götz Alys "Volksstaat" erliegt. Obama wie Sarkozy und viele andere dürften ihren Spuren folgen, und wenn Christoph Blocher lautstark verkündet, in der deutschen Regierung habe es "kriminelle Elemente", vergisst er wohl, dass er mit seiner Schweizerischen Volks-Partei den Weg zu einer schweizerischen Version des "Volksstaats" vorgespurt hat, wenn diese verspricht: "die kriminellen Ausländer auszuweisen, die Steuern zu senken und der Europäischen Union nicht beizutreten".
Unsern Lesern sei deshalb die Lektüre von Götz Alys Werk sehr empfohlen:
Götz Aly: Hitlers Volksstaat. Raub, Rassenkrieg und nationaler Sozialismus
Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2005, ISBN 3-10-000420-5.
Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2006, ISBN 3-596-15863-X. - Mit einem Nachwort von Götz Aly
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 2005, ISBN 3-89331-607-8
Revival of the "Volksstaat"
When in 2005, Götz Aly published his analysis of the finance politics of Nazi
Germany,"Hitlers Volksstaat",he provoked violent discussions on whether his lucid account was an attempt to reduce the "Kollektiv-Schuld" of the German people in the Holocaust. The undeniable facts that Germany's financial behaviour after Hitler's rise to power was directed at reducing the debt and ensuring the inflow of cash - not only for military buildup, but for the simple German citizen's daily bread - was considered as too simplistic an explanation for the murderous deeds the regime, including the Holocaust.
The discussion on whether the state should undertake illegal actions in order to achieve an economic relaunch in a situation of financial and economic crisis, has won new virulence these days, and Götz Aly's analysis might prove more adequate than before.
The actual German Federal Chancellor may be a good Christian, but the chronic exposure to Marxist-Leninist doctrine during her education in the former German Democratic Republic has certainly left some traces in her strategical and tactical behaviour.
We may live in a post-Marxist era, and traditional values are high on the agenda, but the laws of the jungle in finance and economics are still valid.
Angela Merkel quite certainly is not alone in her temptation, Obama, Sarkozy and many others might follow her path, and Switzerland's Christoph Blocher himself, while trumpetting that "there are criminal elements in the German government" has paved the way with his Swiss People's Party to as Swiss version of the "Volksstaat" with the promise to "expulse the criminal foreigners,reduce the taxes for everybody and not to enter the European Union".
We strongly recommend the lecture of Götz Aly's book to our readers.
An English version is available on AMAZON:
Götz Aly: Hitler's Beneficiaries
Original title:
Götz Aly: Hitlers Volksstaat. Raub, Rassenkrieg und nationaler Sozialismus
Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2005, ISBN 3-10-000420-5.
Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2006, ISBN 3-596-15863-X. - Mit einem Nachwort von Götz Aly
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 2005, ISBN 3-89331-607-8
Als im Jahr 2005 Götz Aly seine Analyse der Finanzpolitik der Nationalsozialisten unter dem Titel "Hitlers Volksstaat" veröffentlichte, löste er damit eine heftige Diskussion darüber aus, ob seine klarsichtige Berichterstattung ein Versuch sei die "Kollektivschuld" des deutschen Volkes am Holokaust herabzustufen. Der unbestreitbare Sachverhalt, dass das Finanzgebahren Deutschland nach der Machtergreifung Hitlers darauf ausgerichtet war, die Staatsschuld zu reduzieren und den Zufluss von Cash sicherzustellen - nicht nur für die militärische Rüstung, sondern auch für das "tägliche Brot"des einfachen deutschen Bürgers (inklusive der Renten) - wurde als zu simplistische Erklärung für das möderische Tun des Regimes, inklusive des Holokausts betrachtet.
Nun hat dieser Tage die Frage, ob der Staat das Recht brechen darf, um in einer Situation der finanziellen und ökonomischen Krise die Wirtschaft wieder anzukurbeln, eine neue Virulenzu gewonnen, und Götz Alys Analyse könnte in diesem Lichte an Plausibilität gewinnen.
Die heutige deutsche Kanzlerin Angela Merkel mag eine gute Christin sein, aber die chronische marxistisch-leninistische Indoktrinierung, der sie in ihrer Schulzeit ausgesetzt war, dürfte doch Spuren in ihrem strategischen und taktischen Denken und Handeln hinterlassen haben.
Wir mögen zwar in einer postmarxistischen Aera leben, und traditionelle Werte sind wieder hoch im Kurs, aber das Gesetz des Dschungels in Finanz und Wirtschaft gilt noch immer.
Frau Merkel ist gewiss nicht die Einzige, die der Versuchung eines Handelns im Sinne von Götz Alys "Volksstaat" erliegt. Obama wie Sarkozy und viele andere dürften ihren Spuren folgen, und wenn Christoph Blocher lautstark verkündet, in der deutschen Regierung habe es "kriminelle Elemente", vergisst er wohl, dass er mit seiner Schweizerischen Volks-Partei den Weg zu einer schweizerischen Version des "Volksstaats" vorgespurt hat, wenn diese verspricht: "die kriminellen Ausländer auszuweisen, die Steuern zu senken und der Europäischen Union nicht beizutreten".
Unsern Lesern sei deshalb die Lektüre von Götz Alys Werk sehr empfohlen:
Götz Aly: Hitlers Volksstaat. Raub, Rassenkrieg und nationaler Sozialismus
Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2005, ISBN 3-10-000420-5.
Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2006, ISBN 3-596-15863-X. - Mit einem Nachwort von Götz Aly
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 2005, ISBN 3-89331-607-8
Revival of the "Volksstaat"
When in 2005, Götz Aly published his analysis of the finance politics of Nazi
Germany,"Hitlers Volksstaat",he provoked violent discussions on whether his lucid account was an attempt to reduce the "Kollektiv-Schuld" of the German people in the Holocaust. The undeniable facts that Germany's financial behaviour after Hitler's rise to power was directed at reducing the debt and ensuring the inflow of cash - not only for military buildup, but for the simple German citizen's daily bread - was considered as too simplistic an explanation for the murderous deeds the regime, including the Holocaust.
The discussion on whether the state should undertake illegal actions in order to achieve an economic relaunch in a situation of financial and economic crisis, has won new virulence these days, and Götz Aly's analysis might prove more adequate than before.
The actual German Federal Chancellor may be a good Christian, but the chronic exposure to Marxist-Leninist doctrine during her education in the former German Democratic Republic has certainly left some traces in her strategical and tactical behaviour.
We may live in a post-Marxist era, and traditional values are high on the agenda, but the laws of the jungle in finance and economics are still valid.
Angela Merkel quite certainly is not alone in her temptation, Obama, Sarkozy and many others might follow her path, and Switzerland's Christoph Blocher himself, while trumpetting that "there are criminal elements in the German government" has paved the way with his Swiss People's Party to as Swiss version of the "Volksstaat" with the promise to "expulse the criminal foreigners,reduce the taxes for everybody and not to enter the European Union".
We strongly recommend the lecture of Götz Aly's book to our readers.
An English version is available on AMAZON:
Götz Aly: Hitler's Beneficiaries
Original title:
Götz Aly: Hitlers Volksstaat. Raub, Rassenkrieg und nationaler Sozialismus
Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2005, ISBN 3-10-000420-5.
Fischer, Frankfurt am Main, 2006, ISBN 3-596-15863-X. - Mit einem Nachwort von Götz Aly
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 2005, ISBN 3-89331-607-8
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Sind alle Antifaschisten Kommunisten?
Lauro de Bosis (1901-1931) Olympiasieger (1929) für Dichtkunst und aristokratischer Antifaschist
Foto Copyright PEN Club Italia
Nachgerade ist es ein Gemeinplatz, dass Individuen, welche ihre Stimme gegen Faschismus und gegen faschistische Tendenzen erheben, als politisch links eingestuft werden. Meist werden Personen mit antifaschistischen Meinungsäusserungen als Kommunisten abgestempelt, die bevorzugte Wortwahl des gegenwärtigen italienischen Ministerpräsidenten Silvio Berlusconi, wenn er gegen seine zahlteichen Gegnerschaft antritt.
Bei näherer Betrachtung der politischen Geschichte des Faschismus können wir die grosse Bandbreite von Motiven Jener, welche den Totalitarismus, der mit Mussolinis Regime und der politischen Bewegung, die ihm als Machtbasis diente, verbunden war, ablehnten, besser differenzieren.
Lauro de Bosis, ein ausserordentlich talentierter und produktiver "homme de lettres", Gewinner der Goldmedaille in Dichtkunst für sein lyrisches Schauspiel "ICARO" an der Olympiade von 1929, war u.a. auch Präsident der Gesellschaft Italien-Amerika in New York.
Er starb am 3.Oktober 1931, nachdem er auf einem privat und geheim organisierten Flug von Südfrankreich aus antifaschistische Flugblätter über Rom abgeworfen hatte, beim Absturz seiner Maschine ins tyrrenische Meer.
Es konnte nie sicher geklärt werden, ob der Absturz das Resultat eines Beschusses durch die italienische Fliegerabwehr oder vielmehr eines Mangels an Treibstoff für eine sichere Landung in Korsika war.
Sein Tod war nicht nur ein Akt persönlicher Auflehnung gegen ein Regime das er tief verachtete, sondern kann gleichzeitig als ein Echo auf das Schicksal des antiken Helden Ikarus in seinem 1927 publizierten Werk.
Iris Origo, die berühmte anglo-italienische Biographin des Hl. Bernardino von Siena, und des Kaufmanns Francesco Datini, des "Kaufmanns von Prato", Verfasserin einer Kurbiographie von Papst Pius II (Aeneas Piccolomini), und Verfasserin eines persönlichen Tagebuchs während der Kämpfe zwischen allierten und deutschen Truppen in der Toskana (im englischen Original "War in Val d'Orcia", 1947, später ins Italienische und ins Deutsche übersetzt) liefert in ihrem Buch "A Need to Testify" (Harcourt Brave Jovanovich 1984, ISBN 0-15-164989-8) ein lebendsvolles Portrait Lauro de Bosis.
Sie zitiert darin aus seinen Flugblättern:
"...Nur dank unserer Untätigkeit kann dieses Regime existieren. Wehe Dir Italien, wenn wie den antifaschistischen Widerstand durch die Roten monopolisieren lassen!
Das Problem des Faschismus muss durch jene gelöst werden werden, welche für eine geordnete Regierungsform stehen..."
Zweifellos war de Bosis politischer Standpunkt ebenso stark durch die monarchistische Tradition der Familie seines Vaters geprägt wie durch die demokratische Tradition seiner aus Neuengland stammenden Mutter.
Wer mehr über das Leben Lauro de Bosis erfahren möchte und keine Möglichkeit hat, an Iris Origos biographische Skizze zu gelangen, sei hier das folgende Buch empfohlen:
MUDGE, Jean: The Poet and the Dictator: Lauro de Bosis Resists Fascism in Italy and America. Praeger, 2002. ISBN 10: 0275969649, ISBN 13: 978-02759696-46.
Lauro de Bosis (1901-1931) Olympiasieger (1929) für Dichtkunst und aristokratischer Antifaschist
Foto Copyright PEN Club Italia
Nachgerade ist es ein Gemeinplatz, dass Individuen, welche ihre Stimme gegen Faschismus und gegen faschistische Tendenzen erheben, als politisch links eingestuft werden. Meist werden Personen mit antifaschistischen Meinungsäusserungen als Kommunisten abgestempelt, die bevorzugte Wortwahl des gegenwärtigen italienischen Ministerpräsidenten Silvio Berlusconi, wenn er gegen seine zahlteichen Gegnerschaft antritt.
Bei näherer Betrachtung der politischen Geschichte des Faschismus können wir die grosse Bandbreite von Motiven Jener, welche den Totalitarismus, der mit Mussolinis Regime und der politischen Bewegung, die ihm als Machtbasis diente, verbunden war, ablehnten, besser differenzieren.
Lauro de Bosis, ein ausserordentlich talentierter und produktiver "homme de lettres", Gewinner der Goldmedaille in Dichtkunst für sein lyrisches Schauspiel "ICARO" an der Olympiade von 1929, war u.a. auch Präsident der Gesellschaft Italien-Amerika in New York.
Er starb am 3.Oktober 1931, nachdem er auf einem privat und geheim organisierten Flug von Südfrankreich aus antifaschistische Flugblätter über Rom abgeworfen hatte, beim Absturz seiner Maschine ins tyrrenische Meer.
Es konnte nie sicher geklärt werden, ob der Absturz das Resultat eines Beschusses durch die italienische Fliegerabwehr oder vielmehr eines Mangels an Treibstoff für eine sichere Landung in Korsika war.
Sein Tod war nicht nur ein Akt persönlicher Auflehnung gegen ein Regime das er tief verachtete, sondern kann gleichzeitig als ein Echo auf das Schicksal des antiken Helden Ikarus in seinem 1927 publizierten Werk.
Iris Origo, die berühmte anglo-italienische Biographin des Hl. Bernardino von Siena, und des Kaufmanns Francesco Datini, des "Kaufmanns von Prato", Verfasserin einer Kurbiographie von Papst Pius II (Aeneas Piccolomini), und Verfasserin eines persönlichen Tagebuchs während der Kämpfe zwischen allierten und deutschen Truppen in der Toskana (im englischen Original "War in Val d'Orcia", 1947, später ins Italienische und ins Deutsche übersetzt) liefert in ihrem Buch "A Need to Testify" (Harcourt Brave Jovanovich 1984, ISBN 0-15-164989-8) ein lebendsvolles Portrait Lauro de Bosis.
Sie zitiert darin aus seinen Flugblättern:
"...Nur dank unserer Untätigkeit kann dieses Regime existieren. Wehe Dir Italien, wenn wie den antifaschistischen Widerstand durch die Roten monopolisieren lassen!
Das Problem des Faschismus muss durch jene gelöst werden werden, welche für eine geordnete Regierungsform stehen..."
Zweifellos war de Bosis politischer Standpunkt ebenso stark durch die monarchistische Tradition der Familie seines Vaters geprägt wie durch die demokratische Tradition seiner aus Neuengland stammenden Mutter.
Wer mehr über das Leben Lauro de Bosis erfahren möchte und keine Möglichkeit hat, an Iris Origos biographische Skizze zu gelangen, sei hier das folgende Buch empfohlen:
MUDGE, Jean: The Poet and the Dictator: Lauro de Bosis Resists Fascism in Italy and America. Praeger, 2002. ISBN 10: 0275969649, ISBN 13: 978-02759696-46.
Monday, January 04, 2010
Are all antifascists communists?
Lauro de Bosis (1901-1931) Olympic champion (1929)for poetry and aristocratic antifascist
It has become commonplace to classify individuals who stand up against fascism and fascist tendencies as belonging to the political left. Most often, persons who express antifascist opinions are labeled as communists, a wording preferred by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in his invectives against his multiple political adversaries.
A more closer look into the political history of fasciscm allows us to more clearly distinguish the wide arrange of motives of those who did not accept the totalitarianism connected with Mussolini's regime and the political movement on which it's power was based.
Lauro de Bosis, an extremely talented and prolific "homme de lettres", winner of an Olympic gold medal for poetry for his lyric play "ICARO" in the 1929 Olympic games, was also president of the Italy-America Society of New York.
He died on October 3, 1931, after having dropped antifascist pamphlets in a privately and secretely planned solitary mission over the city of Rome, when his plane crashed into the Tyrrenian sea. It has never been clear whether the plane crash was the result of Italian anti-aircraft fire or due to lack of fuel for a safe landing on Corsica. His death was not only an act of personal revolt against a regime he deeply resented, but can simultaneously be seen as an echo of the destiny of the antique hero "Icaro" of his play written in 1927.
Iris Origo, the famous Anglo-Italian biographer of San Bernardino di Siena and of Francesco Datini,author of a short biography of Pope Pius II (Enea Piccolomini) and of a personal journal of the hostilities between German an Allied troops in Tuscany(War in Val d'Orca)during World War II, has given a vivid portrait of Lauro de Bosis in her book "A Need to Testify" (Harcourt Brave Jovanovich 1984, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 83-48453, ISBN 0-15-164989-8).
She cites from his pamphlets: "...It is only our inertia that makes possible the existence of the present regime. Woe to Italy if we let anti-fascism oppisition be monopolized by the Red! The problem of fascism must be solved by those who stand for ordered government..."
There is no doubt that de Bosis" political position was strongly influenced both by the aristocratic and monarchistic tradition of the family of his father and the democratic tradition of the New England family of his mother.
For those interested in Lauro de Bosis' life and unable to get a copy of Iris Origo's biographical sketch of 1984, we recommend the following title:
MUDGE, Jean: The Poet and the Dictator: Lauro de Bosis Resists Fascism in Italy and America. Praeger, 2002. ISBN-10: 0275969649 ISBN-13: 978-0275969646
Lauro de Bosis (1901-1931) Olympic champion (1929)for poetry and aristocratic antifascist
It has become commonplace to classify individuals who stand up against fascism and fascist tendencies as belonging to the political left. Most often, persons who express antifascist opinions are labeled as communists, a wording preferred by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in his invectives against his multiple political adversaries.
A more closer look into the political history of fasciscm allows us to more clearly distinguish the wide arrange of motives of those who did not accept the totalitarianism connected with Mussolini's regime and the political movement on which it's power was based.
Lauro de Bosis, an extremely talented and prolific "homme de lettres", winner of an Olympic gold medal for poetry for his lyric play "ICARO" in the 1929 Olympic games, was also president of the Italy-America Society of New York.
He died on October 3, 1931, after having dropped antifascist pamphlets in a privately and secretely planned solitary mission over the city of Rome, when his plane crashed into the Tyrrenian sea. It has never been clear whether the plane crash was the result of Italian anti-aircraft fire or due to lack of fuel for a safe landing on Corsica. His death was not only an act of personal revolt against a regime he deeply resented, but can simultaneously be seen as an echo of the destiny of the antique hero "Icaro" of his play written in 1927.
Iris Origo, the famous Anglo-Italian biographer of San Bernardino di Siena and of Francesco Datini,author of a short biography of Pope Pius II (Enea Piccolomini) and of a personal journal of the hostilities between German an Allied troops in Tuscany(War in Val d'Orca)during World War II, has given a vivid portrait of Lauro de Bosis in her book "A Need to Testify" (Harcourt Brave Jovanovich 1984, Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 83-48453, ISBN 0-15-164989-8).
She cites from his pamphlets: "...It is only our inertia that makes possible the existence of the present regime. Woe to Italy if we let anti-fascism oppisition be monopolized by the Red! The problem of fascism must be solved by those who stand for ordered government..."
There is no doubt that de Bosis" political position was strongly influenced both by the aristocratic and monarchistic tradition of the family of his father and the democratic tradition of the New England family of his mother.
For those interested in Lauro de Bosis' life and unable to get a copy of Iris Origo's biographical sketch of 1984, we recommend the following title:
MUDGE, Jean: The Poet and the Dictator: Lauro de Bosis Resists Fascism in Italy and America. Praeger, 2002. ISBN-10: 0275969649 ISBN-13: 978-0275969646
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Why Swiss People's Party (SVP) would be happy to see Switzerland becoming a target of hate campaigns
The popular initiative to ban minaret construction in Switzerland will most probably win the majority of Swiss voters on this Sunday, 29 November 2009, with the exception of liberal cantons like Basel and Geneva). By imposing a nation-wide ban for the construction of minarets, it is a logical step in the strategical objective of the party: to turn back Switzerland from a modern, liberal,multiethnic, tolerant country back into a extremely nationalist, reactionary, intolerant, xenophobic nation. To achieve this ultimate objective of the party, it is very important that Switzerland becomes the target of hate campaigns from outside. This would be helpful to create a climate of fear and intolerance and to unite the citizens under an authoritarian political regime.
Swiss People's Party greatest satisfaction would be a terror attack of the Nine Eleven type on our country, and if such an attack is not imminent, SVP politics are consciously designed to provoke just that. While SVP tries to convince our citizens that it is the only political group acting in the general interest of the country, and likes to accuse opponents of high treason, the question might be justified if the Swiss People's Party is not itself a major agent of hight treason against the general interest of our country.
The popular initiative to ban minaret construction in Switzerland will most probably win the majority of Swiss voters on this Sunday, 29 November 2009, with the exception of liberal cantons like Basel and Geneva). By imposing a nation-wide ban for the construction of minarets, it is a logical step in the strategical objective of the party: to turn back Switzerland from a modern, liberal,multiethnic, tolerant country back into a extremely nationalist, reactionary, intolerant, xenophobic nation. To achieve this ultimate objective of the party, it is very important that Switzerland becomes the target of hate campaigns from outside. This would be helpful to create a climate of fear and intolerance and to unite the citizens under an authoritarian political regime.
Swiss People's Party greatest satisfaction would be a terror attack of the Nine Eleven type on our country, and if such an attack is not imminent, SVP politics are consciously designed to provoke just that. While SVP tries to convince our citizens that it is the only political group acting in the general interest of the country, and likes to accuse opponents of high treason, the question might be justified if the Swiss People's Party is not itself a major agent of hight treason against the general interest of our country.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
In memoriam Sergei Magnitski - and a hommage to Fyodor Dostoyevsky and to Leos Janacek
When back in 1862 Fyodor Dostoyevsky published "The House of the Dead" (Russian: Записки из Мёртвого дома, German: "Aufzeichnungen aus einem Totenhaus"), an account of his years as detainee in a Siberian prison camp, he probably did so hoping that some day in the future, the horrors he described would come to an end in Russia.
His description of the far worse conditions under which prisoners in custody are hold in comparison to those already convicted, are echoed, 147 years later, in the wording of a report by Markus Ackeret (Neue Zürcher Zeitung Nr.275, Thursday November 26, 2009, p.5) on the Case of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitski: "Die Zustände in den Untersuchungsgefängnissen gelten als bedeutend schlimmer als in den Strafkolonien. Besonders berüchtigt ist das Butyrka Gefängnis in Moskau..."
The libretto of Leos Janacek's opera "Z mrtvého domu" ("Aus einem Totenhaus")written in 1927 is a collage of citations from Dostoyevsky's original text. Under the direction of Calixto Bieito on the opera program of Theater Basel 2009/2010, the opera is put into the context of the continuity of inhumane criminal punishment throughout the 19th and the 20th century to this day.
And, in a surprising way,Janacek, Calixto Bieito and the fantastic musical performers at Theater Basel can be seen as a bow before the latest victims of Russian criminal justice which seems to be unable so far to overcome a terrible tradition. President Medvedev, who, in an act of personal courage, has ordered an investigation on the case of Sergei Magnitski, should be graciously asked to invite Calixto Bieito and the Theater Basel to show Janacek's opera in Moscow.
Foto Copyright Hans-Jörg Michel and Theater Basel
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Swissness as the Swiss People's Party defines it
banning minarets, walling the country against immigration
The political megatrend in Switzerland, as demonstrated by the latest politician's rating published by Neue Zürcher Zeitung, shows a clear polarization towards the extreme poles on the left (social democrats SP and greens GP) and the extreme right (Swiss People's Party SVP/UDC). No wonder the climate is rapidly deteriorating, the political propaganda is becoming increasingly aggressive in style.
The popular initiative launched by SVP which aims at the country-wide prohibition of erecting minarets has unleashed an aggressivity unknown in Switzerland since the times of the Sonderbund war in 1847.(In Europe, the type of propaganda in use has been first seen in Germany during the Weimar Republic -1918 to 1933- with avantgarde artists like Heartfield and Grosz on the forefront, and was brought to perfection later by the propaganda machines of the Soviet Union and of Nazi Germany). This "Shock and Awe" propaganda style disappeared after World War II. It reemerged in the Sixties, and later has been used for commercial advertising (e.g. by BENETTON)
The latest victim of the SVP propaganda machine has been the Roman-Catholic bishop Kurt Koch who is accused of being a traitor after having declared his opposition to the initiative.
The term of "Landesverrat" (high treason) has become more and more fashionable lately inside of the SVP and is used every time a member of that party vocalizes the slightest dissension from the official party line.
One question arises from this political trend: is the SVP consciously trying to put this country on a path that could end in a either a reenactment of the German Democratic Republic which had to protect it's territorial integrity by a wall and an order to kill anybody willing to cross the border, or produce a copy of the wall the Israelis put up against the Palestinians?
The Swiss People's Party has given proof of exploiting xenophobic and racist tendencies since the arrival of Christoph Blocher at it's commands and continues to show a will to proceed to a political and ethnical homogenization of the country under the cover of protecting a liberal market economy, and it consciously takes the risk of triggering readiness for ethnical cleansing in the brains of modest citizens by it's propaganda methods.
The left has been surprisingly shy and has failed to come out massively against the minaret initiative, but on the other hand has tried to copy the SVP propaganda style by publishing a poster displaying a photography of Doris Leuthard, federal minister of the economy, with hand full of blood, as an illustration for the argument to ban export of weaponry from Switzerland, another popular initiative to be voted on november 27, 2009.
Meanwhile, the fact that posters of the minaret initiative have been banned from public advertising areas in some cantons has led to a well orchestrated outcry by the initiative committee over repression of free speech and censorship...
Poor Switzerland.
banning minarets, walling the country against immigration
The political megatrend in Switzerland, as demonstrated by the latest politician's rating published by Neue Zürcher Zeitung, shows a clear polarization towards the extreme poles on the left (social democrats SP and greens GP) and the extreme right (Swiss People's Party SVP/UDC). No wonder the climate is rapidly deteriorating, the political propaganda is becoming increasingly aggressive in style.
The popular initiative launched by SVP which aims at the country-wide prohibition of erecting minarets has unleashed an aggressivity unknown in Switzerland since the times of the Sonderbund war in 1847.(In Europe, the type of propaganda in use has been first seen in Germany during the Weimar Republic -1918 to 1933- with avantgarde artists like Heartfield and Grosz on the forefront, and was brought to perfection later by the propaganda machines of the Soviet Union and of Nazi Germany). This "Shock and Awe" propaganda style disappeared after World War II. It reemerged in the Sixties, and later has been used for commercial advertising (e.g. by BENETTON)
The latest victim of the SVP propaganda machine has been the Roman-Catholic bishop Kurt Koch who is accused of being a traitor after having declared his opposition to the initiative.
The term of "Landesverrat" (high treason) has become more and more fashionable lately inside of the SVP and is used every time a member of that party vocalizes the slightest dissension from the official party line.
One question arises from this political trend: is the SVP consciously trying to put this country on a path that could end in a either a reenactment of the German Democratic Republic which had to protect it's territorial integrity by a wall and an order to kill anybody willing to cross the border, or produce a copy of the wall the Israelis put up against the Palestinians?
The Swiss People's Party has given proof of exploiting xenophobic and racist tendencies since the arrival of Christoph Blocher at it's commands and continues to show a will to proceed to a political and ethnical homogenization of the country under the cover of protecting a liberal market economy, and it consciously takes the risk of triggering readiness for ethnical cleansing in the brains of modest citizens by it's propaganda methods.
The left has been surprisingly shy and has failed to come out massively against the minaret initiative, but on the other hand has tried to copy the SVP propaganda style by publishing a poster displaying a photography of Doris Leuthard, federal minister of the economy, with hand full of blood, as an illustration for the argument to ban export of weaponry from Switzerland, another popular initiative to be voted on november 27, 2009.
Meanwhile, the fact that posters of the minaret initiative have been banned from public advertising areas in some cantons has led to a well orchestrated outcry by the initiative committee over repression of free speech and censorship...
Poor Switzerland.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Will Roman Polanski get a fair trial?
Evidence has been growing during the last 48 hours that the accusations on which Roman Polanski's prosecution are based on are more severe than what could be assumed earlier. While the mediatic fog over the quality of the crime he is indicted for is passing away, a lot of questions arise: was it sex with a minor or was it rape? Under what circumstances did it occur? what was the role of the girl's mother in the process? Was she conscious of the danger she put her child in? Was her risk management sufficient? Was the act premeditated? What was his mental state before and during the crime? It will be extremely difficult to reconstruct the facts after such a long time, and it will be even more difficult to get back to where everything started: with the traumatic childhood and adolescence of a Jewish child during and after World War II, which has to be seen in direct connection with Nazi Germany's aggression of Poland.
Read Jerzy Kosinsky's (1933-1991) book "The Painted Bird" (L'oiseau bariolé, der bemalte Vogel) and you will understand the horrors that must have haunted the survivors of the Holocaust and of the life in occupied Poland, a country full of
open antisemitism not only during the war but even afterwards, during the communist regime. Or go to see Polanski's film "Repulsion of 1965...
The central question is:
If Roman Polanski is extradited to the United States, how fair will the trial be?
Finally, his trial will be the trial of the United States Judicial system, and if it ends in bringing not only justice but peace of mind to a man who suffered probably more than anyone of us can imagine throughout his life while putting on a mask of clown, then and only then this trial will be a success...
Evidence has been growing during the last 48 hours that the accusations on which Roman Polanski's prosecution are based on are more severe than what could be assumed earlier. While the mediatic fog over the quality of the crime he is indicted for is passing away, a lot of questions arise: was it sex with a minor or was it rape? Under what circumstances did it occur? what was the role of the girl's mother in the process? Was she conscious of the danger she put her child in? Was her risk management sufficient? Was the act premeditated? What was his mental state before and during the crime? It will be extremely difficult to reconstruct the facts after such a long time, and it will be even more difficult to get back to where everything started: with the traumatic childhood and adolescence of a Jewish child during and after World War II, which has to be seen in direct connection with Nazi Germany's aggression of Poland.
Read Jerzy Kosinsky's (1933-1991) book "The Painted Bird" (L'oiseau bariolé, der bemalte Vogel) and you will understand the horrors that must have haunted the survivors of the Holocaust and of the life in occupied Poland, a country full of
open antisemitism not only during the war but even afterwards, during the communist regime. Or go to see Polanski's film "Repulsion of 1965...
The central question is:
If Roman Polanski is extradited to the United States, how fair will the trial be?
Finally, his trial will be the trial of the United States Judicial system, and if it ends in bringing not only justice but peace of mind to a man who suffered probably more than anyone of us can imagine throughout his life while putting on a mask of clown, then and only then this trial will be a success...
Monday, September 28, 2009
The Case Polanski: When a State of Law masturbates in public
The arrest of Roman Polanski on arriving at Zurich airport is an example of a perverted use of the law. If there had been a clear will to respect the law and to avoid an international scandal, the direction of the Zurich festival should have been warned beforehand that Mr. Polanski was persona non grata in Switzerland because of the still pending prosecution in the United States. The ambush organized to arrest Polanski was a full blow in the face of the Swiss federal culture authorities which depend of the Federal Department of the Interior during a period of transition between Mr. Couchepin and his successor Burkhalter.
From the purely theoretical point of view, the prosecution of child abuse independant of the standing of the person under suspicion might be the central point for our Justice minister, but the way Mrs. Widmer-Schlumpf's department handled the case Polanski merits only one remark:
"Pfui Teufel, Frau Bundesrätin..."
Post Scriptum:
Mr Polanski might have provoked legal action by trying to whitewash his past according to a report by The GUARDIAN on September 2009:
If it were so, my critique of Mrs. Widmer-Schlumpf's department would not be well founded and I should apologize to our Justice minister, but nevertheless, the handling of this affair by our federal authorities once again has not been at the level of quality requested in a country that is under constant attack from abroad.
The arrest of Roman Polanski on arriving at Zurich airport is an example of a perverted use of the law. If there had been a clear will to respect the law and to avoid an international scandal, the direction of the Zurich festival should have been warned beforehand that Mr. Polanski was persona non grata in Switzerland because of the still pending prosecution in the United States. The ambush organized to arrest Polanski was a full blow in the face of the Swiss federal culture authorities which depend of the Federal Department of the Interior during a period of transition between Mr. Couchepin and his successor Burkhalter.
From the purely theoretical point of view, the prosecution of child abuse independant of the standing of the person under suspicion might be the central point for our Justice minister, but the way Mrs. Widmer-Schlumpf's department handled the case Polanski merits only one remark:
"Pfui Teufel, Frau Bundesrätin..."
Post Scriptum:
Mr Polanski might have provoked legal action by trying to whitewash his past according to a report by The GUARDIAN on September 2009:
If it were so, my critique of Mrs. Widmer-Schlumpf's department would not be well founded and I should apologize to our Justice minister, but nevertheless, the handling of this affair by our federal authorities once again has not been at the level of quality requested in a country that is under constant attack from abroad.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Le révisionisme historique et la campagne de Suisse en 1799
Le révisionisme historique en vogue dans la Russie postmoderne de Medvedev
et Poutine n'a pas épargné la Suisse. Dans sa version online, la Moscow Times confirme que le Maréchal Souvorov, par son intervention, aurait chassé les Français de la Suisse et contribué au rétablissement de la neutralité de notre pays. Cela est trop beau pour être vrai, et à celles et ceux qui aimeraient savoir mieux comment la campagne militaire de 1799 s'est déroulée, Osservatore Profano recommande la lecture du livre de Nicole GOTTERI: La campagne de Suisse en 1799 "Le choc des géants", paru chez Bernard Giovanangeli, Paris 2003 ISBN 2-909034-35-6.
En effet, il y a exactement 210 ans, le 26 septembre 1799, pendant que les troupes russes de Souvorov réussirent à franchir le Pont du Diable et d'avancer jusqu'à Altdorf, l'armée française commandée par le général Masséna prit d'assaut la ville de Zurich après le refus des forces austriaco-russes de convenir à une retraite en ordre.
Nicole Gotteri écrit, en page 124 de son livre:
"...pour essayer d'épargner à la Ville (de Zurich)les suites prévisible d'une prise d'assaut,Masséna crut devoir user de la voie des négotiations. Ce geste est tout à son honneur, contraitement à ce que Korsakov (commandant des forces alliées sur place), sans doute pour se justifier, insinua dans ses rapports au tsar et à Souvorov, lui-même ayant retenu le parlementaire français, le brigadier Ducheyron,
envoyé le 25 au soir au mépris des usages de guerre et ayant différé de donner une réponse..."
Il est très facile de comprendre que si aujourd'hui les historiens russes basent leur appréciation des évènements du 26 septembre 1799 exclusivement sur les archives
de l'empire du 18ème et 19ème siècle, ils arrivent facilement à une interprétation très diffèrente non seulement de la seconde bataille de Zurich et des raisons pour le carnage qui a sans doute eu lieu dans la ville lors de l'assaut des troupes françaises sur les troupes russes en complet désordre mais aussi de toute la campagne de Souvorov.
Souvorov lui-même, ce jour là, après avoir franchi le Saint-Gothard au coût de la vie de 2000 hommes, a en effet réussi a franchir la Schöllenen défendu ce jour la par des forces françaises en retraite tactique.
Nicole Gotteri:
"Le général en chef russe ignorait encore les résultats des batailles engagées sur le lac de Zurich. Il comptait toujours rejoindre Hotze (général autrichien d'origine suisse tué lors des combats dans la plaine de la Linth) à Schwytz et marcher sur Lucerne. Pour gagner Schwytz il renonça le sentier qui passait par Flüelen Sisikon et Brunner car il révélait son mouvement à Lecourbe (le général de division français à la tête des troupes dans la vallée de la Reuss, dans la haute vallée de l'Aare et dans le Haut Valais qui s'était replié à Seedorf sur la rive gauche de la Reuss).
Il préféra emprunter le Schächental, le col de Kinzig, le Wängital pour aboutir au hameau de Muotathal...."
Les suites sont connues. Souvorov sera refoulé du Muotothal, il devra passer dans le Linthtal d'où il essayera de passer vers le lac de Zurich, il sera repoussé vers Elm et franchira, dans la neige, avec ce qui reste de ses troupes durement éprouvées, ayant perdu pratiquement tous son matériel y inclus les vivres, le Panixerpass pour descendre dans la vallée du Rhin d'ou il retirera son armée du territoire suisse.
Nicole Gotteri:
D'après les estimations de l'historien russe Miliutin, les effectifs sous le commandement de Souvorov en date du 1er septembre avaient été 706 officiers et de 20579 hommes.... A l'arrivée à Coire, 8 octobre, 14000 hommes étaient encore présents; la perte totale se montait à environ 6000 hommes. En outre,Souvorov avait perdu toute son artillerie et tous ses bagages..."
Il y a lieu de mentionner à cette occasion la communication catastrophique entre les commandements suprèmes des troupes de coalition, notamment le tsar et l'empereur autrichien François, frère du commandant des troupes austro-russes en Suisse, le'archéduc Charles, et l'atmosphère glaciale, et en partie franchement hostile entre les commandants dans les terrain.
Le contrast avec l'habileté de conduite, l'usage des renseignements, l'esprit d'invention du génie militaire dans la préparation de passages fluviaux (Limmat, Linth) du côté français est frappant.
Finalement, il faut signaler que la campagne en Suisse de 1799 a été fratricide.
Du côté français, il y avait plusieurs bataillons helvétique, du côté de la coalition un régiment (Roverea) et des paysans en révolte contre les troupes d'occupation françaises.
Inutile de vouloir nier la rupture qui reignait dans notre pays en cette période sanglante, et dangereux de vouloir glorifier la coalition en dénigrant les troupes françaises. Une chose est sure: l'expérience des fureurs de la guerre sur notre territoire a permis aux Suisses de mieux réflêchir sur leur façon de gérer un pays
d'une extrème inhomogénéité culturelle, et a accepter l'acte de Médiation proposée par Napoléon en 1805. Les leçons de la campagne de 1799 étaient bien apprises en novembre 1847, lorsque sous la direction du général Dufour, le Sondrebond a été écrasé par une campagne militaire qui a été charactérisée par un historien américain, Joachim Remak, comme "une guerre très civile" (A Very Civil War) ou, dans le titre de la traduction allemande du livre: "Bruderzwist, nicht Bruderkrieg"
Le révisionisme historique en vogue dans la Russie postmoderne de Medvedev
et Poutine n'a pas épargné la Suisse. Dans sa version online, la Moscow Times confirme que le Maréchal Souvorov, par son intervention, aurait chassé les Français de la Suisse et contribué au rétablissement de la neutralité de notre pays. Cela est trop beau pour être vrai, et à celles et ceux qui aimeraient savoir mieux comment la campagne militaire de 1799 s'est déroulée, Osservatore Profano recommande la lecture du livre de Nicole GOTTERI: La campagne de Suisse en 1799 "Le choc des géants", paru chez Bernard Giovanangeli, Paris 2003 ISBN 2-909034-35-6.
En effet, il y a exactement 210 ans, le 26 septembre 1799, pendant que les troupes russes de Souvorov réussirent à franchir le Pont du Diable et d'avancer jusqu'à Altdorf, l'armée française commandée par le général Masséna prit d'assaut la ville de Zurich après le refus des forces austriaco-russes de convenir à une retraite en ordre.
Nicole Gotteri écrit, en page 124 de son livre:
"...pour essayer d'épargner à la Ville (de Zurich)les suites prévisible d'une prise d'assaut,Masséna crut devoir user de la voie des négotiations. Ce geste est tout à son honneur, contraitement à ce que Korsakov (commandant des forces alliées sur place), sans doute pour se justifier, insinua dans ses rapports au tsar et à Souvorov, lui-même ayant retenu le parlementaire français, le brigadier Ducheyron,
envoyé le 25 au soir au mépris des usages de guerre et ayant différé de donner une réponse..."
Il est très facile de comprendre que si aujourd'hui les historiens russes basent leur appréciation des évènements du 26 septembre 1799 exclusivement sur les archives
de l'empire du 18ème et 19ème siècle, ils arrivent facilement à une interprétation très diffèrente non seulement de la seconde bataille de Zurich et des raisons pour le carnage qui a sans doute eu lieu dans la ville lors de l'assaut des troupes françaises sur les troupes russes en complet désordre mais aussi de toute la campagne de Souvorov.
Souvorov lui-même, ce jour là, après avoir franchi le Saint-Gothard au coût de la vie de 2000 hommes, a en effet réussi a franchir la Schöllenen défendu ce jour la par des forces françaises en retraite tactique.
Nicole Gotteri:
"Le général en chef russe ignorait encore les résultats des batailles engagées sur le lac de Zurich. Il comptait toujours rejoindre Hotze (général autrichien d'origine suisse tué lors des combats dans la plaine de la Linth) à Schwytz et marcher sur Lucerne. Pour gagner Schwytz il renonça le sentier qui passait par Flüelen Sisikon et Brunner car il révélait son mouvement à Lecourbe (le général de division français à la tête des troupes dans la vallée de la Reuss, dans la haute vallée de l'Aare et dans le Haut Valais qui s'était replié à Seedorf sur la rive gauche de la Reuss).
Il préféra emprunter le Schächental, le col de Kinzig, le Wängital pour aboutir au hameau de Muotathal...."
Les suites sont connues. Souvorov sera refoulé du Muotothal, il devra passer dans le Linthtal d'où il essayera de passer vers le lac de Zurich, il sera repoussé vers Elm et franchira, dans la neige, avec ce qui reste de ses troupes durement éprouvées, ayant perdu pratiquement tous son matériel y inclus les vivres, le Panixerpass pour descendre dans la vallée du Rhin d'ou il retirera son armée du territoire suisse.
Nicole Gotteri:
D'après les estimations de l'historien russe Miliutin, les effectifs sous le commandement de Souvorov en date du 1er septembre avaient été 706 officiers et de 20579 hommes.... A l'arrivée à Coire, 8 octobre, 14000 hommes étaient encore présents; la perte totale se montait à environ 6000 hommes. En outre,Souvorov avait perdu toute son artillerie et tous ses bagages..."
Il y a lieu de mentionner à cette occasion la communication catastrophique entre les commandements suprèmes des troupes de coalition, notamment le tsar et l'empereur autrichien François, frère du commandant des troupes austro-russes en Suisse, le'archéduc Charles, et l'atmosphère glaciale, et en partie franchement hostile entre les commandants dans les terrain.
Le contrast avec l'habileté de conduite, l'usage des renseignements, l'esprit d'invention du génie militaire dans la préparation de passages fluviaux (Limmat, Linth) du côté français est frappant.
Finalement, il faut signaler que la campagne en Suisse de 1799 a été fratricide.
Du côté français, il y avait plusieurs bataillons helvétique, du côté de la coalition un régiment (Roverea) et des paysans en révolte contre les troupes d'occupation françaises.
Inutile de vouloir nier la rupture qui reignait dans notre pays en cette période sanglante, et dangereux de vouloir glorifier la coalition en dénigrant les troupes françaises. Une chose est sure: l'expérience des fureurs de la guerre sur notre territoire a permis aux Suisses de mieux réflêchir sur leur façon de gérer un pays
d'une extrème inhomogénéité culturelle, et a accepter l'acte de Médiation proposée par Napoléon en 1805. Les leçons de la campagne de 1799 étaient bien apprises en novembre 1847, lorsque sous la direction du général Dufour, le Sondrebond a été écrasé par une campagne militaire qui a été charactérisée par un historien américain, Joachim Remak, comme "une guerre très civile" (A Very Civil War) ou, dans le titre de la traduction allemande du livre: "Bruderzwist, nicht Bruderkrieg"
Monday, September 21, 2009
Général Claude Jacques Lecourbe (1758-1815)
Un cordiale benvenuto al Presidente Medvedev dal Osservatore Profano
Non c'è dubbio che il generale maresciallo di campo (russo ed austriaco) Suvorov, nel 1799 aveva la missione di preparare una base avanzata per l'attacco degli alleati contro la Francia rivoluzionaria, è che per la sua volontà di ferro e la crudeltà colla quale ha trattato i suoi soldati, ha mancato solo di poco l'obiettivo.
La memoria storica nazionale della Svizzera non è mai uscito dall scissione profonda che divide gli amici della Francia (e della sua rivoluzione), i Svizzeri (protestanti, liberali) del settore occidentale del paese, e quelli amici della Russia, i Svizzeri (cattolici, conservatori) del settore centrale ed orientale del paese.
11 anni fa, nel 1998, Basilea, si ricordava con una festa repubblicana del direttore elvetico Peter Ochs, fondatore della Repubblica Elvetica (1798 a 1805) mentre che nei Grigioni, un magazzino storico-geografico-tusristico (Terra Grischuna) implorava l'incendio del monastero di Disentis come un reato tipico dei Francesi atei.
Se il presidente russo Dmitri Medvedev, primo capo di Stato della Russia mai venuto in Svizzera, apportera il suo tributo davanti al monumento Suvorov nella Schöllenen, sara ben avisato di ricordarsi non solo dei trionfi del stratega Suvorov e delle sofferenze dei suoi uomini, ma anche della qualità dell' avversario di quest'ultimo e della bravura delle truppe francesi sotto il Comando del generale Claude Jacques Lecourbe, e del fatto che il colpo mortale che la Russia e l'Austria volevano portare alla Francia in Svizzera non è riuscita.
Facit: anche oggi, la Svizzera rimane un terreno minato per quello che prova di usarla come base avanzata di interessi strategici, perche grazie alla libertà dei suoi cittadini, i dissensi e le lotte interne lasciarono sempre dello spazio d'azione per l'avversario e impedirono il successo finale...
Riferimenti:
GÜNTHER Reinhold: Le Alpi a Ferro e Fuoco
La campagna della divisione Lecourbe nella guerra del 1799
Armando Dadò Editore, Locarno 2002
ISBN 88-8281-109-3
A hearty welcome to President Medvedev
Beyond any doubt the general field marshal Suvorov had
the mission, in 1799, to establisch an advanced base for the final attack of the Allied forces against revolutionary France, and that thanks to his iron will and the cruelty with which he treated his soldiers, only narrowly missed this objective.
The historical memory of the Swiss has never overcome the deep divide between the
friends of France (ans the French Revolution), namely the inhabitants of the
Western part of the country (protestant, liberal) and the friends of Russia, the inhabitants of the Eastern and central parts of the country (catholic and conservative).
Eleven years ago, in 1998, in Basel a "fête républicaine" was held in honour of the founder of the Helvetic Republic, Peter Ochs, while in Grisons, a historical-geographical-touristic magazine (Terra Grischuna) still deplored the firestorm that had destroyed the monastery of Disentis as a crime that had been typical for the impious French.
When the President of Russia, the first head of state of Russia ever to visit Switzerland, will honour the memory of the general field marshal at the Suvorov memorial in the canyon of the Schöllenen, he will be well advised to consider not only the triumphs of the strategic leader and the suffering of his soldiers, but also the bravery of the adversary,the French troops under the command of Général Claude Jacques Lecourbe (1758-1815, and to the fact that the mortal blow that was intended against the French on Swiss soil did not succeed.
Facit:
Even today, Switzerland remains a terrain full of landmines for all those who tries to use her as a base for strategic interests, thanks to the liberty of her citizens who through their dissensions and infights will impede the final success.
Source:
GÜNTHER Reinhold: Le Alpi a Ferro e Fuoco
La campagna della divisione Lecourbe nella guerra del 1799
Armando Dadò Editore, Locarno 2002
ISBN 88-8281-109-3
Friday, August 21, 2009
Hans Rudolf Merz in the footsteps of Neville Chamberlain
On September 29, 1938, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared, after having signed together with the French Prime Minister Daladier, an agreement with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich that legitimated the annexation of the Northwestern part of Czechoslovakia (Sudentenland) by Germany:
"Peace is at hand".
A year later, World War II had been started by Nazi Germany.
71 years later, on August 20, 2009, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Federal Councillor Hans Rudolf Merz, flew to Tripoli and signed a declaration of official excuse for the arrest of one of Muammar Ghadafi's sons, Hannibal, in Geneva, two years earlier, for charges brought against him of having beaten his servants.
The Swiss President, by this act of apeasement, was convinced to have restored the hounour and the dignity of the Ghadafi family and to have done no harm to the honour of his own country. Meanwhile it was unclear what had been the fate of the servants that had had the courage to protest against their treatment, and two Swiss citizens were still held as hostages by the regime of Tripoli, as President Merz was on his way home.
Mr Hannibal Ghadafi himself had declared, some days before the arrival of President Merz in Libya, his intent to destroy Switzerland, if only a nuclear bomb had been at hand, thereby opening the question whether his honour could be restored by less violent means than by bombing Switzerland.
The carpet for the Canossa journey of President Merz had been laid out by Swiss sociologist Jean Ziegler, a man to whom the late Cuban-Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara once had declared that he considered him as "the virus in the brain of the monster" (the monster, according to Che, being Ziegler's country, Switzerland).
In an interview with a Swiss newspaper, the day before the Tripoli agreement, Mr. Ziegler had praised Muammar Ghadafi as one of the most serious anti-imperialist political leaders in the world and expressed his gratitude of having been invited repeatedly by the Libyan leader for personal discussions.
By acting in this way, two prominent Swiss citizens, the President of the Confederation, and a fundamentalist professional critic of the same Confederation, have reproduced two stereotypes often attributed to the Swiss national character:
a) secret admiration for authoritarian and autocratic regimes
b) low self-esteem and an underdevelopped sense of honour
President Merz might take some comfort from the debate in the House of Commons on October 3, 1938, when Prime Minister Chamberlain declared:
"...Before giving a verdict upon this arrangement, we should do well to avoid describing it as a personal or a national triumph for anyone. The real triumph is that it has shown that representatives of four great Powers can find it possible to agree on a way of carrying out a difficult and delicate operation by discussion instead of by force of arms, and thereby they have averted a catastrophe which would have ended civilisation as we have known it. The relief that our escape from this great peril of war has, I think, everywhere been mingled in this country with a profound feeling of sympathy."
[Hon. Members: "Shame".]
"I have nothing to be ashamed of. Let those who have, hang their heads. We must feel profound sympathy for a small and gallant nation in the hour of their national grief and loss."
Mr. Bellenger: "It is an insult to say it."
The Prime Minister:
"I say in the name of this House and of the people of this country that Czechoslovakia has earned our admiration and respect for her restraint, for her dignity, for her magnificent discipline in face of such a trial as few nations have ever been called upon to meet."
Parliamentary Debates, Commons, Vol. 339 (October 3, 1938)
Source: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/workbook/ralprs36.htm
On September 29, 1938, the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain declared, after having signed together with the French Prime Minister Daladier, an agreement with Hitler and Mussolini in Munich that legitimated the annexation of the Northwestern part of Czechoslovakia (Sudentenland) by Germany:
"Peace is at hand".
A year later, World War II had been started by Nazi Germany.
71 years later, on August 20, 2009, the President of the Swiss Confederation, Federal Councillor Hans Rudolf Merz, flew to Tripoli and signed a declaration of official excuse for the arrest of one of Muammar Ghadafi's sons, Hannibal, in Geneva, two years earlier, for charges brought against him of having beaten his servants.
The Swiss President, by this act of apeasement, was convinced to have restored the hounour and the dignity of the Ghadafi family and to have done no harm to the honour of his own country. Meanwhile it was unclear what had been the fate of the servants that had had the courage to protest against their treatment, and two Swiss citizens were still held as hostages by the regime of Tripoli, as President Merz was on his way home.
Mr Hannibal Ghadafi himself had declared, some days before the arrival of President Merz in Libya, his intent to destroy Switzerland, if only a nuclear bomb had been at hand, thereby opening the question whether his honour could be restored by less violent means than by bombing Switzerland.
The carpet for the Canossa journey of President Merz had been laid out by Swiss sociologist Jean Ziegler, a man to whom the late Cuban-Argentinian revolutionary Che Guevara once had declared that he considered him as "the virus in the brain of the monster" (the monster, according to Che, being Ziegler's country, Switzerland).
In an interview with a Swiss newspaper, the day before the Tripoli agreement, Mr. Ziegler had praised Muammar Ghadafi as one of the most serious anti-imperialist political leaders in the world and expressed his gratitude of having been invited repeatedly by the Libyan leader for personal discussions.
By acting in this way, two prominent Swiss citizens, the President of the Confederation, and a fundamentalist professional critic of the same Confederation, have reproduced two stereotypes often attributed to the Swiss national character:
a) secret admiration for authoritarian and autocratic regimes
b) low self-esteem and an underdevelopped sense of honour
President Merz might take some comfort from the debate in the House of Commons on October 3, 1938, when Prime Minister Chamberlain declared:
"...Before giving a verdict upon this arrangement, we should do well to avoid describing it as a personal or a national triumph for anyone. The real triumph is that it has shown that representatives of four great Powers can find it possible to agree on a way of carrying out a difficult and delicate operation by discussion instead of by force of arms, and thereby they have averted a catastrophe which would have ended civilisation as we have known it. The relief that our escape from this great peril of war has, I think, everywhere been mingled in this country with a profound feeling of sympathy."
[Hon. Members: "Shame".]
"I have nothing to be ashamed of. Let those who have, hang their heads. We must feel profound sympathy for a small and gallant nation in the hour of their national grief and loss."
Mr. Bellenger: "It is an insult to say it."
The Prime Minister:
"I say in the name of this House and of the people of this country that Czechoslovakia has earned our admiration and respect for her restraint, for her dignity, for her magnificent discipline in face of such a trial as few nations have ever been called upon to meet."
Parliamentary Debates, Commons, Vol. 339 (October 3, 1938)
Source: http://www.wwnorton.com/college/history/ralph/workbook/ralprs36.htm
Friday, July 24, 2009
Clonare Silvio Berlusconi - per rendere l'Italia felice
Gli ultimi capricci del Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri della Repubblica Italiana, Silvio Berlusconi, mostrono un uomo felice nei suoi comportamenti incompatibili colla dignità dello stato che dirige. Il "Cavaliere", "L'unto del Seniore",l'imprenditore senza scrupoli, il monopolista delle mass media del suo paese, il cantante, il grande amatore di figlie bionde e terapeuta sessuale secondo i nastri di una escort che ha passato una notte con lui...Silvio Berlusconi appare come l'uomo perfetto per il terzo millennio. "Il Principe" di Nicolò Macchiavelli era un personaggio che faceva paura, ma il dittatore moderno porta una maschera simpatica, sempre giocosa, e rende felice quelli che capiscono che basta ammirarlo e dargli l'applauso dovuto per approfitare della sua generosità. Forse il futuro politico ed economico dell'Italia sarebbe piu sereno se la popolazione consisteva esclusivamente da cloni del Cavaliere Berlusconi, tutti furbi,senza scrupoli,festeggianti,vivendo senza l'ombra dell'autocritica e del dubbio. Aldous Huxley ha dato un'impressione del mondo felice che potrebbe essere quello dei cloni berlusconiani, nel suo "Brave New World".
Would cloning of Silvio Berlusconi make Italy happier?
The latest revelations on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconis publicized sexual life show a man happily behaving in a way that is incompatible with the dignity of his high political office. The "Cavaliere","The Anointed by the Lord", the tycoon free of remorse, the monopolist of the mass media of his country,the singer, the lover of blonde girls and now even sex therapy counsellor of an escort that passed a night with him... Silvio Berlusconi appears to be the ideal man for the third millenium. The historical "Principe" of Nicolo Macchiavelli was a frightening personality, but the modern dictator wears a sympathetic mask, always joyful, and is ready to make those happy who understand that it suffices to admire him and to spend the applause he deserves in order to take profit from his generosity. Maybe the political and economic future of Italy whould look a bit mor bright if her populations was composed exclusively of clones of the Cavaliere Berlusconi,everyone being clever, cute, joyous, living without the slightest shadow of autocritique or doubt. Aldous Huxley has given a description of a world populated by berlusconian clones in his famlous novel "Brave New World".
Gli ultimi capricci del Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri della Repubblica Italiana, Silvio Berlusconi, mostrono un uomo felice nei suoi comportamenti incompatibili colla dignità dello stato che dirige. Il "Cavaliere", "L'unto del Seniore",l'imprenditore senza scrupoli, il monopolista delle mass media del suo paese, il cantante, il grande amatore di figlie bionde e terapeuta sessuale secondo i nastri di una escort che ha passato una notte con lui...Silvio Berlusconi appare come l'uomo perfetto per il terzo millennio. "Il Principe" di Nicolò Macchiavelli era un personaggio che faceva paura, ma il dittatore moderno porta una maschera simpatica, sempre giocosa, e rende felice quelli che capiscono che basta ammirarlo e dargli l'applauso dovuto per approfitare della sua generosità. Forse il futuro politico ed economico dell'Italia sarebbe piu sereno se la popolazione consisteva esclusivamente da cloni del Cavaliere Berlusconi, tutti furbi,senza scrupoli,festeggianti,vivendo senza l'ombra dell'autocritica e del dubbio. Aldous Huxley ha dato un'impressione del mondo felice che potrebbe essere quello dei cloni berlusconiani, nel suo "Brave New World".
Would cloning of Silvio Berlusconi make Italy happier?
The latest revelations on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconis publicized sexual life show a man happily behaving in a way that is incompatible with the dignity of his high political office. The "Cavaliere","The Anointed by the Lord", the tycoon free of remorse, the monopolist of the mass media of his country,the singer, the lover of blonde girls and now even sex therapy counsellor of an escort that passed a night with him... Silvio Berlusconi appears to be the ideal man for the third millenium. The historical "Principe" of Nicolo Macchiavelli was a frightening personality, but the modern dictator wears a sympathetic mask, always joyful, and is ready to make those happy who understand that it suffices to admire him and to spend the applause he deserves in order to take profit from his generosity. Maybe the political and economic future of Italy whould look a bit mor bright if her populations was composed exclusively of clones of the Cavaliere Berlusconi,everyone being clever, cute, joyous, living without the slightest shadow of autocritique or doubt. Aldous Huxley has given a description of a world populated by berlusconian clones in his famlous novel "Brave New World".
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Fulvio Pelli - l'ultimo vero liberale
In Svizzera, i partiti liberali e radicali che avevano sempre formato una famiglia politica nel senso sociologico (forti dissensioni al interno ma anche consenso sul fondo della libertà d'espressione, della tolleranza e della risponsabilità individuale) si sono finalmente riuniti per rinforzare la presenza liberale nel equilibrio politica fortemente polarizzato fra i popolarismi della destra (UDC) e della sinistra (PS) e per marcare una distanza chiara dalla formazione ameboide del PPD.
La nuova formazione si chiama in Svizzera tedesca "FDP.Die Liberalen" usurpando in un certo modo la denominazione protetta del partito liberale di Basilea-Città.
I liberali Ginevrini e Basilesi, federalisti e tradizionalmente opposti al centralismo del corrente radicale del "Freisinn", fino adesso non hanno avuto oglia di unirsi sotto la presidenza del Ticinese Fulvio Pelvi, ma potrebbero cambiare la loro opinione in seguito all'intervista che Fulvio Pelli ha dato alla radio DRS sabato, 28 febbraio 2009. Pelli, voce solitario in una clamorosa cacofonia politica e mediatica dopo i malfatti della UBS, ha detto chiaramente le cose che erano da dire:
1. La situazione presente e stata creata da elementi criminali al interno della UBS che sono perseguitati dall giudizia degli Stati Uniti. La Svizzera non è identica all'UBS malgradi il fatto che quest'ultima e la piu grande banca del paese.
2. La situazione e particolarmente grave grazie al antiamericanismo della nostra ministra del estero, Mme Calmy Rey, che ha fatto tutto per distruggere il Goodwill tradizionale che la Svizzera, "Sister Republic" degli Stati Uniti dall'indipendenza degli Americani del Nord, ha sempre avuto a Washington.
3. Il segreto bancario non esiste per proteggere atti criminali, ma per mantenere un minimo di libertà privata e per questa ragione non deve essere scrificato sul altare
dell' imagine della Svizzera al estero. L'evasione di tasse e un atto criminale, ma
il fatto che esiste non giustifica la libera circolazione di informazioni su ogni cittadino di una paese che mantiene un regime di tassazione contraprodottivo.
Attraverso la sua analisi, Fulvio Pelli si è rivelato un rappresentante degno del liberalismo classico in un'atmosfera di caccia di streghe, di collettivismo, di protezionismo e di ultranazionalismo.
In Svizzera, i partiti liberali e radicali che avevano sempre formato una famiglia politica nel senso sociologico (forti dissensioni al interno ma anche consenso sul fondo della libertà d'espressione, della tolleranza e della risponsabilità individuale) si sono finalmente riuniti per rinforzare la presenza liberale nel equilibrio politica fortemente polarizzato fra i popolarismi della destra (UDC) e della sinistra (PS) e per marcare una distanza chiara dalla formazione ameboide del PPD.
La nuova formazione si chiama in Svizzera tedesca "FDP.Die Liberalen" usurpando in un certo modo la denominazione protetta del partito liberale di Basilea-Città.
I liberali Ginevrini e Basilesi, federalisti e tradizionalmente opposti al centralismo del corrente radicale del "Freisinn", fino adesso non hanno avuto oglia di unirsi sotto la presidenza del Ticinese Fulvio Pelvi, ma potrebbero cambiare la loro opinione in seguito all'intervista che Fulvio Pelli ha dato alla radio DRS sabato, 28 febbraio 2009. Pelli, voce solitario in una clamorosa cacofonia politica e mediatica dopo i malfatti della UBS, ha detto chiaramente le cose che erano da dire:
1. La situazione presente e stata creata da elementi criminali al interno della UBS che sono perseguitati dall giudizia degli Stati Uniti. La Svizzera non è identica all'UBS malgradi il fatto che quest'ultima e la piu grande banca del paese.
2. La situazione e particolarmente grave grazie al antiamericanismo della nostra ministra del estero, Mme Calmy Rey, che ha fatto tutto per distruggere il Goodwill tradizionale che la Svizzera, "Sister Republic" degli Stati Uniti dall'indipendenza degli Americani del Nord, ha sempre avuto a Washington.
3. Il segreto bancario non esiste per proteggere atti criminali, ma per mantenere un minimo di libertà privata e per questa ragione non deve essere scrificato sul altare
dell' imagine della Svizzera al estero. L'evasione di tasse e un atto criminale, ma
il fatto che esiste non giustifica la libera circolazione di informazioni su ogni cittadino di una paese che mantiene un regime di tassazione contraprodottivo.
Attraverso la sua analisi, Fulvio Pelli si è rivelato un rappresentante degno del liberalismo classico in un'atmosfera di caccia di streghe, di collettivismo, di protezionismo e di ultranazionalismo.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Breaking Swiss bank secrecy and The Opening of Pandora's Box
When Mephisto declared in Faust I: "...ich bin ein Teil der Kraft, die stets das Böse will und stets das Gute schafft..." his statement demonstrated a contrario the vanity of the human effort to do good and to be good when it comes to guaranteed success. Barak Obama's government and the present US administration are trying to do good and to be good. What they need in the first place, is cash. Where can you find cash if not on Swiss Bank accounts? Breaking the Swiss banking secrecy may be hailed from many honest people around the world, but the side effects of this effort are largely unknown. If 52,000 U.S. citizens are indicted and ultimately condemned for tax fraud, the damage on entrepreneurship in the US and elsewhere will exceed the effect of the subprime crisis, hundreds of thousands of small and medium businesses will go bust within the next weeks and months, and the process might spark revolutionary upheaval throughout the industrialized world.
The grounding of Switzerland's Banking business and of the country's overall credibility might eventually be considered a footnote in an ensuing scenario that could best be compared to the French Revolution. The "Ancien Régime" in France crumbled after the costly military support of the French to the American Independence movement.
America's strength as the leading industrial nation has been lost as a consequence of costly military interventions and financial mismanagement. Barak Obama was elected President by those who suffered most of the errors of the Bush adminstration and it might become very difficult for President Obama to calm the spirits that supported him. To direct the fury of the "middle American" towards an external enemy will the most probably be chosen as the best tactic, and Switzerland - adorned with a new label as "financial rogue state" might provide the ideal target for diversive action. However, as stated before, a frontal attack against the "Smaller Sister Republic" by the US might prove as risky as stepping into a mine field of unknown dimensions. If the UBS goes bust thanks to the attacks from the US judiciary, and if the Swiss taxpayers have ultimately have to pay the bill, the witch hunt might continue within Switzerland, leading to a final implosion of Pandora's Box.
When Mephisto declared in Faust I: "...ich bin ein Teil der Kraft, die stets das Böse will und stets das Gute schafft..." his statement demonstrated a contrario the vanity of the human effort to do good and to be good when it comes to guaranteed success. Barak Obama's government and the present US administration are trying to do good and to be good. What they need in the first place, is cash. Where can you find cash if not on Swiss Bank accounts? Breaking the Swiss banking secrecy may be hailed from many honest people around the world, but the side effects of this effort are largely unknown. If 52,000 U.S. citizens are indicted and ultimately condemned for tax fraud, the damage on entrepreneurship in the US and elsewhere will exceed the effect of the subprime crisis, hundreds of thousands of small and medium businesses will go bust within the next weeks and months, and the process might spark revolutionary upheaval throughout the industrialized world.
The grounding of Switzerland's Banking business and of the country's overall credibility might eventually be considered a footnote in an ensuing scenario that could best be compared to the French Revolution. The "Ancien Régime" in France crumbled after the costly military support of the French to the American Independence movement.
America's strength as the leading industrial nation has been lost as a consequence of costly military interventions and financial mismanagement. Barak Obama was elected President by those who suffered most of the errors of the Bush adminstration and it might become very difficult for President Obama to calm the spirits that supported him. To direct the fury of the "middle American" towards an external enemy will the most probably be chosen as the best tactic, and Switzerland - adorned with a new label as "financial rogue state" might provide the ideal target for diversive action. However, as stated before, a frontal attack against the "Smaller Sister Republic" by the US might prove as risky as stepping into a mine field of unknown dimensions. If the UBS goes bust thanks to the attacks from the US judiciary, and if the Swiss taxpayers have ultimately have to pay the bill, the witch hunt might continue within Switzerland, leading to a final implosion of Pandora's Box.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Once again, Sardinia surrenders to soft fascism
Una volta di piu, la Sardegna si arrende al fascismo dolce
On September 29, 2007, I wrote on this blog a short comment on the life and work of Emilio Lussu, with special emphasis to the fierce resistance of his native Sardinia against the first wave of fascism and to the surrender of the Island's political elite to the seduction of the second wave which tried to hid the ugly face of Mussolini's movement behind a mask of gentle bourgeois style.
And in a later comment - on February 24, 2008 ("Uses and Misuses of the NAZI-KEULE")on the differences between Italian fascism and German Nazism I mentionned the fact that the judiciary's independence in Italy was protected even during the Mussolini years thanks to the constitutional monarchy.
In recent times, Berlusconi has continuously, and with a certain success, tried to
discredit the judiciary's independence and has even sought the support of the ultra-conservative and revisionist Pope Benedict XVI for his attacks on tribunals and judges.
Last Sunday, with the success of the party of the self-declared Cavaliere per la Grazia di Dio Berlusconi in Sardinia's regional elections, once again, proud Sardinia has surrendered to
soft fascism.
Il 29 settembre 2007, su questo blog, avevo scritto un breve commentario sulla vita e l'opera di Emilio Lussu, con attenzione speciale sulla resistenza della Sardegna
contro la prima ondata del fascismo, ed alla capitolazione dell'elite politica dell'isola alla seconda ondata che aveva nascosto la faccia bruta del movimento di Mussolini sotto una maschera di borghesia gentile.
In un altro commentario del 24 febbraio 2008(sulla "NAZI-KEULE") avevo menzionato che l'indipendenza del sistema giudiziario era rimasta protetta dalla monarchia costituzionale anche durante gli anni del fascismo.
In tempi recenti, Berlusconi continua di sconfessare sistematicamente giudici e tribunali, e senza srupulo cerca l'aiuto del Papa ultra-conservatore e revisionista
Benedetto XVI per arrivare al suo obiettivo.
Domenica passata, col successo del partito del auto-dichiarato Cavaliere per la Grazia di Dio Berlusconi nelle elezioni regionali, la Sardegna fiera, una volta di piu, si è arresa al fascismo dolce.
Una volta di piu, la Sardegna si arrende al fascismo dolce
On September 29, 2007, I wrote on this blog a short comment on the life and work of Emilio Lussu, with special emphasis to the fierce resistance of his native Sardinia against the first wave of fascism and to the surrender of the Island's political elite to the seduction of the second wave which tried to hid the ugly face of Mussolini's movement behind a mask of gentle bourgeois style.
And in a later comment - on February 24, 2008 ("Uses and Misuses of the NAZI-KEULE")on the differences between Italian fascism and German Nazism I mentionned the fact that the judiciary's independence in Italy was protected even during the Mussolini years thanks to the constitutional monarchy.
In recent times, Berlusconi has continuously, and with a certain success, tried to
discredit the judiciary's independence and has even sought the support of the ultra-conservative and revisionist Pope Benedict XVI for his attacks on tribunals and judges.
Last Sunday, with the success of the party of the self-declared Cavaliere per la Grazia di Dio Berlusconi in Sardinia's regional elections, once again, proud Sardinia has surrendered to
soft fascism.
Il 29 settembre 2007, su questo blog, avevo scritto un breve commentario sulla vita e l'opera di Emilio Lussu, con attenzione speciale sulla resistenza della Sardegna
contro la prima ondata del fascismo, ed alla capitolazione dell'elite politica dell'isola alla seconda ondata che aveva nascosto la faccia bruta del movimento di Mussolini sotto una maschera di borghesia gentile.
In un altro commentario del 24 febbraio 2008(sulla "NAZI-KEULE") avevo menzionato che l'indipendenza del sistema giudiziario era rimasta protetta dalla monarchia costituzionale anche durante gli anni del fascismo.
In tempi recenti, Berlusconi continua di sconfessare sistematicamente giudici e tribunali, e senza srupulo cerca l'aiuto del Papa ultra-conservatore e revisionista
Benedetto XVI per arrivare al suo obiettivo.
Domenica passata, col successo del partito del auto-dichiarato Cavaliere per la Grazia di Dio Berlusconi nelle elezioni regionali, la Sardegna fiera, una volta di piu, si è arresa al fascismo dolce.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
February 8, 2009 - Switzerland's or Europe's Doomsday?
Fears are growing in Switzerland that the popular vote of February 8, 2009, concerning the bilateral accord on freedom of movement within the EU and Switzerland (which is not an EU member) will end in a NO.
When two weeks earlier, opinion polls showed a 55% YES majority, the margin is now down on 50% YES, 7% undecided and 43% NO.
What strikes the OSSERVATORE PROFANO most, is the complete blindness of the discussion within Switzerland for the effects of a NO on the EU itself. Isolationists
want to redraw the line between Switzerland and it's neighbours, they are convinced that the semi-permeability of the frontier between "Us" and "Them" will remain untouched by a NO and that all the options for negotiating whatever subject with the EU will even be greater than ever before, confounding the tolerance for negative votes of member states such as Ireland (whom the EU cannot afford to loose) or for the erratic behavior of some members in Eastern Europe with the situation of Switzerland, which is not a member and which is considered - not only in Europe - as a shameless profiteer.
What is most striking: the NZZ, in it's management of the "letters to the editor" page, appears to lean toward a NO, or at least unwilling to stem the tide.
What we must fear most, and much more than the reactions of EU towards Switzerland, is the stimulus for desintegration within the EU that is initiated by a Swiss NO on February 8, 2009. This country bears a heavy responsibility not only for it's own fate but for the fate of Europe too, and the price of a NO will be high for all of Europe.
Fears are growing in Switzerland that the popular vote of February 8, 2009, concerning the bilateral accord on freedom of movement within the EU and Switzerland (which is not an EU member) will end in a NO.
When two weeks earlier, opinion polls showed a 55% YES majority, the margin is now down on 50% YES, 7% undecided and 43% NO.
What strikes the OSSERVATORE PROFANO most, is the complete blindness of the discussion within Switzerland for the effects of a NO on the EU itself. Isolationists
want to redraw the line between Switzerland and it's neighbours, they are convinced that the semi-permeability of the frontier between "Us" and "Them" will remain untouched by a NO and that all the options for negotiating whatever subject with the EU will even be greater than ever before, confounding the tolerance for negative votes of member states such as Ireland (whom the EU cannot afford to loose) or for the erratic behavior of some members in Eastern Europe with the situation of Switzerland, which is not a member and which is considered - not only in Europe - as a shameless profiteer.
What is most striking: the NZZ, in it's management of the "letters to the editor" page, appears to lean toward a NO, or at least unwilling to stem the tide.
What we must fear most, and much more than the reactions of EU towards Switzerland, is the stimulus for desintegration within the EU that is initiated by a Swiss NO on February 8, 2009. This country bears a heavy responsibility not only for it's own fate but for the fate of Europe too, and the price of a NO will be high for all of Europe.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Switzerland in Search of an Identity - Shall we become the Center of Europe, try a remake of Albania under Enver Hoxha, or end in a hostile environment, comparable to that of Israel or of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip?
When casting their vote in the next federal referendum on February 8, 2009, the Swiss will take one further step in their never-ending search for a national identity. They can say YES to the extension of the convention on free circulation of persons throughout the European Union to the citizens of new member states of the UE, namely Bulgaria and Romania, or say NO, thereby putting at risk a series of bilateral conventions on subjects such as free trade, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, scientific and technical cooperation etc.etc. which define the "bilateral way" of step by step cooperation with the European Union onto which the country has been steered by Chrstoph Blocher and his Swiss People's Party.
A series of questions arise in this context.
Will Switzerland continue to be a "special zone" in the heart of the European Union, at best developping over the years into a "District of Switzerland" (in analogy to the "District of Columbia - D.C." of the United States of America) or will it become
a pariah country, a kind of remake of Enver Hoxha's Albania which isolated itself completely from the European continent and sought refuge and consolation as a special ally of Maoist China? Will Switzerland continue to consider itself as a kind of "Promised Land" unable to understand positive signals from it's neighbours and therefore driving itself into a more and more violent defensive behaviour, quite similar to Israel, or, even worse, will it be forced into isolation by a European Union which could become more and more unwilling to discuss special favours for an unreliable partner? Will this isolation eventually lead to more and more violent internal dispute and dissensions, to a civil war and to a chaos of the type we now can see in the Gaza Strip?
The outcome of the popular vote of February 8 is still uncertain, the latest polls indicating a narrow majority for YES with 55%.
Whatever the result, it will not end the continuous effort of a country that has an impressivee record of high quality direct democracy to make difficult choices on it's priorities, political, economical, cultural as well.
Another aspect, our voters should take into account: Switzerland's political choices do not pass unnoticed in European capitals, and a negative vote on February 8 is likely to unleash more internal dispute within the European Union where some partners have become particularly vulnerable to populist tendencies.
When casting their vote in the next federal referendum on February 8, 2009, the Swiss will take one further step in their never-ending search for a national identity. They can say YES to the extension of the convention on free circulation of persons throughout the European Union to the citizens of new member states of the UE, namely Bulgaria and Romania, or say NO, thereby putting at risk a series of bilateral conventions on subjects such as free trade, mutual recognition of professional qualifications, scientific and technical cooperation etc.etc. which define the "bilateral way" of step by step cooperation with the European Union onto which the country has been steered by Chrstoph Blocher and his Swiss People's Party.
A series of questions arise in this context.
Will Switzerland continue to be a "special zone" in the heart of the European Union, at best developping over the years into a "District of Switzerland" (in analogy to the "District of Columbia - D.C." of the United States of America) or will it become
a pariah country, a kind of remake of Enver Hoxha's Albania which isolated itself completely from the European continent and sought refuge and consolation as a special ally of Maoist China? Will Switzerland continue to consider itself as a kind of "Promised Land" unable to understand positive signals from it's neighbours and therefore driving itself into a more and more violent defensive behaviour, quite similar to Israel, or, even worse, will it be forced into isolation by a European Union which could become more and more unwilling to discuss special favours for an unreliable partner? Will this isolation eventually lead to more and more violent internal dispute and dissensions, to a civil war and to a chaos of the type we now can see in the Gaza Strip?
The outcome of the popular vote of February 8 is still uncertain, the latest polls indicating a narrow majority for YES with 55%.
Whatever the result, it will not end the continuous effort of a country that has an impressivee record of high quality direct democracy to make difficult choices on it's priorities, political, economical, cultural as well.
Another aspect, our voters should take into account: Switzerland's political choices do not pass unnoticed in European capitals, and a negative vote on February 8 is likely to unleash more internal dispute within the European Union where some partners have become particularly vulnerable to populist tendencies.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thank You, Hans Saner!
Swiss Philosopher Hans Saner (1934), in an interview with the Basel newspaper "Basler Zeitung" (bazkulturmagazin, 28 october 2008) on the financial crisis,has made a fine statement on the misconception of democracy that has prevailed during the second half of the twentieth century and continues to prevail in the 21th century.
When the citizens of the German Democratic Republic took to the streets before the fall of the Berlin wall, they used to cry: "Wir sind das Volk!" (We are the People).
We all, Hans Saner says, use to cry: "We are the People!", but we should cry: "We are the Economy!, we are Politics, we are the Culture!" instead.
In fact, pseudo-religious neo-liberal prophets have tried to outdo the marxist hope for the inevitable death of the State by nurturing the hope that global wealth and well-being could be achieved by the forces of the market alone. In contrast to this concept, classical liberalism has always asked for a minimal coherence between regulatory interventions and the market forces.
In this context, it is refreshing to hear a philosopher say that democracy must not stop short of the concept of "The People" (or "The Nation"), but has to include, Economy, Politics, and, last but not least, Culture.
Swiss Philosopher Hans Saner (1934), in an interview with the Basel newspaper "Basler Zeitung" (bazkulturmagazin, 28 october 2008) on the financial crisis,has made a fine statement on the misconception of democracy that has prevailed during the second half of the twentieth century and continues to prevail in the 21th century.
When the citizens of the German Democratic Republic took to the streets before the fall of the Berlin wall, they used to cry: "Wir sind das Volk!" (We are the People).
We all, Hans Saner says, use to cry: "We are the People!", but we should cry: "We are the Economy!, we are Politics, we are the Culture!" instead.
In fact, pseudo-religious neo-liberal prophets have tried to outdo the marxist hope for the inevitable death of the State by nurturing the hope that global wealth and well-being could be achieved by the forces of the market alone. In contrast to this concept, classical liberalism has always asked for a minimal coherence between regulatory interventions and the market forces.
In this context, it is refreshing to hear a philosopher say that democracy must not stop short of the concept of "The People" (or "The Nation"), but has to include, Economy, Politics, and, last but not least, Culture.
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