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29 Apr 2007
24 Apr 2007
The grass is always greener...
Or...you only know what you want when you no longer got it. Just thinking about this again, triggered strangely by the news reports of Yelzin’s death and how many Russians might not see him in the same light as the rest of the world does – but now that he’s dead – they might look at it in a different light again and he may well become one of the great.
Isn’t it in every situation that we urge for change, we want things to be different, new and exciting but then once we find ourselves in the new surrounding we remember the ‘good old days’ and are not so sure about the things that are new?
Not sure whether this is a protective measure or whether it is laziness or whatever else…just not sure why it is that we do it, we always compare the past with the present, the present with the past and the things we have with the things we don’t. Guess it has to do with reference points and making sense of the world…
Isn’t it in every situation that we urge for change, we want things to be different, new and exciting but then once we find ourselves in the new surrounding we remember the ‘good old days’ and are not so sure about the things that are new?
Not sure whether this is a protective measure or whether it is laziness or whatever else…just not sure why it is that we do it, we always compare the past with the present, the present with the past and the things we have with the things we don’t. Guess it has to do with reference points and making sense of the world…
22 Apr 2007
Integration
A German village in South Korea that wishes to stay German – target of herds of South Korean “tourists” visiting the village, taking pictures of houses and inhabitants, invading ‘private grounds’. The garden dwarfs have been put into protective shelter, barbwire has been put up – but German smoked ham is being produced and sold to South Koreans who are willing to pay for it. It must stay German – so the consensus of the German inhabitants (with their South Korean wives) – but more and more South Koreans arrive to settle down and the authorities will not stop the influx, much to the annoyance of the Germans.
The idea behind it is notable (read: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/09/news/korea.php) but it still throws up the question of whether and if so how much freedom should be given to immigrants – no matter who is moving and where to.
Let’s take this German situation – isn’t it funny that Germans in Germany keep insisting on immigrants to adapt to the life in Germany, to mix and mingle, to become part of the society and not to be ‘outsiders’ keeping their own traditions and way of life. But this does not seem to be true for the Germans in South Korea i.e. they wish to keep to their German way of life – even so far that any building material is being imported from Germany – and see their village to be theirs i.e. German.
Somehow this makes no sense – and then again it makes loads of sense. Majorities see minorities not interlinking into the ‘common’ way of life as a danger to their national identity. Minorities see the need and force to adapt to the majorities way of life as a threat to their national identity. So there’s no answer, no solution that can be formulated and applied generally across all situations and countries. And as can be see with the Germans in South Korea situation – although preaching needed integration at home in reality when it comes down to it – they don’t live it either.
The idea behind it is notable (read: http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/08/09/news/korea.php) but it still throws up the question of whether and if so how much freedom should be given to immigrants – no matter who is moving and where to.
Let’s take this German situation – isn’t it funny that Germans in Germany keep insisting on immigrants to adapt to the life in Germany, to mix and mingle, to become part of the society and not to be ‘outsiders’ keeping their own traditions and way of life. But this does not seem to be true for the Germans in South Korea i.e. they wish to keep to their German way of life – even so far that any building material is being imported from Germany – and see their village to be theirs i.e. German.
Somehow this makes no sense – and then again it makes loads of sense. Majorities see minorities not interlinking into the ‘common’ way of life as a danger to their national identity. Minorities see the need and force to adapt to the majorities way of life as a threat to their national identity. So there’s no answer, no solution that can be formulated and applied generally across all situations and countries. And as can be see with the Germans in South Korea situation – although preaching needed integration at home in reality when it comes down to it – they don’t live it either.
What it's all about...
The intention is not to provide a historical or political correct account of topics as this would only mean that judgements would be made - and the reasoning behind setting up this site was not to create a forum where facts are posted but rather views of the world are shared, acknowledging the fact that they are all different and that there is no right or wrong.
What is asked for is to keep an open mind - to anything that is being said - and to link these statements with one's own perceptions, experiences, ideas, values, behaviour, up-bringing and whatever else influences us as human beings and makes us see the world as we do.
We can look up anything that interests us and find out 'facts' on everything (so easy now in the world of Wikipedia and the likes), we can post comments on each news archive, blog, and more. We rely on the facts we look up to be true, forgetting that those have been provided by people just like us influenced by their own sets of values and morals that have impact on how these facts are being collated and presented to us - some may now say that it is all historically proven and therefore is right - but who knows for sure. Weren't our ancestors just as prone to be influenced by their moral and values (which again had been influenced by the society's impact and pressures, their surroundings and up-bringing - in short, their view of the world in that given time)? In essence, can we be sure that the facts we long to gather and understand in order to make sense of the world are actually right? Well, they are not wrong - or are they? Or maybe they are something in the middle - maybe they have no definable edges and can not be classified into right or wrong but rather into a section of "all is possible" - a grey zone.
And following our urge to express ourselves and communicate our views to a wider community we should do so without expecting any judgement - now I wonder whether this is actually the case. We do want to be accepted (I guess that's why there are rating sections on so many of those self-expressing sites) and long for responses (hoping for only positive ones) for all our posts. It's all about making our mark right? But because we are so concerned about our posts and what we express - we forget to look at what others have to say - if we actually do it's more about the negative responses, those comments that are not at all similar to our way of looking at the world. And even if there may be some remarks that might even fit in with our view of the world - they will be dismissed if the overall impression is that of a differing point of view.
So, coming back to 'what it's all about' - it’s an exchange of views, opinions – the way the world is seen, the way that the past, the present and the future is being dealt with and how this influences our very own being and through this how it effects our surroundings and society as a whole.
It’s not about changing the world, making it a better place or anything like this – rather to create a new conception, an ever-evolving view of the world free of any judgement.
What is asked for is to keep an open mind - to anything that is being said - and to link these statements with one's own perceptions, experiences, ideas, values, behaviour, up-bringing and whatever else influences us as human beings and makes us see the world as we do.
We can look up anything that interests us and find out 'facts' on everything (so easy now in the world of Wikipedia and the likes), we can post comments on each news archive, blog, and more. We rely on the facts we look up to be true, forgetting that those have been provided by people just like us influenced by their own sets of values and morals that have impact on how these facts are being collated and presented to us - some may now say that it is all historically proven and therefore is right - but who knows for sure. Weren't our ancestors just as prone to be influenced by their moral and values (which again had been influenced by the society's impact and pressures, their surroundings and up-bringing - in short, their view of the world in that given time)? In essence, can we be sure that the facts we long to gather and understand in order to make sense of the world are actually right? Well, they are not wrong - or are they? Or maybe they are something in the middle - maybe they have no definable edges and can not be classified into right or wrong but rather into a section of "all is possible" - a grey zone.
And following our urge to express ourselves and communicate our views to a wider community we should do so without expecting any judgement - now I wonder whether this is actually the case. We do want to be accepted (I guess that's why there are rating sections on so many of those self-expressing sites) and long for responses (hoping for only positive ones) for all our posts. It's all about making our mark right? But because we are so concerned about our posts and what we express - we forget to look at what others have to say - if we actually do it's more about the negative responses, those comments that are not at all similar to our way of looking at the world. And even if there may be some remarks that might even fit in with our view of the world - they will be dismissed if the overall impression is that of a differing point of view.
So, coming back to 'what it's all about' - it’s an exchange of views, opinions – the way the world is seen, the way that the past, the present and the future is being dealt with and how this influences our very own being and through this how it effects our surroundings and society as a whole.
It’s not about changing the world, making it a better place or anything like this – rather to create a new conception, an ever-evolving view of the world free of any judgement.
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