fiat

Since the end of World War II and the Bretton Woods Conference for the promotion of open markets, there have been about thirty dissolutions of monetary unions (around seventy if one counts trade associations and related pacts) around the world, and while some break-ups were due to revolution or were superseded by other currencies, many of the terminations were voluntary and in recognition that conditions have changed. Despite the magnitude of the moment that the European common currency has, partners taking leave is not a new or rare thing. The European Union and Europe is about more than just money--and after all, that's all this is, not the end of the world. The euro is worth the effort (without judging the means and extremes taken) to preserve the balance of plurality and individuality that it represents. Though bankers and politicians rather campaign on legacies and steady-states, humans have an extraordinary capacity for adapting to change and privation (some of which in the realm of possibilities could be to the greater good) and we should not forget our native gifts that have grown a bit repugnant to regime and business, whose framework of custody and profit might render us all helpless.

Seit Ende der zweiten Weltkrieg und der Bretton Woods-Konferenz (für die Förderung von offene Märkte), hat ungefähr 30 internationale Währungsunionen (ohne die Gewerkschaftsverbanden und Bunds zu zählen) aufgelöst. Während die Spaltungen aufgrund eines Revolution oder einer Nachfolgewährung, wurden viele Kündigungen freiwillig. Trotz der Größe und Komplexität der aktuelle Situation in Europa, Auflockerung ist nichts neu oder selten. Der EU ist nicht nur Geld--es geht ja nur um Geld und keinen Weltuntergang. Das Euro wert ist zu retten (ohne Rücksicht auf die Maßnahme) um die richtige Balance zwischen Souveränität und Gruppenarbeit willen. Banken und Politiker bevorzugen Stabilität, obwohl Menschen haben ein natürliches Talent für Veränderung und Einschränkungen. Die Wende könnte zum gröberen Wohl das Volk ergeben, und es sollte nicht vergessen werden, dass wir haben solcher Anpassungsfähigkeit trotz den Minuspunkte bei Wirtschaft und Politik.

les trois perdants or suspension of belief

There are at least three news items vying for dominance and, I think, the vogue of cognitive dissonance has gained more than just a foothold of priorities over the past months--maybe as it ever was, struggling and causing disbanding as well as diluting native abilities to identify distraction from the real pith and moment. In no particular order, the latest triumvirate consists of 1) the US military embassy re-establishing a consular presence in the Pacific, a contingent of Marines stationed in Australia, evidently as a counter-measure for Chinese influence in the region (EN/DE);

2) the punitive, aggressive down-grading of German state public sector lenders (Landesbanken) by a major credit-rating agency (EN/DE)--ostensibly because the German government would be able to vouch for all their liabilities (and these public institutions should not be let off lightly for venturing into risky, speculative areas and gambling indirectly with tax-payers' money) but in reality probably to pressure Germany towards privatization (and under their own purview) of these financial bulwarks by the supra-national union of bankers and deprive not only civic and charitable organizations a lending source but also the politicians some grace-and-favour leverage and authority, and, I think, only more proof of how else money can be weaponized and turned against self-determination; and 3) the re-vitalization of the occupation movements spurred, apotheosized, ironically by evictions on Wall Street and elsewhere, which, truth be told had probably dimmed a bit over the past weeks, an eternity in the life-cycle of a sit-in, with a message and action. Such a triple-threat as this is not orchestrated and conspired but take any three headlines and try to see if one is not the natural consequence or the more advanced expression of the others, projecting from a safe distance what history might make of these daily preoccupations.

you used to ride on your chrome horse with your diplomat

This morning on the drive into work, I was listening to the news in the background, not really paying attention to it. The anchor was reporting on the broad field of Republican presidential candidates for next year’s election in the States, and garbled the name of a former top US diplomat who apparently had been offered in jest a cabinet position, his old post, in the administration.

The reporter named Secretary of State--Außenminister(in)--Hillary Kissinger as having reacted graciously and with good humour to the proposal. That would be a strange mash-up of policies and missions that I can’t even begin to imagine (but would make some good speculative fiction), much less the message and logistical feasibility having reinstating such a figure would entail.

nazca or man in the moon

Until a couple years ago when satellite charting services started paying attention to the ocean and the ocean’s floor, it seemed like our educational system was really failing, since 99% of school children could not locate Atlantis on a map. It turned out the apparent submerged roadways and building foundations were shadows and optical illusions (pareidolia, like the Face on Mars) but the excitement at least increased the awareness of some people. Perhaps, ultimately, the strange, man-made patterns appearing in China’s remote Gobi Desert will present the same lesson. It’s mysterious, kind of like the Nazca Lines of Peru, but barring what’s classified or secreted away (surely a fresh sweep is allowed over Iranian and Chinese ambitions but not over Area 51), one will probably be able to divine their purpose, whether defensive or experimenting with new ways of producing energy or drawing water out of a salty aquifer discovered beneath the desert. Before such powerful telemetry became available, the Great Wall of China was considered the only man-made structure "visible" unaided from orbit: I wonder if that distinction is still meaningful when all skyward features, down to the smallest detail, are visible for public scrutiny and imagination.

utopian gesture

More toxic yet, I believe, than politicians and their squabbles, though sometimes and in some places they are genuine and productive--the growing pains of democracy and inclusion--but mostly rightly adjudged as corrupt and self-interested, is the attitude, best exemplified in the sentiment of American Exceptionalism and the unsinkable promises and aspiration to maintain the chauvinism and clout of days and decades past (but the USA does not have a monopoly on hubris nor is the USA alone with her illusions of perpetuating institutions as they are). Despite what the prophets of doom are preaching, Europe and America are secure and can provide for their people, but dominance and even identity (tradition within bounds but also grandeur and influence out of proportion) have been supplanted by business and the bets that dictate the limits of sway and how far one can involve or distance oneself.  Crafters of State ought to recognize whether the effort expended is bent on re-capturing old glories--manifest destiny and merry old England, preserving values and norms, or if all that energy is re-directed towards making the landscape favourable for business that knows no borders, cultural or political.  National arrogance, insistent and potentially seductive, is dangerous enough on its own in any context but has the capacity for more damage when aims of peace and true prosperity are edged out by trade and economic demands that would preserve institutions (the topography) at any cost, delusional and empires without end.

hippocrates

Though I am not one to easily repair to medication or the doctor's office when sick, especially wary of highly synthesized and prepared potions that claim to have a surgical aim but whose chemistry in reality is not so precise and whose rolling shock-and-awe goes after the body's responsiveness rather than the cause, masking the pain.  Sometimes, however, recovery needs some help and haste, and the German attitude towards sickness, rather than my general aversion to drugs, does default to home-remedies and conventional wisdom as a first and usually effective result.  The last thing I want to do when sick is stew in a hot bath or drink some sippy tea or a steamy hot beer, though like one forgets pain and sometimes expects to feel even better than before one can proclaim oneself better or cured, I tend to be doubtful and do not remember how effective simple steps were before.  Though I do not know the governing guidelines behind this practice, if doctors and apothecaries alike are schooled in detecting hypochrondria or Münchausen syndrome and discerning it from the real thing, I understand that when one does need to seek out store-bought medication (and all things, even as innocuous as asprin and antacid are distributed not in filling stations and supermarkets but rather through one's friendly neighbourhood pharmacy, and dispensed with a dose of expert advice) a significant amount of medication given out (with and without a prescription) are placebos.  There was an additional bit of psychology with my last visit to the apothecary when I got my generic yet potent medication: the woman behind the counter agreed with my assessment that the drugs should help and said I ought to take three pills a day but also warned it was potentially serious and if I was not better after the weekend, I should see a doctor.  I am sure that astute bluff scared me into remission.

what is that new country-code, top level internet domain for obamastan?

The United States Congress is poised to pass yet another regulation that will severely curtail creative expression and make the make internet a more impoverished place. H, earlier in the week, spend some time at the footlights of one of Germany’s bigger entertainment awards ceremonies, by coincidence, and was in close proximity to some of young darlings of pop music that were not only discovered through the internet, were continuously promoted, aggressively disallowed to sink into obscurity, by the same medium, at a time when monotony of the radio just does not cut it anymore.

And it made me wonder how those celebrities, though already made and secure, might feel about the chances of the future artists they hope to inspire, when, if such trends succeed, everyone would have to go through a very litigious checklist before posting or sharing anything, if they can even find a forum to host it in the first place. The proposal, drafted and sailed through legislation is of course sponsored by an entertainment industry that knows no shame, dark and divorced from their product and producers (actors, actresses and artists), would not only protect, hermetically seal, both stale and inviolate renditions by making it a crime to cover, parody or re-mix the copyrighted work of another, the industry with the support of the American government would gain broad and arbitrary (without appeal or recourse) to shut down large swathes of the internet for infringement. Of course, every host would recede at the merest threat. So much for derivative talent and inspiration, but then, one might expect that this change might promote the truly original and talented, without acknowledging that the most productive practice comes from revisiting the classics. That hope is also dashed by this legislation, however, because there are yet more insidious parts to this bill: alternative and independent news sources would be edged out, because citing or referencing the copy of mainstream sources would need to be vetted through permissions and licensing—for each and every link and citation. There would be no more American Wikipedia, though seeking hosting outside of the bill’s jurisdiction is becoming more and more attractive. Even enriching the internet with original art and information with blogging could be made prohibitive, because the bill strongly encourages private contributors to register their works with a media clearing-house, so their unwanted patron can determine how their work is shared and held in trust. The whole world is hoping that Americans do not go quietly down that dangerous path, but given the political will in general there and the practices that have eroded privacy in the name of security, maybe the best the world can hope for is that this trend does not spread and other countries can play the gracious host.