Socialism: Religious rethoric

I have recently had the wonderful opportunity to read a couple of chapters of the book ‘Why I am not a muslim’ by Ibn Warraq, that covered the evasion of theological criticism Islam has enjoyed through the years. Interestingly, not only due to the fact, that some Muslims seem to react with threats and violence when confronted with Islam criticism, as seen during the ’satanic verses’ and Muhammed Cartoon incidents, but also because Islam through the years has enjoyed a role as ‘ideal society contrast’ for prominent European thinkers such as Voltaire and Rosseau, when criticizing the contemporary European societies.

In this position, Islam was used as a glossy picture by people with little or no knowledge about the religion without the critical scrutiny they directed against their own society. This long time use of Islam has given birth to a certain culture of Islam apologists, both seen among English intellectuals during the ’satanic verses’ incidents and among their Danish counterparts during the recent Muhammed Cartoon incident.

As an atheist, and headstrong critic of ‘absolute truth’ theories and moral imperatives, I have always disliked the teachings of the monotheistic religions. However, especially Protestantism has through time shown a development away from absolutism and uniterianism, towards a more relativist and personalized approach – religion is becoming a personal thing and is, among certain guidelines, free to interpretation. Islam and some parts of Christianity, however found in moderate more contemporal interpretations in many modern societies, do not seem to have undergone the same development. Less than word-to-word interpretation of the Koran is often frowned upon, as the Koran, despite obvious flaws such as typos and syntactic incoherence, is believed to be the direct words of God given to his prophet in a revelation by Gabriel, the archangel.

If a comparison is made with socialist ideology, it has the obvious advantage of being rooted in secular and not religious texts, making it seemingly more open to interpretation and criticism, as you are criticising people and not an omnipotent and omniscient being. Left-wing intellectuals are not only aware of this, but use every oppotunity to boast about their ability and willingness to deconstruct religion, established society and pretty much everything else.

It is then interesting to see the same unwillingness to self-criticism found among many both Christian and Islamic fundementalists among left-wing intellectuals as well. Terms such as human rights and democracy, purely secular and political constructs, has been deified in a way that places them as absolutes and de facto above discussion.

Furthermore, I have noticed here in Denmark, where support for left-wing parties are high in general and especially among young people, that many seem to ignore obviously discriminatory, contradictory or violent traits among radical left-wing groups. A good contemporary example is the Ungdomshuset affair. (See earlier blog)

Such traits are generally rigorously condemned when seen among right-wing groups such as nazists and nationalists, but to a much lesser degree among their left-wing counterparts. The socialistic welfare state culture has given the left wing a monopoly on moral good, not unlike the one found among the monotheistic religions. If you say you vote to the left, most people will consider you a considerate, caring person, whereas a conservative or liberal voter will be viewed as somewhat egoistic and in some cases racist.

The monotheistic religions have the inherent problem of absolutism, but after all, it seems that socialism, despite its secular rooting, is just as vulnerable to the worst crime of man: Believing to have figured the world out.

Reunion party: Experiences from the countryside

In this moment of writing, I am contemplating my experiences from last weekend, and thinking back to the most massive night out I’ve had in a long time.

Let’s start from the beginning. Yesterday was the day for my 8th & 9th elementary school classes reunion party. And interesting prospect, I thought, as it is a solid 8 years since I graduated from elementary school, it would be interesting to see how far people had made it with their lives.

It started out well. I was picked up at the station by my old classmate and best friend in 8th and 9th grade, and I was thrilled to hear that he had been doing well and worked hard to become a leader in the retail business. After arrival, and a round of meet & greet and the first couple of beers, I teamed up with my above-mentioned friend and another beloved classmate, reforming our old triumvirate, this time for rejoicing and not for schoolwork. My last friend had also been doing well as a shipping trainee in Genova, Italy.

As the evening progressed, and people got drunker and more informal, the surface slowly began to crack. Unfortunately, too many people had not been doing well – actually, a lot of people seemed trapped in the same situation, or had developed symptoms of an unhappy life, such as alcoholism or drug abuse. Also, what really struck me, was, that most people where still struck with the same mannerisms and personalities as back then. The shy where still shy, the loudmouthed still shouted, and the bullies where still provocative and superior-acting.

Suddenly, it became too much and I had to flee this scene that had slowly transformed itself from happy festivities to a rather bleak display of the searing contrast between the successful and the losers.

My best and dearest childhood friend who happened to be at a bar not too far away, became my savior, and after some quick persuasion I got a lift, and before I knew it I was on my way even deeper into the murky provincial jungle for even more revelations.

I arrived at the bar which fulfilled the cliché of a dirty run-down provincial bar completely, down to the beer-stained pool tables and the dusty 70s style bathroom. As depressing as it may sound, the place was quite lively, and teaming up with my oldest childhood friend more than made up for the rather depressing scenario.

With us where three people. A common friend of my friend and I, one of my friend’s friends I did not know, and his girlfriend – a girl I remember from the grade below me in elementary school. She was pretty and dressed for party, but sat there with blank eyes, that reflected at least a million broken dreams. She became the symbol of the milieu and the personalities that I did all I could to escape.

I slept at my friend’s house, and the next day I returned to my beloved Copenhagen. I left her blank empty eyes in the province – those eyes that both confirmed me in my actions and disillusioned me at the same time.

Love: Without limits

Things do not grow famous out of nothing. Mass culture objects such as pop music or Coca Cola do, despite very many critics, flourish on the market because they fill certain needs in a broad spectrum of people. Same theory can roughly be applied to seemingly non-talented celebrities such as the blond party craving symbol of high lifestyle Paris Hilton, who despite a very modest intelligence and no other real talents than power shopping and partying, is world-renown. No matter how one puts it, is her carefree happy-go-lucky lifestyle, that is a product of an almost total financial security of being a Hilton heir, not something we all want? Who can say no to not having to worry about money?

The very same thing applies the most famous topic both in literature and music of all time: Love. Although mostly viewed as a cliché today due to a overly use of love in modern pop lyrics, it is an undeniable fact, that everyone has a relation to love and affection – be it negative or positive.

Love embodies hope in a certain sense. The hope of improvement through affection is a cornerstone, whether it is parents helping and supporting wayward children, or men waiting for a certain woman in 6 months only to see her for 14 days. Parents would not do such things if they did not hope for their children to improve, and a man would not care about waiting for a woman for half a year, if it was not because he hoped, that the 14 days would make up for all the waiting. Although love can diminish and relationships crumble, those lucky few who are able to sustain the feeling of love will go to seemingly insane lengths to make a relationship work, and despite skyrocketing divorce rates and post modernistic thinking, the terms romance and love still hold strong meaning all around the world.

In that sense, love is without limits

Ungdomshuset & the Danish mentality

In early September I returned home from Japan – a land I’ve grown to love. Being there and experiencing the magic of both Japan and the Japanese has firmly reinforced my belief, that my current study is the right choice. Japan has many faces from metropolitan Tokyo to serene lake Toya, and the Japanese are, despite a notoriously bad English, extremely helpful, and as long as you can utter a few phrases of bad Japanese, they wil practically drag you to the place you want to go to.

Filled to the brim with pleasant memories of Japan and it’s inhabitants, (especially one particular Osaka girl!) I returned to dirty rainy Nørrebro in Copenhagen only to yet again witness anarchists and so-called ‘alternatives’ wrecking havoc in the streets because of the Ungdomshuset incidents.

To those unfamiliar with Danish politics perhaps a short run-through of the history of Ungdomshuset is in order. Ungdomshuset, or ‘the house of the youth’ directly translated, originally started as a community house for leftist movements, but ended up as a derelict building, that, in the start of the 80’s, became a frequent target for squatters. In 82, after several clashes between the police and squatters, the county of Copenhagen formulated a user contract for the squatters allowing them to stay in the house under certain conditions. The house became a center for so-called anti-commercial and alternative culture during the 80’s and 90’s. after a fire, a new contract was promulgated in ‘97,  giving the county a right of cancellation with a 3 month’s notice.  In 2000, the contract was terminated, and the house was sold to a Christian sect called Faderhuset. The inhabitants refuse to move.  Several incidents have occurred between the official owners of the house, the Faderhuset members, and the squatter inhabitants. The 1st of March 2007, after nearly 7 years of political debate for and against the rights of the inhabitants of the house, events escalated, as the police cleared the house and Faderhuset, the owners, decided to demolish it. Following this event, a series of violent demonstrations led to some of the worst destruction seen in Copenhagen in peace time.

I am of the belief, that all culture, provided it is of a non-violent, non-criminal nature, should be tolerated and accepted. Freedom of expression is a precious gift, but also a responsibility. It works both ways – people with views who differ from the norm should never be oppressed.  Ungdomshuset hosted a myriad of different concerts in it’s time, and had a lot of users and visitors – much like one would use a disco or a café – the ones I want to talk about here, are the actual inhabitants. Those who slept, lived in and ran the house.

The ideas of freedom of speech that I mentioned above, are, along with pacifist notions such as anti-war and non-violence, very enthusiastically advocated by the inhabitants of the house. Does it seem just a little bit odd, that the people advocating such things, are either actively participating in, or doing nothing to stop, wrecking of a whole area of Copenhagen city, along with destroying innocent people’s property, when they can’t get a house freely from the government, that they are not legally entitled to?  Also, it’s the same people who participated in the violent anti-nazi demonstration in Salem, Sweden not many days ago. In Denmark and Sweden, Nazism, along with communism, fascism, anarchism and other extreme political standpoints, are legal, and even if they where not, such matters should be taken care of by the police, not by some chaotic extreme left-wing parliament of the streets, and again, it is a great example of ‘we tolerate all – except the ones that disagree with us’  Enough said…

The whole case has of course gotten a lot of media coverage in Denmark, and one of the main critiques of the supporters of Ungdomshuset is, that not all of the activists supporting the cause are violent, but are depicted that way in the media. If you ask me, it’s their own fault. The structure of the activists is flat. The idea is, I’ve heard, that ‘every activist should support his fellow activist no matter what’. If that is the case, their flat organization is a fully conscious choice. What do they expect, if people have no way of determining the non-violent from the violent?

The whole debacle about the rights of the inhabitants of the house boils down to the two contracts. Many supporters has stubbornly referred to the ‘82 contract as being de facto irrevocable. Indeed, if one reads it, it contains no cancellation clause as in the ‘97 contract. However, it clearly states, that if the house at any time has been used for sleeping or a place for the consumption of illegal drugs, the contract is immediately terminated. ANYONE who knows of the house, know this has happened more than several times. Furthermore, what was in the 82′ contract, does not matter in any case, as 1) a new contract was made, and 2) the 82′ contract was never signed, and thus ratified by the inhabitants. The house was sold legally by the county, and bought legally by the Christian sect. From my point of view, it looks like a bunch of anarchists who didn’t play their cards right, and now suffer the consequences, to which they answer with violence and destruction. There is one word for this: Hypocracy

Hypocracy goes even further. The social democratic mayor of Copenhagen, and the left wing of the citizen representation is now working actively in finding a new house for the culprits that has caused terror and wreckage to a whole part of the city when they did not get what they wanted. Even more surprisingly, a fairly large percentage of the Danish population actually applaud this subduing to violent pressure. The more sensible elements of the citizen representation, has suggested a popular vote in the local area of a proposed location for a new Ungdomshus  – an excellent suggestion if you ask me.

During the elections not very long ago, the socialist party, Socialistisk Folkeparti, gained a staggering 22 seats in  the parliament. I contribute this to what I call the Danish mentality. After 7 years of right wing rule, and very much needed adjustment to the welfare state, Danes are beginning to worry about their precious nanny state slipping away, and with a fat equity, good jobs and a car, they clear their conscience with a socialist vote. Anyone who has lived next to or even just seen Ungdomshuset and the area around it, knows how much grafitti and filth it brings with it. The users of Undomshuset are not exactly mindful of other people’s property either – cases with people finding their car covered with spray paint or their bicycle vandalized, are more than numerous. I am confident, that a popular vote in the proposed area would show, that even devout supporters and so-called ‘defenders of solidarity’ are not so keen when the actual Ungdomshus moves into their backyard. Did I mention hypocracy?

A tribute to vocalists!

No instrument is as powerful as the voice. Instruments all have different characters, from the hazy bewildering murmur of a jazz player’s trumpet and the gentle yet awe inspiring drones of a cello, to the crushing screams of a power metal enthusiast’s Fender Showmaster on overdrive. Indeed, instruments have characteristic sounds, and many even have several, depending on configuration, extra equipment, and last but certainly not least, their player.

A vocalist, however, are different from other musical performers. One can argue that the voice is just another instrument – just another tool, which is in a way true. What sets aside the vocalist from the rest of the rabble, are the closer relationship between performer and ‘instrument’, as the instrument – literally – is part of your body. Furthermore, a skilled vocal performer can touch something inside us instruments cannot, reach deeper and touch emotions more throrough.

Whether it is the desperate high-pitched cryptic cries of Cedric Bixler-Zavala of the Mars Volta, the ‘cutiful’ and yet extreme vocal control of the pop songbird Mariah Carey, or the sheer baroque vocal terror of the forever gloomy Diamanda Galás, vocalists never cease to amaze me

Welcome in the cogitectures!

Greetings to all of you.

The word ‘cognitecture” is created from the words ‘cognition’ and ‘architecture’. Cognition originates from the Latin word ‘cogito’ translated ‘I think’, but where the Latin original is concerned with the mere on-the-minute act of thinking, it’s English counterpart describes more of a process over time. It is a sum of several ‘cogito’ moments, or in other words, the process of, or more importantly, the act of knowing, and not just thinking.

Architecture we all know. As an enthusiastic Latin student in high school and as a lover of big cities as well, the word architecture conjures up a myriad of images from the stout majestic arches of the ancient Roman empire to the the immense minimalist temples of glass and steel, that are the skyscrapers of magnificent Tokyo city. Architecture tells something about combining elements in a structure to create a whole. Architecture is the essence of structuring and organizing incarnated. If an element is faulty or wrongly structured, it affects the whole superstructure – consistent unity are keywords in architecture.

Architecture is mostly associated with buildings, but through my sentient life and development, I quickly realized, that the key concepts of architecture are easily applied to our minds as well. It seems logical enough; we organize the information at hand, draw whatever conclusions we can from those, and thus we construct our cognitional superstructure. We grow older, experience more things, and acquire more information, and maybe we reach the conclusion that some of our prior assumptions where wrong. In such cases, we expand our superstructure, organize our newly acquired knowledge along with our old, in order to draw new conclusions and reach new insights. This is the system of the cogitecture. The cogitecture serves us, and present to us new knowledge. Within the cogitecture, every scrap of information can be stored and put to good use. Information becomes dangerous at the moment we refuse to incorporate newly acquired elements of insight in the cognitional superstructure, and let faulty elements remain in the cognitional superstructure instead of replacing them.

My name is Andreas, and this is my blog.