Corporations, Corrupt Governments, Militaries and Lots of Empathy

November 15, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

Given all that’s happening in the world (wars, social injustice, brainwashing via mass-media and entertainment) it’s tempting to say we need a revolution. The heritage of this word is a bloody one. It is clear we need change. But let us embrace the concept of evolution.

The very idea of revolution implies a return to a previous state. It is circular and repetitive in nature, just like our violent history. Evolution means breaking this vicious circle. Due to the upcoming technological advances, which will make nuclear weapons look like wet firecrackers, we are forced to evolve rather than revolve. I believe one of the keys of the next evolutionary step (if not the key) is generalized empathy.

Social entities are people too

Humans are social creatures. We’re organized in various groups that, naturally, tend to behave just like humans do. Humans compete. At least partially, the urge to compete is powered by the survival instinct.

A corporation, for example, is a social entity that competes economically within the market ecosystem. It has a survival instinct that expresses itself through the decisions of the people leading it. And the people leading it must act in the interest of the organization, otherwise it will perish. Due to the high stakes involved, these individuals often end up disconnecting from their humanity in order to become the brain of this abstract creature – the often-ruthless corporation.

This is only one of the empathic explanations for the reckless and sometimes outright criminal behavior of corporate leaders. Not only does this explanation make sense (if you are empathic), but is also one that relieves us from the debilitating pressure that builds up while being in a state of permanent anger and dissatisfaction. Blame is how we hide from solving problems within our society and relationships.

The survival instinct factor can’t be stressed enough. In all people – some less than others – there is a very deeply rooted instinct to gather more of everything (thus ensuring one’s future). Even though we know right from wrong (depending on education), maintaining an ethically-correct behavior – while having this biological need to accumulate always throbbing in the back of one’s mind – requires a great deal of free will discipline.

An empathic case can also be made for corrupt governments. Lord Acton once said that “power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. The greater the power, the greater the disconnect from one’s roots as an innocent human being. And isn’t corruption really just a symptom of this unfortunate disconnection? Just like corporate leaders, corrupt government officials separate themselves from the people they should have in their care. So, it is not surprising to see many of them fall prey to the “gather more of everything” impulse.

Crime as flexible concept

As ethics often shows, whether an act is a crime or not can be highly debatable. Law establishes certain boundaries, but law is almost always one step behind social change. If we apply what I’d call future-law (as opposed to the current judicial system which will probably be deemed as barbaric in some time from now), the greatest criminals often go unpunished. This is part due to human cunning, and part due to a judicial branch that doesn’t yet factor in some of the most serious crimes such as social irresponsibility.

For example, those that knowingly set up and contribute to an educational system that produces broken individuals will eventually be seen just as bad (if not worse) as the individuals who were advertising tobacco and other poisonous substances in the past. Allowing the existence of an educational system that is damaging minds is a serious mistake. I can agree that most of the participants to this are victims of the same perpetuating system, but this educational cycle needs to be broken as well.

By building an improper foundation for society, it is not surprising that we often end up voting in tyrants and sociopaths. Easily manipulatable citizens become facilitators for human disasters.

Of course, some would argue that the entire point of this lack of education is to allow crooked governments to stay in power. But that was never a good long-term solution. The history book shows how many times this way of abusing citizens blew up in the face of the oppressors. Democracy without healthy education leads to dangerous, unpredictable situations.

Often, that’s when armies come in. Finding justifications for the existence of the military is ethically challenging. The unfortunate soldiers become murderers while those that escape killing their own kind are facilitators and accomplices. Sure, the murder becomes “following orders” and even the orders have all sorts of geo-political motivations.

It is exactly these motivations which make crime a highly relative term. More often than not, it’s not even naturally relative but rather a human-manipulated relativity. “History is written by the winners” and so are the rules that later decide what was crime and what was not.

In this jungle of complexity, there is one behavior that can simplify and clarify the way forward towards a healthier, happier society.

Generalized empathy and the science of empathy

Humans are capable of great empathy. Through conscious action, empathy can be extended to complex human social structures (cultures, ethnic groups, social entities), to different species, towards the planet itself and the list goes on. This is generalized empathy, a wise and constructive conscious behavior. When (not if) this will predominate in our society, we will enter an age of amazing social transformation.

This breakthrough can be accelerated through guidance. An education in empathy is necessary not only from the immediate family, but also throughout one’s journey as a student. Empathy should be a mandatory subject, a must-know science. An empathic population does not find it acceptable to commit crimes and will almost certainly not tolerate primitive manifestations of tribalism such as war.

The upcoming educational paradigm shift will have to dispose of the disastrous mentality of “an eye for an eye”. Generalized empathy will lead to generalized forgiveness, which in turn will ease the psychological burden of our bloody history. I believe there is only a matter of time before this happens because I believe in the evolution of our collective intelligence. Given the weapons we wield and the upcoming technological advances, generalized empathy is our insurance policy for the future.

This article bridges The “Art of Peace” Trilogy^ with The “Science of Peace” Trilogy (currently only Part 1 was published: The Survival Instinct and the Rules of the Human Game^).

“An eye for an eye will only make this world go blind
Another lie for a lie, we’ll be wiping out mankind”

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Society

The Rise of the RoboJournalist

November 13, 2017 Axonn Echysttas 2 Comments

The quality of online journalism has been dropping like a stone during the past decade. The main reason is websites trying to cut corners as a way to survive in a publishing landscape completely transformed by the Internet. Websites have lowered their standards regarding whom can write for them. This leads to such sad examples^ where armies of (mostly) amateur exploited writers generate a humongous amount of content, spamming the web and suffocating quality writing.

An even more worrying development is the so-called “rise of the robo-journalist”. The following article reveals how automated writing is on the rise. The quality of these machine-authored creations might increase, but will continue to lack soul (at least until we develop true AI^). Even more importantly, the low-quality articles spam will explode in quantity:

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/05/tech/mci-robojournalist/^

I will speak for myself and admit that sadly I do not contribute financially to any online publication. Even though I consider my contributions here as sufficient payment, I would still like to somehow contribute to the well-being of those online publications that I respect. But with every single one of these publications asking for monthly fees and my need to have at least fifteen different content sources, the expense becomes simply too large. However, I think there’s a way to fix that.

I believe we need a service similar to Audible, Spotify or Netflix, but for online publications. I’m sure very many people thought about the very same thing, but the timing when an idea reaches the market is critical. Is the market ready? Will the idea propagate explosively or will it fizzle and die out?

Later Edit: Apparently something does exist, and it’s called Blendle. Check www.blendle.com^ although it is currently still in Beta.

I’ll throw a spark out there. In order to see if this is the right time for such a service to exist, I have initiated a KickStarter campaign^ for creating a system that will provide online publishers with a share of what subscribers pay. The campaign should be seen as an opportunity assessment (part market analysis and part thought experiment).

In short, the system I envision is intended to work both like an “all you can eat” (a la Spotify & Netflix but with a tiered approach) and like a digital newsstand (for example like Valve’s game-related store, Steam). Compared to other similar services, the system will give a greater share back to authors because it will not be hosting any content by itself but simply act as a gateway back to the publication’s own website (which translates in reduced maintenance costs).

Codexia! Goodbye annoying ads, hello premium subscriptions!

Fun fact: the idea for Codexia came to me while writing this article. There was no campaign yet when I finished typing everything you just read. But as a software engineer and a product owner, I know the importance of sharing ideas with the possible market before doing anything concrete. It’s what opportunity assessments are for.

I knew this won’t be a huge commitment to begin with because I already planned to work in very small iterations. The start will be a micro-campaign draft that will perhaps improve during the coming weeks and maybe months before even daring to think about publicizing it.

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Psychology

Why Is It So Hard to Renew Certain Beliefs?

November 6, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

It sometimes seems impossible to change somebody’s mind even when we have solid, fact-checked data. A fascinating scientific study^ explains exactly why. It’s called the backfire effect and this podcast^ explains it in ample detail.

But if you want a bit of entertainment while you’re learning about yourself, here’s one of the best ways to do it – along with this excellent comic from The Oatmeal:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/believe^

Other than the important teachings imparted in a fun and easy to integrate way (Matthew Inman’s superpower), this quote resonated very strongly with me:

“I don’t have a way to change the behavior of seven-point-five billion people carrying their beliefs around like precious gems wrapped in hand grenades.”

Because for years I hoped that there is a way to do exactly that. To somehow make people understand one of the most basic of notions: it’s not cool to kill each other. There are tons of other things which are quite uncool, but maybe we can at least start by changing this one thing before we can even consider turning down the volume when it comes to fear and hate. It all starts with forgiveness. And forgiveness starts with change.

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Technology

Careful with That Orbit Now

October 30, 2017 Axonn Echysttas 2 Comments

Scientists and aerospace engineers alike have long been worried about the consequences of junking Earth’s orbit^. On this site the topic was first mentioned shortly after North Korea put an (apparently) useless satellite^ up there. This is a serious issue, as highlighted by this year’s conference on space debris, which was understandably worried about recent initiatives that consist of launching entire constellations of micro-satellites:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/04/21/thousands-of-tiny-satellites-are-about-to-go-into-space-and-possibly-ruin-it-forever^

The title of the article linked above is a bit misleading, as it is often the case with these for-profit media publications that rely on grabbing attention. No, this won’t ruin our orbit “forever”. But if the worst comes to pass, it will, however, ruin it for a couple of generations. So, from a single person’s perspective, it is forever.

Should we expect the worst to happen? With SpaceX alone planning to plant about 3000 (yes, that’s three thousand) satellites in orbit during the next decade, I think it is a valid concern. Especially as this is done with little (if any) preparation to mitigate orbital pollution:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-26/elon-musk-s-plan-to-girdle-earth-with-satellites-hits-turbulence^

We’re being reckless with our satellite launches. This can cause an orbital catastrophe that might see us lose a lot of our assets there, leading to an informational collapse. So far, I haven’t seen any of these organizations that dump junk around the orbit even consider a valid, peer-reviewed de-orbiting strategy. This seems extremely short-sighted for a species that is increasingly relying on its extra-terrestrial ventures.

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Travel Log

Sintra – Portugal’s Castlefest

October 23, 2017 Axonn Echysttas 1 Comment

The potent summer sun spent its day doing what Portuguese sun does best. That is, baking castle masonry and tourists alike. There are plenty of both to go around in this beautiful region. Going to Sintra is like visiting the castle museum. A day is barely enough to see a few different architectures originating from various periods of the past millennium. Paths treaded by countless generations before are faithful guides into and through the depths of history.

We arrived in Sintra via train from Lisbon’s Rossio station. We skipped the tourist information bureau because it was gutted by the dozens of people who were faster to exit the platform through the proper ticket-scanning gates. We didn’t notice that the queue we were standing in was for the disabilities gate, which was much slower because it was a double-gate.

Luckily, we had researched about the area beforehand so we knew that we can use public transport to reach our objectives. And when I say public transport I mean the regional Portuguese network that the locals also use, as opposed to the rip-off (double price) “red busses”, which actually have less frequent departures.

We exited the station and jumped on a bus that was preparing to leave. Even though these buses are used by the locals as well, they are quite well equipped to meet touristic needs. The local company realized that it can cater to both groups, so they have special day tickets that come with a map that explains how to reach the various monuments in the region. Everything is payable in the bus, with cash. They were out of English maps and we already had our own, but as it turned out it was useful to have two of them because the transport company’s map also contained the bus schedule.

We arrived in the historical center. The Sintra National Palace^ located there is the best preserved medieval Royal Palace in Portugal. I didn’t find the structure all that impressive. It doesn’t look too different from other medieval palaces we’ve seen in Europe, aside perhaps from its two pointy conical towers. So, because we only had one day here, after shielding our skins with sun lotion we decided to get on the next bus and visit some of the other monuments in the area.

The first stop was the Castle of the Moors^. To reach the complex, we walked upon a cobbled path that snaked through a charming forest. We felt at ease and in tune with nature. Many fancier constructions from the same category feature “royal gardens” where people invest tons of resources into shaping nature to their will. The Castle of the Moors is living proof that any monument is only half of the story. The landscape around it is the other half.

Bits and pieces of forgotten masonry sometimes burst through the lively green of the forest. Here, in the sheltering shadow, dark green moss is slowly but surely consuming rocks, turning them into the soil of tomorrow.

The Castle consists of a series of ancient fortifications whose construction dates from the 8^thand 9^th centuries. Several improvements were done throughout the structure’s impressive history. Walking upon walls whose origin is more than one thousand years ago can easily turn into an introspective experience. But the day’s weather wouldn’t allow it.

I’d like to one day see a 360 degrees video featuring a thousand-year time-lapse taken from these walls

Breathtaking doesn’t quite do justice to the panorama that greets the visitors as they walk along the walls. The forest below barely reaches the foundation. Then, the land quickly drops away and unfolds its forests, plains and villages, all the way to the sea that is visible almost ten kilometers away. The “top of the world” feeling is intoxicating.

Two of the most visited places in Sintra in the same shot

Our next destination, the National Palace of Pena, was also visible from here. We heard that the palace is “cute” and already from this far-away glimpse we realized the truth in the saying that it looks like something from fairy tales. And just like a magical place, it was already enthralling us to get there as soon as possible.

Before that, however, we had more walls to climb. And climb we did. Even though the heat was beginning to get to us, we still had the stamina of morning visitors. The view of the villages far below the fortifications tempted us to take countless pictures. We tried to get it all in using our wide lens, but even it was defeated by the wide embrace of this flourishing land. We then played through the streets of the toy-villages below using our zoom lens.

Our next stop was the Pena Palace^. The bus station was crowded and the situation got worse during the 15 minutes it took for the bus to arrive. While we waited, the Sun was in its full mid-day prime. Luckily, we always managed our water supplies well.

The first bus that arrived filled up before we could squeeze in, but the second one came just a couple of minutes later. The locals probably do not enjoy the height of the tourist season when strangers take over some of their bus lines. We did consider walking to the palace, as a cleaning lady told me it should be only about 15 minutes. I’m glad we didn’t because the winding road was quite steep. Saving energy is important during such a day of voracious exploration.

We spent about half an hour walking through the garden at the entrance of the complex. Not for the first time today I noticed the great care invested in getting the place in tune with the aesthetics of the surrounding vegetation. Following the path that nature has taken is not only beautiful, but also cost effective. Here, there was also a small botanical garden where various species of plants had been labeled.

Pink water lily. Can’t go wrong with this one

A small shuttle bus was available to drive people up to the palace. A brisk walk would probably have taken less than 10 minutes, so the 3 Euro trip and return ticket was a blatant rip-off. Still, adhering to the “time vs energy vs money” principles, we gladly subjected ourselves to said rip-off, especially since we wanted to cram as much Sintra as possible within one day. Besides, Crina was already two months into growing a baby and it’s better to err on the side of caution when it comes to energy reserves.

The Pena Palace looks like what you’d get after a convention of architects specializing in fairytale castles spends a three-day weekend collating the best ideas and then decides to implement all of the designs into the same structure. Bursting from the emerald forest, a collage of different colors and shapes greets the visitor with a mood of optimism and innocence.

One of the most architecturally-diverse palaces I’ve ever seen

We decided to purchase a ticket and get inside the palace against my better judgment, which whispered: “once you’ve been in one palace, you’ve seen them all”. Partially, my inner voice was right. What we found were various stuffses of royal character but of little interest to us as seasoned tourists. However, after going through the usual “palace visiting routine” consisting of going through rooms alongside a route defined by the owners, we found ourselves surrounded by the same flavor of coziness that seems to abound in this p(a)lace (couldn’t help it).

One room filled with royal stuff, several rooms filled with royal stuffses

According to the encyclopedia, the architecture is an “intentional mixture of eclectic styles including Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Neo-Islamic and Neo-Renaissance”. I think it’s much more than a sum of labels. Not even a wide lens does it justice. I’ll call it “the four Cs of the Pena Palace”: cute, charming, cozy, childish. It is one of the most original constructions I’ve ever seen (it’s a top ten thing).

Architecture’s “all you can eat” Romantic buffet

It was time to replenish ourselves so we grabbed a bus back to the city center. I have to give kudos to Trip Advisor for helping us steer clear of several tourist trap restaurants during the past couple of years. This time, it failed. We got ripped off by a restaurant that had a decent rating. The setting was nice, but the food was expensive and of poor quality. The shops also had the same tourist trap flavor, so we got outta there fast.

Here’s another picture with the Pena Palace to sweeten up the disappointing city center paragraph

The final stop on our blitz tour of Sintra was Quinta da Regaleira^. We arrived by bus from the city center, one station later realizing that the property is walking distance from there. The evening was approaching fast and we wanted to visit a fourth location in Sintra, so our plan was to have a quick peek at what we thought is just one building and then jump onto the next bus.

I think it’s safe to say that the architecture of this sprawling estate has been an inspiration for artists that went on to design charming buildings in movies such as The Lord of the Rings. This place is Rivendell in real life.

The chapel is a short walk from the estate. Despite its diminutive size, the structure inspires a sense of awe. It is not only the intricate Romantic architecture that is responsible for this, but also chapel’s excellent positioning within the estate’s large complex of gardens, walls, grottos and waterfalls. It is situated close to a walled rock face that is partially covered with vegetation and from certain angles it looks like they are one single construction.

Time flew past us and we missed one of the last busses back to the train station. The more we were walking around, the more routes and things to see popped up. We couldn’t explore the grottos and tunnels as much as we would have wanted. Actually, looking over the encyclopedia entry, I realize that we’ve barely scratched the surface of what the property has to offer. We didn’t get to see any of the (two) awesome Initiation Wells^.

The boundary between natural and man-made (also a type of “natural”) is often blurry

Our plan to visit a fourth location during the day proved itself too ambitious. Alas, Quinta da Regaleira was too amazing not to spend all our remaining time there. We had to leave around 18:00 because we had to catch the last bus towards the train station.

In the middle of the bridge, protected by those columns, there are two ghosts promising love to each other

In the half hour until our train was going to depart we sat on a staircase between two houses. As the day’s heat was subduing a large bottle of water was life’s royal gift. For weary legs, the steps we were sitting on were like a throne. We were tired but thankful. Feeling so fulfilled in such simple setting made me wonder if all tourists are aware of how lucky they are. We get the chance to complain about ticket prices while in other parts of the world people are starving and ration their dirty water.

Pointy things, both gray and green, all in Sintra should be seen :) — Pointy things, both gray and green, all in Sintra should be seen 🙂

A day is only enough to taste, in a rush, some of Sintra’s most prized treasures. One would need at least three days to thoroughly explore the area. Visit, and become part of the fairy tale.

Most pictures made by Crina^.

You can access the full album here^.

My proposed soundtrack for reading this text:

Hindi Zahra – The Moon (feat. House of Spirituals)^

David Maxim Micic – Universe in a Crayon^

The reason this soundtrack is here at the bottom (supposedly after the reader finished the text) is because one can’t really focus on music anyway while reading a new text. Hopefully the story was entertaining enough to ask for a second read, this time with some music in the background.

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Inspirational

Opening to Love

October 20, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

This profound and emotional writing celebrates the difference between men and women in a glorious way. It honors love by crossing into the mystic with little regard for social norms (especially the social norms of Western culture). It is a text that challenges, but one that will shine in an open mind and open heart:

https://sacreddreamsinspiration.wordpress.com/2017/06/13/opening-to-love/^

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Society

Just How Bad Is It to Do Food Delivery for Today’s App-Overlords

October 16, 2017 Axonn Echysttas 2 Comments

As it turns out following this journalist’s two-week investigation, it’s pretty bad. The man could barely manage $4.4 per hour working his legs off (for Uber Eats) in Stockholm, capital of Sweden, where the cost of living has increased drastically in the past decade. The pay was better when working for Foodora, a similar service, but still unfair given the amount of work, not to mention the minimum salary in Sweden. The interviewing procedure for Foodora is outright humiliating. The practical test encourages possible employees to jeopardize their life by breaking traffic regulations. Here’s the story in all its juicy (read gory) details:

https://www.breakit.se/artikel/7599/i-spent-two-weeks-delivering-for-uber-eats-and-made-4-4-per-hour

Some of the things a technologically interconnected world has brought us are great. But damn, some of the others are pretty sad. I bet the argument that “at least they’re creating jobs” will eventually pop up. No, these are not jobs. This is slavery, plain and simple. The fact that the slaves are willingly performing this demeaning work is even worse. This shows the decay of the social structures that were meant to ensure our progress as a species.

Remember this and give a solid tip when you’re delivered food, especially if you’re forced to use a service such as Uber. Even better, protest these tactics and boycott such companies until they offer a minimum wage like any respectable company should. There are other ways you can get food delivered home. Seek restaurants that treat their staff with respect and offer them a stable salary.

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Technology

Tesla Motors May Be in Trouble, but Remember These Facts

October 9, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

A respected investigative journalist has recently penned a rather worrying piece about Tesla Motors’ progress with its high-stakes Model 3 vehicle. Things are far from going according to plan. What is even more disturbing for me are some of the recent shock & awe declarations of CEO Elon Musk. For example his unrealistic plans for colonizing Mars^ or sending people around the world aboard rockets (see this awesome fact-checking^ video), both of which would be a complete waste of critical resources and a mockery of the critical situation in other parts of the planet. The following Seeking Alpha article pours some cold water on all the Musk hype:

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4112109-model-3-may-mess-short-tesla-yet

Don’t get me wrong, I have a lot of respect for Musk. He’s done great with Tesla Motors. In fact, he’s done so great that now Big Motor is out to get him. It’s amazing how much competition he managed to ignite and thus has done the world a great favor. He’s done even better with Space X given how much the enterprise has helped our extra-terrestrial research and development. But some of his statements are scientifically unsound and that devalues him in the eyes of those that matter a lot for his ventures’ future. I have no problem with idealism, but I do have a problem with cheap PR tactics.

But I digress. The reason I am writing this is to remind you about some of the great things we have because of Tesla Motors. And what better way to share facts than together with a laugh? Here’s an awesome oldie but goldie comic from The Oatmeal, work of cartoonist Matthew Inman:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla_model_s

And since I mentioned Tesla and The Oatmeal, let me end on a positive note by sharing Matthew’s awesome post-mortem kudos to scientist Nicola Tesla. I think the cartoonist is right and few scientists were as unfairly treated by history as Tesla. But I also think that few scientists have been “avenged” as well as Tesla, thanks to Matthew’s work:

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla

The cartoonist actually managed to get help from his fans and Elon Musk himself to save Nicola Tesla’s lab. There are plans to turn it into a museum. In fact, The Oatmeal comic did so well that it drew out a critical response from a columnist over at Forbes. Below, you can find both the article from Forbes and Matthew’s amusing and wonderful reply:

http://theoatmeal.com/blog/tesla_response

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Inspirational

Man Who Makes Friends within Ku Klux Klan Is a True Role Model

October 2, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

By providing an inspiring real life story of how empathy can change the world, this man has become a living embodiment of what society can achieve when it doesn’t fall prey to fear and hate:

http://ijr.com/the-declaration/2017/08/948022-man-spent-decades-befriending-kkk-members-hundreds-left-group^

When he started making friends among the KKK, Daryl embraced “the enemy” because deep inside he knew that there is no enemy. People make mistakes; they sometimes end up on a path that leads to suffering because they had few alternatives. That doesn’t make them any less human than the ones on the “other side”. But one important fact is that we’re all in the same boat. It’s up to us – to all of us – to grow each other up and to make sure that the boat we’re on becomes a party boat towards a beautiful land, not a dirge heading for the cemetery.

White supremacists, Islamic extremists, corporate crooks and whatever “villains” you can think of, they all begin as innocent, harmless babies. It’s the society that people live in that turns them into something that they themselves probably would have hated as children to hear that they could become. No baby is born with a desire to do harm. Yes, we do have an instinct for survival which demands that some basic physical needs are met. But in most (unfortunately not all) societies on Earth there’s quite a stretch until a human will kill another human for food.

I can name at least one Nobel Peace Prize winner who doesn’t deserve that honor as much as Daryl. It takes not only courage but also love to make one go there, on the front lines, facing those that would do one harm. I wish more people will soon think and do as Daryl and make friends within the groups they despise most. It is something I also have been doing, which is why Daryl’s much more meaningful work has a special meaning to me as I am championing the same cause. Communication is a prime ingredient of peace. I believe that such actions are essential if we wish to take our next evolutionary step forward not only as a society but also as a species.

Empathy saves!

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Politics

Germany, Nationalism and the NFL

September 25, 2017 Axonn Echysttas Leave a comment

A far-right party has just entered the German parliament^. It is a frightening indicator that even a nation that has put people through – and gone itself through – terrible suffering at the hands of such ideology is not safe from a wave of worldwide nationalism that threatens to do great harm to our society in the near future. In the meantime, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean the very same nationalism is mocking sportsmen’s civic attitude^. I’m referring here to Trump’s comments about National (American) Football League players who kneel during the singing of the national anthem in protest of the racial segregation in their country.

To call somebody that has gone through grueling physical trials to reach the pinnacle of a sport a “son of a bitch” is the lowest I’ve seen Trump sink since taking office. This is why for me this is even more important than the predictable election result of a German right-wing party. Regardless of Trump’s policies, as president of the United States he is also a trend-setter, especially in countries within the USA’s sphere of influence (which is not limited to NATO countries).

Trump has an issue with sportsmen using the NFL as a sort of political platform in order to protest racial discrimination. It is sad that he has the slightest negative personal gripe with this and outright preposterous that he goes public with it. The very fact that people have become so desperate as to use sport as a means of protest should make every American think twice about the dismal situation in which their divided federation finds itself. Trump, of course, should read a bit of history, as there have been at least four major boycotts of the Olympic Games^: this is not the first time sport has been used to draw attention towards an outrageous situation.

The players’ respect towards “the flag” is called into question. This is incredibly misguided and it’s sad that some people even consider the notion. I like to think that for some Americans their flag means more than a tool for encouraging people to consume and die for in unjust wars. I’m sure that quite a few Americans like to think of their flag as a symbol of everybody. Those players are defending what that flag – any flag for that matter – should really stand for: a symbol of union. Instead, they are mocked by a person who preaches division by trickling poison into the hearts and minds of those desperate enough to take it (and there’s plenty of those across the world now-a-days).

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