Eurogeneration

They speak foreign languages and yet the word foreign does not exist in their vocabulary*. Borders seem to them just a limitation and a shadow of the past. They see nothing strange in drinking sangria while eating pierogi. They love cheap flights and interrailing. For them 1000 km is a short distance. And they regard a whole continent as their home.

The Eurogeneration. A new phenomenon is born.

Of course there were people in the past that regarded themselves as Europeans. But it was never on a mass scale. Not like it is now. Till this moment about 1.5 mln people took or are taking part in the Erasmus programme, and the numbers are growing. But it's not only the case of Erasmus. Economical migration on mass scale (2 mln Poles emigrated just in the last 4 years) or just sole tourism. All of that forces people to encounter different cultures and people. It takes them from their safe home and throws them right in the middle of a different world.

Everyone who experienced life abroad in Europe can now tell that these world aren't really different. In fact they're the same. It's all, a one big culture. The mobility of people allows them to experience Europe on the ground level. Contrary to the bureaucratic EU experience. This not only leaves people more open-minded but in some cases changes thier character and personality.

International relationships also need to be mentioned. While still being marginal, their number is slowly growing. The youth sees no problems in being in a relationship with someone of different upbringing. While these processes will develop, the next generation will be born. There will be more and more intercultural children mixtures of Polish-Spanish, French-Romanian, Italian-Swedish and all other hundreads of combinations. What with the children? Will they choose one national identity, both, or maybe they will bemore eager to identify themselves more with Europe than just a country. The last option is more likely to happen.

An European "nation" is starting to form itself.

This proces resembles a feedback loop. When the Eurogeneration will replace the current generation of politicians, the intereuropean contatcs and cooperation will tighten even more. Then they will be more likely to induce more and more actions that will breed more New Europeans. Like a snowball rolling down a hill the numbers will grow.

Can you imagine an European Football team?




*Young Europeans already have their webpage! It is intresting how much this webpage values certain european topics. A sign of how we (should) unite? The order in the menu is:

1. Culture
2. Economy
3. World Affairs (well, that's the odd one out)
   
4. Society
5. Politics
6. Travel

We all love Desiderius Erasmus

All evil comes from ignorance.

While being so ecstatic about the exchange programme (Oh so fucking damn COOL!) I find it appropiate to look into the patron of the Erasmus Life Learning Programme.

Gerrit Gerritszoon is more commonly known as Desiderius Erasmus. Those suit wearing officials in Brussels finally had a great idea and chose the right man to name it after. In the last two posts I tried to highlight the biggest danger that lurk in the darkness of intellectuals' minds. The tendency to let the problems be solved by the higher authority (right) and the tendency to limit oneself in just one asset of beliefs (left). Erasmus proved with his life that it is possible to get above these problems.

Ussualy when one thinks of Desiderius Erasmus, he sees an old bookwork who writes catchy phrases. He is aercieved as archetypic representative of the Reneissance times. But even if the culture of the time was a shining diamond the time itself was dark and grim. France and the Habsburgs were in the middle of the Italian Wars and Europe was to be even more divided by the birth of Protestantism.

What did our intellectual hero do? While still criticising the corruption of the rotten Catholic Church he did not leave it. Knowing that unity is a higher value and that all kinds of partitions won't do Europe any good. It's worth remembering that at a time when Europe polarised itself into two he managed to go his own way. Treating his common sense as his guide.

A lover of books. A free mind who did not want and could not serve any party. Always questioning the world he lived in and always rethinking everything a couple of times. Oh. And actually having a sense of humor. Praise of folly is still a thought moving and entertaining book!

King of cool?

But getting to the point. Sapere aude. Being able not to limit oneself to just one point of view, and if so being able to confront it with others, always questiononing what we see and what we think and admiration of free thinking should be our path. The way of Erasmus.


PS. I find it appropiate to mention one more thing connected with Desiderius. His native language was latin. He fellt than of one country. As he said himself: I am a citizen of the world, known to all and to all a stranger. I guess it's a feeling that we all, orphans of the Erasmus programme, can refer to. Just another reason for choosing Desiderius Erasmus as a patron.

We all love socialism

Why should we apply even small parts of a system that proved to be ineffective and a complete failure?

- Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic

Born 200 years ago during the Enlightment times leftism became the most influetnial intellectual movement in Europe. As it was an intellectual's only choice. The one and only truth to belive in. (By leftims I understand all the ideologies, cultural and political movemnets that originate from it)

Ramon Sampredo a fisherman from La Coruńa became paralysed after a diving accident. After 28 years of struggling to end his life he finally succeded (with a help of a beloved woman). The moving story with all shades of moral gray is true. But what is more important for us no - it's the fact that the story was the basis for a movie: Mar Adentro (English Title: Sea Inside). The movie is intresting because of two things. Firstly (and most importantly) Tare's father is playing in it. Secondly it is a wonderful example of leftism in popular culture.

A modern saint.

The movie is good. Watch it. Aside for the moving story and amazing acting of Javier Bardem (and Cesar Cambeiro) you will in fact see a story of saint. Dignified by his own suffering. A modern version of medieval Legenda Aurea (Golden Legend).

Join the crusade to slay the dragon! (We have cookies)

On the 5th of March 1960 a freighter ship La Coubre exploded in Havana Harbor. Among the chaos and people running away from the blast there was a man who watched the explodion with a stoic glare. Yet his face expressed more: pain and deep anger. Albetro Korda took a photo of this man. Pretty soon it became one of themost recognisable icons of popular culture. The succes of this photo lies in the sole fact that it shows a christianic figure. Fighting and dying for a cause (I won't call it the greater good cause that would be an abuse.)

In the picture we can see Jesu... I mean Ernesto Guevara.

Why am I making so many parallels to Christianity, you may ask. There is something disturbing in how leftist movements of all kinds resemble orthodox religions. Paradoxally the more Enlightment and it's leftist children criticised religion (Christianity being the Target Number One) the more it started to resemble it's arch enemy. Robespierre built a Temple of The Absolute Entity and made it an official cult. All the leftist totalitarian movements of the XXth century were focused on worshiping the leader. (I want to remind you all that Nazism was a leftist ideology - all in all it's National SOCIALISM, intresting isn't it?).

Karl Marx created an opium for the intellectuals with a revolutionary vision of paradise on Earth. Intellectuals of the post World War period were gathered around prophet-like gurus like Sartre, Marcuse or Leary. And again - paradoxally- leftism which was supposed to be an answer of free thinkers to the conservative world became a major factor that limits one's thinking process. Closing it in a world of one proper way of developement. Till Kindom Come.

We all love fascism

Be just and fear not
- The motto of the San Francisco Committee of Vigilance (1856)

Harry Brown is an old timer. He lives in one of the districts of London - Elephant and Castle. It's not a nice neighborhood. He looks with disgust upon teens caught into drug addictions and assaulting people random people. The breakthrough comes. Harry's friend is being killed by youngsters because they needed money of a new Ipod. Being a former soldier he takes the problem into his own hands.

Harry Brown is also a recent movie (2009), starring Michael Caine. The world depicted there is rotting. What is intresting the source of the decay lies in the young generations. The current generation can't handle the primitive energy that dwells in the perverted youth. There is only one hope. The generation of our grandfathers. A generation of tough people with principles. The reckless old-timers raised up before the cultural revolt of the year 1968. Traditionals now slowly and silently passing away. When they will be gone we will be doomed to rot.

The poster of Harry Brown evokes classical action movies.

Like Get Carter. Michael Caine himself is a vigilante icon.

This is how the plot of Harry Brown looks like. And we love stories like that. From the self made sheriffs of the Wild West to law abiding citizens who fight with the corrupted establishment. The Boondock Saints, the masked vigilanties like Zorro, Batman or Rorschach, Dirty Harry, Leon and the psychopatic Taxi Driver. We love those characters, and they are our personal heroes. We adore them. They seduce us with their charisma. We wish that they would clean our neighbourhood too. Even if we disagree with their methods the goal is truly something we all desire. A world cleaned of all scum. A brave new world.

Even YOU can be a vigilante!
(Like the pissed off protagonist of Falling Down)

The degeneration of mankind can't be just justified by poverty now. The welfare states still encounter cases of violence so ridiculous as killings for an Ipod or (even worse) killing for pure fun. The optimistic J.J Rousseau with his good by nature man must leave the building. The truth is a bit more grim than he suspected. Rene Girard in his books: The Sacred and Violence and The Scapegoat unravels the core of humanity. It is violence, a collective murder founding a primitve society. Our society.

But let us get back to our times. With the incapability of the system to deal with these problems the only possible solution lies in vigilantes. The popular culture was sending this message to us since the famous Birth of the Nation (1915!).
Let's put it into real life situation. Don't we like to elect politicians that promise us order and peace? Don't we like when our leaders are charismatic and strong?

It's a matter of strenght indeed! Heroism and glory is what drives us. It is a natural way of a Superego that is too developed, that is too strong. And it is not nationalism, it is not chauvinism nor racism that is the sole core of fascism. It is the strenght that we adore so much. Thanks to 50 years of soviet propaganda fascism is propably the most commonly misused word in the world. Do not be fooled! It is a special way of dealing with problems, the way of charismatic vigilanties, the glorification of pure strenght, which is the sole basis of fascism. And this basis is and will be present in the popular culture and thus in our minds. It will always be considered as one of the options. Keep that in mind.

PS. Harry Brown is a kick-ass movie. Watch it.

Sphinx and rebirth

A person can be born more than once.

Birth

20th of September 2008.
Time: 11:07
Arrival to Klagenurt.
First thing to see: clear blue sky and green mountains.
First feeling: thrills
Name: Mispronouciation by Tare. the best artist in the world. A spanish brother.

Cut from my roots, from the umbilical cord of my home I was thrown into the big world. Without any warning nor preparations.
Everything was fresh and new. The taste of pesto. The sound of German. Everything. With energy of a new born baby I started to explore.

Adolescence

With each passing day the enviroment became more and more familiar. I discovered new paths in the hills. New cities. New people with new accents. And all of thet became normal. Something that has always surrounded you. It was the only know world that became a part of me and I became a part of it. The conquest continued. After three months I could understand (more, less) what the professor was speaking about on a lecture. The satisfaction of gaining more control of German was tremendous. Another grammar structure under my command! That felt good!

Every one has a beast inside. As Ilde refers to it "the inner bitch". I never liked parties. They looked (and were) boring and primitve. Some liquid encouragement, toilet paper and a hose. The first Uniheim party. The beast was unleashed. The party soon became the one and only proper way to celebrate anything. As music fills the silence the parties gave tone to each week. The beat of Erasmus, rythm of the heart.

The psychologists call it hipersocialisation. The common experiences with people who, in theory, should have nothing in common with eachother create a new type of interpersonal relations. I like to call it loveship, since it's stronger than a regular friendship. A person who I only knew for three months became closer to me than people who I've known for years!

Not to mention all the new facebook features!


Adulthood

Non of the experiences of the adolescence period did prepare me for the coming of age. The sharp and brutal moment when one becomes an adult. The moment when one has to leave. All the preparations and experiences led to this very moment. Confrontation with life itself.

Life

Before Erasmus? There was some life but I hardly can remeber anything from that period.
After Erasmus? The life just really started. And this time I have tools to deal with it!

Insatiabilty

Insatiability:
-being unable to be satisfied, a need to have more

"And why did Alexander traveled to the far ends of the World? Why did he want to conquer the whole known world? An inner desire drove him"
- Plutarchos, Parallel lives.


I was born in the Peoples Republic of Poland, a vile communist state. In a country on the wrong side of the Iron Courtain. I was two years old when communism, with the creepy, unkown men in gray coats, just faded away into oblivion. As I grew up the country changed along with me. In fact it was developing faster than me. It still does. Now it looks nothing like the dreamland of my childhood. Constant changes were my natural habitat.

At the age of twelve my mom bought me a huge map of the world, with all the countries and capital cities marked. My imagination drove me around the globe and an urge of seeing all those places filled my heart. We did travel. And with each travel I wanted more and more. They were short. Too short!

After two years of studying the enviroment started to suppres me. The same routine enslaved my spirit and the spirit felt undone. Without much thinking I signed for the Erasmus programme. Doesn't matter where. Maybe to some german-speaking country. I know a bit of german. A scholarship for 10 months in Klagenfurt? Sure! Why not?

So I went there. With each passing day in the capital of Carynthia my mind got more open till the moment when all the mental borders disolved in alcohol and dissapeared After I came back to my home city everything had changed. Or maybe It was me who changed. I looked at Poznań, where I spend 21 years of my life, with the eyes of a tourist. As if I was here for the first time! Suprisingly this state of mind didn't pass away. Six months after my return I still look at Poznań like a person who is seeing it for the first time.

The desire hath grown. I traveled to Ukraine. To London, Klagenfurt and Berlin. Did about 6 trips and excursions in a period of half a year. Still, even a sentimental come back to Klagenfurt did not cure me. Always undone I am bound to serve my insatiability. Till my body refuses to obey me willingly.

Let's go then! To the ends of the known world! Somebody eager to join?

New blog new ... worries

SO! I've decided to start a new blog. This time not (as the more intelligent part of you already have noticed) in my native language!
Why? Because majority of my friends don't speak Polish. (A change of perspective, ey?)
WARNING! This will not automaticly mean that I will just write in English. Expect other languages and obviously I will use Polish, just for the sole pleasure of creating a text in it! So make your google translators warm!

The second reason to start a new blog is to cheat myself and convince myself that with a new blog, new ideas and writing energy will come. Let's see if my secret selfcheating plan will work!