Updates and such

Book

I meant to have the other book read a few weeks ago after I got it, but the pace is a little slower with this one and so I an not very far into it (too much jargon).

But hopefully soon I will finish and yes I know I still have three papers to write. I am looking forward to forcing myself to wrap some things up, probably next week after Warsaw, before Yugoslavia.

Trip

The remains of my trip are looking like:

Warsaw, Poland. 

Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Zagreb,Split and Dubrovnik Croatia.

Sarajevo, Bosnia. Belgrade, Serbia. 

Istanbul, Turkey (more?)

Greece? Romania?

Then maybe back to Prague, and Krakow. 

Then London, then home.

Conversations

The most amazing thing happened the other night, and I probably wont go in to all the details but I was sitting in the hostel, e mailing and listening to music, and a couple of English cats came in drinking beers. After a while it came up that one of them had spent time in India working for the IT company we went and visited (Symphony Services). Even more, he was working to help them (by training Indians) to transfer jobs from London to Bangalore. So this fit in perfect with basically the whole India trip, and I figured I could ask him about his thoughts on the premises of the books as well. 

So he agreed to have a conversation the next morning and it was probably one of the best conversations I have had on this trip in terms of my thoughts on globalization, because in a strange way he both elaborated, confirmed and gave an extra value of hope to the process. Considering he is on the front lines I was amazed to see how open he was to it, but in being aware of the downfalls and being on the inside it meant that he could be actively working to make sure that the problems are addressed.

The process of outsourcing (which seems inevitable) does increase profits, but doesn't always increase efficiency, because the cultural barriers mean that often the work needs to be checked.

For example he said that Indians don't tend to know or care about many of the products available in the West so when they bring up stats on how to sell them better they are often flawed because they don't know about the culture.

So they might have a theory that a food product would sell better next to another product, but Americans or English might be used to buying their cereal and milk right next to each other and it would throw off their sense of cultural comfort or whatever (stupid example, but it makes sense).

Indians wont understand why Americans love Starbucks, because India doesn't have Starbucks... (which is an interesting thing in itself, protecting the Indian tea and coffee industries...)

Anyway he said basically that this can slow down the process, despite the 24 hour work day (24 hours because of time zones) so that was kind of interesting.

Another thing he brought up, is that it is in the best interests of the West and others to set up infrastructure in other places (which I just love to believe because it helps my idealism) but basically he (and I) hope that the multinationals will come to understand that the (very American) desire for fast increases at long term expense doesn't make sense, and that true steady income will come in increasing money for infrastructure education etc.

Part of the reason India is set up so well right now is because of their "mom and pop" government which enabled half the population to get a decent education (half their population is more than our entire, so it works out for them).

other things...

I asked about the market dominant minority concept Chua discusses in her book (in which a minority dominates the market of a country or region) and in thinking very openly towards globalization he responded that soon (due to telecommunications etc) there will be no reason to move to other areas... the market dominants will be able to stay in place and control from far away, which cuts down on the openly violent nature of things, but probably increases frustration (unless that last point about infrastructure and trickle down is worked on very adamantly.

Anyway it was a really good (though short) conversation.

Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp (This comes at a point of frustration for my travel partner....)

I made it to Sachsenhausen, with a million thoughts and feelings on the way, while there, and afterward.

Some main points.

A) On the way there I saw some of Eastern Berlin, (which is now fairly hard to tell the difference) and wondered about their satellite dishes, cars and all the added conveniences. Are the people actually happier, do they use their freedom? Do they wish they had the old comradery back (even if it was forced upon them)? Are they complacent?

B) Sachsenhausen is outside the town or Oranienberg north of Berlin.

Are these the same people that lived here so long ago? Were they ashamed, do they feel guilty, did they even know? Were they aware that the ashes, the soil they plant their flowers in is human remains? Are they sickened by it.

How do they feel about the tourism, is it just another quick buck? 
Are they proud to display how far Germany has come?

C) How far has Germany come? The differences seem amazing. The complete turn around and awesome power of people coming together after being torn apart, after tearing themselves apart.

Are they proud or humbled, do they care at all? Have they put it behind them or do they want to remember? Are they wary of the consequences, are they actively standing up against new forms of tyranny? When they see something terrible happening, is there something in them that calls out "No! Never again!" or do they not see it as the same thing, if it is discriminating against new populations?

D) I guess D is reserved for all the horrible emotions, even the exhaustion the frustration, the absolute horror... I have always been a firm believer in peace despite being very interested in history and warfare. I love to remind myself why its important to keep that way.

E) When comparing genocides, are gas chambers or machetes more humane? Which shows more hatred which shows more disrespect. When you personally can look a person in the eye and tell them you want to destroy them or when you send them off to some camp where you don't have to hear about it. Were the German people so absolutely aware of the horror of it all, so aware of the inhumane way they were treating people they knew were human, that they couldn't do it themselves?

F)  Sachsenhausen was designed to humiliate political opponents, the other people sent there were usually just on an in between stop from other camps (still that stop was life and death for a second, a day, a month, a year and with no concept of time and a system designed to take away your pride, personality, culture, love and life... isn't a second too long anyway?)

So on a personal note, when facing such horror I make sure I put it in my terms.

I would have been sent there.

My Mom and Step Dad are both pacifist Pastors, they would have been sent there.

My Brother is a political activist/politician, he would have been sent there.

My Dad's side of the family is Lebanese, I'm not sure our blood would have been wanted.

About a quarter of my best friends are very into activism, they would have been sent.

Another quarter (like myself) are bisexual or homosexual, or just so damn aware that it shouldn't matter that they claim not to be heterosexual just to make the point - we would have been sent.

I grew up in a town with a 30 % Jewish population, due in fact to a Minnesota Ghetto. About half my best friends, associates, my teachers, my employers, the people I buy my groceries from etc  would have been sent. 

My girlfriend is Jewish, she would have been sent.

Even the thought, simply imagining for 5 minutes, the people you love, the people who inspire and give you hope, the ones who have made life worth living for you, to think about them disappearing one by one...

It was cold and raining at the camp. We had hats, mittens, jackets, we were freezing still and I can't tell you how bad it makes you want to strip down, how horrible you feel wearing or having anything at all when so much was taken from so many.

I know times have changed, and a lot of these things wouldn't have been talked about at the time but I guess that brings me to my last part.

G)  I have a history with the American customs office- a  history of them "randomly selecting" me.

Three years ago I was accused of being a terrorist.

I left the camp yesterday so happy that I was able to say and think and do the things I wanted to in life. Happy to live in the US, a country I love, am proud of and am enraged by with such an extreme passion.  A passion I am "allowed" to have.

I left the camp with the same rage and shame I had when last I was stopped, I left wanting to call those customs agents the most horrible of insults, the most degrading of things, because they would make anyone feel so horrible, so worthless.

I left the camp wanting to get stopped again so that I could give them the lectures this time. So that I could stand up against the BS, the ignorance, the prejudice the injustice, the oppression we force upon so many.

At the same time, sometimes I want to thank them for forcing upon me, for only an hour or two the horror that others face daily.

The trip back to the hostel was one of the most exhausting things in the world. I was so emotionally and physically spent.

At the camp they talked about how the detainees would rush back to their over crowded and miserable bunks, so over worked that even a rest in hell seemed better than another minutes work.

One last note and this sucks... but they talk about how many people committed suicide and it was encouraged by the guards and sometimes the inmates at every opportunity. The fences surrounding were electric and guarded with dogs and soldiers.

There was no escape but death for most (I think they said that only a couple ever made it out).

There was a poem they put on the audio guide that a man had managed to write and part of it talked about his friends decision to die rather than keep trying.

And you wonder what you would do?  I can't imagine the strength it took for the survivors to not only make it, but live and work on to bring people back together - to keep it from happening again.

It makes you wish you could be the one singing, or writing letters of hope on scraps to give the other people. To remember the prayers that guided your life, to still want to live on, to still think life was beautiful.

I can't imagine that kind of strength...

I can't imagine the beauty of those people and when you hear they didn't make it.  I cant imagine the loss. Overall its impossible to imagine the loss. Hard to imagine how it continues... hard to imagine not wanting to struggle in any and every way against it.

I think that's why I think I would have been there. I couldn't live with not trying. I still can't.

So if I get arrested for arguing with customs agents well one more stupid attempt to make things better.

Anyway this wasn't supposed to be this long...

enjoy peace
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 1/2011
 Why You Should Visit Sachsenhausen   -this is a very light reading of what the camp is like. 

more reading
Sachsenhausen

An Audio guide