Shirt is my own design, as I wanted a personal version of the slogan that’s becoming common amongst photographers. The writing is not quite as crooked as it looks.

Lately there’s been an ongoing debate in Norway on the social security system and the various social benefits. This debate seem to pop up every once in a while and is not exactly new under the sun. Living in a more or less free and democratic country it is also necessary, you have to question the validity of your current system and occasionally measure it up . Being young and disabled I am directly or indirectly one of those whose condition and ability are in danger of being discredited and whose living conditions may very well be affected.

I was one of four disabled people featured in an article attempting to give those that is the statistics a face, so to speak. Obviously things don’t get much more public than this and I feel a need to explain some of my personal perspective on the debate. This is not really why this blog exist, but it is the only available and unedited medium I’ve got ready access to and if someone Google my name they are likely to find their way here.

The Faces Behind The Statistic
One of the three large national newspapers, the conservative Aftenposten (fairly liberal by American standards), have published a number of articles over the past few months, highlighting various sides and arguments concerning both a major ongoing reform in the social security system, the unemployment rates and grim sick leave statistics. I’d say it’s been good and healthy series of articles and generally speaking quality journalism, even if it’s hard to avoid a certain tendency to social pornography when featuring those affected by the social security system.

Earlier this week I was contacted by the Norwegian Association for The Blind on behalf of Aftenposten,  looking for people currently living of social benefits (we have a number of variants). They explained that Aftenposten wanted to do an article to sort of show the faces behind the statistics. My daily bread and butter is financed by a form of disabilities pension and I sport the lovely diagnosis Usher Syndrome resulting in the medical and judicial definition “deaf-blind”. A definition that is difficult to comprehend without inside knowledge of the medical and practical aspects of a condition such as mine. I am severely hearing and vision impaired, but I still have some hearing and sight left, my world is not completely black.

I felt I had to make myself available for this presumably good cause. Especially the young and handicapped need to be heard and reckoned with, although no-one seem to really want to hear us out. I’m not a spokesman and I hardly think I’m suitable either, but I am a conscious individual with the right to join the choir. In Norway, as in most countries, you seldom hear the voices of the poor and otherwise less fortunate. They seem to be a boring political problem and in many cases human shuttlecocks of the bureaucracy. My experience is that in particular the young and disabled are neither politically correct nor vocal enough to warrant any serious or constructive effort from the law-makers.

To make a long story short, I was interviewed, photographed and videotaped, together, but not at the same time, as three others in similar situations as me. The article appeared in the printed edition today, Saturday, as well as both text and and video on their website. The journalist and her photographer and videographer all behaved in an exemplary manner. I was also given the chance to correct my part of the article before publishing. The end result is completely acceptable, although I wish it was more in-dept, but there are obvious limitations when they feature four different “destinies” so I make no complaints. I’m no more overly exited of displaying my questionable mug in national media today than I was when I appeared on TV a few months ago.

The Luxurious Life On Socal Benefits
The finance crisis is the spark that set off this current round of debate concerning our welfare system. Although Norway have fared way better than pretty much every other country in the world, the effects are still noticeable, we experience increasing numbers of unemployed and individuals on long-term sick leave. Recently that last phenomenon have been in the spotlight, because these people can receive fairly generous sick pay and some feel there are a lot of frauds and swindlers among them “taking a holiday”.

From this and also earlier debates you get the impression that there seem to be a kind of “bright” idea in certain circles, that there are no disabled people, they are only lazy. The reality is of course a bit more complicated. I believe there are few people that willingly choose a “career” as a social benefit frauds. The result of living on social benefits, especially if you’re young, is social and economical ruin and in terms of general “life progress”, pretty much a suicide. You just don’t have the financial muscle to build a life, a home and a family and you loose out on the very important social side of a workplace. Everyone else you know progresses and build their lives while you’re left on the sideline to watch.

I’ll illustrate this by using myself as an example (what I make is not exactly a state secret, just standard rates). I pay a rent of about 1300 $ per month for a very modest 2-room apartment. Add power, Internet, insurance and the common recurrent expenses and you’re easily forking out between 1700 and 2000 $ per month. Food, clothing and so forth not included (easily 800-1200$). On disabilities pension I gorge myself in the jaw-dropping sum of 160-170 000 NOKR yearly, about 30 000 $, or some 2500 $ monthly. Since we’re two people and split the rent the wheels keep turning, but there’s not any financial overhead for me. This boils down to the fact that I haven’t got a snowballs chance in hell to get a house loan or otherwise “establish” myself. Only if my spouse get a decent paying job we’re golden (she’s about to finish her masters). Ultimately it’s pretty much hand-to-mouth as long as I live in a major city with high living expenses. Living in a major city is an advantage, some would say a requirement when you’re severely vision impaired, mainly due to public transportation, short distances and health services.

Clearly, the financial situation causes me a lot of concern. If a tooth needs fixin’ or the fridge goes kaput, I’m dead out of luck. It’s either borrowing money from friends or family, or selling the few of my possessions that have some value. Say I wasn’t the marrying kind, or simply disabled in such a way so that I could not realistically hope to attract a spouse, then a life of potential social and economical misery would likely await me. Now I am lucky enough to have a spouse, a good one too, at least as long as she bother having a blind wreck stumbling about the apartment knocking things over. Yet, it is quite uncomfortable and really not very 1979 to be completely dependent on another persons whims for financial security. Nor is it a secret that divorce and breakup-rates are high these days. Even how well you get along, you sort of have to plan for the worst.

Now, do not get me wrong, I’m perfectly fine with being poor by Norwegian standards. In fact, ever since I “grew up” and moved from home (17) I’ve been more or less in the same financial situation and me currently being on disabilities pension is a conscious choice to ensure a minimum of financial security that I would not otherwise have, given my medical prognosis and chances to get and keep a suitable job (I don’t have a fancy education). I don’t ask for more money, but I’d like for arrangements to exist that would help me to a new fridge if the old one dies, without having to crawl on my knees before my family and beg. Small, interest-free (micro) loans with a flexible down payment plan from the state would be better than nothing for people in my situation. The state already have the muscle and weight to get the money back (IRS) :p

The Obvious Solution For Me..
…is that I should get a job, that’s probably what most are thinking when reading this. “Lazy brat” and so forth. Yeah, I know, but it’s easier said than done. I actually love working, I like feeling that I create something, do something worthwhile. The challenge for me is to find something that balances relatively acceptable life quality with amount of workdays/time. Being vision and hearing impaired I burn a lot more energy than the average healthy person just communicating and moving to and from places. It means that I can for short periods of time manage an a full-time job, but I’ll burn myself out in the process and basically have no other life than work and eating/sleeping before hitting the wall (been there done that).

A part-time job is the logical step for me. Unfortunately and despite of 14-15 years of education I’m pretty much qualified to do nothing. Even if I was and did get a decent paying job, what I would be able to earn from a 50 % position, is dependent on my pre-benefit income, which was very low. I would in fact not be allowed to earn any more than what I get from my current 100 % disabilities pension. Alas, I’m locked up by the rigid and not very flexible rules and regulations of the system. I have not even mentioned the difficulty of handicapped to get jobs in the first place. If you’re handicapped or your name is “Ali”, you’re going straight down to the bottom of the pile. There are laws against that, but it still happens.

I must make a point of the fact that I never planned to end in this situation when I was younger, but life tends to put you onto paths you never imagined or wished for. The path I’ve walked so far have been one of traumatic and difficult experiences with a trail of ruined plans and broken ideas behind me. A common suggestion is “more education” and I heartily agree on that. Education is always good (I guess you could say my life motto is “live to learn”). Yet, regardless of my own understanding of my situation, capabilities and capacity, as things are now I don’t realistically see me finishing a 3 to 5 year education either (likely longer, I doubt I could get through as a full-time student). My vision and hearing deteriorate, not very fast, but it’s not stagnant either, I’m likely operating with a time perspective of 5 to 15 years for my current level of functional ability. An education would also have to be something I could realistically work with for the rest of my life, and get a job with too.

At the present time I am not motivated for more education, and I feel that the best thing for me is to be out among people and work while I still see and hear something. I guess a dream would be to work as a writer of some sort and/or with photography and image editing/processing. Some will perhaps suggest photo journalist and I’ve given it some thought, but without qualifications and with my condition it is unlikely that I could make it in a dog-eat-dog industry such as the media business is today, and surely not over time. I also doubt I got the balls for it ;)

For the time being I keep myself occupied with my hobbies and volunteer work with web development at my old upper secondary school (VGS), which is a school for the hard of hearing. I can take thing in my own pace and remain functional outside work hours while still doing something resonably constructive. I’m hoping opportunities will arise in the future, but for the time being I am where I am and my condition will not get better.

No More About Me (thank God!)
I’m going to close this post by saying a few things related to the ongoing debate on the social security system, yeah the general welfare system in Norway.

1. The way a society treat its weakest members is more telling of its quality than anything else.

2. Make no mistake, Norway have one of the finest public health and social security systems in the world and mostly we are very happy with it. It is sort of our idea that performing within ability and receiving based on need is sort of a good general principle, and you don’t have to be a crazy-eyed sickle-wielding freedom-hating fanatic to think that’s a good idea. However, just like any system, ours still have to be refined and tuned regularly, this is something everyone seem to agree on. What people do not agree on is how to do this.

3. When it comes down to getting more people off benefits and into jobs, no-one, nor I, think that is a bad idea. But how is an entirely different and very complicated question. Forcing people off social benefits through cuts in the very benefits is not a good idea. The number of people on social benefits are caused by a multitude of reasons, and you have to investigate and understand at least some of them before looking for suitable means to help the situation.

4. Our society have gone through massive changes and the great wheel have made many considerable turns over the past 150 years or so. In the last few decades we’ve seen the social structure of our societies changing even more rapidly than ever before. A lot of things are happening, and all at once. I guess one could say that  modern society have got rougher. Not necessarily in terms of poverty, violence and sheer brutality, but in more subtle ways. The requirements to efficiency, speed, competence and productivity are continuously rising with the result that work life have generally become more demanding.

In personal life there’s a focus on apparent success, on material goods, and perfectness. Young and old are bombarded by the idea that you have to succeed in life and engage yourself in mindless consumerism to be socially acceptable. Failing to do so, or the fear of, can be a considerable burden on it’s own. We’re born to the idea that everyone can, will and must make it and there’s no room for 2nd place.

Also, regardless of improved methods to  diagnose psychological conditions and illness, as well as better statistics, there seem to be an increasing number of people developing mental issues. If that is true, our society is no doubt at least partially to blame for that, all cannot be caused by pollution, diet or substance abuse. It’s likely that changes in the social structure, the way we organize our societies and what the  life expectations of people are (how realistic or unrealistic they may be), is one of the keys to understanding the increasing number of people on social benefits and why certain groups people in general struggle. I fear we’re creating society that is just as inhuman as the “barbaric” civilizations of the past. We seem to, even with all our knowledge and understanding, be even less adaptive to the many possible flavors of the human being.

Thank you for your patience. 

Caption from my interview with NRK

Thursday the 22nd was a bizarre day for me, so unusual I simply have to blog about it now that I’ve had the chance to catch my breath. I ended up on the evening news and surprisingly enough, it wasn’t because I robbed a bank or threw a cake in the face of politician. I got to flash my questionable mug on NRK which is a national, state-owned TV-channel, basically a Norwegian version of BBC. Love it or hate it, the channel and its news is at least classic and not sensationalist tabloidish in style, they seem to try to keep a fragment of integrity and quality even these days. I was interviewed and brief excerpts where used in a case on a just released report on the condition of the social security system and a lot of other things. There where some heavy criticism, and I was apparently chosen to sort of give the victims of the issues at hand a face.

The quick and dirty story behind my role in this, is that I applied for disabilities pension back in 2007, due to my chronic and severe medical condition. This was the beginning of a personal kind of hell, an not-so-epic battle between man and the system. Basically “they” ignored my application due to practical bureaucratic issues internally in the social departement and certain political goals or ideas concerning who to give disabilities pension. I phoned, e-mailed and snail-mailed them to get some response and for a long time, was dreadfully unanswered or given very vague feedback always requesting more information, even if I’d already given them all they could honestly need. In fact I several times received a standard-phrased letter requesting the same information that I’d sent in several times before. Either they used this to drag out the case for a while longer, or they actually lost the papers due to internal mess. I must admit I wonder where these highly personal papers containing intimate details about me, got to..

I have to mention that it’s not like my medical condition was anything new to them, I’ve been getting certain benefits (educational support and so forth) from them for a decade and they’ve got a thick file on me. Now this quicksandish affair went on far beyond the given time limits for reaching a decision in matters such as my application. Eventually, I could not be ignored any longer, the “noise” generated by me and those assisting me (I where lucky enough to have some great people helping me, you know who you are, thank you!) must have got too loud to stand. A meeting was called and a deal was worked out, not for the permanent disabilities pension I’d applied for, but temporary disabilities pension with a maximum lenght of four years. Obviously a compromise and quite ironic, as my condition only gets worse, not better. Yet, that was all they could give me and I was in many ways forced to reach a conclusion to this case, financial issues being what they are, terribly hard to overlook when you’re staring into an empty fridge. So I got my stuff worked out, sort of, for a time, it only took a couple years when it should have taken four months. I do not know if it is possible to describe how it is, living on the mercy of some names and titles without faces, waiting, wondering, worrying, counting pennies, for weeks, months and years, but quite frankly, it burns the joy of living out of your mind. Contrary to what some right-wing politicians and economical liberalists seem to think, it is not fun, you don’t do it because you want to, you do it because you have little or no other choice. Period.

Now, it turns out I’m not the only one that’s had problems with the social department over the last few years. Due to a massive reorganization process, planned to take somewhere around half a decade, there are also (not so surprisingly) massive practical, ideological and bureaucratic problems internally in the department. Something that does not only affect rare, special cases such as me, but a wide range of groups. The classic issues are cases/applications taking far beyond any reasonable time limits to reach a conclusion, money not getting wired when and where they are supposed to, a lot of general confusion, misinformation, papers getting lost and basically people in need of help, suffering. It’s sort of a problem when the very system that is in place to help people, generates more problems for those seeking help due to an inhumane bureaucratic process. Obviously this is not acceptable and over the past year, year and a half, reports in the media have become more and more critical and unambiguous, and more money and efforts have been poured into the social department(s) to rectify the issues. This report I mentioned at the beginning of this post, was sort of the final straw, complete and brutal criticism from an organ appointed by the parliament/government to evaluate the financial situation in the various departments, organs and businesses of the state. Frankly, reading it’s conclusions on the social department creates an interesting mental image of an elephant doing riverdance on top of the corpses of the politicians and bureaucrats responsible, pretty damn crushing. I am very pleased, not because this matters much for me, my case is after all, sort of closed, but I know there are tens of thousands of other people having major problems and struggling with this. There’s no doubt now, they have to sort it out, you can’t ignore a splinter in your eye the size of a giant 2000 year old  Redwood tree.

So, if you still haven’t fallen asleep from boredom, how on earth did I end up in that TV-news report? The day it all exploded I spent the entire day in a planning meeting for one of my volunteer jobs, this job is owned/run by the Norwegian Association For The Hard of Hearing (HLF). One of the participants in this meeting get a call from a formed employee, now working at the NRK. They’re looking for a handicapped person who’s spent a long time in queue with the social department, awaiting an answer to their application. I offer my help in finding one, thinking I’d find someone on Facebook easily. I was and is  pretty sure there’s several battling with the social dep. Unfortunately there’s not much time and I get no responses within reasonable time, so in the end I call the journalist and apologize that I could not find anyone, but I also mention that I’ve been through such a process recently. I quickly shave and try to find some half-decent clothes as I don’t have many, which is a concern when you don’t want to appear as a hobo. Due to a limited budget I mostly buy cheap, solid and “work” clothes.  A few minutes later I meet the  reporter and her camera-man in a nearby park and we’re on. I had no wish to appear on TV, I’m a pretty private person, but the decision was made easy due to the importance of this report and the need to have an Joe Sixpack giving the criticism a face. Excerpts from the interview was used twice that evening, both on the 19:00 and 23:00 news, but with slightly different points of view to the report. First one angled heavily on the criticism, second run more about the problems the applicants for benefits face when dealing with the social department.

Well that’s the story. I had hoped the interview would be run as a case on it’s own, but it’s hardly surprising that they try to squeeze all they can into a limited time-frame. I had some fairly heavy-hitting comments with good points that where not used, but all in all I did at least not make a total jackass out of myself which is obviously something you risk to do when going on TV. If you understand Norwegian here’s a direct link to the news-report in NRKs archives.

Direct link to the case on the 19:00 news, 22th of October ’09 (Probably need Internet Explorer for the video to work)

The subject of suicide is one I personally have strong feelings about, both because I’ve experienced suicide in my family and among friends, but also because I’ve had suicidal thoughts in periods of my life, as have many people that I know. Having a serious medical condition no doubt makes me increasingly prone to experience mental health problems in general. I am not ashamed of this fact and I believe it more common than many may think or dare admit. To give an example, some inquiries suggests that 55 per cent of college students have had suicidal thoughts and 18 per cent have seriously considered this option. 8 per cent again have actually attempted suicide. Different inquiries come to different numbers, and there are obviously geographical and cultural differences too. Regardless, what seems to remain a fact is that a large portion of the population have had or has suicidal thoughts at some point in their life. Understanding this complex phenomenon is difficult, but it is regardless necessary because it is so common. Almost everyone will know someone who depart by suicide at some point of their life, and many more will know people who make an attempt to take their own life. The following article is of both of very personal nature, but also an attempt to look at the historical and cultural background for suicide and show examples of the many ways this phenomenon have occurred through history, and today. While I am as concerned as anyone by the high suicide rates today, I am also equally concerned by the failure of society to help this problem. It seems suicidality are still subject to considerable prejudice, something that certainly do not help the problem but serve to alienate people even more.

Links, suicide in the news (mostly Norwegian newssites)

• Dagbladet.no – “Gutten som ikke ville være en av gutta”
• Dagbladet.no – “Abraham (19) tok livet sitt på direkten”
• Dagbladet.no – “Ble avvist av psykologer 52 ganger”
• Dagbladet.no  - “Med døden i hælene”
• VG.no – “Tidligere politisjef begikk selvmord på TV”
• VG.no “Kvinne frikjent etter MySpace-selvmord”

(If the text under the tabs look weird when using the Opera web browser, try to refresh or zoom in/out. It is a JavaScript related bug/glitch and will be resolved soon)

Albeit defeated politicians are expected to show magnanimity, you rarely get the feeling they actually mean it. I really hope McCain do, and he did seem very sincere. What the US needs now, more than anything is political unity, working towards common goals. The issues at hand are truly massive. Wars, economic recession and social problems plague the US, issues that will have to be taken care of if to avoid a complete and total collapse of the US’ status as superpower and “the greatest democracy in the world”.

Through American history, Americans have had a certain tradition for uniting behind the president, regardless of his political party and ideology. They did in fact do that after Bush took both the 2000 and 2004-election with a tiny margin, and he was very popular, racking great numbers on the popularity ratings, especially after 9/11. It was only later, after Iraqi-affair turned into a veritable quagmire, that his popularity started dwindling and the current truly soured. In Obama’s case, there is no guarantee this will happen. Of course, he did manage to create a huge following and get thousands that normally don’t vote, to vote. Something that indicates he can be a very popular president. Still, if he do not succeed in actually creating change, the sentiments of the people will easily shift, perhaps even more brutal than in the case of Bush. Mr. Obama clearly manage to appeal to a great many people. Still, the conservatism and the racist sentiments amongst many people, will make it tough to ever convincing certain groups of the US society. Their opposition will be equally strong to the liberals and leftists disapproval of G. W. Bush. How this turns out in the long run, only time will show.

From a foreigners perspective, whatever happens in the US, is important, although it might seem very far away. The US do remain the single most important economical, political and military power in the world, and even if we don’t like it, there’s no hiding the fact that they indirectly hold a considerable influence over “us”. Hence, it is our interest that the American economical and political machinery runs as smoothly as possible. The financial crisis is a recent and very obvious example of this. In lack of any better forerunner and unifying factor in the world, we need an US paving the road with good examples in environmental matters, general security issues such as terrorism, “naughty” states all around the world and aid to third world countries.

I personally highly doubt Obama will be the great messiah in foreign political matters, he will most likely stand for continuity more than anything else. Yet, he is the new kid on the block, he is a new beginning, he is a new chance and our new hope.

Congratulations Mr. President Obama, now, please, fix the world!

Links

• http://www.kjendis.no/2008/11/05/552871.html
• http://www.dagbladet.no/art/utenriks/usa-valget_2008/3636557/
• http://www.dagbladet.no/art/utenriks/usa-valget_2008/3636987/
• http://www.dagbladet.no/art/usa-valget_2008/utenriks/3651818/
• http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/presidentvalg-2008/artikkel.php?artid=523029
• http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/presidentvalg-2008/artikkel.php?artid=523026
• http://www.vg.no/nyheter/utenriks/presidentvalg-2008/artikkel.php?artid=523765

Populism

There’s always an election going on somewhere, but some elections get more media coverage and publicity than others. Right now we have an excellent example in the US presidential election coming up in a few days. This article is not really aimed at that election specifically, but rather elections in general. Nor it is my objective to front any particular candidate in this or any other election. What is interesting is that tendencies and trends initially seen in the US, gradually becomes common in other countries too. This can both be the ideological current of the time, or in relation to this article, the way politics are practised during an election campaign. Now, the US is often referred to, at least by Americans, as the finest democracy in the world. Even if this is not necessarily true, seen from a foreigners perspective, the US is indeed a country whose doings has a profound impact on the rest of the world. Thus, who leads it and how an election is conducted there, has interest for people all around the globe. Also, it’s difficult to think of any other election showing off the more extreme sides of modern politics and PR-techniques.

The trend for many years and elections now, is that the medias are becoming a more and more important factor in politics and society. They are aggressive, often focusing on secondary matters such as person rather than case or ideology. This tendency is a result of the modern-day mass medias and the many arenas they compete in. Information spreads more rapidly than ever, and the need to expose one’s own specific enterprise, leads journalists and reporters to use large and rather unfriendly letters in the headlines. This again makes it necessary for the politicians to try to catch the headlines themselves, giving rise to a populistic trend, where the messages are simple and grass very green.

Populism is not something new, it’s been around since before the days of ancient Rome and Greece. When the very first leader was “chosen” amongst a group of tribal people, let’s call him “Ugruk”, he’d probably fired of a few populistic statements (besides of the skull-bashing) such as “Ugruk will give you much food”. Thus populism has a long history, and it is not necessarily wrong itself either. Although, the way information is shared today, probably makes it a potentially more effective, and dangerous tool, for anyone seeking power. Back in Ugruks days, everyone knew this was all bullocks, they weren’t all that smart and educated, but they didn’t have to be to understand that Ugruks primary strength was just that, strength. A few small glimmers of cynicism and intelligence on top of that, made him a candidate for leadership.

The problem with modern populism is the fact that people are really quite smart, smart enough to feel certain that they are smart. People who think they are smart tend to be lazy and not really work hard, they feel no need to improve themselves. The access to all kinds of information and knowledge do not mean one use it. In the case of politics, the effect is that people tend jump on a bandwagon that sounds nice, without doing research. Of course that is their choice and they are free to do that, but personally I’d rather prefer it if they used their brains a little more. Not because I wish to change who they vote for or their opinions, but because I believe that choices should be as objective and well-founded as possible.

The Fourth Estate & The Price We Pay

Barack Obama -The new shiny model?

John McCain - Has he got a spare tire?

A teacher once told me, “politics is a lie, a damn lie!”. I do not remember the setting anymore, and being only about twelve at the time, what he actually meant or was referring to, remains a bit vague to me today. Yet, what I think maybe he was thinking of, is the tendency of modern-day politicians to be like fancy cars, sporting nice chromed details and a shiny paint job, with cause and ideology being the lousy 5$ can of “instant-tire-fix” the factory put in the trunk instead of a proper spare tire.

A politician running for a major office, becomes a public person the very instant he proclaims his candidature. This is something that is to be expected, not to mention, probably necessary. Being a public person in the 21st century meas you will get exposed to an extent our forefathers would have found unthinkable. Outward appearance, looks and speech are key factors that need to meet certain standards. What these standards are, is a subtle science, often incomprehensible to the common man. Also, the medias interpretation of a candidate often creates a consensus and a common view of the individual, which might even easily proven to be completely erroneous. A classical example in the US election campaign is the claim that Barack Obama is an Arab because his middle name is “Hussein”. Both in a genetic and cultural sense there is no doubt that he is in fact not, yet the claim has stuck. This is a typical example of some claim fueled by the media, becoming “truth”, at least among a group that need flimsy evidence to fuel their prejudice. Seriously, even if he was an Arab or Muslim, how would that matter at all?Are not all men supposed to be created equal and is there not freedom of speech and religion?

Bottom line, even if you do not agree to my previous example, is that we allow the medias to hold a power over ourselves, that is simply unmatched by any other institution of the society, and we did not even democratically elect the journalists that shape our understanding of the world! Never forget, that a reporter or journalist or even an entire institution might have an agenda of its own, and regardless of that, we allow them affect who to vote for. Ultimately, this is the price we pay for living in a relatively free world. We can only acknowledge the reality, but this doesn’t stop us from being conscious beings. As Robert Jackson once said:

“The price of freedom of religion, or of speech, or of the press, is that we must put up with a good deal of rubbish.”

Rubbish is the key point, the media presents us with a lot of it, but we do not have to believe it or take it for granted. A healthy dose of scepticism will not hurt! You should always be sceptic of what is told you, especially if it is in any way related to money, ideology or power. Just because someone in a nice suit with a pretty face tell you something, doesn’t mean they are correct. This sounds like social know-how that should present already in kindergarten, but people can be surprisingly naive.

Words Are Just That, Words

It’s not uncommon to hear phrases like “that man has a way with words”, or comparing a politician with a well-known charismatic historical personality with great rhetorical skills, for instance the infamous John F. Kennedy or Martin Luther King. Good rhetorical skills have often been a much respected ability amongst us humans, at least in periods where expressing one’s views did not mean one would be beheaded. Developing language have been exceptionally important to the success of our race, and this is also an observation easily made by anyone. Other animals don’t talk, at least not to the same extent that we do, providing an obvious logical conclusion. Amongst man, a very common perspective is that the fact that we speak, puts us above all other creatures of this world. Yet, as man have a love for words, language and fine speech, we can easily be blinded by that fascination. Pretty things said does not necessarily mean anything substantial. On the political arena this holds very true and it’s something one should be very aware of when observing politics.

Rhetorics, regardless of its beauty and the fire it might light in our hearths and minds, are nothing but words, and words are very cheap. Exchanges of words, such as debates and discussions might reveal weaknesses with one, several or even all participants, but this is not always as definite as one can be lead to believe when watching a political debate. Don’t forget the fact that discussions in themselves have a certain pointless value, because discussions is basically about orally expressing views in such a way that others appear poor or inadequate. It’s as much about rhetorics and technique as much as about actual message. People are different and some have clearly better oratory skills. Yet, oratory skills are not the same as knowledge and it certainly do not mean that the orator is “correct”. Politicians strive to massacre each others with oratory skills, and many of them have such abilities far beyond the average. That’s probably why they become politicians in the first place. Many have come to places of power with a mediocre message mixed with charisma and an ability to appear genuine in front of people.

Whatever you do...

The man in the street is easily blinded by fair talking and sweet assurances. If you are supposed to be a conscious member of your society, a voter and a fellow man, having the will to actually try and see what is behind a politicians message is a primary goal. Being a little bit conscious about the mechanics that take place in modern politics and trying to view things from a different angle, can give you a new perspective and hopefully allow you to make a more educated choice when you’re in that booth with the ballot in front of you. Having the right to vote is a privilege many have died for, and others dream of. Even then, being spoiled does not mean we can’t think. Don’t pick your candidate or party on a whim, evaluate statements, have a look at their programs of principle, use different media sources and be sceptic to all of them. The truth is normally something in the middle. Be extremely vary of classical populistic promises such as lower taxes, more money for schools and roads and so forth. Money do have to come from somewhere and taxes is the primary income of most nations. Spending money on one thing, normally means less money are spent on other things. After you’ve thought through things like this, make your choice and pick the party or candidate because you truly believe they and/or he is the best suited to govern you, and your country as a whole.

Oh and whatever you do, vote!

A Session About Economics

Understanding the world economy is not easy, but it helps to know a couple of somewhat simplified facts. The world economy is ultimately based on trust, and not the value of real, solid-to-the-touch goods and products like you might think. The time when the value of money was equal to the amount of gold in a national banks treasury, is long since gone. Now, when there’s a financial crisis, a lot of fancy financial theory can be applied in an attempt to describe it, yet, ultimately it boils down to the fact that trust is what keeps everything afloat. “They” might talk about loans and liquidity, but basically it’s as simple as this; when peoples trust start to waiver, we see what’s happening right now. Stock markets drop like there’s no tomorrow.

In the title of this post, I mention 9/11. What’s that got to do with anything? Well, maybe more than you think. You see, what many people may not realise, is that 9/11 was more than an attack at the twin towers on Manhattan. It was more than yet another a terrorist attack against the “infidels” and an attempt to strike at the heart of the enemy. 9/11 was in fact an attempt to crash the entire world economy by striking fear into the hearts of everyone and pulling out one of the fundamental bricks in the pyramid of trust that is the international economy, and it nearly happened too. World Trade Center was one of the very centers of the international financial system, but even then, its importance to the world economy was relative. One thing is that the towers housed hundreds of businesses, many within the financial sector, and they all got knocked out in one blow. A lot of people died and a lot of things stopped working for a time. Even then, this was only a tiny fraction of the people and businesses that work within the financial sector and the psychological value of the attack far outstripped the actual human and economical costs caused by it. The really important thing was the fact that the attack scared and shocked people everywhere, making people less willingly to invest, spend money and travel, with major impact on the world economy and a potential crack as result.

Luckily, the markets proved more mature than one could initially hope. We got through 9/11 in a short time perspective, and despite of periodical setbacks in some industries, weapons and arms manufacturers boomed and by 2003 things where starting to go better again.

Nice way of summing things up...

But, hold on for a second! What exactly is happening today? It’s at least partially plausible to link 9/11 with the present day financial situation. Ironically, what Al Quaedas attack on WTC didn’t accomplish initially seven years ago, may be happening after all. As you know, Al Quaeda and 9/11 triggered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, wars which is one of the major reasons Bush have had to spend so much money in his two terms. The wars was and still is, costly. Latest figure I read was that Iraq alone cost 10 billion USD every month. That’s not counting the indirect costs like for example thousands of wounded soldiers returning home, requiring medical aid and social benefits. These wars have put a great strain on the US and any other nation would have collapsed financially already, but the US, is as we know, an economic superpower. Also, the wars probably ensured Bush his re-election (..”I am a war president” etc), meaning he could continue his irresponsible politics.

As you see, I’m claiming that Bush is a considerable factor behind whats happening now and I have some proof too. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it’s not Mr. Bush’ fault alone that the economy is going down the drains these days, he only acted within a financial system that’s been ill for a long, long while. Yet. his disastrous economical politics was probably a decisive factor in setting off the current crisis. Bush have been a firm believer of an economical policy advocating deregulation and less possible control of everything that’s got to do with financial stuff. If he had tried to regulate and develop the US’ financial laws and policy, we would probably not be where we are today. Bush simply ignored Clinton’s period of relative calm sensibility and continued Regan and his fathers policy, and the result was that many greedy bastards could roam the stock markets more or less free, with few limits and boundaries. Ultimately, Bush himself admitted the defeat of his economical policy when they saved Fannie Mae & Co, and lately, hurried a gigantic rescue pack in an attempt to “fix” the economy they, themselves, participated in ruining. Mind you, such government-involvement in the “free” market is unheard of since the great depression.

No financial whiz-kid..

It’s Failed

Read the facts. The US national debt is all-time high and the social differences and issues are more noticeable than ever. Close to 50 million Americans are without health insurance, there’s still massive differences in employment and income between the different ethnic groups and these differences haven’t decreased over the past decades. In the US, as in the rest of the world, the massive majority of the wealth belongs to a tiny percentage of the population. I think this pretty darn well spells out “failed economical policy” with a topping of some serious injustice.

This could all have been sort of “tolerable” (it’s the Americans, they elected the bastards, what do we care?), had not the modern world been so closely knit together as it is. The world have become a gigantic interconnecting web, where everything is in one or other way connected to everything else. This phenomenon, particularly in an economical, cultural and political sense, is called globalization. No man and no country is an isle, and another mans doing is every-one’s disaster. The last thing Bush or any other American president is free to do, is making decisions without thinking of the effect it can or will have on the rest of the world. The status of the US as a great power and economical cornerstone of the world, indirectly gives their politicians (and voters) a greater responsibility than their counterparts in most other countries.

Both in theory and practise it seems that the capitalist system do not work. It’s not self-regulating, the best products are not available for the lowest prices and everyone certainly don’t have the same “shot at glory”. Fundamental capitalist theory do simply not apply to real life situations any more than pure old-fashioned 1917 style Marxism-Lenism do. If you’re agreeing to the concept of everyone being created equal, having the same rights and should have the same chances in life, well our present world-wide economical system do not make that happen. Sorry to disappoint you.

You should really think people and politicians had learnt after the many financial crises we had in the last century, but it appears that greed always win, in the end. It is clear to me, that as long the rich got their hands deep down politicians pockets, the average Joe Sixpack, regardless of nationality, will live at the will and whims of people we do not know or trust. People who’s only goal in life is to accumulate riches for themselves with no regard for their fellow man. Now it’s getting about time to end this rant, and I’m thinking for myself, yes actually hoping that perhaps one day, the power will truly belong to the people. That those exercising power on behalf of the people, will really do it for the people, and not their rich friends who paid for their election campaign. Yet realistically this is just a nice dream and I truly don’t see this happening, anytime, but at least you can hope ;) Finally, until people realise that you cannot measure success in economical growth alone, and that long periods of growth does not mean everything is working and all right, well, you better get used to seeing front-pages like the one from The Economist.

Mr. Bin Laden having fun.

I, for one, think Mr. Bin Laden is having some good laughs in his cave somewhere. The 9/11 incident did indeed crash those towers, but it didn’t crash the world economy. Yet, you can very well choose to interpret todays situation as a result of 9/11 and thus maybe he did succeed after all..

[rant off]

Update 23.10.2008: If you know the Norwegian language, the Norwegian newspaper, Dagbladet has an interesting article on the relationship between the 2008 crack and the 1873-crack. Nice reading!

I, and many from my own generation, consider games an interactive art-form that is no less an “art” than say movies or books. For us there’s no question about it and we don’t care what the cultural establishment think about the subject. We know from personal experience that games can tell stories, involve you in the action, give you the feeling of accomplishment and boost your self-confidence. They can be short, quick and mindless, just occupying time, or they can present you moral or ethical dilemmas and force you take a stand and change your real-life perception. They can give you valuable training in co-operating, organizing as well as provide social know-how, experiences that may very well be put into use in other situations. The possibilities and potential is close to endless and that’s in many ways why we’re so fascinated too. Having grown up with games, we are not scared of this (relatively) new media, we embrace it and feel it’s a natural part of modern life.

MMORPGs
The gaming industry is growing rapidly and is even rivaling established forms of entertainment and popular culture like movies and music in revenues. It is also getting obvious that games have a considerable effect on the social structure and general social conditions. The reason is that people spend a lot of time playing games and in some cases, they forsake real-life on behalf of spending more time in-game. This is particularly noticeable with one specific group of games, the MMORPGs, Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game. Examples are World of Warcraft, Eve Online, Ultima Online, Age of Conan, Warhammer, Lord of The Rings Online and many more. These games have a structure and game-play that basically requires you to spend considerable amounts of time to acquire items and accomplish goals. The effort required is often extremely time-consuming. It is a brutal reality that people spend up to 18 hours per day in-game and they do it for months and even years at the time. The fact that these games are centered around team-play, or, at least the need to work as a team to accomplish goals, introduces a social arena beyond any previously known complexity or imagination.

This cannot be fully understood if you don’t know one very widespread mechanism of the Internet. The relative anonymity leads many people to feel relieved of normal social conventions and standards, behaving pretty much like they feel like there and then. With no social filter in between people, and the lack of visual feedback from actually seeing the face of those you speak with, the tension level rise easily. Alliances are made and broken, betrayals and deception are commonplace and lies, cruelty and seemingly complete lack of social know-how, makes these waters harder to navigate than the Middle-East conflict. When this is said, the social complexity of MMORPGs also provides an arena for many people that are otherwise socially inept, to socialize. It can be people with mental issues, or disabilities that make it hard to socialize in real life. In online games they can live a life where their issues often aren’t that noticeable, they can be a more perfected version of themselves, gain accept, respect and feel good. The problem is of course that this does not necessarily resolve any issues, regardless of cause. While it can help people, it can also make them draw even more into themselves and avoid human relations to such extent that they literally have no life except of their online community.

A New Sub-Culture Ascends
My personal experience, primarily from World of Warcraft in the MMORPG-genre, suggests that a large portion of the people spending much time with these games are in fact people with issues of some kind (I’m one). A certain percentage are people with disabilities and serious conditions, but those are the minority. Those that really gets me thinking, is the considerably larger number of “normal” folks that use games as a way to escape the realities if their lives. Many are working, with wife and kids, seemingly successful. Yet they spend an alarming amount of time at home, online. Others are high-school and university dropouts, living on social welfare or their parents. Mind you, these are not retards, they may be somewhat socially inept geeks, but they are often very intelligent and otherwise perfectly capable individuals. Gaming, and gaming a lot, is more than a hobby for these individuals, it’s a way of life. Many jump tirelessly from MMORPG to MMORPG as they might grow tired of one, or they seek new communities and challenges.

Now, we live in a free world, and it’s really no-ones business telling other people what to do and not do, as long as they don’t harm anyone else. I fully respect this and neither do I intend to do it. After all, I’m part of the extended gamer culture myself. What interests me most in this aspect, is the fact that we have a new sub-culture, a group in our society, that both count a wast number of resourceful people, but also focus these resources on something that isn’t really productive in a conventional sense. They have been doing this for quite some years now, and to believe that this “trend” will just disappear is naive. Seeing the development of digital technology over the past 30 years, it seems unlikely that the evolution will grind to a halt anytime soon. There is a fair chance we’ll have a large group of gamers among us, and, they will become more and more noticeable as they grow older and their generation(s) assume positions of prominence and power.

What effect this “lost generation” of the 1980s will have on the society as a whole, remains to be seen, but that they will affect it, is certain. One possibility is that they will enhance one considerable issue most western nations are facing, a demographic crisis caused by a dwindling population. People simply don’t get enough kids and the gamers probably get less kids than the population average. Unlike the population boom after a certain “lost generation” after WW1, and to a much greater extent the generations lost in WW2, the gamer-lifestyle will doubtfully have a positive effect on the demographic situation. I have no solution to the population crisis we’re in, and it’s plain unfair to blame the gamers for it. Nevertheless, I’d just like to point out, that as far the spread of the gamers have got, they are simply too many to ignore. They are here and they are already in force!

Links

• http://www.dagbladet.no/art/spillavhengighet/pc-spill/3645258/
• http://www.dagbladet.no/art/spill/xbox_360/3648661/