Shuarian’s Weblog

I’ve finally finished this post which has collected dust for months. And yes, I’m rumbling. But today, nothing’s going to stop me :-)

Coincidence in the Age of Infotainment…

There’s nothing spectacular about the report on national security, published by the Swiss Federal Department of Justice and Police, and released May 30th, 2006. While the headline on the press release sounds a bit alarming, the rest of the text is not.

The media, however, looks at the report from a different angle: risk of terrorism rising in Switzerland (Terrorgefahr in der Schweiz steigt; source: NZZ). Given that the article by the NZZ was published on the very same day the report was published, one has to wonder if anyone actually read through the full version, which has 95 pages and is available as PDF.

I highly doubt it; instead, the media (NZZ is just one example) was probably happy enough to have a new and sexy headline. Or did the media get its claims from other sources?

Just two days later, on June 1st, 2006, the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports released their Rüstungsprogramm 2006, requesting more fundings in order to fulfil its military and protectional duties. One of the reasons citied (and exaggeratedly reported on) was the rising danger of terrorism. Of course, when the media calls, the political parties answer. The CVP, for example, supports the request. According to the CVP, the Swiss military has to be ready in cases of terror alerts, and must be able to protect valuable resources, buildings and other possible targets.

And I wonder if this is all is just coincidence? In any way, the Swiss military, in its current shape and organisation, is not the right answer to terrorism. Should it chase terrorist with their tanks? No, thanks. The fight against terrorism, especially in Switzerland, should focus on more realistic scenarios. Switzerland could and should play an important role in diplomacy. Switzerland could and should take a leading role in its treatment and integration of foreigners in Switzerland. Switzerland could and should be prepared for emergencies, but by way of information gathering, prevention and organising, and not by map exercises (like some US agencies do). And finally, Switzerland should not, and should not be allowed to, disregard, limit or control the civil rights of its citizens.

…the Culture of Fear…

While I don’t think that we in Switzerland live in a culture of fear, I often wonder about the general feeling of fear and uncertainty. Take this survey by ACNielsen as an example. Of the 40 countries covered, the sampled Swiss citizens were among the ones most worried about terrorism. Percent wise, Swiss citizens were more worried than people living in the United States or England. And while the difference to these two countries probably is within the margin of error, I’m still very surprised.

However, I’m a bit sceptical about the above survey. Unfortunately, it doesn’t offer any information on its methods, or raw data. If you take a look at the annual ‘Worry Barometer‘ by Credit Suisse, other concerns top terrorism by a wide and supporting margin (see Slide 3).

Maybe Swiss people are just easily scared? This could at least explain why Switzerland is one of the best insured countries of the world? Well, my dear, fellow Swiss citizens: Thanks for your worries. But please don’t forget that we have the privilege to live in a wonderful and peaceful country. And while we certainly must try our best to keep and improve upon that status, we also should not forget all the people living a less prosperous life. By virtue of great privilege comes great responsibility.

…and other Rumblings

Back to the media scene. While there are some excellent sources (the beloved author of this blog is a passionate reader of Die Zeit, Foreign Affairs and Das Magazin, for example), many are not.

Take the national TV station SF as an example. It clearly has the mandate to inform the people. Yet its two most prominent news progamms are almost worthless. ‘10 vor 10′, the flagship which is supposed to deliver background information, tampers in infotainment waters. The ‘Tagesschau’, the daily news show, is happy with presenting its viewers with MTV-esque clip sequences. In addition, they also have an unbelievable talent for asking obvious questions. In an interview about Iran’s nuclear programm their questions were boring. What’s worse, they didn’t even take into account the answers of their interview partner (Ulrich Tilgner), but stuck to their pre-made questions.

That this can be done better is proven on a daily basis by some fine shows on stations such as ARTE, ZDF and 3sat. Even SF actually has some good programms, but fails to promote and expand them. Do they lack faith in the intelligence of their viewers?

Unfortunately, the print media isn’t always better. The very popular newslet ‘20min’ reprints press releases and adds some articles on nightlife and celebrities to the juice. The few articles they write by themselves are incoherent at best. For example, their headline talks about ‘rund 50′ (about 50 people). In the following text, they mention ‘etwa drei Dutzend Personen’ (circa three dozen persons). By all accounts, that are 36 people. Or are it ‘gegen 40 personen’ (up to 40 persons), as the article later claims?

Brave new world.

The week before last Nicole and I went to the Fotomuseum in Winterthur. Now that I’ve managed to start writing on my blog again, I thought my impressions of that exhibition might be of interest to some readers (Hi, Patrick!). Besides, it feels way more sophisticated than writing about jogging.

Shomei Tomatsu is a Japanese photographer, born in 1930 in Nagoya. He covers periods from his entire life, and it doesn’t take much imagination to see how extensive and varied his experiences must be. What I really liked about his work is the fact that Tomatsu is good at both ends of the camera. He’s an incredible artist behind it, changing seamlessly between different angles and techniques; producing visually stunning pictures. And he’s an avid observer of the world in front of his lens, presenting abject situations and merging the past with the present. His photos often show the big picture through small scenes others would overlook.

By his photos, one could also learn a great many facts about the history of Japan; from Hiroshima over to the daily life after the catastrophe and the ambivalent attitude towards America, on to more recent developments in Japan’s society.

The exhibition offered an interesting insight into a country still surrounded by myths, stereotypes and incoherent informations. As such, and from an artistic point of view, it was a very interesting and distinct presentation. Yet the unfamiliarity of the Japanese culture and context made it difficult to spot (let alone to understand) all references clearly present in Shomei Tomatsu’s work. The museum, of course, displayed some textual help, but I still feel like I only got a short glance at a hidden world. But I’m still thrilled by what I saw, and it was a very pleasant afternoon (even more so as I also had a really delicious iced tea, and got a tasty gingerbread Chlauschopf from Nicole).

If you too want to see the exhibition I have to let you down, for the exhibition is already over. Unfortunately, I wasn’t allowed to take pictures myself, so you need to consult your Internet search engine of choice. Anyhow, below is a small selection of his photos, although sadly missing some of my favourites:

Addendum: As a side note, when searching for these photos online, I came across an interesting article which solved at least one puzzle - many of his photos are staged; something I wasn’t sure of during the exhibition. This does not, however, change my high opinion of his work. During the exhibition I also noted that he seemed to change to colour photography as soon as it was available, and his later work hardly uses black and white.

Today I went jogging with Bela and Reto, on our usual route through a forest. Since I haven’t done any jogging for about five or more weeks (well, that is, if you don’t count my almost daily runs to catch my bus to work…), I wasn’t in a great shape. It didn’t get better when we started of with a jogging pace so high I had trouble keeping up. But somehow I managed to stabilise my tempo and enjoyed a good run through the blue twilight of night, enjoying the fresh air under the shining moon.

In the end, I was even able to set the pace myself, and when Bela and Reto decided to make a rest and walk the remaining course, I was tempted to join them. Yet I continued. Upon arriving at the normal end of the course, I set on for more. I kept on running until I reached a point at which I couldn’t bear to continue. So I didn’t run forward anymore. But I didn’t stop, I turned around and run back on the same track. I had trouble breathing, and my legs felt très weighty. I almost had to vomit, but I kept my goal in mind and went on. When I arrived at my initial starting positing, my goal was achieved; so I run a few more metres just because I could.

I felt very physically tired afterwards, yet I would argue that there have been only a few such great moments in my life. I had reached a barrier and overcame it.

It feels strange to start writing on my blog again. As you all might be aware, I don’t intend to use this blog as my private journal. But given the current circumstances, I feel the need to first publish the following note I’ve written before I can continue with the blog.

What happened left many of us in a void, a great gap with never ever can be filled again. It also left many questions never to be answered, and what remains are hints, memories and a deep feeling of sorrow. Life and its many ways can be brutal and unforgiving. One’s often left feeling too small to understand it, yet we still have to cope with it.

But, as wrong as this once granted notion felt when rediscovered again, life is also beautiful. It’s a seemingly absurd and brutal thought, but life continues. It will never be the same again, but it will continue in its often unknowable ways, being both frightening and delightful. But these, even if only few, extraordinary moments of delight are why we have to fight on, why we have to struggle onwards, why we have to remember the past yet look forward. Because life is precious.