Battleship Reason

Seeing how the internet is buzzing with Obama’s latest prize, I thought it would be appropriate to express one of my worries regarding his Majesty the First Ethnically Diverse President of the Predominantly White United States of Amexica. The reason for such a pompous title is simple – it seems that nearly everyone has erected some kind of a mental pedestal upon which they have subsequently placed the president. Whether this is closing down Guantanamo bay, allowing gays to openly serve in the military, bringing about the long awaited social healthcare, or world peace (at least in the Middle East), the President has appeared to promise something to nearly any interest group, no matter how big or how small. Is it then surprising that the clever fellows over at the Nobel institute thought they ought to get in on the action? Probably not.

However, let us back up for a second – who is actually to blame for all of these promises? Certainly, Obama has indeed made many, but the public itself was more than willing to tackle on extra challenges for the good president. Obama has a heavy cross to bear indeed – not only is he the first president of any shade other than pasty white, he is also the second youngest president of the United States. The first one? Kennedy of course. Let’s hope that youth doesn’t turn out to be a lethal condition. It is Obama’s youth (and a multi million dollar campaign) that has perhaps made him appear this shining beacon of hope for the vast majority of Americans, as well as a significant portion of the world’s population. I personally think that we have too high hopes of Obama. Certainly, he is extremely talented, charming, and resourceful, but he is after all only human. How many presidents have attempted to solve the Middle Eastern dispute? How many have failed (at least in the long term)? Every single one.

The world doesn’t change because of one man, but it changes because that one man inspires hundreds to think and to act differently. Instead of waiting (a bit like loyal hounds) for Obama to sort out the world, maybe we should be the ones to support him and to give him help. Would it truly take that much for us to gather and do our bit for the world? Well, the answer is sadly – yes. We are, after all, lazy creatures who cherish comfort and convenience above all. That’s why people like Obama represent (to us) the best way to fix the world. We think that where we as a collective fail, individuals with vim and vigour can succeed. We know that singular people cannot fix the world, yet we still persist in believing that they can. Is it because we are lazy? Probably.

Therefore, don’t blame Obama for this cult of personality. Blame us, everyday people who want to change things, but without putting in the effort needed to do so.

Why piracy sometimes really doesn’t pay off.

Perhaps inspired by the rise in internet piracy, Somali pirates (of the sea-faring variety) have decided to hoist the flags and man the cannons. Except in this case, they have no cannons. They have jury-rigged boats armed with dubiously trained men carrying elderly AK-47s. If they happen to be carrying cannons, then those cannons probably pose a greater risk to the pirates themselves than the actual intended recipient of their explosive packages. The truth of the matter is – Somali pirates are doomed to extinction. The reasoning behind this – simple – technological gap.

In the example of ye-old piracy, technological gap between the pirates and those chasing them was minimal. Both sides had access to similar shipbuilding, both had access to more or less similar cannons and equipment. Although in general the pirates were not as uniformly armed, they were still capable of giving a hell of a fight. Even internet piracy can be a good example. The only reason why internet pirates have not yet been stamped out is because they can hold their own against their legal counterparts. The more prohibitive measures are invented, the more ways around them are found.

In the case of Somali pirates however, there is no equality. As described before, these are somewhat reckless men who are poorly armed, trying to take over massive vessels. Although they are capable of intimidating merchant shipping, they cannot hold their own against modern combat ships. Actually, never mind combat ships – support ships even! As I’m sure you have read, the ship that the pirates attacked was a command and supply vessel. What this means is that it’s supposed to sit far away from combat, as it is really designed to ferry intelligence staff and rolls of band-aid and ice cream. The fact that the Somme not only fought their attackers but also chased them tells you everything you need to know about how capable those pirates were of tackling a minor military vessel.

So, good luck to the pirates, but I doubt their activities will see them in the next decade or millenium.

If you are the political type, especially when it comes to the UK, you might want to head over here for a true alternative to the current UK political system.

You see, although I studied politics at university level in the UK, I never found it to be that interesting. Realistically speaking, I find there to be very little practical difference between the three major parties in the current UK system. Media will attempt to influence you into believing that the differences are vast, and that Tories and Labour are two sides of the spectrum. While there is SOME truth in that statement, both parties are biased in favour of left or right, but both parties are firmly ingrained in the center of the political spectrum. Lib Dems have been, for the larger part, centric, with a recent tendency to slide towards the left. In general (UKIP, BNP, and RC aside), most UK parties are fairly moderate.

Compare this to the French or Italian political system. The parties that, in those countries, respect the far left and the far right are not only fairly active, but are also successful to a certain degree. Granted, neither country has ever been an example of stability, which helps account for some of the success communists and socialists have had.

Simply put, the UK system always appeared bland to me.

That is, until I chanced across the website I linked, and went on to explore the more interesting aspect of UK politics – the independents. These men and women are those who chose to represent not party views, but their own views. From what I’ve seen, they mostly appear to be down to earth, hard working, and most surprisingly – willing to listen to their constituencies. Which, if you are a student of politics, would notice is a rare quality in the world today. Not only that, but they believe in their own path so strongly that they refuse the comforts of a large party in order to pursue what they believe is right. I might disagree with some of their viewpoints, but I can certainly respect the amount of willpower it takes to fight and struggle when you are, for all intents and purposes, at a disadvantage to most of your competitors.

Here’s to hoping that this somehow becomes widespread, and that more and more politicians begin to put their own views above those of the party. Of course, none of that will be possible without an entity such as the Independent Network – so please, if you hear something about them, or read something about them in the future – at least spare them a though or two, if not actual hands on help!

So, as you can surmise, I have not been posting much in the last few… uh… months. The reason for that? Well, it’s a bit complicated, but the best way in which I can describe it is that I’ve just been figuring out a bit who I am.

You see, this isn’t one of those soul-searching journeys that well-to-do young people go on – traipsing around the globe and generally having a blast. This is neither some hard fought journey through the mountains of Tibet in order to discover some deeper meaning of life. What this IS however is a simple stop in my life where I took a deep breath and took a good look around myself.

For the vast majority of university graduates in the world today, the prospect of graduating is both terrifying and exhillirating. You are finally done with years and years of education, chugging your way through it all slowly – and you are finally ready to begin the life proper. The problem is – education is fairly simple – all the steps that you need to take in order to advance are pretty well covered, and you always know what to expect. Real life, of course, is nothing like that. There are no simple ways to define what success is, nor is there a clear path for you to take. In fact, you are the one who identifies these things. What makes it even more confusing is that there is no ‘right’ answer to it. Some people might prioritise their families above their work, while others might do the reverse. Even within a similar field of priorities, the approaches are tackled differently. Some people consider the well being of the family to be of utmost priority, whereas others consider just the well being of the children to be the most important thing. Choices, choices, yet very few points of guidance, when all is said and done.

Certainly, your family and friends will attempt to influence you in one way or another – pass on their own teachings and hope that you make the best of them. Of course, that doesn’t mean that their paths are your paths, or indeed that you agree with their definitions of basic concepts in this world such as happiness, love, dedication, worth, etc.

So, I thought to myself that it might be a good idea to actually sit down and think about what I was doing. I’ve spent about a year after finishing my MSc just working in small, part-time positions, sorting out my visa, as well as generally trudging along and thinking about what I wanted to do. I will be the FIRST to admit that perhaps I could have arrived at a solution much sooner, had I really thought about it hard. As it was, it was easy to sort of get lost in the choices and not really dedicate myself to one of them. The strangest thing of course is that it didn’t take hard thinking in the end, just a particular (fairly short) trip.

The Croatian coastline has for me always been a special place – lots of rustic charms, good food, even better wine, and infinitely pleasant company. I spent about six days at the seaside with two of my friends, and if I were to tell you that my eyes were opened, I would not be lying. This wasn’t an eye-opening experience preceded by thunder and dramatic drums, just a sudden clarification. I’d like you to imagine a painting on the wall, in front of which is a rope barrier that you cannot cross. The painting is too far away for you to see the details, and you keep going round and round the barrier hoping to get closer. Naturally, the barrier is equidistant to the painting from all its parts. You keep getting more and more frustrated until you figure out one day that all it takes, really, is just to remove the barrier and approach the painting closer. So you do so – and the painting you see is quite interesting. It’s full of colour, full of shape, but very indistinct. That doesn’t matter though – the paints and brushes are right in front of it, and with a sweet grin on your face, you set to work.

Poetic? No, I don’t think so. Perhaps pompous – but there you have it!

Imagine Venice – the city of lovers, of culture, of beauty and of mystery. You sip champagne in your gondola while an ever charming Italian gondolier sings a pleasant little tune as you move slowly down the Grand Canal, which is almost empty. He deposits you at your chic little boutique hotel that is still fashionably dilapidated to give it a sense of time. You offer to pay him, but he refuses and smiles, making sheeps’ eyes at you and saying in badly accented English: “No no signore! You lady and you, this my gift to you!”

And now surface to reality. Venice is beautiful, for about ten seconds. If you do not get a concussion from all the tourist swinging their brand new DSLR’s with 2 meter lenses around, then you are likely to die of starvation because of the incredibly inflated prices at Piazza San Marco. There is probably no point in getting off your boat really – sooner or later you will be ankle-deep in water. Oh, and yes, seeing how Venice lacks what we would traditionally call a sewage system, you will probably be skipping through the water trying to avoid all the squishy land mines. Oh, and that gondolier? Yes, imagine how romantic it is to be shifted through tiny little (albeit pretty) channels with dozens of gondolas in front of you and to the back. Dozens, if not hundreds, of like-minded couples and families trying to gain some semblance of romanticism, while your gondoliers shout to each other about Maria and how good she was last night. Oh, and the singing? No, best to leave La Donna E Mobile to the professionals. The final bill for a half an hour gondola ride will probably account for about thirty percent of your entire trip’s budget. Yay for Venice!

That having been said, the city does have its charms. One of them, at least for me, a man, has just taken form of Venice’s first female gondolier. This breaks over nine centuries of male dominance in this particular profession. The test for a license itself is apparently purposefully gruelling in order to discourage women from applying for positions – yet twenty three year old Giorgia Boscolo has managed to do just that. She is apparently much more at ease handling long poles than shopping and latest gossip. Favourite activity? Rowing, not spas. You have to admire a woman like that. Set aside the whole male-female divide for a second, and imagine the situation.

Gondoliers are one of Venice’s best known features. Venice without gondoliers is like New York without its yellow taxis. Now imagine how much courage it takes for a woman to challenge an institution that is not only known worldwide for its male-dominated approach, but also has that same approach rooted in over nine hundred years of practice and history. I myself find it difficult to imagine the sheer willpower necessary to tackle such a challenge, much less have the stamina to see it all the way through to the end. While I find larger than life politicians and popular figures some form of inspiration, the act of this one single woman speak volumes and volumes of the unbelievable need and desire for the human spirit to evolve and to challenge the perceived notions of this world.

Oh, and of course – again – Id much rather look at a pretty face as I glide through Venice than a gruff looking annoyed man with a tendency to curse at his fellows.

Read the full (albeit short) story here.