I just want to say that I'm making this public promise to myself to order and buy an ipod ASAP. The fact is, listening to "my" music gives me a real boost and I should get over my fear of listening to music in public (the fear of not being able to hear car horns as I'm run down, to hear sirens as the ambulance comes to get me, the voices of people trying to help etc etc) and GROW UP!!
I listened to S's ipod the other night out and well, I fell in love. So, while I will keep my promise to my mum not to hide in closets or behind doors, to look both ways before crossing the road, to keep my cell phone charged in case of an emergency and to say my prayers, I'll have to ditch the old always be vigilent advice and instead tune in to "Stayin Alive" and tune out to the car horns, ambulances and general "watch out little sister" street warnings.
I'll now probably get pulled into the back of a van and held hostage in a dank cellar...but hey, I'll be "walking on sunshine" :-)
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Friday, November 03, 2006
the nation, the state, the state of nations and nation building...
You know it’s the first thing you learn in a class like Government or Politics 101 - the definition of the nation, the state and the rise of the concept of the nation state. Well, as I leave Brussels, and Europe, I have to start the processing of my experience here, in the midst of the great European project. Can there really be a, “one European state” /a one EU state in the future - especially if each current member state stays the way it is – that is, very much each its own a nation, deeply connected to what it considers its core identity? Can the European project really be a success with such absolute nation states as Italy and France, when by definition, the EU success calls for the sublimation of such nationality? Or is it, that such nationality will be replaced by a larger feeling and what we are actually talking about is not the end of nationality as we know it, but the rise of new type – of a supra-nationality?
I would like to add here that I suspect this initial lack of nationalism in Belgium is one of the real reasons the EU institutions are based here in Brussels – as Belgium, the beloved, is the only state I can think of, on the “Continent” that is so deeply divided over its national identity – French vs. Flemish vs. Belgian, that we can carry our this supra-nationality experiment on its soil? I mean can you imagine us, living our totally un-Belgian lives, insisting on un-Belgianness in let’s say a more French or German or Italian or even British Belgian? Where else could the project have been placed really? Everywhere else there wouldn't have been any "space" to incorporate another identity, except maybe London, but then again, London is cosmopolitan, not European. The fact is through its divisive nature, the project has found a natural home in Belgium and Brussels – building the new European in the absence of a strong sense of competing nationality or common identity.
*****
I guess the Euro is always offered up as an example of the move away from nationality - because though laws on competition and the environment for example were harmonised before the euro, no one in the general public seems to care that much that decision making powers on these issues have been weakened at member state level. But currency was the first real “symbol” to be handed over to the EU and it seems to have gone smoothly, though it also brought with it such ease (I mean, it seems really archaic and a pain in the ass when you cross over to the UK and have to change money!!) that Europeans (well most) could easily accept it. But what about other things? Can there ever be a true European state – where people feel first and foremost “European” and follow a European foreign service and civil servants, imagining and prioritizing issues on a European scale vs. a French, British, Danish or Spanish scale? And if so, would it attempt to be a nation state, constructing a story of its birth? In a way, that is what the failed (and boring) constitution tried to do - create the start of a nation and it seemed too much for Europeans - a step to far - too soon. And if Europe became a state, what would its core identity be - some basic agreement on Europe's Christian roots? Commonality cannot exist on food (think pasta vs. potatoes) or fashion or language or even a sense of humour…
*****
I mean, look at project India (which really was a created nation state if ever there was historically a “Hindustan”, which arguably has only existed in our post-Mughal memory) – it’s a story of a united "us" against "them" (first the Brits, then the Pakistanis). What about the common linkages? For India it certainly wasn't language, though for the elite it was by de-facto English. In Europe, language is such a HUGE issue and the battle for dominance between English and French is still taking place (with the French lagging, I may add). Religion is also an uniting factor - in India, while we are multi-religious, arguably we are more than anything else, Hindu, with 80% of the population considering themselves Hindu and Hinduism mostly gently influencing even how we practice other religions and our secular life. And of course, our problematic inter-communal history is both famous and sadly our present, defining us but also strengthening the idea of "us".
In the end, it seems that what has linked India so far is a good story (or set of stories - the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the long fight for Independence, the birth of a nation, Gandhi etc), spun by Bollywood and churned out through once state only controlled radio and TV and reinforced through food, holidays and traditions. In that sense, Europe doesn't have a story of this new era - its stories seem to linger around WWII, the Crusades, and general in-fighting of European states. The European project tried to resurrect a sense of the origins of Europe from Greece and Rome, but that just doesn't seem to have worked. The problem is the EU is not sexy and is just too bureaucratic to sell to the public.
It was easy to sell the India project – we’re talking about a different, less cynical time, when women were girls and men were men, and white people ruled and the song of the day was “civilization” – with the first line “So bongo, bongo, bongo, I don't wanna leave the Congo”… but damn, we had a good tale. I mean we had a good guy, who came out of Africa, walked our land, spun cloth, gave up sex, and sifted his own salt. We had a bad guy who drank like a fish and spoke beautiful English, and a brave, charismatic leader, who went to Oxford and was more English than Indian, and oh yes, we had hope, oh, so much hope. And now, we exist in the era of google, when not only have the natives got restive, but have risen up and think they can rule, girls are guys and men…well, we don’t know what happened to men!
No seriously, I do feel that if the EU wants to move forward (vertically versus horizontally) it has to reinvent itself – sadly the Eurovision contest just doesn’t do it as it still pits one country against another (and less and less even European Union member states). The introduction of the last set of countries, and now Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and the continuous talks of Turkey, the Balkans etc joining, just weakens the way the story can be told. Yes, what the EU needs is a good story - like Aliens arriving and a European/EU constructed team of good men and women go out to save the land (if this sounds familiar to you - thank Hollywood, Goldblum and Smith).
Or maybe I'm behind the times and the story is already being spun - except in the place of the aliens, because we've been waiting and the galactic bastards haven't got here as yet (the Belgians provided the directions and the aliens are still trying to land on Mars), we've introduced the migrant. And when we all feel sufficiently scared of being swamped, our jobs lost, our women raped, our babies eaten - a team of hot shot Commissioners can go out there and stop the barbarians at the gates, the EU can save us and the world as we know it, and a lovely, united nation can be born. See, nation building was easier back when wikipedia was just a weird sound and we all still wanted to believe in a good story.
*****
Or maybe, maybe, maybe, the EU has to face the fact that any project started on such a dry scale as money making and money saving (the brain childe of the Benelux) can’t capture the hearts of people. Because maybe we haven’t changed that much and what we want are leaders and not managers – and hey the age of the leader seems to have ended – in Europe and pretty much everywhere else. Now, the people running the planet are economists and MBA students still wearing braces and we aren’t left with dreamers or visionaries. And that my friends, is reflected in all sorts of aspects of life…our tryst with destiny is over, in so, so many ways.
In the end, I offer you the words: http://hamaracd.com/hcdinternational/Asp/DirectSelection.asp?field=song&value=PT.JAWAHARLAL+NEHRU%60S+SPEECH+-+TRYST+WITH+DESTINY&CatId=24
I would like to add here that I suspect this initial lack of nationalism in Belgium is one of the real reasons the EU institutions are based here in Brussels – as Belgium, the beloved, is the only state I can think of, on the “Continent” that is so deeply divided over its national identity – French vs. Flemish vs. Belgian, that we can carry our this supra-nationality experiment on its soil? I mean can you imagine us, living our totally un-Belgian lives, insisting on un-Belgianness in let’s say a more French or German or Italian or even British Belgian? Where else could the project have been placed really? Everywhere else there wouldn't have been any "space" to incorporate another identity, except maybe London, but then again, London is cosmopolitan, not European. The fact is through its divisive nature, the project has found a natural home in Belgium and Brussels – building the new European in the absence of a strong sense of competing nationality or common identity.
*****
I guess the Euro is always offered up as an example of the move away from nationality - because though laws on competition and the environment for example were harmonised before the euro, no one in the general public seems to care that much that decision making powers on these issues have been weakened at member state level. But currency was the first real “symbol” to be handed over to the EU and it seems to have gone smoothly, though it also brought with it such ease (I mean, it seems really archaic and a pain in the ass when you cross over to the UK and have to change money!!) that Europeans (well most) could easily accept it. But what about other things? Can there ever be a true European state – where people feel first and foremost “European” and follow a European foreign service and civil servants, imagining and prioritizing issues on a European scale vs. a French, British, Danish or Spanish scale? And if so, would it attempt to be a nation state, constructing a story of its birth? In a way, that is what the failed (and boring) constitution tried to do - create the start of a nation and it seemed too much for Europeans - a step to far - too soon. And if Europe became a state, what would its core identity be - some basic agreement on Europe's Christian roots? Commonality cannot exist on food (think pasta vs. potatoes) or fashion or language or even a sense of humour…
*****
I mean, look at project India (which really was a created nation state if ever there was historically a “Hindustan”, which arguably has only existed in our post-Mughal memory) – it’s a story of a united "us" against "them" (first the Brits, then the Pakistanis). What about the common linkages? For India it certainly wasn't language, though for the elite it was by de-facto English. In Europe, language is such a HUGE issue and the battle for dominance between English and French is still taking place (with the French lagging, I may add). Religion is also an uniting factor - in India, while we are multi-religious, arguably we are more than anything else, Hindu, with 80% of the population considering themselves Hindu and Hinduism mostly gently influencing even how we practice other religions and our secular life. And of course, our problematic inter-communal history is both famous and sadly our present, defining us but also strengthening the idea of "us".
In the end, it seems that what has linked India so far is a good story (or set of stories - the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, the long fight for Independence, the birth of a nation, Gandhi etc), spun by Bollywood and churned out through once state only controlled radio and TV and reinforced through food, holidays and traditions. In that sense, Europe doesn't have a story of this new era - its stories seem to linger around WWII, the Crusades, and general in-fighting of European states. The European project tried to resurrect a sense of the origins of Europe from Greece and Rome, but that just doesn't seem to have worked. The problem is the EU is not sexy and is just too bureaucratic to sell to the public.
It was easy to sell the India project – we’re talking about a different, less cynical time, when women were girls and men were men, and white people ruled and the song of the day was “civilization” – with the first line “So bongo, bongo, bongo, I don't wanna leave the Congo”… but damn, we had a good tale. I mean we had a good guy, who came out of Africa, walked our land, spun cloth, gave up sex, and sifted his own salt. We had a bad guy who drank like a fish and spoke beautiful English, and a brave, charismatic leader, who went to Oxford and was more English than Indian, and oh yes, we had hope, oh, so much hope. And now, we exist in the era of google, when not only have the natives got restive, but have risen up and think they can rule, girls are guys and men…well, we don’t know what happened to men!
No seriously, I do feel that if the EU wants to move forward (vertically versus horizontally) it has to reinvent itself – sadly the Eurovision contest just doesn’t do it as it still pits one country against another (and less and less even European Union member states). The introduction of the last set of countries, and now Bulgaria and Romania in 2007 and the continuous talks of Turkey, the Balkans etc joining, just weakens the way the story can be told. Yes, what the EU needs is a good story - like Aliens arriving and a European/EU constructed team of good men and women go out to save the land (if this sounds familiar to you - thank Hollywood, Goldblum and Smith).
Or maybe I'm behind the times and the story is already being spun - except in the place of the aliens, because we've been waiting and the galactic bastards haven't got here as yet (the Belgians provided the directions and the aliens are still trying to land on Mars), we've introduced the migrant. And when we all feel sufficiently scared of being swamped, our jobs lost, our women raped, our babies eaten - a team of hot shot Commissioners can go out there and stop the barbarians at the gates, the EU can save us and the world as we know it, and a lovely, united nation can be born. See, nation building was easier back when wikipedia was just a weird sound and we all still wanted to believe in a good story.
*****
Or maybe, maybe, maybe, the EU has to face the fact that any project started on such a dry scale as money making and money saving (the brain childe of the Benelux) can’t capture the hearts of people. Because maybe we haven’t changed that much and what we want are leaders and not managers – and hey the age of the leader seems to have ended – in Europe and pretty much everywhere else. Now, the people running the planet are economists and MBA students still wearing braces and we aren’t left with dreamers or visionaries. And that my friends, is reflected in all sorts of aspects of life…our tryst with destiny is over, in so, so many ways.
In the end, I offer you the words: http://hamaracd.com/hcdinternational/Asp/DirectSelection.asp?field=song&value=PT.JAWAHARLAL+NEHRU%60S+SPEECH+-+TRYST+WITH+DESTINY&CatId=24
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
All Saints Day
How lovely is it to have a four-day work week? AMAZINGLY LOVELY!! Except that now I wish I had a three-day work week...
Of course today also feels like a Sunday, which is always a let down. That awful, heavy, Sunday evenning feeling to be exact. Went out to Sablon for PQ brunch - just super and next time will start with my croissant because I can't do all the bread and the tartine isn't the best. Though the egg was quite perfect. Then walked home via the park behind the Hilton, took a nap and watched SATC, season 6 episodes with R (who by the way is pregnant and looking fab!) And realised it can't really feel like a Sunday as none of this could have taken place on a Sunday because R's not around on weekends - hah! My only regret is well, that it all had to end so quickly, and suddently it is 11.30 pm and my nation vs state post is to be shelved for tomorrow cos I'm typing kinda funny now.
My last thought as I go to bed: Can't wait for Saturday - hey, and I love my job too!
My really last thought: panic attacks on moving have to end as of today and instead I have to prioritise and focus on practical issues to get me through these zooming weeks. Unfortunately, I will have to deal with HR so I better just bite the bullet and start all the closing procedures.
God, I do so love a four day work week!!
Of course today also feels like a Sunday, which is always a let down. That awful, heavy, Sunday evenning feeling to be exact. Went out to Sablon for PQ brunch - just super and next time will start with my croissant because I can't do all the bread and the tartine isn't the best. Though the egg was quite perfect. Then walked home via the park behind the Hilton, took a nap and watched SATC, season 6 episodes with R (who by the way is pregnant and looking fab!) And realised it can't really feel like a Sunday as none of this could have taken place on a Sunday because R's not around on weekends - hah! My only regret is well, that it all had to end so quickly, and suddently it is 11.30 pm and my nation vs state post is to be shelved for tomorrow cos I'm typing kinda funny now.
My last thought as I go to bed: Can't wait for Saturday - hey, and I love my job too!
My really last thought: panic attacks on moving have to end as of today and instead I have to prioritise and focus on practical issues to get me through these zooming weeks. Unfortunately, I will have to deal with HR so I better just bite the bullet and start all the closing procedures.
God, I do so love a four day work week!!
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