Why and How to Cut Down on Meat

This one speaks for itself:

The Danger of Flawless Coercion

The UK government has admitted  that there has been a soaring rise in cases of knife crime over the last few years. Sadly, the victims, as well as the perpetrators, are often young teenagers. A Channel 4 Dispatches documentary highlighted the issue with the chilling statistic that there has been a 93% increase in the number of stabbings of children under 16 in the last five years. This week, the Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, acknowledged that the solution was not simple and would need to be tackled on various fronts. The focus, however, was on law enforcement and related preventative measures.

Perhaps Mr. Javid did not want to step on the toes of Mr. Damian Hinds, the Education Minister, by dwelling on education, but education is, in fact, the crucial hub of the matter, whether he can see it or not. Law enforcement is to public order, what vitamin C is to a cold: it can help prevent it and it can contain it, but if people are scantily dressed and poorly fed in cold weather, the epidemic will persist. Law enforcement is getting easier as big brother becomes BIGGER. We are probably not far from a society whose citizens will not be able to break the law without a high chance of getting caught. Wonderful! But what sort of citizens will they be? A society that is forced to live within certain perimeters, because of the electrified fence that the law would have become, could be a society rotten to the core. Such a society will no doubt give rise to corrupt legislators and we all know that law and justice do not always go hand in hand. So, rather than build a hell on earth, we should start focussing on what defines our higher attributes: justice, fairness, cooperation, creativity and harmony. 

A Penny for your Thoughts...

A little bit of music to brighten up the day...

Night Slayers

Today I am posting another extract from my book: Icons From the Mortal Void.

Back at Piccadilly Circus George looked at his watch: three hours exactly. George proceeded to McDonald's Leicester Square and queued for his tea, impatiently. His impatience was not caused by the rowdy Indian youths in front of him or the ridiculously undecided Italian girls who were being served. It was just that he had always hated wasting time in queues and had temporarily forgotten that killing time was now part of his struggle for survival. He was not confronting empty, prison like hours. It was time filled with cold, fatigue, pain and defeat. Already his nipples bled, grated by the vibrations of his new shirt while his feet felt as though they were resting on burning coals. He took his tea to one of the stools facing a long mirror which had little rectangular blots evenly spaced out to where faces would otherwise meet their own reflections. George looked at the contours of his face. It looked as though an obscenity was being censured or recognition being spared for shame-related reasons. The place was quite full and the rest of his view, good, so he began to scan for other homeless night slayers. Four definite ones and a ‘maybe’. They were only partly given away by their clothes, age, loneliness, and loads or such clues. What betrayed them most was a certain resigned expression capable cohabiting all others. He leaned sideways to see whether his face betrayed fellowship in the brotherhood. He could not decide. His face had become unfamiliar. He did not like it. He thanked the unknown designer for the patch on the mirror. He checked his watch. Hardly any time at all and his tea was already getting cold.

Luxembourg's Prime Minister Leads the Charge

Xavier Bettel, the Prime Minister of Luxembourg, shocked delegates at the EU-Arab League Summit in Egypt earlier this week by pointing out that he could be legally killed or imprisoned in many of the represented countries. His crime? Mr. Bettel is married to Gauthier Destenay, an architect form Belgium. Gay sex can incur the death penalty in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Mauritania, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, but it is illegal in several other Arab League countries, including Morocco, Tunisia and the U.A.E. It's about time that these countries were openly confronted with their oppressive prejudice, but it is sad that it had to take a gay head of state to do it. 

Of course, behind the scenes pressure is applied to these states by western governments and organisations, both directly, and indirectly through loss of tourist revenue and business opportunities, but the time for subtlety and the softly-softly approach is over. At present, homosexuality is illegal in 73 countries and of those, only Kenya and Botswana have pending court rulings to decriminalise it. In the run up to the vote in Kenya,  Open for Business published a report, The Economic Case for LGBT+ Inclusion in Kenya, showing that the country is losing up to $1.3 billion because of its discriminatory practices. A similar logic no doubt applies to other countries, but clearly, the numbers indicate that facts, justice and mild pressure do not work. It's time for heads of state (not just gay ones) to name and shame these countries, and time for citizens of the "free" world to boycott or challenge them in any peaceful way they can.

Children of the Divine

When I lived in London, I used to love to sit on a wooden bench in the National Gallery and admire a painting by the Venetian painter Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770). The painting, however, was not the only focus of my interest, as I also used to enjoy studying the people that passed that masterpiece by. The painting in question is the Allegory of Venus and Time and it depicts Venus handing her infant son, Aeneas, to Father Time.

 Allegory of Venus and Time

As with all allegories, this one is open to interpretation. To me, it speaks poignantly of life, abandonment and exile, and it does so with the language of artistic excellence. Venus, one of the most beautiful and self-conscious I have ever seen, is perched on an ethereal cloud, dutifully adored by a putto and the Graces, who seem to be showering petals over her. Even though he is just a baby, Aeneas, whose father was the mortal Anchises, looks desolate and pensive, as he is handed to a scrawny looking Father Time. The Trojan prince is destined to live the troubled life of a mortal, although we do not know whether, as in some traditions, he will eventually be whisked up to Heaven and immortalised. Nevertheless, Venus seems haughty and dismissive, while Father Time appears more compassionate. His pleading look speaks of the dark and threatening world she would be abandoning her son to and begs the goddess to reconsider. Indeed, that is how Tiepolo depicts the earth, grim and partly eclipsed by the destructive scythe. There are other symbols, such as the two different doves, that could represent the "morganatic" union between Venus and Anchises, and the busy, but unattractive Cupid, whose face is turned towards the earth as he is carrying his heavy arrows, perhaps wondering what mischief he can cause there. One arrow may already have been destined for the tragic Dido... 

Tiepolo, I believe, was touching the Aeneas in all of us. As the poem Dover Beach, by Matthew Arnold puts it:

And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

As for the visitors at the gallery, hardly anyone ever paused to look at the painting, even though Aeneas had his gaze fixed towards us, as if to say: "This story is about you too." True, one can perhaps only absorb, or give credit to, a few paintings at a time, but we would probably discover so much more if we put the guide books aside now and then and trusted our instincts a little bit more.

A few days ago I touched on the problem of statelessness and I gave some examples of individuals who went through terrible hardships because of their situation. Today I would like to offer a million or so examples: the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. Coverage of the dire situation in which they are in is often in the news and last August the UN issued a report calling for the investigation into the "gravest" crimes against civilians under international law, including genocide, by top military commanders in Myanmar. February saw more concrete action with the UN's:

"Joint Response Plan bringing together 132 partners, including governmental bodies and multiple UN agencies such as UNHCR, to improve conditions and facilities for Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh."

Here are some short but harrowing stories highlighting the plight of these people:

Ukraine's 10 Friends

As the fifth anniversary of Russia's annexation of Crimea approaches, which culminated in an "illegitimate" referendum on the 16th March 2014, eleven Foreign Ministers produced a statement condemning Russian aggression and calling on the world not to abandon the cause of Ukraine and Crimea. The eleven countries in question were: the three Baltic states, Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Romania, Great Britain, Czechia and Canada. The joint declaration highlighted Russia's "contempt for the principles of international law" and the threat it poses to European security. It also expressed concern regarding the eroding of civil liberties within the occupied territory.

"Ukraine of today is profoundly different from Ukraine pre-2014, and has never before been so close to Europe and European values. By contrast, Crimea under Russian occupation is moving backwards. The people living there are ever more isolated, and the situation with respect to human rights and socio-economic conditions continues to deteriorate.

The annexation sets a dangerous president in a world order that was abandoning imperialism for cooperation.What is now going to stop Putin from planning his next strike, or President Xi from invading Taiwan, for instance? The threat is serious and real. So, the surprise  is: why is it that, apart from Ukraine itself, only six former Eastern Block nations, three other European countries and Canada signed the declaration? When the US had some moral standing in the world, it would have probably made the loudest noises, but of course it won't do now for Trump to upset the Russians too much. What about Germany, then? Oh, right, it needs Russian gas. France? No, just eleven.

Today I want to provide a quote from Yuval Noah Harari's book Homo Deus - A Brief History of Tomorrow. The extract presents a clear idea of what the author intends by Homo Deus: a climb up the Tower of Babel from the hardships of humanity's past to perpetual longevity and earthly bliss, until that final shot at godhead itself.  

"Success breeds ambition, and our recent achievements are now pushing humankind to set itself even more daring goals. Having secured unprecedented levels of prosperity, health and harmony, and given our past record and our current values, humanity’s next targets are likely to be immortality, happiness and divinity. Having reduced mortality from starvation, disease and violence, we will now aim to overcome old age and even death itself. Having saved people from abject misery, we will now aim to make them positively happy. And having raised humanity above the beastly level of survival struggles, we will now aim to upgrade humans into gods, and turn Homo sapiens into Homo deus."

Pieter Bruegel the Elder: The Tower of Babel

Carl Th. Dreyer: Vampyr

Here is another gem from the silent film era: Vampyr (1932), by the Danish Director, Carl Theodor Dreyer (1889-1968). I already introduced one of Dreyer's friends, namely Benjamin Christensen, whose amazing film, Häxan, I posted on the 27th February. Christensen was also an actor and was the protagonist in Dreyer's, Michael, a pioneering film in gay cinema. The Passion of Joan of Arc is considered, by many film lovers, Dreyer's masterpiece, but this film is also outstanding. Here too, the main character was no ordinary actor; it was Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, a socialite, who would become one of the world's leading editors. Gunzburg (Julian West in the credits), actually funded the film himself and thanks to the direction of Dreyer, managed to give a convincing performance. 

The Decline of Well-read and Well-mannered Politicians

If you happen to be from Slovenia or Slovakia, you would have probably given up tearing your hair out at the frequent displays of ignorance by foreign politicians, event organisers and others who should know better... Indeed, a bear would not have enough hair to tear out in keeping up with the many times the two countries have been mixed up! The litmus test came last year, when, for unrelated reasons, the Prime Ministers of both countries resigned during the same week in March. Confusion over the two countries is not limited to lower rank politicians, however, and includes the likes of George W. Bush and Silvio Berlusconi. Still, there are some things that make ignorance in world affairs and political geography even worse, for instance, when the ignorance is coupled with diplomatic clumsiness. That was the case when Jeremy Hunt, the UK Foreign Secretary, gave a formal speech in Ljubljana yesterday.

Mr. Hunt commended Slovenia's progress from its recent position of a "vassal state" of the Soviet Union to a modern European democracy. Slovenia, as part of Yugoslavia, was never a part of the Soviet Union and was, in fact, a member of the Non-Aligned Movement founded by President Tito himself. Tito had a reputation for standing up to the Soviet leadership and vigorously defended Yugoslavia's independence. Still, not only did the Foreign Secretary get his history wrong, but he insulted his hosts in the process by referring to them as recent vassals. If Hunt were addressing Slovakia, he would have perhaps been closer to the facts, but his statement would have been offensive, nonetheless. The "insult" was soon picked up. The former Speaker of Slovenia's national assembly, Milan Brglez, for instance, criticised  Hunt for "arrogantly lecturing" his country. Basic diplomacy is not "rocket science", as the famous British physicist, Brian Cox, tweeted referring to the gaffe, but as time goes by it seems as though 'diplomacy' may have to replace 'rocket science' as an expression of something beyond the reach of ordinary mortals... and high ranking politicians.

Extract: The Bench on the Edge

Here is another extract from my book, The Bench on the Edge:

Then another emotion began to surge in Karel: anger. “Is this the game of some sadistic god! On earth we are left like infants exposed on mountain tops, to live or die, as chance would have it; to become kings or slaves. We are at the mercy of the elements, wolves or peasants. And here too the charade continues! In this timeless dimension, somewhere all evolution is complete, so why is it that, the supreme being or beings are still hiding away, letting us stumble and fall with nothing more than a hazy impulse to guide us! Perhaps I am a fallen angel, after all, full of rebellion, impatience and ingratitude. Why shouldn’t I be, if God is so elusive and uncaring!”

The Disgrace of the Invisible Millions

There are, according to Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, about 12,000,000 stateless people in the world today. That is more than the combined populations of Norway, Jamaica and Albania. Clearly, then, statelessness is not an aberration: a rare hexagonal peg in a world of round and square ones. The numbers indicate that there is something seriously wrong with humanity's definition of nationality. Statelessness is, per se, an impossibility. It is as good as telling a man that he does not exist, or a woman that she is on the wrong planet, as there is nowhere on earth where she could be allowed to live in peace. The general consensus is that one is entitled to the nationality of one's place of birth (jus soli), although there are other criteria, such as entitlement through the nationality of one's parents (jus sanguinis), or citizenship through marriage. Chaos reigns, however, and many countries do as they please. For instance, there are about 27 states that accept the jus sanguinis criterion, but only with regards to the father, so, if the father happens to be unknown, well, welcome to Limbo! 

Mehran Karimi Nasseri who spent 18 stateless years (1988-2006) in Terminal 1 of  Charles De Gaulle Airport, Paris

This brings me to the case of Shamima Begum. Early this week, the British government revoked her citizenship. This is a gross abuse of power. If Ms. Begum broke the law, she needs to be tried like anyone else who breaks the law. Fine, it may be costly and and the exact details of her involvement difficult to ascertain, but surely that cannot be an excuse for British law enforcement to renege on its responsibilities. The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, justified his actions by claiming that Ms. Begum was also a Bangladeshi national and that therefore the decision would not make her stateless, since otherwise his decision would not have been allowed under British law. This is not actually the case. Yes, she is still within the age-limit (21) to apply for a Bangladeshi passport, but as with all applications, acceptance is not guaranteed; and indeed, the Bangladeshi authorities have already made it clear that the request would be rejected. There is also the fact that Ms. Begum is in a remote refugee camp in a war zone in Syria, with no access to consular assistance, so that applying for another citizenship would have been, and remains, a real hurdle. Of course, many people in the UK would rather see the back of this woman and her newborn baby and Mr. Javid was no doubt emboldened by this when pronouncing decision. He would have done better if he had explained the mechanisms that could ensure that Ms. Begum would have not longer been a treat to the British people, while dealing with the case as the law and decency dictates. 

Bobby Fischer, made stateless in 1992 by the US

I will conclude with another notorious example, namely the US revoking the passport of the Chess Grandmaster Bobby Fischer, allegedly because he had taken part in a tournament in Yugoslavia, which was at  the time under US sanctions. The US wanted Fischer behind bars and long-term rival and friend, Boris Spassky of the USSR, wrote to President George W. Bush pleading for clemency, or at least to allow him to share Bobby's cell, together with a chess set! Eventually, it was Iceland that went to the rescue by granting Bobby Fischer, who was at the time stranded in Japan, Icelandic citizenship in 2005.

Nationality is a convention: birds and clouds fly freely across borders. Perhaps it is a necessary one while we are still so insular and small minded. However, no person or convention, ever has the right to deprive people of their right to belong to the earth. Ever!