a relationship called i - part one

i-nternet

what kind of world are we living in? …

what will the next generation be like? …

what kind of society will my future children grow up in? …

these are questions i reflect on more and more with every passing day. nowadays, it is fairly easy to slip into a “cynic blues”. The road of cynicism is neverending and you end up spiralling downward into a place of darkness, a house without windows, brooding over a boiling pot of worries.   

one topic that addresses the current state of our young generation is that of ‘relationships’. yesterday, a study ("generation what") was released where 650,000 young people from across Europe were asked several questions.

the (frightening) result: they can do without 'God', but not without the internet.

their worship takes place at the altar of Google; their trinity is Facebook, Instagram and the ‘holy’ Tweet. their relationship to the iphone is more valuable and real than their relationship to a creator (or even their parents).

several years ago, one was able to predict a future where the ‘other’ – a living person – was going to be moved into the background of daily activities. at the rate we are going at, the virtual self is becoming more relevant and appealing than the actual ‘real’ self.

our conversations have been reduced to a brief chat until one person gets bored and pretends to have something better to do, but really just doesn’t want to spend any more time on you. the switch to another chat partner is done instantly, preventing (perhaps in most cases) a deep meaningful conversation.

our opinions and thoughts have been reduced to 144 characters. strangely, people often don’t even use that space (or publicity) to share anything significant. what is even more strange is that celebrities have arguments via twitter, exposing the absurdity of the entire twitter-verse.

our emotions are expressed by clicking ‘like’…and we should really express our ‘like’ or thumbs up for facebook granting us a few more ‘virtual feelings’, e.g. ‘wow’, ‘haha’, ‘love’ etc.

as a matter of fact, the way i currently feel about our future is a mix of ‘wow-haha-sad-angry-love’. it goes as far as having become a type of mantra or repetitive approach to global events.

whenever i read any news, i first think ‘wow’ – can this actually be true or happening?

then it goes ‘haha’ – either nervous laughter because it ACTUALLY is true and it IS happening or simply just an inner chuckle.

depending on the news, my emotions fluctuate between ‘sad’, ‘angry’, and ‘love’. although ‘love’ really comes on strong.

i feel sad because i know humanity could be destined for so much greater.

i get angry because i know injustice need not exist and the world could be a better place.

love, on the other hand, is solely reserved for pictures of kittens and other cute animals that make all the other previous emotions wash away.

in essence, that is why the internet is such a social phenomenon. nowhere – not even in a library – are you able to indulge yourself in all kinds of emotions…a rollercoaster or a firework of emotions, figuratively speaking.

the internet is an exciting thing and gives us the impression that we are free to do anything we want. for all the positive effects it could have on the world, it also harbours evil beyond all understanding.

the porn industry has never been more powerful and defiles the youngest of minds with horrendous images. ANYTHING can be found in the internet. there are no bounds…no limits to someone’s sordid imagination. the incongruity between a human-being enjoying the internet and another human physically being portrayed IN the internet and used for slavery is a fact.

the internet softens reality and makes it appear as a blurry spot – a tiny blemish on humanity’s historical record. the truth is that perhaps no invention since the clock has had this much of an impact on the shaping of society. it is changing EVERYTHING!  

without doubt, the internet is an amazing tool for those who know how to use it. but is there such a thing as a ‘right way’ to use the internet? if there is, it hasn’t been made clear in those sectors where people would learn about. i am referring to schools, who have an increased responsibility to teach the new generation how to approach the internet.

i am not talking about how to use Google or how to tweet. i would like to see how morality is addressed in a universe that has no boundaries.

of course young people have placed the internet on the throne of their daily lives. the internet doesn’t give them moral guidance (not specifically at least). it doesn’t teach them “right” from “wrong”.

it has one goal, and one goal only: to spew out information like a volcano spews out lava. our perception of information has significantly changed, because it is so readily available. ignorance or ‘not knowing’ is no longer a valid excuse.

“if you don’t know something, just Google it!”

we require a (moral) filter for all the information we receive on a daily basis. you and I have to decide what to do with the emotions provoked/evoked by the stuff we see/read/share. we have to decide what to believe. you cannot just take something at face value anymore. Everything must be questioned.

that, in itself, can be good. we require a generation that does question decisions made by people in power. at the same time, this generation has to answer the question whether God can exist. and if He/She/It does, whether He/She/It is worth more than Google.

personally, I have arrived at a place where the ‘Christian’ God is the only thing that makes sense to me and my relationship to Him is and “feels” just as (or sometimes even more) real than interacting with someone on Whatsapp.

questions left unanswered, with a relativist attitude lingering behind the scenes, will sooner or later turn someone into more than a cynic. A life without truth is a life of moral deficiency, because the truth is an absolute, just as ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.

therefore, i do not to leave any stone unturned. yet, while i pick it up, i remember who created it in the first place. i remember that, while I might be standing in sinking sand, God is the stick i can hold on to.

the internet may be my house, and that is totally fine. but He is the window that lets in light.  

a love called trump

it’s no secret that i am an impassioned political enthuasist.

especially when it comes to american politics.

one thing’s for certain: never has there been a nomination process quite like this before.

not even 2008, when Obama managed to rally a generation apathetic towards politics.

but now the world is seemingly worried that a man like donald trump has been handed the opportunity to become president.

america, the country that ushered the world into the globalised & terrorised 21st century, appears to be losing it.

america’s sovereignty and its hegemonic impact on the rest of the planet has come under scrutiny.

who is america?

i don’t believe one can compare the country to a man in a mid-life crisis.

more along the lines of an old emperor whose mind has been clouded by paranoia and greed.  

this emperor is no longer respected and has lost all credibility.

he is senile and tends to forget (or ignore) the past.

he believes to be invincible, but plays his people like pawns.

‘Erica’ is an old norse name referring to ‘one rule’, ‘eternal ruler’.

however, i seriously doubt that global citizens will be held at bay much longer and accept the western arrogance stemming from the u.s.

the eternal rule will most certainly come to its end in the near future.

we don’t know how or what that might look like.

the fall of an empire never happened in a pretty way.

Noam Chomsky, the world’s foremost intellectual activist, has written a new book entitled ‘who rules the world?’

indeed, this is a valid question and the answer probably factors in several ‘big players’, such as what Adam Smith referred to as “masters of mankind”

Chomsky reflects on this in a recent essay on the challenges of 2016.

today, these ‘masters’ are the “multinational conglomerates, huge financial institutions, retail empires” etc.

you and I, whether it be consciously or subconsciously, support them on a daily basis.

we consume their goods and then go sign a petition to get the company to reimburse workers that were exposed to toxic mercury.

we believe we’re indispensable, but which pawn ever was?

if you don’t buy it, somebody else will.

globalisation, as was predicted by some, did not turn out the way we may have thought it would.

not because the concept is bad or wrong, but because the execution only benefits a few.

even though cultures are coming together, mixing and mingling, there still is a sense that a truly globalised world could (or should) look different.

we still have borders and visas.

we are returning to history, to open the dark chapters.

vulnerability can be exploited.

the fact that we currently have 100,000’s of displaced Syrians trying to find a new home and life elsewhere is a tragedy.

on top of all that, the immigrations plan of countries like Germany has stirred up nationalist sentiments.

it’s obvious that Germany’s “perfect” unification and troublesome past has not been dealt with properly.

the shadows have returned to the light and are threatening a society that is already intercultural.

Germany is full of different cultures, religions and ethnicities.

on account of terrorism, our knees are being brought to the ground and we are called to bow down to fear-mongering.

astonishingly, there are many who are already lying face down on the ground, having capitulated to religious & racist bigotry.

in times like these, the choices we make can have a detrimental impact on the generations to come.

in times like these, we must hold on to the one thing that unites us all: LOVE

too often we forget to take the plank out of our own eye. If we did, we would realise that all our faults originate from a shared human experience.  

we throw the first stones, but instead we should be using those stones to build bridges.

unfortunately, bridges are burnt down faster than the time it took to build them in the first place.   

there might be water under the bridge, but the water may still be contaminated with bitter pills nobody can swallow.

i am going to say it:

there is a little trump in all of us.

we easily become that which we hate.

those terrorised, become the terrorists…or worse, the terrorisers.

wherever we find ourselves now, it is high-time to unite together under the banner of humanity.

it cannot be that we hate another human-being or deny him the life we would want for ourselves on the basis of his background.

I don’t frankly care what politics or economics have to say, because both these areas are soul-sucking monsters.

there is no justice or righteousness in politics or economics. Power comes and goes, companies go bankrupt and are bought out…heck, even banks themselves go bankrupt.

how many lessons do we have to learn or witness before we actually see things for what they truly are.

we should never let ourselves be the pawns. Even the greatest chess player knows that a pawn can be turned into any figure if it gets to the other side of the board.

and at the end, that pawn-turned-queen is worth more than the king.

let us direct our anger, frustration and dismay toward the right source.

there will be new hitlers, new stalins, new idi amin’s, new pol pots, and many more trumps.   

they can draw out hate and point at scapegoats, blaming everyone but themselves.

in the end, however, love trumps all!