Hello and welcome back to Five Things!
I’m writing this Sunday edition from Vienna this time. Our oldest daughter moved into a new apartment here to continue her studies after a semester in Sweden. So I drove her down to Vienna on Friday and hauled her stupid big mattress up the fifth floor and then had the pleasure to carry lots of stuff from her room to the basement on Saturday. In exchange I was treated to a wonderful sausage called “Käsekrainer” at the local sausage stand, which really is something I am looking forward to when visiting Vienna. Also, it was so wonderful to spend two days with one of my favorite daughters (she’s clearly among the top 3!) and to talk about life, food, music, university and politics.
Speaking of which: in my hometown of Hamburg people took to the streets after the conservative party decided to vote with the extreme right party. On Friday, Omas gegen Rechts (Grandmas against the Right) wanted to establish a chain of people around city hall. 25,000 people came. On Saturday, Fridays for Future held a rally and 65,000 people came. This gives me hope, but I know that Hamburg is not representative of the rest of the country, unfortunately.
Anyhow, I picked five interesting articles for you to read this week!
Enjoy.
The Future Is Too Easy
“It is rich cynics trying to make something lifeless grow in the way that living things do, and lock the dying present they rule in for the foreseeable future by effectively removing everyone from it but them. They are impatient not just because they are high-handed and avaricious, but because they know that the only future they can rule in the way they want is one that is passive, stupid, small and shrinking.” - in the 90s, when the World Wide Web was still young, we had so many amazing projections what could happen once the future is digital. Now we swipe reels.
In Her Own Messy Way, Bridget Jones Is a Trailblazer
“Bridget’s adventures have long been silly and fantastical, but at their heart is just a woman, trying to figure out her life. Her journey might have more hunky men and goofy scenarios than the ones we encounter as audience members, but we can easily recognize her anxieties and how they mirror ours as we age. Every time she gets a happy ending, it’s qualified by a sequel that throws another obstacle in her path.” - I guess I have to rewatch the movie(s).
Nobody Cares
“People don't pick up after their dogs. The guy at the gym doesn't re-rack the weights. The lady at the grocery store leaves the cart in the middle of the parking lot. They. Do. Not. Care.
I could continue in this vein for another few pages, but it would be boring and you get the point. We are surrounded by antisocial bastards.” - I like the rage and I understand it. Too many people just don’t care.
There Are No Pure Cultures
“This tale of globalisation is the most successful scare story of our times. And like all scare stories, it stimulates our fear of an overwhelming unknown.
But it’s all an illusion. There is no new global world.
Our present appears that way only because we have forgotten our common past. Globalisation didn’t begin in the 1990s, or even in the past millennia. Remembering this older shared history is a path to a different tale, which begins much, much earlier – long before the arrival of international supply chains, ocean-going sailing ships, and continent-spanning silk roads. The tale of globalisation is written across human history. So why do we keep getting the story so wrong?” - because it is so convenient and populists always try to keep things simple when they try to divide a society to come to power.
The Strange Power of Laughter
“There’s nothing like getting caught in a giggle loop, where the desire to laugh builds until it bursts out at a disastrous moment. Only then do we often realize that laughter is a rather strange phenomenon. Although we usually think of laughter as a response to something funny, sometimes laughter is no laughing matter!” - hehe. No, seriously, read this article!
That’s it. Have a great Sunday! If you missed last Sunday’s edition of Five Things, have a look here:
— Nico