independent skies magazine third issue

July 1st 2012 | Independent Skies Magazine | 1

GLOBAL CITIZEN

Independent SkiesMagazine

visit us at IndependentSkies.com

Third Issue

2 | Independent Skies Magazine | July 1st 2012

By Camilo Tassinari

The world as we know it today is threatened by the four riders of the Apoca-lypse. Certainly, we live in the End Times, and our generation is doomed to witness the unavoidable destruction of the world as it has been for the last hundred and fifty years. The four riders are rather concrete historical processes, namely: the economic crisis and the dismiss of the neo-liberal economic model; social divisions, rebellions, revolutions and loss of the State’s and traditional institutions hegemony; the worldwide and unstoppable ecological crisis and finally, the bio-genetic revolution.

Or at least that is what Slavoj Zizek says. The massive success that the Slove-nian philosopher has had in the last five years is, in some way, a symptom and expression of the crisis of ideologies that he describes in his work. Once a political oppositionist to Tito’s regime in Yugoslavia, Zizek’s thought has evolved in the last decade from a critique of the Stalinist political system in Eastern Europe into a radi-cal critique of liberal capitalism and its cultural expressions. But what is left if we discard good old free-market, liberal capitalism, now that communism has failed completely? Capitalism with Asian values, such as the Chinese or Singapor-ean? No, says Zizek. We need to reinvent utopia, and therein lies the ques-tion in which resolution the future of global society is encrypted.

But let’s go back for a moment and analyze the so called four riders, and its historical inevitability. We all know about the 2008 Wall Street collapse; how quickly it crossed the Atlantic and how it has, until today, been the major threat to the European Union stability. But perhaps the most interesting lesson that can be drawn from the ongo-ing economic crisis is not what it has done, but what it hasn’t; it is not regarding its destructive power, but about those institutions that had withstand the storm. Indeed, the countries that have been af-fected the most were those ones with a large, unregulated financial sector and a comparatively smaller and abandoned productive one; the ones that trumpeted the final return of free-market and reduced dramatically

Living in the End Times: A Loose Interpretation of Slavoj Zizek’s Philosophy


the influence of the state over the economy; sometimes by privatizing all the previously state-owned companies, some-times by letting the values of their currencies flow with the trends of the market. The U.K, but not Germany; the U.S., but not China.

The crisis has clearly shown two trends that will dominate world politics during the next decades: 1) The fact that neo-liberalism as an economic doctrine failed ruthlessly, and it’s collapse is dragging down the model of modernization and poverty alleviation through foreign aid and financial capital lending. 2) The economic crisis has been a blue-eyed one. This is, it has affected chiefly North American or European economies, but it has left untouched China. It has deepened the crisis of the West as the center of world power, shifting it -not completely yet- towards Asia. The political implications of this last point are even broader. For the first time since the 15th or 16th century, the world will be ruled not by a western civiliza-tion, shaped by an underlying and subconscious christian moral and a pragmatic, ratio-nalist and overall individualistic episteme, but by a civilization-state with a completely different cultural identity; China.

The second rider is married with the first one. People normally have no reason to risk their own lives in riots, rebellions or civil wars if they have a steady, comfortable level of life. But when the political establishment is unable to address the problems brought by a stagnant economy that affect in the most direct way the majority of the population -high unemployment and poverty rates- people naturally tend to look for political options outside the traditional institutions. France is a nice example of this: In ten years, two com-pletely opposite sides if the political spectrums have left their footnote in national elec-tions. In 2002, the three trotskyte parties, which advocate the destruction of the bour-geois state and its substitution by the dictatorship of the proletariat, got 11% of the votes; in 2012, the semi-fascist anti-Islamist Jean- Marie le Pen got around 18% of the total.

This relatively high electoral result for organizations that publicly advocate a radical change or destruction of the political establishment in a country like France, -the first modern Republic- where one would expect the ideas of republicanism to be particularly well rooted in the common man’s consciousness is a relatively young expression of this ongoing process; the division of society as a single entity and the consequential dismiss of the traditional political institutions, that has found itself expressed in a less sophisticat-ed but more direct way in the Arab world last year, as well as in the crisis of the traditional two-parties system in Greece and in the massive student demonstrations in Chile a few months ago.


The third rider is one that threatens to destroy not only society as we know it today but soci-ety as a whole. The planet has finally started to pay the bill of industrial production through-out the last hundred and fifty years, and although certain sectors of the political spectrum or even the scientific community sometimes fall in a clear stage of ideological denial by saying that there is no such thing as climate change or that the greenhouse effect is not caused by human activity; the ecological problem is not an issue that belongs to the future, but one that will entangle itself more and more with the former riders into a vortex where fall-ing profits will try to be bridged through reduced costs of production -this is, a more brutal exploitation of raw materials-; ecological crisis will in turn disturb the “peaceful” existence of societies; as seen in Japan or parts of Latin America, where ecological crisis (the tsunami and the mega-mining projects, respectively) awakened the civil society and confronted it with the government.

A Chinese variation on a Blade Runner’s theme. It has become a cliché to say that what twen-ty years ago seemed as pure science fiction today belongs to the realm of reality. The fourth rider is but a direct product of the precondition for successful capitalism: innovation and technological advance. The bio-genetic revolution is well on the rails, and although it is still far away of reproducing the realities seen in the 1980’s films about societies where humans walk through the streets indifferently next to clones and robots; the way this technologi-cal advances have been carried out, and the responses of civil society to it are interesting to analyze.

China, not surprisingly, is again the clue to this problem. While in the West any research on genetics is tamed by the old questions posed by civil society: “stem cells manipulation; is it good or bad? Should we manipulate the genome only to prevent diseases or should we mold newborns into our aesthetic paradigms?” In China, where the state has the monopoly of information, the government and private capital are silently but steadily pushing through and doing major research on this area. The problem posed here is that western laws limit-ing or prohibiting bio-genetic research become deedless in a globalized world with a global market. What has happened is simply that, being that such capital cannot be invested in a country where ethical regulations burdens research, it is invested in China, where a massive research infrastructure has been built in the last years, particularly in a city like Shanghai. And herein lays again the main threat to society posed by the bio-genetic revolution: not the rev-olution itself, not the knowledge that can be attained through research on this area; but the fact that the owners of such knowledge will be foreign, profit-seeking massive capitals, and the Chinese government. Knowledge, thus, becomes subjected not to the “greater good” for society, but to whatever thing makes more profit for the corporations that financed it... or to the political needs of the Chinese state.

Let’s put any apocalyptic vision of our future aside for a moment, and try to be as realistic as possible: The world as we know it is going to end, and, as cheesy as it may sound, the deci-sion regarding the kind of world that will be built from the ashes of the old one -if any- is one that, steadily but unavoidably, shall be taken by today’s youth.


By Oliver Carlsen Møller

I would like to tell you a bit about disabilities. And about why I am not disabled even though I cannot fly. But first, I would like to tell you about a new initiative on the same issue: Accessibility @ UWC is a writ-ing project to create awareness and debate about how to integrate disabled students at the United World Colleges and other boarding (high) schools around the world.

The main idea is to gather a wide range of articles about disabilities and boarding schools. These should come from as many different an-gles as possible. Students, parents, teachers, roommates and profes-sional helpers should be answering their own questions: What makes life as visually impaired easier? How is going to school in a wheelchair? What does a helpful roommate do? How do you do a good job as a helper? Different people have different answers and different perspec-tives and.... oh well, you get the point!

Today, I figured that one story which is yet to be told on the blog is mine. I have no disability myself, nor does any-one in my close family. In fact, I had almost no interaction with disabled people until the age of 15. Luckily, that changed when I moved to the FAAE Boarding School for students with and without special need - and I say luckily because some of the people I met there would eventually change my life forever. Not just because immense human strength I got the chance to observe but because they taught me that there is no such thing as being disabled.

Societies will always adapt to the majority. If everyone were able to fly, I would be as disabled for not being able to fly as I would be if I could not walk. Yet here I am, both feet on permanently the ground (in literary terms at least) and few would consider me disabled. There is even a nice pavement for me and stairs with stept suitable for my very average sized feet.

If we chose to do so, we can reconstruct our society to also be accessible to those differing from the majority as well. We already do so in some places when we put up things like wheelchair ramps or stop lights with a sound. However, the real change requires a change in the way we think. And that again requires under-standing.

I may never learn to fly but I have learned something way better: endless respect for those who manage to get by without flying or walking or seeing or any other normal or abnormal disability.

Have a look at www.accessibility-uwc.blogspot.com. At the moment, I am kind of unsure about what is going to hap-pen to the project, so any input is highly appreciated. If you feel like helping out, please do not hesitate to send me an email at [email protected].

Writing about disabilities - and how I will never learn to fly


As a vibrant and eclectic medium, photography plays a crucial role in today’s journalism.

Its straightforward nature is capable of uniting people from a wide range of backgrounds. Apart from text, visuality as well is a powerful means for youth to raise their voice. ISM decided to start a photography section with the aim to facilitate a different kind of platform for young readers to connect with each other around the globe. Through this section we hope to spread ideals, not just those of a motivated and activist youth but of a better future. In overall, these photographs wishes to be purposeful as well as offer something aes-thetic to the reader.


Follow uson Indpendent Skies website, photography section

http://independentskies.com/?page_id=222

8 | Independent Skies Magazine | July 1st 2012FINDING YOURSELF OUT THEREBy Winston YinWe, humans, are insignificant. We bare-

ly occupy all the land, the 29.2% surface area on Earth. As a species, we are nothing in the total biomass on this planet. To be honest, we’re not even the most numer-ous species: the number of bacteria in your stomach is already hugely greater than the total human population!

Wait, wait, wait... You call THAT insignificant? Then you surely haven’t placed your mind on the cosmic scale.

The study of stars, spacetime, and the universe – astro-physics (and cosmology) – is a humbling intellectual en-deavor. From ancient times, we’d thought we were the entire world. Then we thought there were other bodies going around us, but we were still sitting on that throne of “the center of the world”. This idea was overthrown by the fact that Earth goes around the sun, then thought to be the new center of the world. Well, our little ego was still satisfied by thinking that we were still “near” the cen-ter of the world. The truth is, not at all! The sun is discov-ered to be merely one of a hundred billion stars of our galaxy, the Milky Way, orbiting it in the outskirts. It’s not special. Nor is the Milky Way. It is one of another hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. Current stud-ies suggest we may not even be the only universe that there is. Oh yes, I almost forgot about humans, that spe-cies on that little blue spot near a typical star in a typi-cal galaxy in some unimportant corner of the whole uni-verse. This is what I call “insignificant”. (For more detail, visit The Scale of the Universe 2)

Isn’t it depressing to know that we came into existence with no apparent signifi-cance to the whole universe? It seems to completely shatter our hope to find some cosmic purpose for ourselves. However, the beautiful knowledge that there’s so much more to the world strikes me in a different way. People often say, this kind of


knowledge reduces us to the same stuff as everything else, boring and inanimate. But do you know how grand this pic-ture can be?

Where does the iron in your blood, the calcium in your teeth, the phosphorus in your bone and the magnesium in the plant that you ate last night come from? To produce these heavier elements, the only way that the universe does it is in the furnace deep inside the biggest stars it has. These stars eventually blow up in cosmic explosions called super-novae, which are so powerful they can be seen across the whole universe. The explosions disperse these elements, to be formed into living things like us. Imagine, all these atoms in your body have once lived inside glowing giants. Your left hand may come from a different star than your right hand. This fact gives me chills on the back, as well as a sense of greatness. “We are made of starstuff,” as Carl Sagan put it. It’s the kind of connection with the universe we’ve all been seeking.

However, there is a difference between normal starstuff and us. We are the results of complex arrangements and interac-tions of starstuff. This process took nature a few billion years. It is not easy. We did not have to be here. The universe, oth-erwise stupidly slamming molecules together with no eyes to see, no heart to appreciate, now has created us, conscious beings that can study and understand. Another quote from Carl Sagan says, “We are a way for the universe to know it-self.”

We are significant after all.


It’s on the news. Again.The charcoal bellies of malnourished childrenclinging to the bosoms of their starving mothers,they are wailing at the unmarked gravesof their fathers and husbands. And for a second,between the camera man’s best shot and the pitymanifesting in the centre of my chest,I almost forget that is not my Africa. My Africa is the sound of ten thousand menslapping their feet against the ground to the voicesof ten thousand more women beneath the moonlight.It the lakes and the oceans ebbing the sand away fromthe shores on ly to bring it back, richer, thicker, fuller.It’s the beauty in knowing that though dark as it may be,we are not ashamed of our history. Every broken bone hastaught our spines to stand erect in the midst of a thunderstormand weak as our ankles may be, our knees refuse to cave intothe weight placed in the space between our shoulder blades. My Africa is the vastness of the Kalahari and the Saharaand the creature-filled jungles where poisonous frogswear their skin like war paint and the snakes glide inthe underbelly of it all. My Africa is not just AIDS and malaria. My Africa is strength and joy and respect. It is cars and citiesand skyscrapers and yet, nobody sees my Africa. A girl in my classasks me if I have a lion in my backyard. She wonders if I haverunning water in my house or how on earth I could possibly beHIV-free. And I do not know whether to feel anger or pity.

My Africa by Nafe Chanza


I yearn to taste freedom. You may be envisioning a flag deep root-ed into the ground, a handcuff being unlocked, or perhaps a prisoner being released back into the world. Freedom can come in all sorts, but my desire for free-dom is in its most basic sense. Close your eyes and think about how many times you smiled to-day, how many instances you laughed. Think about who you saw today that you love: your family, friends, even the grocery store owner down the road who never fails to give you a huge grin before you step out of the store.

It is bad that I live in this dingy, grimy dark room, infested with rats and am welcomed everyday when I wake up to a stench of vomit, puss and blood. But it is a million times worse that within these four walls, I have been robbed of all my freedom, freedom of the littlest things, freedom to be human. I wish I re-membered how it is like to smile, to laugh, to cry, to love and how natural it was to dream of going to a good college, falling in love, getting married, buying my par-ents dinner for the first time...

I want so badly to be able to open my eyes to see the reflection of a confident, carefree, happy wom-an in the mirror. I want to be able to say no when they order me around and push and prod me like a piece of stale meat.

You can choose to look away, but you can never say, “I didn’t know”.


`But, the truth is, I’m broken. The truth is, I am physically worn out, emotionally torn. I can no longer speak for myself. My voice grows smaller and smaller everyday. I feel anxious and scared all the time, and I never thought I would say this in my life, but I have given up on myself for I am nothing.

Ironically, the worst thing is that I am not alone.

Today, right now, at this precise moment, there are millions of other girls all over the world who are in my shoes. We have been trafficked through the means of kidnapping, trickery, and fraud and even sold by our very own parents, husbands and boy-friends. Stripped of our dignity, we become mere sex objects to

customers. We do not have the means to control our own future, we are trapped in a dark void with no escape routes and most of us have AIDS or another sexu-ally transmitted disease. Most of us will die before we have the chance to see daylight for the last time.

Please help speak for the voice-less. Please help fight for the weak.

We need you.

What you just read is a story out of the many millions out there. As the generation that will soon step up and be the decision makers, it is our responsibility to be aware of this global crime; sex trafficking. It is modern slavery of the 21st cen-tury and as much as we would like to think otherwise, the problem is urgent and real. It could happen to anyone. It could even happen to you. To let it slip before our eyes would be an abomination in itself. Use your freedom to help the imprisoned.

To find out what you can do to help, visit http://www.stopthetraffik.org/


Visit us,

Liked what you saw?

Independentskies.com

independent skies magazine third issue

Documents

crisis of ideologies

ongoing economic crisis

unstoppable ecological

economic doctrine

end times

world politics

good old freemarket

zizeks thought