Busy Times
Feb. 21st, 2011 04:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ltmurnauBusy times indeed. What's been going on...
First of all, I caught a bad cold which kind of sidelined my brain for a week or two. That's the second one this winter, which is three more than I wanted to have. I think Akito brings a lot of germs home from school, and some of them make him ill while others he just passes on to us.
Our dishwasher gave up the ghost - well, the motor din't stop or anything, but it started shooting water out the bottom even after I replaced the door gasket. No way of knowing how old it was so we got a new one. Man, I am just paranoid about water getting into the house, or water inside the house getting out of its appointed containers or hoses.
Poland game is coming along, at least I am answering questions from the developer so it shoudl be printed up and in the warehouse in due course. This means that I will have at least one thing to take with me to the convention in Tempe AZ this June - I haven't been for a few years, it will be nice to go back. I'm starting work on a Cyprus 1955-60 design now, too.
Academic notice? Maybe some - a game I made last year called Kandahar will get a run-through by a Poli Sci course at McGill, and my game Red Guard on the Cultural Revolution will figure in another class at the University of Westminster in London.
But in a disappointing development: "Hasbro unveiled the next version of Monopoly, in which player negotiations, banknotes, dice, and the rulebook have been replaced by a computer tower in the middle of the board. 'If you're not having to read as much,' said Hasbro executive Jane Ritson-Parsons, 'you are all chatting more.' Christ, why not get rid of the board too, and just imagine you played the game instead....
Oh yeah, and we decided to go back to Burning Man this year! Tickets bought and apparently on the way. One more impetus to launch my get-fit regime; I think one reason I had such a bad time last time was just that I wasn't physically equal to it. That must change, if I don't want a bunch of other health problems in later life too. I'm not even sure where to start, I'm so decrepit.
Akito took his driver's exam and passed it the first time, which I understand does not happen often. He cannot take the practical driving exam for about one year, so there is plenty of time for him to practice. I think we are going to get Young Drivers for him, they seem to be the best and he can even get some high school credits out of it (I don't understand how that works). This weekend we sat down and talked a bit about his Grade 12 classes (Good Lord, he's almost out of high school); he will take a good core of science and math classes, and some more Drafting/Design, and that shoudl be enough to get him a shot at getting into any engineering or engineering technology courses. He may be changing his mind about that though, and might want to go into some kind of computer animation or design - which is fine too, he needs a math background for that too and the drafting/design courses are equally good for that. I suppose there are quite a few jobs like this floating around but I wonder if they pay well or are stable; it seems like there would be pretty much constant feast-or-famine in that field. Anyway, I told him whatever he decided on would be OK as long as it was not a complete waste of time.
Circuit Breaker is to be a monthly event, the next one is March 13. Looking forward to that!
The situation in the Middle East is reminding me somewhat of 1848, at least superficially - A revolt in one country spreads quickly to others, even though the circumstances are not the same in each country they are all reacting against repressive, unrepresentative governments.
But that’s the sad part too. By the end of 1849 all these revolts had been decisively crushed or their energies diverted somehow. The underlying causes of the revolts did not go away, though, and in my view tended to assume more extreme and violent forms for not being addressed. So while the original dictator individuals - Mubarak, Gaddafi, etc. - may be gone to their expatriate villas, there's no guarantee that there won't be something almost as bad to replace it, until the next quake comes.
Edited to add:
Someone at the Washington Post thinks so too...
In the Arab world, it's 1848 - not 1989
By Anne Applebaum
Monday, February 21, 2011; 8:00 PM
"Each revolution must be assessed in its own context, each had a distinctive impact. The revolutions spread from one point to another. They interacted to a limited extent. . . . The drama of each revolution unfolded separately. Each had its own heroes, its own crises. Each therefore demands its own narrative."
That could be the first paragraph from a future history of the Arab revolutions of 2011. In fact, it comes from the introduction to a book about the European revolutions of 1848. In the past few weeks, quite a lot of people - myself included - have drawn parallels between the crowds in Tunis, Benghazi, Tripoli and Cairo and the crowds in Prague and Berlin two decades ago. But there is one major difference. The street revolutions that ended communism followed similar patterns because they followed in the wake of a single political event: the abrupt withdrawal of Soviet support for the local dictator. The Arab revolutions, by contrast, are the product of multiple changes - economic, technological, demographic - and have taken on a distinctly different flavor and meaning in each country. In that sense, they resemble 1848 far more than 1989.
Though inspired very generally by the ideas of liberal nationalism and democracy, the mostly middle-class demonstrators of 1848 had, like their Arab contemporaries, different goals in different countries. In Hungary, they demanded independence from Austria's Habsburg rulers. In what is now Germany, they aimed to unify the German-speaking peoples into a single state. In France, they wanted to overthrow the monarchy (again). In some countries, revolution led to pitched battles between ethnic groups. Others were brought to a halt by outside intervention.
Most of the 1848 rebellions failed. The Hungarians did kick the Austrians out, but only briefly. Germany failed to unite. The French created a republic that collapsed a few years later. Constitutions were written and discarded. Monarchs were toppled and restored. The historian A.J.P. Taylor called 1848 a moment when "history reached a turning point and failed to turn."
And yet in the longer run, the ideas discussed in 1848 did seep into the culture, and some of the revolutionary plans were eventually realized. By the end of the 19th century, Chancellor Bismarck had indeed united Germany, and France established its Third Republic. The nations once ruled by the Habsburgs did gain independence after the First World War. In 1849, many of the revolutions of 1848 might have seemed disastrous, but looking back from 1899 or 1919, they seemed like the beginning of a successful change.
In the Arab world today we are also watching different peoples with different goals take charge of street demonstrations, each of which must be assessed "in its own context." In Egypt, decisions made by the military may well have mattered as much as the actions of the crowd. In Bahrain, the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites is clearly central. The role of "Islam" is not the same in countries as different as Tunisia and Yemen. In Libya, the regime has already shown itself willing to use mass violence, which others have avoided. Tempting though it will be to lump all of these events together and treat them as a single "Arab revolution," the differences between countries may turn out to be more important than their similarities.
It is equally true that by 2012, some or even all of these revolutions might be seen to have failed. Dictatorships might be reimposed, democracy won't work, ethnic conflict will turn into ethnic violence. As in 1848, a change of political system might take a very long time, and it might not come about through popular revolution at all. Negotiation, as I wrote a few weeks ago, is generally a better and safer way to hand over power. Some of the region's dictators might eventually figure that out.
But thinking about 1848 provides a useful sort of balance. There was a moment, at the height of the Cairo demonstrations, when I found myself sitting in my living room, watching in real time as Hosni Mubarak addressed the Egyptian people. I could see him speak, hear the translation, watch the crowd's reaction: For a moment, it was possible to imagine that I was watching the revolution unfold in real time, too. But of course I could see only what the cameras were showing, and much of what was important was invisible - the men in uniforms negotiating behind the scenes, for example.
Television creates the illusion of a linear narrative, giving events the semblance of a beginning, middle and end. Real life is never like that; 1848 wasn't like that. It's useful to ponder the messiness of history from time to time, because it reminds us that the present is really no different.
applebaumletters@washpost.com
Copyright 2011 Washington Post
First of all, I caught a bad cold which kind of sidelined my brain for a week or two. That's the second one this winter, which is three more than I wanted to have. I think Akito brings a lot of germs home from school, and some of them make him ill while others he just passes on to us.
Our dishwasher gave up the ghost - well, the motor din't stop or anything, but it started shooting water out the bottom even after I replaced the door gasket. No way of knowing how old it was so we got a new one. Man, I am just paranoid about water getting into the house, or water inside the house getting out of its appointed containers or hoses.
Poland game is coming along, at least I am answering questions from the developer so it shoudl be printed up and in the warehouse in due course. This means that I will have at least one thing to take with me to the convention in Tempe AZ this June - I haven't been for a few years, it will be nice to go back. I'm starting work on a Cyprus 1955-60 design now, too.
Academic notice? Maybe some - a game I made last year called Kandahar will get a run-through by a Poli Sci course at McGill, and my game Red Guard on the Cultural Revolution will figure in another class at the University of Westminster in London.
But in a disappointing development: "Hasbro unveiled the next version of Monopoly, in which player negotiations, banknotes, dice, and the rulebook have been replaced by a computer tower in the middle of the board. 'If you're not having to read as much,' said Hasbro executive Jane Ritson-Parsons, 'you are all chatting more.' Christ, why not get rid of the board too, and just imagine you played the game instead....
Oh yeah, and we decided to go back to Burning Man this year! Tickets bought and apparently on the way. One more impetus to launch my get-fit regime; I think one reason I had such a bad time last time was just that I wasn't physically equal to it. That must change, if I don't want a bunch of other health problems in later life too. I'm not even sure where to start, I'm so decrepit.
Akito took his driver's exam and passed it the first time, which I understand does not happen often. He cannot take the practical driving exam for about one year, so there is plenty of time for him to practice. I think we are going to get Young Drivers for him, they seem to be the best and he can even get some high school credits out of it (I don't understand how that works). This weekend we sat down and talked a bit about his Grade 12 classes (Good Lord, he's almost out of high school); he will take a good core of science and math classes, and some more Drafting/Design, and that shoudl be enough to get him a shot at getting into any engineering or engineering technology courses. He may be changing his mind about that though, and might want to go into some kind of computer animation or design - which is fine too, he needs a math background for that too and the drafting/design courses are equally good for that. I suppose there are quite a few jobs like this floating around but I wonder if they pay well or are stable; it seems like there would be pretty much constant feast-or-famine in that field. Anyway, I told him whatever he decided on would be OK as long as it was not a complete waste of time.
Circuit Breaker is to be a monthly event, the next one is March 13. Looking forward to that!
The situation in the Middle East is reminding me somewhat of 1848, at least superficially - A revolt in one country spreads quickly to others, even though the circumstances are not the same in each country they are all reacting against repressive, unrepresentative governments.
But that’s the sad part too. By the end of 1849 all these revolts had been decisively crushed or their energies diverted somehow. The underlying causes of the revolts did not go away, though, and in my view tended to assume more extreme and violent forms for not being addressed. So while the original dictator individuals - Mubarak, Gaddafi, etc. - may be gone to their expatriate villas, there's no guarantee that there won't be something almost as bad to replace it, until the next quake comes.
Edited to add:
Someone at the Washington Post thinks so too...
In the Arab world, it's 1848 - not 1989
By Anne Applebaum
Monday, February 21, 2011; 8:00 PM
"Each revolution must be assessed in its own context, each had a distinctive impact. The revolutions spread from one point to another. They interacted to a limited extent. . . . The drama of each revolution unfolded separately. Each had its own heroes, its own crises. Each therefore demands its own narrative."
That could be the first paragraph from a future history of the Arab revolutions of 2011. In fact, it comes from the introduction to a book about the European revolutions of 1848. In the past few weeks, quite a lot of people - myself included - have drawn parallels between the crowds in Tunis, Benghazi, Tripoli and Cairo and the crowds in Prague and Berlin two decades ago. But there is one major difference. The street revolutions that ended communism followed similar patterns because they followed in the wake of a single political event: the abrupt withdrawal of Soviet support for the local dictator. The Arab revolutions, by contrast, are the product of multiple changes - economic, technological, demographic - and have taken on a distinctly different flavor and meaning in each country. In that sense, they resemble 1848 far more than 1989.
Though inspired very generally by the ideas of liberal nationalism and democracy, the mostly middle-class demonstrators of 1848 had, like their Arab contemporaries, different goals in different countries. In Hungary, they demanded independence from Austria's Habsburg rulers. In what is now Germany, they aimed to unify the German-speaking peoples into a single state. In France, they wanted to overthrow the monarchy (again). In some countries, revolution led to pitched battles between ethnic groups. Others were brought to a halt by outside intervention.
Most of the 1848 rebellions failed. The Hungarians did kick the Austrians out, but only briefly. Germany failed to unite. The French created a republic that collapsed a few years later. Constitutions were written and discarded. Monarchs were toppled and restored. The historian A.J.P. Taylor called 1848 a moment when "history reached a turning point and failed to turn."
And yet in the longer run, the ideas discussed in 1848 did seep into the culture, and some of the revolutionary plans were eventually realized. By the end of the 19th century, Chancellor Bismarck had indeed united Germany, and France established its Third Republic. The nations once ruled by the Habsburgs did gain independence after the First World War. In 1849, many of the revolutions of 1848 might have seemed disastrous, but looking back from 1899 or 1919, they seemed like the beginning of a successful change.
In the Arab world today we are also watching different peoples with different goals take charge of street demonstrations, each of which must be assessed "in its own context." In Egypt, decisions made by the military may well have mattered as much as the actions of the crowd. In Bahrain, the conflict between Sunnis and Shiites is clearly central. The role of "Islam" is not the same in countries as different as Tunisia and Yemen. In Libya, the regime has already shown itself willing to use mass violence, which others have avoided. Tempting though it will be to lump all of these events together and treat them as a single "Arab revolution," the differences between countries may turn out to be more important than their similarities.
It is equally true that by 2012, some or even all of these revolutions might be seen to have failed. Dictatorships might be reimposed, democracy won't work, ethnic conflict will turn into ethnic violence. As in 1848, a change of political system might take a very long time, and it might not come about through popular revolution at all. Negotiation, as I wrote a few weeks ago, is generally a better and safer way to hand over power. Some of the region's dictators might eventually figure that out.
But thinking about 1848 provides a useful sort of balance. There was a moment, at the height of the Cairo demonstrations, when I found myself sitting in my living room, watching in real time as Hosni Mubarak addressed the Egyptian people. I could see him speak, hear the translation, watch the crowd's reaction: For a moment, it was possible to imagine that I was watching the revolution unfold in real time, too. But of course I could see only what the cameras were showing, and much of what was important was invisible - the men in uniforms negotiating behind the scenes, for example.
Television creates the illusion of a linear narrative, giving events the semblance of a beginning, middle and end. Real life is never like that; 1848 wasn't like that. It's useful to ponder the messiness of history from time to time, because it reminds us that the present is really no different.
applebaumletters@washpost.com
Copyright 2011 Washington Post
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-02-22 08:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-02-22 05:23 pm (UTC)It's tempting to say that Americans have no sense of history because they have so much less of it than Europeans do, but I think it lies in how history is taught in their schools - my American friends tell me that their high school history consisted largely of "1776 and *pop*, we had the wonderful Consitution and ironclad democracy we have today; 1865 and *pop*, the bad people went away and everyone in America was free and equal; 1965 and *pop*, the bad people went away again and everyone in America was free and equal again; 1989 and *pop* the bad Commies went away and everyone in Europe was free and equal and democratic..." and so on. I wonder how and what your daughters have been taught in their history classes.