Author Archive for Michael

Super-Abridged Bible: Song of Songs

Published
by
Michael
on May 17, 2012
.

The text does not indicate who is speaking so my labels are based on one particular translation and are bound to be wrong at times, especially in attributing to the man and woman what’s really meant to be spoken by third parties. The main thing to know about this book is that mainstream Judaism and Christianity have spent millenia desperately denying its secular and sexual nature so for both it’s often seen as an allegory. In Judaism the woman is Israel and the man is God, in Christianity the woman is the Church and the man is Jesus. Since it’s mostly poetry my summary basically pulls out the most colourful phrases and eliminates repetition — it will therefore not read poetically but will *summarise* the content.

[Woman]: “Your love is more delightful than wine; that’s why maidens love you. I am dark but pretty — don’t hold it against me.” [Man]: “Tell me, where do you pasture your sheep? [So I can visit.] You are like a mare in pharaoh’s cavalry.” [Woman]: “My beloved is a bag of myrrh between my breasts. I am a lily of the valleys, he’s like an apple tree among ordinary trees. I sit in his shade and taste his fruit. He told me to give him apples: he was faint with love. Here he comes, leaping over mountains like a gazelle, telling me to come away with him to beautiful lands.I sought him but he was gone. I must roam the town asking for his whereabouts. I found him and held him close, bringing him to my mother’s house.”

Who is she who comes from the desert like smoke? Here is King Solomon’s couch surrounded by 60 warriors who wear swords because of the terror by night. King Solomon made many fancy objects — oh maidens, do gaze on him as he wears his wedding day crown! [Man]: “Your hair is like a flock of goats, your teeth like a flock of ewes, your neck like the Tower of David, your breasts like two fawns. Come down from the mountains and the dens of lions; I have a private garden, my bride. Your limbs are an orchard of henna, saffron and cinnamon. I have drunk wine in my garden.”

[Woman]: “My beloved knocked, his head wet from dew. I just bathed my feet: was I to soil them again? I opened the door but he was gone. I met the watchmen of the town but they hit me and stripped me of my mantle. If you see him, tell him I’m faint with love. His locks are curly and black like a raven. His lips are like lillies, his legs like the cedars of Lebanon.” [Maidens]: “Where has your beloved gone?” [Woman]: “To his garden of spices. He is mine and I am his.” [Man]: “You’re so beautiful, avert your eyes so that I’m not overwhelmed! My beloved is only one; even queens praise her. Your navel is like a round goblet — let wine flow freely. Your form is like a palm, your breasts like clusters; let me climb the palm and hold its branches.”

[Woman]: “Let’s go to the vineyards: if the pomegranates are in bloom, I will give my love to you. If only you were like my brother so that I could kiss you [openly] on the street! Love is as fearce as death, mighty as Sheol [the underworld]. If a man offered all his wealth for love, he would be laughed at.” [Woman's brothers]: “We have a sister with unformed breasts. What shall we do with her when she comes of age? If she be a wall, we’ll build on it a battlement. If she be a door, we will panel it in cedar.” [Woman]: “I am a wall and my breasts are like towers — therefore I found favour in his eyes. King Solomon had a vineyard with such fruit that people gave 1000 pieces of silver for it; but I have my own vineyard. Flee my beloved, swift as a gazelle to the hills of spices!”

Conflict Minerals and Kony2012: Some Parallels

Published
by
Michael
on May 15, 2012
.

Distribution of BP-5 Emergency food packages in Goma - from Flickr 2995064256Kony2012 exploded just as I was leaving for overseas so I didn’t get a chance to post about it. Now that I’m back, it’s largely died off. Still, there are a few things that are important to discuss specifically now that attention has died off. And there are important parallels to the conflict minerals (ie. blood iPhones) in the Congo — another case that was “in the media” a few years ago and has now died off.

In late 2008, I first found out about the conflict mineral narrative (to deliberately put it simplistically, that your electronic gadgets are responsible for genocide in the Congo). See these two posts. At the time, it wasn’t particularly mainstream and I was trying to spread awareness and so on. I then became interested in the Enough Project and in early 2010 I posted again, this time specifically to promote their call to action. At the time, there were numerous initiatives including the Conflict Minerals Trade Act which was then being debated in the US Congress (signed into law on Jul 21 2010 as part of a different act)

I’ve now become aware of a large number of problems with the conflict minerals narrative as it’s been presented in the international media. One of the good things about the Kony2012 kerfuffle is that it (ironically) made people more aware of the potential problems with “awareness” campaigns — as well as fauxtivism, simplistic narratives, the Whites in Shining Armor complex, the unintended consequences of popular aid actions and so on. As part of that, it’s important to be able to cast a similar glance at the conflict minerals story, especially since the problems with it appear to be similar to Kony2012 (although not as severe). It’s also important as a kind-of correction.

In both cases, western-based groups advocate for particular solutions to horrible things that are happening in “Africa” (a country that lives on in the imagination of many people despite the existence of actual information about the diversity within the continent). Both solutions are based on their specific organisational focus and are not entirely in line with expert opinion on what should be done (more tenuous in the case of conflict minerals, more obvious with Kony2012). Furthermore, both groups do not take adequate steps to involve people from the countries they are aiming to help in the strategic process. Both group take their case to the public, marketing and promoting it using a certain narrative. The narrative grows popular (for conflict minerals it was several orders of magnitude less than Kony2012). This involves great multitudes not only becoming aware of the problem but implicitly buying into the specific narratives and solutions that are being offered — for better or for worse.

Now, in the case of conflict minerals, the “popular” solution was indeed executed. At least partially. However, it’s now reasonable to believe based on the evidence that the popular solution was based on serious misconceptions and that implementing it has made things worse. Via Texas in Africa (a blog with a lot of resources critical of fauxtivism about “Africa”, including conflict minerals), comes this disturbing peer-reviewed paper:

DANGEROUS TALES: DOMINANT NARRATIVES ON THE CONGO AND THEIR UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES.
Abstract: Explanations for the persistence of violence in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo blame the incendiary actions of domestic and regional leaders, as well as the inefficacy of international peace-building efforts. Based on several years of ethnographic research, this article adds another piece to the puzzle, emphasizing the perverse consequences of well-meaning international efforts. I argue that three narratives dominate the public discourse on Congo and eclipse the numerous alternative framings of the situation. These narratives focus on a primary cause of violence, illegal exploitation of mineral resources; a main consequence, sexual abuse of women and girls; and a central solution, extending state authority. I elucidate why simple narratives are necessary for policy makers, journalists, advocacy groups, and practitioners on the ground, especially those involved in the Congo. I then consider each narrative in turn and explain how they achieved prominence: they provided straightforward explanations for the violence, suggested feasible solutions to it, and resonated with foreign audiences. I demonstrate that the focus on these narratives and on the solutions they recommended has led to results that clash with their intended purposes, notably an increase in human rights violations.

Some sobering stuff — and I strongly suggest you read it before proclaiming any opinion on conflict minerals. It also highlights the importance of doing a lot of research before promoting, contributing to and advocating for particular solutions. Especially to problems that are horrible, since their emotional weight makes it all the easier to turn off the critical thinking faculty. (Something I’m pretty sure happened to me as well.) All of this was particularly easy to see with Kony2012, but the conflict minerals example shows that usually these issues are a lot more subtly. You have to specifically look for them.

The other important factor is is lack of follow-up. Both stories have peaked so people just forget them. Perhaps this is the biggest problem. When activism goes bad and makes things worse, the nature of news consumption (as well as the self-congratulatory streak we all have) stops us from finding out and reevaluating.

In the interest of follow-up, there’s been development on both stories just in the last 2 days. Just today, a top LRA member has been captured by the Ugandan army. In the Congo, new fighting erupts as a Rwanda-supported militia integrated into the Congolese army have defected.

Friday Links (11-May-12)

Published
by
Michael
on May 11, 2012
.
  • Amazing stunt biking at an abandoned industrial site.
  • Research shows that for certain highways raising the speed limit will reduce the accident rate. Meaning the police department has gone and implemented these right away. Nah, just kidding, they’re still sticking with more dangerous (lower) speed limit and using it to raise revenue.
  • Measure of Doubt discusses the Wikipedia game where all roads lead to philosophy. Original game was proposed by Randall Monroe in this XKCD comic
  • Ed Brayton writes THE definitive post debunking myths and misinformation about how “sharia law is coming to take over the US” from a hardcore secularist perspective.
  • Natalie Reed is awesome! Since moving to FreeThoughtBlogs, she has made a treasure-trove of posts regarding the intersection of science, skepticism, atheism and transgender issues all in just the first month of 2012. (Yes I know these links posts are very backed up thanks to my travels.) Most recommended posts are on ‘feminist dogma‘, her tales of secular addiction recovery and passability and the toupee fallacy.

People Believe a LOT of Nonsense on Evolution, Creationism, Religion

Published
by
Michael
on May 10, 2012
.

I’m not talking about creationists, that goes without saying. I’m talking about the fact that a very high percentage of arguments by people who claim that evolution and religion are compatible are in fact nonsense. Via Jerry Coyne, an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education that made me lose my faith in humanity just a little more. In terms of both the article and the comments. It’s a microcosm of the kind of muddle-headed thinking that often comes up when evolution and religion are discussed together. Here we go:

The article is about a theory advanced by Dan McAdams (a professor of psych specialising in narrative psychology) about public acceptance of evolution is so low in the US. According to McAdams, humans make sense of their lives through narratives. We constructing them about ourselves and also respond to them when others advance them. Evolution may be a wonderful and elegant explanation, but it’s a bad narrative. No purpose, no quest, no protagonists/antagonists. “You can’t really feel anything for this character—natural selection,” McAdams says. Sounds like a great parody on the Onion but he’s serious! And according to this analysis, evolution will always be an uphill battle.

The biblical story of creation, in contrast, couldn’t be richer. Talk about drama! Characters who want things, surprising reversals, heroes, villains, nudity. There’s a reason it outsells On the Origin of Species, and it may be why scientists haven’t had more success at moving the needle of public opinion.

Without denigrating the field of narrative psychology, this is beyond ridiculous. Thankfully the whole article was succinctly demolished in the third comment so I don’t even have to do anything:

Surely the obvious comment is that the US is anomalous among developed (and relatively highly educated) countries in its high level of skepticism about evolution. This argues strongly against explanations grounded in universal human psychology, but supports religious explanations, since the US is also highly anomalous in its level of adherence to Biblical religions.

Of course the other obvious point is that plenty of other scientific theories are just as unnarrative without people having a problem accepting them. Again, a stray commenter’s few sentences are right on target.

Poppycock. Does gravity require a narrative? Do magnets require character development? Do people inquire about agency and plot development before taking medicine? The need for myths and legends may be powerful – but if it excludes the acceptance of science, it’s the culprit not the solution.

The whole approach is reminiscent of what Greta Christina described in her wonderful Skepticon talk as the huge-pile-of-elephant-shit-in-the-room scenario. People are contorting themselves beyond recognition to come up with any cause they can (from elephant handlers to greedy people) rather than the elephant. Cue the selection of ridiculous comments. You see the problem is the scientists. Especially those atheist scientists!

I find it very offensive the implication here that if one believes in evolution, one must reduce one’s belief in God. The reason why creationism is generally more accepted in America is because scientists do not understand how to tell the RIGHT story. God-directed evolution is every bit as interesting as creationism and far more consistent with the facts. When will scientists learn that just because they find God unnecessary and irrelevant, it doesn’t make Him a fairy tale.

Yes, we should be talking more about how YHWH might have mutated the C into a T back in 194,235BCE. That will certainly bring more people to science! Then there’s what I consider the last refuge of belief. As long as it’s logically possible for my belief to be consistent with the facts (ie. I can spin a story about how it is), then I’m justified in continuing in my belief. For more of this, check out an eminent philosopher of science making essentially the same argument with respect to YHWH directing evolution by interfering with mutations.

The next exhibit is to blame those clueless uncool teachers for being so boring.

The problem is not with the lack of a story, it’s the people telling the story. Most high school teachers are, let’s be honest, not socially with it. High school students see someone with weird glasses and funny shoes standing in front of a class rambling on about how turtles evolved and how it leads to…sorry, fell asleep trying to write about it.
If you want to drive home the point of WHY students should care about it, talk about something like this:

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/personalized-medicine-vs-evolution/

It is fascinating for anyone who has an interest in cancer. My guess is that a lot of people are interested in cancer. Certainly a lot more than are interested in the colors of turtle shells.
It’s impossible to deny the reality of evolution. The attacks on religion, debates about the origin of DNA, and all that jazz are just sideshows that distract from the relevant points. The childish attacks on religion do hurt the acceptance of evolution. Just look at some of the comments on this article. Would you trust someone like that to tell you about anything of a scientific nature?

Certainly science communication has huge amounts of room for improvement, and science education even more. But there’s a special irony about someone calling out people for “childish attacks on religion” (when cutting the nonsense away leaves religious fundamentalism as the main culprit) just after launching a childish attack on teachers. Not to mention using tired stereotypes and claiming personal preference (evolution apparently makes the author fall asleep) as if it’s universal. All without evidence or reference to other countries. Is evolution only boring south of the US-Canada border?

Where would our game of canard bingo be if not for Dawkins-blaming?

It’s the Dawkins effect. He is responsible for this turning ugly.

Yes, the God Delusion was so ignorantly militant that it travelled back in time to the Kitzmiller vs Dover trial and (contra-causally) made dozens of religious people send death threats to the plaintiff’s family for not wanting ID to be discusssed in school. If that doesn’t disprove atheistic Marxist materialism, I don’t know what will!

I urge you to browse through the rest of the comments to get a sense for the scale of the problem and the extent to which fuzzy thinking and trendy slogans pervade the discussion. The most disheartening thing is that this is the Chronicle of Higher Education. Of course you’d expect such comments from (say) a general newspaper website. Oh well.

I will leave you with the most amazing comment in the whole thread. Do not read too closely lest your brain explode.

And this is why “The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins (and similar screeds by atheists who masquerade as scientists — not that they are not scientists by day but they certainly are not when the attack religion in the name of science) is not science either. The problem is when scientists insult religion by arguing that if God is unnecessary then He is also nonexistent (following from Occum’s Razor, which (a) ironically was devised by a priest and (b) is also not science but is rather philosophy). I would argue that from a scientific perspective humans are “unnecessary” for the universe to exist–does that mean that we do not exist?

I would further argue that while there are many clues to the believer that God exists, these clues cannot ever be taken so far as to constitute scientific proof. Indeed, one of the better expositions of this problem is from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy–God can never be proven by science. After all, once you can “prove” God exists, you destroy faith (which, by definition, must come from belief rather than evidence).

Super-Abridged Bible: Isaiah

Published
by
Michael
on May 7, 2012
.

[Introductory note: The book of Isaiah is an appalling mess. I've done my best to avoid repetition and to insert labels as to who's speaking to whom. I have also changed between 1st, 2nd and 3rd person for ease of skimming so it's often different in the original. But this is just my interpretation, sometimes informed by translations, sometimes for other reasons. Often it's not clear so much of it will be wrong. Still, the aim is to give the gist and boy will you get it!]

Prophecies about Judah, Jerusalem (Chapters 1-13)

[YHWH speaks to Judah through Isaiah, who prophecies during kings Uzziah to Hezekiah:] “You have rebelled and sinned. An ox knows its master but you don’t know me and will be overrun. Your sacrifices are as futile and abhorrent as Sodom’s. Repent: though your sins may be like crimson I will turn them white as snow. Jerusalem is a city of injustice, its punishment is coming. In the future though, nations will look to Jerusalem, beat their swords into plowshares and make war no war. I’m preparing a day against the arrogant.” [YHWH to idolaters]: “Stop glorifying lowly man! Your idols will only be smashed and I will confuse nations. I’ll strip your fine jewelerry and turn it to rot. The survivors will bask in my glory.” [YHWH about Israel]: “I lovingly tended a vineyard but it only gave bad grapes. I will remove my protection so others will trample it. Great houses and hypocrites will be overturned, drunkards will rejoice no more in their feasts. I will raise up a terrible invader nation.”

Isaiah sees a vision of YHWH on his throne surrounded by seraphim, one of which purifies Isaiah’s lips with a piece of burning coal. He volunteers to bring a message of repentance to people: 10% will repent and remain as the stump for a new tree. The Arameans team up with Israel to fight Judah [see Kings]. YHWH tells Isaiah to reassure Ahaz: they will not succeed and Israel will go into exile. As a sign, a young woman will conceive, the child will be called Imanuel (God is with us) and by the time he’s old enough to know good from bad, Judah will be safe and prosperous. [Yes, this is the origin of the virgin birth concept.] YHWH gets Isaiah to conceive a son and call him Maher-shalal-hash-baz (hurry to spoil) to mean that Israel be exiled to Assyria as punishment. Isaiah is told to trust YHWH alone and that all who perform divination will die.

[YHWH:] “Those who were in darkness have seen light and broken off their yoke. A child has been born to us and authority given to him [Jewish interpretation: Hezekiah, see Kings] as token of a peace without limit throughout the kingdom that it may be established now and forevermore. Still, I will let Israel’s foes triumph: punishing Israel once wasn’t enough. They haven’t repented. Their leaders will be devoured. You who oppress the poor, how will you survive my calamities? I charged Assyria with punishing Israel, they want to attack Judah too, overstepping themselves. Does an axe boast, as opposed to him who wields it? I will stop Assyria with fury. A sprout shall grow from the Davidic line. He will rule righteously, the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the kid with the lion. There will be no evil. Nations will seek this king’s counsel, praising my name. The Jews will be redeemed and assembled from around the world. Enmity between Judah and Israel will cease.”

Prophecies about gentile nations (Chapters 13-23)

YHWH is mustering an army against Babylon that will ravage the earth. The day of YHWH is coming. All will be dark. People will become rarer than fine gold. Babylon will be attacked by the Medes who won’t pity the infants. Babylon will have no inhabitants except ostriches and jackals. Israel will be their masters and will sing how YHWH has broken the rod of tyrants. [YHWH to Babylon]: “Sheol [the underworld] is getting ready for you. Worms/maggots will be your bed andblanket.” [YHWH to the prince of Babylon according to Jewish interpretations, or Satan according to Christian ones]: “How have you fallen from heaven, oh Lucifer [morning star]! You thought to ascend, instead you’re brought to the depths of Sheol. They will ask of your corpse: is this he who made the world tremble, who never released prisoners?” King Ahaz dies. [YHWH to Philistia]: “Don’t rejoice because their oppressor is dead. From the stock of a snake sprouts an asp. Your end will come.” [YHWH to Moab]: “Your lands are ruined and sacked, your people wailing, your rivers filled with blood. Don’t be haughty. Let the Israelite refugees find asylum against their despoiler [Assyria?]. When you’re destroyed, the throne of David will be established with a just ruler. All have heard of your arrogance; all your wonderful vineyards and towns will be ruined.”

Damascus and Aram will become a heap of ruins. On that day [of YHWH's judgement], Israel will only have one gleaning left, like a beaten olive tree. Then, the people will no longer care about their idols. [Isaiah to Israel]: “You have forgotten YHWH, hence all your troubles. The nations rage around us like waters but eventually YHWH will drive them away.” [Isaiah to Nubia]: “YHWH is calm about his ascendancy. He will trim away all the twigs leaving little. All nations will bring tribute to YHWH in Jerusalem.” [Isaiah about Egypt]: “Its idols will tremble before YHWH. YHWH will turn Egyptians against each other, give them a ruthless king, bring drought and calamity. Egypt’s sages are stupid for falsely placating their king and failing to predict YHWH’s judgement. During judgement, Egyptians will be like women, trembling and fearful. Eventually, Egypt will swear loyalty to YHWH. He will accept and heal them, they will serve YHWH along with Assyria, with Israel acting as intermediary.” YHWH tells Isaiah to go barefoot for 3 years as a symbol that the king of Assyria will drive off the Egyptians and Nubians barefoot.

Isaiah is frightened and trembling at night. YHWH shows him a vision of riders coming from the desert to proclaim that Babylon and her idols have fallen. [Isaiah gives a vision to Jerusalem]: “You have surrendered without a fight, your soldiers fled, civilians captured. A desperate siege occured where houses were pulled down to fortify your wall. But instead of laments you were mad in rejoicing, saying ‘let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die’.” [Isaiah to Tyre]: “Howl, ships, seafarers and coast dwellers! Where has all the splendour gone? YHWH has decreed the destruction of your stronghold. Tyre will be forgotten for 70 years. After this, YHWH will remember you and you’ll resume playing the harlot with other nations but your profits will go to YHWH.”

YHWH’s future judgement, some stories about Isaiah (Chapters 24-39)

[Isaiah]: “YHWH will put to waste both slave and master, lender and borrower. A curse consumes [will consume?] the earth because people have violated the covenant. Towns are empty, desolate, whoever flees falls in a pit and whoever climbs out of it into a trap. All leaders will be punished and locked up. YHWH, by doing this you are an avenger for the poor and opressed. YHWH will gather everyone in, destroy death and wipe away all tears. Israel will enter Jerusalem once more and ask YHWH to improve their well-being since they no longer worship idols and he has forgiven them. YHWH will make the earth disclose how much blood has been shed into it. He will punish Leviathan [symbol of chaos]. Israel shall blossom, its sin purged away. YHWH will beat the people out from the exile like grains.”

[Isaiah to Israel]: “A storm will overthrow the drunkards of Ephraim. Jerusalem’s rulers will consider themselves spared but YHWH’s justice is like a measuring line; he will besiege Jerusalem. Then suddenly its tide will turn and all enemies vanish like in a dream. Judgement will reveal all those who have schemed. Oh, disloyal sons who took refuge in Egypt without asking YHWH: this will result in your shame!” [YHWH to Isaiah:] “Write all these as a record of a nation who [shamefully] tells its prophets: do not prophecy truth to us, only delusions. I am waiting to pardon Israel at the first sign of repentance. If they’d only meet me halfway the land will become alive again! Those who relied on Egypt have forgotten that Egyptians are only men, not gods. Return to me and reject idols, then your enemies will fall. Then, ministers will rule with justice; no more will a knave be called a gentleman.”

[Isaiah to Israel] “Lament, careless women! Israel’s soil soon will be overgrown until the redemption. Those who have betrayed will themselves be betrayed. Highways will be desolate, travellers gone, but whoever has lived uprightly will have his livelihood assured. [In the redemption]: Israel won’t be subjected to foreigners speaking their gobbledygook language. Even the lame will sieze foreigners’ booty. YHWH is angry at the nations and has consigned most of them to the slaughter (especially Edom). The land will drink blood (with even the animals being killed) and will be a waste, with only jackals and demons living there. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. A highway will appear that no unclean person will pass there, and the Israelites will return to Jerusalem shouting in gladness.” Next is a retelling of king Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem [see 2Kings, heading "Chapters 14-20"] with a few extra bits (Hezekiah prays to YHWH to implore him to relent, and makes a poem of thanksgiving when he recovers from his illness).

Deutero-Isaiah: Israel’s redemption, suffering servant (Chapters 40-55)

[YHWH to Israel]: “Your sin is expiated, I comes to make things right. Who can know of my mighty plan let alone stop it? Who’d be so foolish as to liken me to an idol? Why would you complain I am ignoring you? Let the nations approach me and state their case; I will take revenge on them. But you are my servant who I’ve chosen, who will show my spirit to the other nations. I will support him, uplifting the poor and turning desert into ponds. I go out like a warrior, having kept silent too long. I will shame all idolaters. Who is as blind as my servant, who is now despoiled and imprisoned? I caused this, since my servant sinned against me and did not obey my commandments. Israel, I’ve singled you out by name. Because you’re precious to me I’ve given peoples in your stead. I will gather you from afar; I’m the only god and you are my witness. Truly you’ve burdened me with your sins. So I’m only redeeming you for my own sake, not yours. The makers of idols work for nothing as they themselves will testify [during judgement]. Can a statue do anything? A craftsman makes his idol from the same material he uses for fuel; he burns one and worships the other, how dumb is that? I can turn the words of prophets to nothing, yet I confirm the word of my servant and say that judah will be restored and the temple rebuilt.”

[YHWH to King Cyrus of Persia, who eventually ended the exile]: “I will give you victory and treasures for the sake of my servant Israel. You will know I’m YHWH: the only god, who makes both good and bad. Those who’d argue with me are like clay criticising the potter. You will plunder Egypt, Nubia and the Sabaites. When my name is proclaimed, all nations will swear loyalty to me, vindicating Israel.” [YHWH to Israel]: “I will be with you till you’re old. The idolaters waste their resources on making idols who cannot answer them; yet I have summoned a man from the east [ie. King Cyrus] to bring about my purpose.” [YHWH to Babylon]: “You will be dethroned. I used you to punish Israel but you showed no mercy at all and so will be punished. Your nakedness will be exposed. Let’s see if your spells and star-gazers will help you now!” [YHWH to Israel]: “I know how stubborn you are. Hence I warned you about my punishments long beforehand: that idol-worship will be your downfall. I know you’ve been treacherous from the beginning but I won’t destroy you for the sake of my name. I instruct you only for your own benefit. If only you’d follow my commandments! You’d be rich and numerous. Flee from Babylon: I’m redeeming you.”

[Isaiah to nations on behalf of Israel?]: “YHWH appointed me while I was still in the womb and said ‘you are my servant, Israel’. [YHWH to Israel]: “You will be a light onto the nations, who will honour me for choosing you as the covenant people. Zion says I’ve forgotten her. Can a woman disown her baby? The children you thought you’d lost will yet crowd your houses, kings attending to them, licking the dust of your feet. I will make your opressors eat their own flesh.” [Isaiah on behalf of Israel?]: “YHWH roused me, I offered my back to the floggers. My vindicator YHWH is at hand to help me.” [YHWH to Israel]: “Those who pursue justice, look to Abraham your forefather. He was one man but I made his descendents a nation, so too will I restore Zion. Even if heaven melts away, my triumph will remain. Fear not the insults of men. As I slew the primeval beasts, so will I help the exiled return to Zion. Do not fear your opressors.” [YHWH to Jerusalem]: “Arise! You have been utterly destroyed due to my wrath. Who will console you? Yet you’ll never drink from my wrath again. That cup will be given to your enemies. The uncircumcised will never enter you again. My name is now reviled but Israel will learn it and shout for joy.” [YHWH to exilees]: “Keep the laws of purity because if you have vessels for the Temple you’ll be able to take them back. You will not flee into Zion in haste but with dignity.”

[YHWH about Israel]: “My servant will prosper. Because of him kings will be silenced. He has grown by YHWH’s favour like a tree.” [Unclear address]: “He was despised, suffering, diseased, yet he was bearing our sins. By his bruises we were healed. He was submissive, not opening his mouth. He was killed through the sin of my people. His grave was set among the wicked.” [YHWH about Israel]: “For this, I will give him the masses as his spoils.” [Isaiah to Israel]: “Shout for joy, barren woman! Enlarge your tent for your offspring will dispossess nations and repopulate desolate towns. You will forget the shame of your widowhood. YHWH has called you back. He has forsaken you for a while but will bring you back with love.” [YHWH to Israel]: “I will make your foundations of precious stones. I myself create instruments of havoc, therefore I assure you they won’t succeed against you. Every foreign-speaker who sues you, you will defeat. All who are hungry, come buy food even without money. Let the sinner turn back to my and be forgiven. My plans are better than human plans and always come to pass.”

Trito-Isaiah: messianic/end-time prophecies (Chapters 56–66)

[YHWH to Israel]: “Happy is the man who does what’s right and keeps the Sabbath. Even a eunuch or foreigner who does this will retain my favour. The temple will be open for all people. Come, wild beasts, and devour the leaders for all of them just seek their own advantage! You are the offspring of adulterers and harlots! You kill children; your portion will be with the idols who won’t save you. Sound the horn to tell each other of your sins. You’re all scrupulous with your fasts and you wonder why I pay them no heed. Because on the same day of the fast, you’ve opressed your labourers and been wicked! Is this the kind of fast I desire? No, I want the opressed to go free, for you to share your bread with the hungry. Then will I guide you and the ancient ruins will be repaired: if you genuinely keep my sabbaths and don’t just look to your affairs.” [Isaiah to Israel]: “YHWH is not powerless to save: it was your sins which have delayed it. Nothing is just in the legal system, everyone weaves a spider’s web. You know this is why vindication has been delayed. YHWH then saw that nobody else would put things right.”

[Isaiah to Israel about messianic era]: “All nations have gathered around you, their riches flowing to you. They worship at the Temple. Foreigners rebuild its walls, kings serve you. Any nation that refuses has perished. What was once copper is gold. There’s no more violence. You no longer need the sun and moon: YHWH lights everything. You will possess the land forever. For the sake of Jerusalem I will not be silent until victory is complete. Nevermore will it be called desolate, or its grain be given to enemies. YHWH’s clothing is red because he trampled the nations in rage, being troubled by Israel’s troubles.” [Israel to YHWH]: “Don’t be angry with us forever. The temple is burnt, will you remain silent?” [YHWH replies]: “I constantly helped a sinful, ungrateful nation. I won’t destroy everyone, only the wicked who will be hungry while my servants eat. I am creating a new world of endless joy. Never again will there be weeping in Jerusalem; someone who dies at 100 will be considered young. Will I bring the birth stool and shut the womb? [ie. Now that redemption is in motion it won't be stopped.] I will console you like a mother consoles her son. I will come in judgement like a flame. Those who [falsely?] purify themselves, those who eat pork will perish together. But the righteous will come see my glory along with all the nations. Every new moon and sabbath all living things will prostrate themselves before me. They will see the eternally-devoured corpses of those who rebelled against me, and it will be a horror for all.”

Restore Traditional Soviet Values!

Published
by
Michael
on May 3, 2012
.

[As context for this post, it helps to be familiar with Stalin nostalgia in Russia, especially the worship St Stalin. If not, I encourage you to read this post by Takis Konstantopoulos.]

So I came across this video by YouTube user StalinRuss. It was so amazingly wingnutty that I could but stare in awe. Here’s the original, but for the English-speaking intertubes I thought I had to share the nuttiness by creating subtitles for the video. Below is my (admittedly-amateurish) attempt at subtitles using UniversalSubtitles.org, a site that lets you overlay and save 3rd party subtitles over existing YouTube videos without downloading and duplicating. Here it is:


If this embedding doesn’t work, click here to view the video on UniversalSubtitles. If you have trouble seeing the subtitles, I’ve pasted them into the first comment to the post.

Notes to asterisks in the subtitles:
*Not the real meaning of the USSR acronym obviously, but the letters match.
**NOT actually in Russia, in case you weren’t aware!
***Funny that stopped at Kazakhstan and didn’t go on to Central Asia where the population is mostly non-white non-ethnic Russians. What an amazing coincidence…

We have the crank bingo card filled out here:

  • Appeal to economic insecurity
  • Thinly-veiled racist overtones — especially the super-Aryan kids staring creepily at the camera in the style of a cult horror classic
  • Appeal to lost values — and the implied “corruption” by “Westerners”
  • Appeal to family, family values, wholesomeness and the supposedly-lost art of charity and helping people
  • Nostalgia for a non-existent past — especially evidenced in their use of traditional Russian costumes that look to me like they’re from the 18th (not even the 19th!) centuries. I doubt people in those times wearing those costumes would have looked as radiant without the benefit of modern medicine, food technology, the abolition of serfdom and so on.
  • Nostalgia for a past where the manly men were very manly
  • The glee in overcoming “political correctness” that’s imposed by the “liberal elite” with the ability to say what everyone really “knows” with their gut — in this case that Stalin was great.
  • For god and country

But of course the bingo points themselves are a bit obvious. I just found it interesting how closely this parallels the Tea Party movement, as well as common talking points from the general US right today. And yet, the two movements allegedly come from the opposite ends of the political spectrum! Of course, while the video pays lip service to Stalin and the USSR, the ideals it espouses are very much of the conservative strand.

Still, it suggests to me that demagoguery is demagoguery, whether it’s Stalinist or free market fundamentalist. At the end, most forms of [what I see as] wingnuttery and lunacy tend to use almost the same talking points — word for word.

Anarchism Becomes More Viable

Published
by
Michael
on April 30, 2012
.

Vladimir Putin with Islam Karimov-1I’m back from travel, this time for the near-foreseeable future. Over the last 1.5 years I’ve spent over 20 weeks overseas. I’ve been blogging about some of these experiences/countries and will continue to intersperse these posts with regular posts. However, I was still thinking about some over-arching ideas that I’ve learned. And this one topped the list.

I’m not an anarchist. I haven’t discussed anarchism on the blog but basically I don’t agree with it. I don’t (currently) have a reason to think it will lead to better outcomes, at least given humanity’s current state of social development.

But, travelling to countries with much less functional states, I have been impressed with the extent to which the state can act as a hinderance in all aspects of life. Of course this is obvious for repressive states — but it can be just as true for other types of disfunction. Anarchism becomes a lot more viable in countries that people commonly classify as ‘third world’.

It’s particularly galling at how blatant the police are at not hiding the fact that they are largely there to benefit themselves. In countries like Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Cambodia and Vietnam especially, you almost never see a policeman (and it is a man) on the street without them being in the process of pulling someone over in order to extract a fine. Which they will pocket. In many of those places, people involved in a road accident will work it out privately because involving the police will cost the same to both parties plus the obligatory bribe.

But it goes a lot deeper than that. There are plenty of times in Australia where getting police involved will make for a worse outcome. (Again, ignoring ideological arguments against police and the state in principle.) But in some of those countries it’s pretty much in all cases — they literally seem to exist only for their own benefit, as well as to perpetuate the political, social and economic inequalities of the country. Perhaps the only exception is my position — as a tourist I was much more likely to benefit from police in terms of safety than I was to be hindered with violence and/or shakedowns. But that’s precisely because in such cases travellers are NOT treated like locals.

An interesting example comes from Georgia. In 2004, after a particularly loud outcry about police harassing people on the roads, Saakashvili launched an initiative to fire corrupt traffic cops. Very soon after the initiative, all 30,000 police were fired for taking bribes. Georgian roads were police-free for 3 months. And road conditions actually improved, as it became obvious that the police were causing much more chaos than they were preventing.

Of course there are plenty of counterexamples. In The Blank Slate, Pinker vividly describes how his illusions about the benevolence of human nature were shattered:

As a young teenager in proudly peaceable Canada during the romantic 1960s, I was a true believer in Bakunin’s anarchism. I laughed off my parents’ argument that if the government ever laid down its arms all hell would break loose. Our competing predictions were put to the test at 8:00 A.M. on October 17, 1969, when the Montreal police went on strike. By 11:20 A.M. the first bank was robbed. By noon most downtown stores had closed because of looting. Within a few more hours, taxi drivers burned down the garage of a limousine service that competed with them for airport customers, a rooftop sniper killed a provincial police officer, rioters broke into several hotels and restaurants, and a doctor slew a burglar in his suburban home. By the end of the day, six banks had been robbed, a hundred shops had been looted, twelve fires had been set, forty carloads of storefront glass had been broken, and three million dollars in property damage had been inflicted, before city authorities had to call in the army and, of course, the Mounties to restore order.

Of course both ends of the opinion continuum (that hell would always vs never break loose) are caricatures. The specific context matters. For example, I doubt the effect on Montreal would be as bad in 2012 as it was in 1969 because of particular social circumstances. But that’s the point — based on the circumstances in some of the places I visited, it seems just that much easier to see the anarchist viewpoint. It really is all about weapons-backed dick-waving.

A common attitude I’ve seen other travellers show when facing stories of corruption, incompetence and so on is the trope of “it’s all the same”. Yep. Because we have police corruption in (say) Australia, what’s the big deal? It’s all inevitable, right? What an offensive, snide, comfortable way to erase whole orders of magnitude. Do you really think a country whose criminal system rests on confessions as the primary form of evidence (cough Uzbekistan cough) is “like” a country where it doesn’t? Is a 2% chance of dying in a police interrogation room really “like” a 0.001% chance?

So no, I don’t really get the feeling of anarchism back at home (of course my lifestyle is pretty privileged). I probably would in the US. I definitely got it in Uzbekistan.

Friday Links (27-Apr-12)

Published
by
Michael
on April 27, 2012
.
  • Haredi paper justifies gender segregation by saying that even the Nazis had the good sense to have separate death camps for men and women. It’s Godwin’s Poe!
  • The US government dropped a bomb on a US citizen. The DOJ says “based at least in part on evidence it says it has but won’t show anyone, and on a legal argument it has apparently made but won’t show anyone, and the very existence of which it will not confirm or deny”.
  • Universal Music uses false copyright claim to censor news program about its false copyright claim
  • What health measure has the most significant and wide-ranging long-term positive impact on health? Walking for 30 minutes a day. This animation explains.
  • Awesomely funny video of bad lip-reading of Newt Gingrich’s soundbytes.
  • Kids these days!
  • What a great idea! A placebo restaurant that marks up its menu deliberately and then gives you a 50% discount at the end. So during the meal you get the psychological benefit of eating food that feels expensive and gourmet AND then you get the psychological benefit of feeling you’ve saved!
  • The most ludicrous North Korea apologism yet. To quote the analysis, “[c]onservative romanticism raised to a truly idiotic level”.

Travels in Kyrgyzstan (Politics/Governance)

Published
by
Michael
on April 26, 2012
.

If you’re sick of my Kyrgyzstan posts, this is the last. Alas, it should rival the previous post as the most disturbing. The corruption described in the last post certainly spills out to the political process. And yet, Kyrgyzstan is the most democratic country in Central Asia. I know it’s not a high point of comparison, but still… The political problems in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and much of Kazakhstan stem from too much government control. Whereas in Kyrgyzstan (and to an extent Tajikistan), it’s often the opposite — a lack of government control that can spill out into lawlessness. As has been evidenced by the recent coups and massacre.

In 2002, historian Willem van Schendel coined the geographic term Zomia, referring to “the huge massif of mainland Southeast Asia that has historically been beyond the control of governments based in the population centers of the lowlands”. Originally it referred mostly to SE Asia extending into the southern remote parts of China. However in 2007 some academics have proposed to extend it into Central Asia. See the image below (note that Tajikistan is incorrectly labelled as Uzbekistan).

There have been some good criticisms of the concept and generalisations about the behaviour of the people who live in this zone. But I think the basics are pretty solid: much of this area genuinely really does lie beyond the control of national governments. Much of the zone contains mountainous regions (or regions isolated by mountains) with a bit of a wild-west feel. In Central Asia especially, this often means places that are unsafe, politically unstable and subject to warlordism.

The well-known regions that fit this include most of Afghanistan, Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Kashmir. However, southern Kyrgyzstan also fits the Zomia paradigm to an extent. When I was going, the Australian government, had the highest level of advice for Southern Kyrgyzstan (“do not travel”). This has recently been downgraded and now the whole country still has the 2nd highest status (“reconsider your need to travel”). Just to get a comparative feel, this status currently applies to 20 countries including Egypt, Burundi, Haiti and Zimbabwe. Of course much of this stems from the 2010 Osh massacre and its aftermath, as does the downgrade (probably) since it’s been 1.5 years.

Kyrgyzstan has had two overthrows of government, one in 2005 and one in 2010 (and an election-based change of government in late 2011). Or as someone wryly commented, “we have a revolution every five years”. I sensed a little bit of exasperation at the continual instability. People were seriously wondering whether there will be another revolution or even “when” it will be. Not one person I spoke to had any faith in the political process. The 2011 election was coming up when I visited and many lamented that there were about 40 candidates but nobody worth voting for (ie. non-corrupt or non-suspect). Below is a bit of graffiti I saw in Cholpon Ata which says “Otunbayeva — president till 2040,” referring to the then-president. It’s a bit hard to read into these things but I can only assume it was a good bit of sarcasm showing that despite the country being democratic there is no genuine choice.

I heard a lot of conspiracy theories. For instance, the very cursory international-news-level interpretation of the 2 revolutions is that the people got fed up with their presidents (Akayev, then his successor Bakiyev). They demonstrated, the administration responded with violence so the demonstrations snowballed and eventually each of the presidents left. However, in Kyrgyzstan I heard quite a bit of talk of instigation. Basically both presidents (but especially Bakiyev) were ousted by their political opponents who fermented the demonstrations or even set them up. For instance, I’ve seen it claimed that during the 2010 demonstrations, psychotropic gas was used to lower the inhibitions of the people protesting thereby escalating the protests. Again, not commenting on the conspiracy theories, at least they provide a window into how many people in Kyrgyzstan feel about their political situation.

The Osh massacre is also believed to have been instigated, possibly by the ousted Bakiyev to further the interests of his ethnic Kyrgyz political allies in the south (who form a different faction to the politicians in the north). This was echoed by no less than the UN commissioner of human rights, citing that the riots included 5 simultaneous attacks by armed men wearing balaclavas.

I have also spoken to two Uzbeks who had some involvement in the events of the massacre. One of the men was from Uzbekistan and was visiting family in the Uzbek enclave of Shakhimardan which is inside Kyrgyzstan. He heard of the thousands of Uzbek refugees fleeing across the border into Uzbekistan and realised he needed to make a run for “mainland” Uzbekistan before the problems spread. He and his friends packed their car with supplies, trying to cram in as many loaves of flatbread and bottles of water as possible — to give to the refugees. They had a harrowing drive across the narrow stretch of Kyrgyzstan they needed to cross but it all ended up well, and they were able to get into the chaos on the Uzbek side and give supplies to some of the many people who had just crossed the border. The other man was in Bishkek, but he was in Osh at the time and luckily left the day before. According to him his relatives who had remained in Osh reported the Kyrgyz army opening fire on Uzbek civilians and using army equipment (including tanks) against the civilians.

And yet, Kyrgyzstan has by far the most functional democracy in the region. In late 2011 the elections happened and Atambayev became the new president, winning 63% of the vote. This is not a figure that instantly screams “rigged” and given that he was officially backed by Russia is not that surprising. (Of course this shows that there’s a lot more to genuinely fair elections than the mere avoidance of voter tampering). Observers did note irregularities and problems with voter lists, registrations and so on but the observer for the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights did say it was competitive (source). Perhaps this signals a some increase in stability and transparenct — I wish the country the best of luck in attaining what its citizens deserve.

Travels in Kyrgyzstan (Corruption)

Published
by
Michael
on April 19, 2012
.

Kyrgyzstan has a gread deal of corruption, incompetence and cronyism. It’s at such a level that a person from a country with a reasonably functional democracy will have trouble imagining it. These problems are a great candidate for the root cause of many of Kyrgyzstan’s problems. To some it seems naively optimistic to think that the improvement of democratic instutitions will lead to an immediate improvement in the quality of life. For Kyrgyzstan at least, this is probably true.

Below are some of the things I have heard from people I met about the situation. I’ve labelled the hearsay statements for the sake of illustrating a slice of public opinion and how the country is perceived from within. Obviously I’m not claiming these as facts. I have also interspersed these with links to more verifiable sources.

As mentioned before, many Russians feel excluded from public life. If you’re not an ethnic Kyrgyz, this supposedly precludes you from a great deal of offices. However, according to some of the Russians I’ve spoken to, corruption is exacerbated by tribal identities — the Kyrgyz people consider themselves to consist of 40 tribes and many people identify with their tribe before identifying with Kyrgyzstan as a whole. Which makes for some nepotism in government officials. Kyrgyzstan is 164th out of 182 countries on the Corruption Perceptions Index. This means it’s doing worse than Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria and Russia (but better than Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan).

The education system is also subject to corruption. People have said academic misconduct is rampant and you can buy diplomas and university degrees for pretty much any subject. Many parents see it as a cost of doing business when putting their children through university. Some students would then see it as a wasted opportunity to go to all the classes and do the degree properly when you can get such an economic and time advantage by buying a degree. The scariest thing I heard was that this includes medicine! Puts this sign (for a medical centre in Cholpon Ata that offers endocrinology, surgery, tattoos and ear piercings) in a whole new light!

This problem has led to a real lack of expertise and technology in Kyrgyzstan. Two examples:

  • I have a family friend who lives in Bishkek working as a geologist for an Australian company. He gets an Australian salary whereas his Kyrgyz subordinates get a much lower Kyrgyz salary. I don’t think the company could easily hire a local geologist even if it wanted to, if local degrees are not widely trusted in the industry. (Of course there are likely to be a host of other problems entangled with this, including discrimination and the government selling out local interests to foreign bidders at cents on the dollar).
  • No Kyrgyz company is allowed by the EU to fly over the EU (source. The planes+pilots of these companies have (I believe) not been through the standard compliance tests that any airline flying in the EU has. The expertise doesn’t appear to be there — at least in a format that’s trusted. In contrast, national airlines of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan are all fine and certified. The technology is probably very much behind anyway. Allegedly, a large portion of the fleet consists of Soviet planes that happened to have been parked in Bishkek when the USSR broke up.

Since Kyrgyzstan doesn’t have a very developed infrastructure, a lot of its development inevitably relies on foreign investment. However, this requires dealing with corrupt government officials. Bribes are added so routinely that a company can calculate an expected percentage of their dealings in advance that will be paid for these “surcharges”. However, because governance and enforcement are very basic, officials are perceived as still being able to do anything to any company at any time. Three examples:

  • At one of the places I visited, there was lovely scenery and lots of oppotunities for activities but the accommodation was basic. Basic by Western standards of course. I spoke to one of the (local) proprietors. I didn’t even mention anything, she said it herself (paraphrased). “You might be wondering why everything here is so basic? A lot of the tourists that come say, it’s so lovely you should do a little bit of development, you could then have a lot more people come and make more. They don’t know that we are only succeeding because we’re so small nobody’s paying attention to us. But the moment we build something nice which draws in a lot of tourists and a lot of cash, our fearless leaders will come take it all away from us.”
  • All of the fruit juice in supermarkets is imported from Ukraine. And yet much of northern Kyrgyzstan consits of villages with very large untended apple orchards. Small, semi-wild apples grow in their millions — much more than can be eaten. You can see large piles of unused apples rotting by the side of the highway. And yet the Ukrainian companies (allegedly) consider it to be cheaper to ship juice to Kyrgyzstan than to build some local factories to make the juice. All because of the perceived risk of losing such factories the minute they start turning a profit. (Note: there appears to be at least some juice being produced in the country but in the shops I only saw dozens of imported brands.)
  • The Kyrgyz are a Turkic people. Since the USSR collapsed, Turkey has been courting Central Asia with the aim of “helping our Turkic cousins”. Recently (according to the diplomatic grapevine), Turkey proposed to build a $2B hospital in Bishkek. It would be the biggest, best-equipped and best-staffed hospital in Central Asia and people would flock to it from many countries. As a comparison, the anual budget of the whole country is less than $2B. The official that spoke to the Turks listened to their proposal and said “that all sounds great, but what’s in it for me?” He still wanted his percentage taste of the action, even though wetting his beak would have probably cost tens of millions based on the size of the project. The project was cancelled.

As usual with such posts, there’s a real danger of giving a warped impression of the country. Kyrgyzstan has NGOs and activists pushing for transparency/reform much in the same way that most countries have them. Work is being done and none of the above should be taken as evidence that things aren’t improving. (Whether they are or not at the moment I don’t have any indication of, but that’s the point.)

Friday Links (13-Apr-12)

Published
by
Michael
on April 13, 2012
.

Travels in Kyrgyzstan (Religion)

Published
by
Michael
on April 12, 2012
.

Some of the main divisions in Kyrgyzstan are between the more secular, Russified and/or westernised north and the more traditional/religious, Central Asian south. The south also has more ethnic Uzbeks (although they make up just 14% of the country). However, the north is not religion-free by any means. There has been a tremendous religious revival since independence. For Russians this means the Russian Orthodox church and for everyone else it means the Hanafi branch of Islam. This is the least strict branch and also the most numerous by adherents. It is also one of the widespread, being the main school in much of Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Western China and all Central Asian countries (except Tajikistan).

Islam was introduced very late in Kyrgyzstan meaning that adherents are not too strict comparatively. In the north, I don’t think I was a single woman in any sort of headscarf. This included the more rural areas. Alcohol is ubiquitous and there are many Kyrgyz brands of vodka. Vodka has become a traditional part of Kyrgyz life — a cultural inheritance of the Soviets that has persisted throughout Central Asia. In fact, it goes quite nicely with the idea of the traditional nomadic feast/celebration. Pork products are available and consumed at any deli. Pretty much every town has a small mosque but I didn’t come across any in Bishkek.

The revival is well on its way though. More mosques are being constructed, more schools being opened. Part of this might just be that Kyrgyzstan does not seem to exert the same kind of top-down state-imposed control of religion as elsewhere in Central Asia. It’s easier to start your own religious organisation and so on. My guide and porter were part of the revival. The guide took his prayer-mat on the trek, praying 4 times a day. He only missed the morning prayer because otherwise he’d run out of time packing up the tents — but at home it was 5 times a day. The porter did not know how to do namaz (what they call prayer) but wanted to learn. Neither of them drank alcohol or ate pork.

There was a most interesting incident with two religious men in their 30s — this was the only time in my life someone tried to convert me to Islam. I was out in Cholpon Ata and decided to stop for lunch at a small local chaikhana operated in a private house with a courtyard in an alley I was walking down. The courtyard was empty except for 2 religious men sitting at one of the raised tables. They called me over to sand asked me to join them. Both were taxi drivers; the quieter man was also a halal butcher, the more talkative one was also a hotel security guard and the muezzin at the local mosque. The talkative man asked what religion I was.

He replied that having no religion was the worst option of all since I would go straight to an eternal fiery hell. His hell was refreshingly honest in its literal (and punitive!) nature. His argument for god was the standard “look at the trees and how beautiful they are, look at how intricate the human body is, look at how god has provided everything for you”. I wasn’t comfortable arguing back mainly because it would have simply been awkward for the conversation. He was just so sure that it seemed pointless. Also it was an unusual situation and I had a serious case of the l’esprit de l’escaliers. The owner came with my meal and asked if I preferred to go back to my own booth. He probably thought they were bothering me — I said no. The two guys may have been delusional but they were very friendly.

The man went on. Islam, only teaches peace and terrorists/murderers aren’t real Muslims. There were 60 branches of Islam and all were wrong — except theirs which was the ‘real’ Islam. I asked what they called their branch of Islam. I was trolling, really. I predicted his answer (“just Islam – since it’s not a sect of Islam but the real thing”) in advance and just wanted to have him say it. His organisation has branches in several countries and he wanted to go to the US to preach. He kept inviting me to his mosque but I said (again, trolling) I’d be visiting plenty of mosques in Uzbekistan, Iran etc. He said those weren’t real mosques because they didn’t teach real Islam.

He tried to make a point about how intricate the eye is and in how it supposedly proves a god. He asked if I would ever consent to have my eye cut out for an immense sum of money – something like $100 billion. I figured he was expecting me to say no so he could say this shows how unique and irreproducible the human eye is. So instead, I trolled* a bit more. I said that yes I’d definitely do it because of all the wonderful things you could do with $100 billion, all the people you could help, the lives you could save and so on. Which made him say I have a good heart and then continue. At least it derailed him a bit. He gave me his phone number and invited me to stay at his house next time I’m in Cholpon Ata.

It was an interesting experience to say the least. As I said, I wasn’t comfortable arguing with him directly — I just satisfied myself with trolling. He believed in all the most chauvinistic aspects of religion most strongly. And yet there was genuine warmth and hospitality. I was a bit amused at the time but now I’m just sad for him. He is doing what any good person would do if they believed in Islam and took it seriously. I mean if I believed all non-Muslims would face eternal torture on the afterlife, I would probably be very dedicated to converting people. I probably wouldn’t hesitate to use any dishonest tactic since it would stop something very terrible from happening — the eternal torture of a human being. And just like him, I would want very much to be as good a Muslim as I could be and to counteract the stereotype of Muslims to any outsider.

So his behaviour is perfecly rational IF his beliefs are true. But of course it’s so crude and reductionist and dehumanising and racist to discuss the truth of religious beliefs — no no, I should be concerned if his beliefs give him Meaning, Epiphanies and warm fuzzies.

*By trolling I mean answering in a way that would derail his argument. Obviously I would consent to have my eye put out for a huge some of money. If you have a huge sum of money you’d like to pay me to put my eye out, please contact me and my people will talk to your people…

Travels in Kyrgyzstan (Culture/Identity)

Published
by
Michael
on April 5, 2012
.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for was how Russian [Northern] Kyrgyzstan was. As one traveller remarked, it looked more Russian than Central Asian. A lot of people seem to look at the USSR with an element of nostalgia. Certainly, people were much better-off back then. People got substantial subsidies from Moscow, as well as the benefits of a centralised system of free education, healthcare and so on. One person also painted the idea of Kyrgyzstan being least hit during Stalin’s purges, as well as the general impression a large nomadic population would have gotten when settled into apartments. All in all, the view of the Soviets is very different in Kyrgyzstan compared to other parts of the former USSR. Still, I wasn’t prepared for the statues of Lenin to still be up in central parts of the smaller towns (like the one in Cholpon Ata pictured).

One area where this came through was the ideology presented in museums. I visited regional museums in Cholpon Ata and Karakol as well as the national museum in Bishkek and all of them fit very closely what I imagine a 1970s Soviet museum to be. Sure, there was some stuff on Kyrgyzstan since independence. But most of the linear narrative remained. For instance the national museum still had the lengthy sections on pre-revolutionary op-eds published by the Bolsheviks — not as elements of historical interest but seemingly as things relevant to today. The explanations of the social structure of the Kyrgyz people before vs after the Soviets was also pretty socialist. The Kyrgyz you see were a highly stratified society at the pre-feudal stage of their development — and then the Soviets came and made everyone equal. Not that there isn’t some truth to some of these things but it was put in a very shocking way.

One element of Soviet life which has remained is the propiska. This is your official city/town of residence as registered with the authorities. You cannot live elsewhere without permission, there was no freedom of movement in the USSR. People in the provinces were barred from the opportunities of (say) Moscow and Leningrad. In Kyrgyzstan, people do live where they choose but if they live outside their propiska, this makes them illegal [internal] immigrants. A sobering example of this was seen by a backpacker I met. He saw a woman collapse in an epileptic fit on the street in Bishkek. He asked a passerby to call the ambulance service. The operator wanted to know if the patient had a propiska in Bishkek. The passerby said she didn’t know the woman having the fit at all — so the operator just hung up before the passerby could get another word in. From what I heard, basic healthcare is free throughout the country, but only where you have your propiska.

There is a strong ideal of ethnic Kyrgyz nationalism being fostered. The national symbol is Manas, the hero of the Epic of Manas, an oral tradition claimed to stretch back 1000 years (as evidenced by the 1000 year anniversary of Manas celebrated in 1995). Ala Too Square, the centre of the country, has a giant Manas monument as do many other squares in Bishkek and other towns. The airport is Manas airport and I have heard there are even talks to rename Bishkek into Manas. As the woman who told me this joked, what a fine distraction from the lack of work being done on the economy/infrastructure and so on…


Artist’s impression of the main characters of the Manas Epic

It’s understandable that the traditional nomadic culture is put on a pedestal. The obvious problems are romanticising the past (especially an era of warlordism and “honour”), nationalism and hero worship. As an example of hero worship, a traveller I spoke to met a woman who spoke admiringly of Stalin because he had lots of power and killed lots of people and she wished for a man who had such power. Of course this is double-hearsay but for me it fit into some of the things I saw. A more direct example of the harm of romanticising an oft-mythologised past is the tradition of bride kidnapping. This is being revived (usually with the implied pseudo-consent of the bride) — except that historians differ on how historical and traditional this actually is. A sobering doco on this can be found marshrutka ride in rural Kyrgyzstan. A very drunk passenger started talking to me and joked that I should stay in the country instead of returning to Australia. “You’ll buy a house, learn to shoot, kidnap a wife,” he said laughing.

Another aspect of nationalism is that the elections were coming up and all the candidates were Kyrgyz. There was one Russian who was roundly condemned for running. As the manager of the guesthouse I stayed in said (paraphrased): “People are just ruling him out for being Russian — how can a Russian rule over us? I want to know what his views are, not who he is. Unfortunately most people are nationalistic.” This man was an ethnic Uzbek so of course his comments could be explained from a self-serving perspective. In which case I say, this just means minority opinions on public policy should be given MORE weight if anything since they are more likely to be democratic. But the man’s opinion was shared by many others — that if you’re not an ethnic Kyrgyz, your prospects in Kyrgyzstan are limited.

Friday Links (30-Mar-12)

Published
by
Michael
on March 30, 2012
.
  • Great little animation using Google Image search’s “similar to” matching tool. They started with a black image and kept getting the most “similar” image through several thousand repetitions which you get to see evolve in a timelapse.
  • Cory Doctrow on the roadmap to internet freedom.
  • A nice way to quantify vague notions of belief
  • Outstanding concept by photographer Sergey Larenkov. Historic photographs of WWII are melded with modern photos of the same place, taken from the same angle.
  • Whenever you need to pithily explain the correlation/causation thing, just use this link
  • YourMorals.org, a site where you can participate in some psychological research as well as take a number of tests that evaluate your morality and other traits.
  • Where do you sit on the global income scale?
  • An odious video on Uganda’s “Kill Gay People” bill too horrific for words. What makes it even more infuriating is that the show (For The Record), is ultra-ultra-conservative wingnut internet show done in the exact style of hipster geek culture videos.

Travels in Kyrgyzstan (Movement of People & Ideas)

Published
by
Michael
on March 29, 2012
.

Internet penetration is pretty basic, mainly because local ISPs charge about $20-$30 a month which is prohibitively expensive for most people. The network is not sophisticated: when I was in Karakol, a single malfunction shut down internet access for the entire town for the day (as I learned when trying my 3rd internet cafe). However, the country appears to be making some strides in increasing coverage. People seem to be interested in obtaining the internet as a way to get opportunities to learn English, earn more, emigrate and so on. I met someone who worked for an ISP, she seemed to think she was employed in a growth industry. My porter was doing treks all summer to save up to buy a computer. He has now done this, obtained an internet connection and so on.

Speaking of emigration, this is one of the saddest things I’ve seen on the trip: in many countries people really really want to leave. In Kyrgyzstan, popular opinion seems to be that at any given time, over 50% of citizens are outside the country earning higher foreign wages (and sending back disbursements). Of course people don’t just want to leave for economic reasons but for political ones and so on. Still, it was a strong sign of the level of economic distress. “The country’s in the arse,” as a local I met said.

Most of the migrants are in Russia (or Ukraine). On this, I had another lesson in differences in perception. Talking to a few locals I met, I said that Moscow is not considered to be a city of particular opportunity for Russians living in Australia. They were shocked since to them Moscow was a Mecca of high wages and opportunity where locals would strive to go to.

Another particularly sad thing about the lack of opportunity to leave is a lack of opportunity to travel. It’s not feasible for the vast majority of residents to leave the country based on the cost of getting there and the comparative cost of travel and living in other countries. I met a couple in their 60s who were part herders part small business owners. The wife was very eager to see any photos I had and just to know things about the outside world. Unfortunately it was only the start of my trip so my camera only had some photos of China.

She said her daughter was telling her about the tallest tower in the world but couldn’t remember where it was. I said she was probably talking about the tower in Dubai. The woman said the following (paraphrased): “Maybe. But either way, all of these places we won’t get to see before we die.”

Besides the obvious sadness, this highlighted how ridiculous it is to be a Luddite about some “pristine, authentic” cultures that haven’t yet plugged into what the rest of us sheeple participate in. There are millions, nay tens of millions, who very much want to participate in the outside world, thought the globalisation of information if nothing else. Their inability is often a source of distress, shame, frustration and humiliation. I was only able to learn about the Burj Dubai by seeing a YouTube video of someone at the top. This, and every other event, object and idea that’s been documented, is part of the heritage of every person on earth. Lack of participation in the global conversation can be more galling than economic deprivation. This couple felt their voice didn’t matter. This will continue to be the case unless everyone focuses on information exchange as a right as fundamental as food.

“You should definitely come back here in 20 years, see how Kyrgyzstan has changed,” said the wife. “But with a wife.”

Travels in Kyrgyzstan (Economy)

Published
by
Michael
on March 22, 2012
.

Kyrgyzstan is a very poor country and the 2nd poorest of the former Soviet republics (after Tajikistan). According the CIA World Factbook, it ranks 153/193 countries for GDP (per capita) PPP, below (for instance) Sudan, Laos, Pakistan, Yemen, Ghana and Djibouti.

As a result, everything is cheap for the foreign traveller. The biggest example is that my 6 day trek cost just $400. And for this, I had a guide and a porter to myself, it included all meals that they prepared, tent and sleeping bag hire, entrance to all the national parks we went through and the hot springs. This also made tipping my guides an entire dilemma: how much do I give? The fact is that I could afford whatever reasonable number I wanted to give so the question involved simply making up a number in my head, almost context-free. This particularly highlighted the difference in our levels of wealth.

Infrastructure is also very basic. The international airport is essentially a shed that reminded me of Melbourne’s domestic Avalon Airport. Roads are in a poor enough condition in the capital, to say nothing of the road to Karakol. And this is one of the more developed roads — I was told the road along the south of Lake Issyk Kul is much worse.

A very telling example was the state of the petroglyphs at Cholpon Ata. The petroglyph site is fenced off from the nearby town…just on two sides. You can walk directly from the town into the site. Local cows go there to graze and the guide/caretaker said she has to chase them away. She also chases away little kids who go there to play and sometimes do things not conducive to keeping the petroglyphs (like peeing in the site). Next to the petroglyphs is what looks like an overgrown road, used by private cars and taxis. This is actually the former Cholpon Ata airstrip, which has been non-operational for years.

Of course this doesn’t mean that life in Kyrgyzstan has to be worse than life in the west in every aspect. One difference that I think locals found useful was low property prices. An apartment in Bishkek can be bought for $10,000, and of course the countryside is much cheaper. Yes, having low and fairly static prices certainly means the economy is not growing too well. Still, it seems that most people own where they live outright. There are banks that give mortgages but people I talked to seem to have no need for it. They were amused and horrified when I told them that in Sydney, an apartment could easily cost 10 times a person’s annual salary.

Ironically, the traditional nomadic yurt has become a luxury that few can afford to have. A good yurt costs as much as a decent apartment in Bishkek. This is mainly because it’s made of very high-quality materials. Some of the wood has to be imported, I wasn’t sure if it was from environmental degradation or the opposite (a lack of a logging industry in Kyrgyzstan to keep up with yurt demand).

I only saw two people actually begging, both at religious landmarks. It wasn’t clear whether it was because police chased beggars away or if it was socially unacceptable or both. What I did know coming in is that the poorest people were Russian grandmothers who had been left with very little welfare and next to no representation in government (due to not being ethnic Kyrgyz). These grandmothers often sit by the road selling trinkets or whatever they can. An old woman at the Osh Bazaar in Bishkek was selling blini for 5 som each, calling out in a wail how cheap they are. Because it was Independence Day, she called them holiday blini and presidential blini and so on. And yet everybody passed by and nobody bought one. I don’t know if it was her misplaced yet desperate marketing or the desperation in her voice but I found it heart-rending.

In terms of food, things seem reasonable. I did not see anyone who was malnourished enough for my amateur’s gaze to notice as such. According to the UN’s FAO, people in Kyrgyzstan get an average of 2670kcal/day which is not terrible considering that Japan’s is 2810. But not great either.

Some people I met who had a garden were planting from a cardboard box from the UN World Food Programme. As I learned later, the WFP has a campaign to make it easier for people to diversify the seeds they plant so as to increase variety and so on — so it wasn’t a malnutrition campaign as such. A fine idea nonetheless.