O S M A F Frankenhaeuser

When we arrived back from Provence there was still snow on the ground, much to our horror (at least mine!) since we still had summer tyres on both cars and needed to change. But to get to the winter tyres we had to drive 15 kms through snow and ice! Finallyit succeeded, and wasn’t as scary as I had feared. 

Two days later the snow was gone, and since then we have had snow on the ground, but not enough for skiing. And one single skating tour – it has been cold and the lakes and the rivers are frozen – is all we have managed until now, a few days before Christmas, when it is +3 degrees and all the snow is gone. Dark, wet and miserable! Not what we wanted.

The political climate in Finland is equally miserable. Our government is under heavy pressure from the opposition because of their reluctance to honour the constitution. There’s muchto be said about the situation in Finland today – more about that later.

Another discussion is ongoing about YLE .My former employer, one of the bastions of freedom of speech in Finland, has suddenly found itself in the middle of a scandal, involving the prime minister and the editor in chief of News and Current Affairs at Yle. Some of the journalists have resigned in protest,claiming their freedom of speech has been restricted inapproprietly, word stands against word, and, what is worst, the credibility and trustworthiness of Yle has suffered a heavy blow. Most disturbing.

In the middle of all this Itry to calm down by talking long walks with Africa. And collecting pictures of tracks in the snow.

Cats, deer, mice, hares, birds, dogs, cats and humans. 

Most days are dark and gloomy, and the snow comes out blue in pictures. But some days have been sunny, and the light can be quite magical.

In the lovely little bubble that Sud-Luberon is, life goes on regardless of what is happening on the world scene. We have used some of the last weeks to host guests from Finland, sightseeing and meeting people.

Roussillon revisisted:

Gordes, Lacoste and Bonnieux inspected under a clear sky and a strong mistral:

Our last visit, yesterday, was to Baux de Provence and Carrières de Lumières. I was a bit sceptical about going there, but it was a truly wonderful experience. The old castle of Baux de Provence is nothing but a ruin today, but what a view. And what a size! It must have been quite a stronghold in its day.

The steps up to the highest points of the castle are so worn down by water and wind that there is hardly anything left. A huge part of the castle must simply have been dug into the cliffs, forming natural rooms. Around the castle lies the little village. And further up the road is the old quarry, where limestone has been excavated. Huge grottos were formed, where now multimedia shows are hosted. The one we saw was about Chagall. The next one will be about Brueghel and Bosh.

What will a Trump era bring with it? What will the world look like four years down the road?I guess I’m as worried as anyone else who had hoped for another outcome. The analyses and explanations in the media are many and varied. Here are some quotes from one of them.

 “He  is using passion, anger and rhetoric in the same way all his predecessors did — a charismatic narcissist who feeds on the crowd to become ever stronger, creating a cult around himself.” The quote is from a blog post (History tells us what will happen next with Brexit and Trump) by Thomas Stone, who argues that history repeats itself and that we, as human beings, time and time again wreak havoc upon ourselves.

“But at the time people don’t realize they’re embarking on a route that will lead to a destruction period. They think they’re right, they’re cheered on by jeering angry mobs, their critics are mocked. This cycle, the one we saw for example from the Treaty of Versaille, to the rise of Hitler, to the Second World War, appears to be happening again. But as with before, most people cannot see it because:

1. They are only looking at the present, not the past or future

2. They are only looking immediately around them, not at how events connect globally

3. Most people don’t read, think, challenge or hear opposing views.”

History might indeed teach us, but are we willing to learn?

To have a person who is a narcissist, a bully, a sociopath and also a totally unpredictable man as the president in the US. What a nightmare. But it is not the worst nightmare. The worst is that this is one more example of the deep crisis of democracy. We see it in Europe – in Turkey, Hungary, Poland, in the populist movements everywhere, in Brexit. And there seems to be no remedy coming from the established political parties. Instead, the gap is growing. The establishment, including some of the media, has one understanding of the world, all those people who feel betrayed, whose living conditions do not improve, who want things to change, no matter what, have a totally different understanding. Again and again the same thing happens, the anger and the disappointment sweeps away what we know, and replaces it with hopes for another future. Often false hopes, unfortunately. If only those hopes would be carried by someone who might have even the slightest chance of actually changing. An honest person, like Obama, and not someone who is only interested in boosting himself. Now we have Trump, Putin, Orban, Erdogan……. And what if the next thing is Marine le Pen as the president in France? What then?
So is there anything we can do? At least one thing, I think. Listen. Listen with an open mind, without prejudice. And having listened, we can try to understand and learn. And then, act accordingly. Will it help? I don’t know. I am an eternal optimist, a person who believes that people are inherently good. And that it always pays to include, to be generous, to be open and think positively. But reading what Thomas Stone says, it might not help:

” What can we do? Well, again, looking back, probably not much. The liberal intellectuals are always in the minority. The people who see that open societies, being nice to other people, not being racist, not fighting wars, is a better way to live, they generally end up losing these fights. They don’t fight dirty. They are terrible at appealing to the populace. They are less violent, so end up in prisons, camps, and graves. We need to beware not to become divided , we need to avoid getting lost in arguing through facts and logic, and counter the populist messages of passion and anger with our own similar messages. We need to understand and use social media.

We need to harness a different fear. Fear of another World War nearly stopped World War 2, but didn’t. We need to avoid our own echo chambers. Trump and Putin supporters don’t read the Guardian, so writing there is just reassuring our friends. We need to find a way to bridge from our closed groups to other closed groups, try to cross the ever widening social divides.”