IF Menden 2016｜Issue 1 - Responsibility

Resp nsibility

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EYP Media is the video shown after coming home from an evening programme in the middle of the night, the topic poster stuck on your committee room’s wall, as well as the countless pictures Facebook is flodded with.

It is a column you can lean on for academic preparation as well as a safe haven for banter. It shall tease you, provoke you, inspire you, entice you, enchant you and keep you up at night.

Toni & Flora

Editorial 1-2 EYP & RESPONSIBILITY Responsibility as an EYPer 3-4 Impact of EYP 5-6 COMPARATIVE RESPONSIBILITY Perception 7-8 What are you responsible for? 9-10 PHILOSOPHY Challenging He(d)gemonic Ideologies 11-12 Let’s Get Metaphysical 13-14 Philosoquotes 15-16

Your Life Is Your Biggest Peace of Art 17-18

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Responsibilty As an EYPER Aliosha Bielenberg FEMM delegate Thinking critically about the future while developing crutial skills and wonderful friendships.

Dora Ă–ncĂźl ECON Journalist Expanding the spirit of EYP to engage future participants and making unforgettable memories with all EYPers.

Federico Righi EMPL delegate Keeping politics exciting to people by showing that there are other young faces who are interested in world issues.

Filippo Bertolini ECON Chair Living in accordance with European values in order to spread an internationally opened mindset that can help us get in touch with other cultures and improve our critical thinking and vision of the actual state of things.

Giuseppe Donnarumma ECON delegate Representing my country and showing my culture to others while exploring other cultures.

Melina Dursun TR

Here are the responses of the lovely delegates and officials to the question ‘What is a responsibility you have as an EYPer?’ The replies convey how being a part of EYP adds more responsibilities to our lives and help us develop certain skills while doing so. Whether you are an official or a delegate there is so much you can do to contribute to the future of Europe by being a part of EYP. I felt very proud to be a part of this community during the interview, and so should you. n

Josef Khomyak ECON delegate Other people are involved in EYP and have fun while sharing the experience.

Luc Vorsteveld LIBE Chair To always try to look just a bit better when the Journalitst are around!

Matthew Gibbons EMPL Journalist Creating an atmosphere where people can develop their own understanding of Europe and the world.

Salma Ismaila LIBE delegate Talking to people about the EU and raising awareness by always being involved.

Francisca Somann LIBE Journalist Other than my feeling to act responsıbly to represent my national committee well and the need to be a role model to the delegates as an official, I believe that in EYP, one’s responsibilıiy to enable and support each other to ensure the personal development of someone else is the most important thing when attending an EYP session.

EYP

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E - why - p ?

Lena KREft DE

You can be political without being in parties One of the wonderful aspects of EYP is being able to express your political views and opinions without being lablled as a subscriber of a single political party. Here in EYP we don’t easily pigeon-hole our fellow participants, we’re rather open-minded in order to appreciate different opinions and points of view.

EYP changes people Every person, that has attended and EYP Session knows, that EYP makes you step outside of your comfort zone. And that is exactly where change happens. Holding speeches in front of a hundred people watching you, playing awkward games during Teambuilding and discussing your committee topic with a lot of different opinions coming together. After all, it is common EYP knowledge that participating in this organisation makes you believe more in yourself and your skills.

Understanding cultures from all over Europe Being a pan-European operating organisation, we are able to contribute to the international understanding of varying cultures. We are able to exchange the experiences we make everyday in our countries with other young people from other European states. Because of this we are capable of getting to know foreign countries at first hand and are able to compare different standards and life circumstances, which are all co-existing on one continent. Furthermore our work can help overcome stigmas, which is important for a peaceful and trusting Europe.

1578 592 Committees/

Resolutions

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countries

Events

1456

Days of

EYP

3020 215 Days of active

Training volunteers

1387 132 Training Schools involved Events

20 international

But why EYP? This abbreviation stands for something not everyone can understand. Let alone this year 34,428 young people took part in our organisation and every participant experienced our very own EYP spirit. Do you know this high you’re starting to feel days before the session?

The excitement to meet new and old friends? To spent days of sleep deprivation and awesome coffee breaks with people you’ve only met that week? Getting to know new cultures, defying stereotypes and more? The way that at the end of the session you don’t want to go home, no you want to stay in this beautiful bubble that is EYP? Welcome to the wonderful world of EYP. Hopefully you will enjoy your stay! And keep in mind: They may say you’re dreamer...but you’re not the only one! n

1402

Teachers

Training 34.428

events Participants

EYP

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What are We Responsbile For?

With freedom comes responsibility.

Who or what are you responsible for? Personal responsibility includes being responsible for your own actions and well-being. In relation to social roles each person has their own way of doing things while living their own life.

Katarina Stefanovic RS

Personal responsibility means to own up to whatever is set before you, big or small, a little or a lot. It is holding your own self accountable for your actions, because all of your actions will have consequences behind them. We, the Media Team of the International Summer Forum in Menden, wanted to see what your responsibilities are.

comparative responsibility

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Niall McManus IE

Latifah Dawodu UK

I feel particularly responsible to get people involved.

In my opinion, you can always have fun but it’s crucial that you follow the rules and take responsibility for yourself.

As a citizen of France, I believe it is my responsibility to make sure we don’t forget our core values and keep a debate going to live up to these.

The Menden Media Team has the ambition to collect the participant’s perceptions of the session theme: “Responsibility for Europe’s Youth”. That’s why we interviewed delegates as well as officials so that they can share their views.

We asked them several different questions, for instance for whom they are feeling responsible for. Ari-

Responsibility for me means being able to make my own choices and to always keep in mind other people’s interests as well as mine.

Athina Firtinidou GR

Ana Rosa Fernandes Coelho PT

Sacha Magnani Magnani FR

Michaela Pishia CY

It’s important to form your own opinion and get involved, the EYP offers the perfect opportunity to do so.

Greece has been walking on a tightrope for a while now, it’s our responsibility to make sure we can touch the ground in the end.

Perception.

Photos in full size to be found in colour and high resolution on Prezi through the QR code or on Sam Van Hoof’s Facebook profile.

YASMIN kartes DE SAM VAN Hoof BE

Christine Meiser DE

For me, responsibility is following up your words through actions: Act as you say; your word is your bond.

It’s a responsibility of Europeans to feel united as one society even though we come from very different countries.

Miren Gil-Vernet ES

Ariadna Puig Engel ES

Indirectly I’m feeling responsible for everybody I’m meeting. In my opinion responsibility doesn’t only include important things, it also lies in the little actions; for example making someone feel comfortable around you.

I believe it’s our responsibility to be aware that we live in a society and that our actions affect others.

Fabian Eiden DE

adna told us that once she took care of a friend’s bunny just to show her parents that she could be responsible for a pet. So now she feels the most responsible for her cat: “My cat is like a son to me”. We listened to Ana telling us that she, as a citizen of her home country, feels responsibility when she is visiting a different country as she wants to represent it in an appropriate way.

To Sacha responsibility means being aware of what we do and that everything we do has an impact.

In the end it was possible to collect a lot of various thoughtful ideas of how to interpret responsibility and the session theme. But you will see for yourselves! n

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comparative responsibility

Challenging the heDgemonic ideology

Francisca Somann NL

You might have already noticed that this EYP session is not like any session you have ever participated in. Not only the programme is unique, the entire academic concept was shaped from a new perspective. Looking at the topic overviews, you saw that they have a different format and the focus has shifted, but what the rationale is of the concept and how to realise it in the topics, might remain a bit vague. To clarify even the deepest thoughts, we asked the architect of the academics to enlighten us.

How did you come up with the concept we are using at this session? Have you felt the urge to break the status quo at EYP sessions for a longer time?

I started EYP in 2009 and since that time I always suspected that we were not meeting the academic standards that we were aiming for. Delegates needed too much knowledge about technicalities in order to properly participate. I actually stopped with EYP for approximately one year because I did not feel comfortable with technical topics, it goes against the way I personally see EYP in our society and sustains the liberal ideology, with which I do not concord. After this year, I wanted to come back with a proposal that I did feel comfortable with and

we already agreed upon certain basics of the EU that are seen as a given.

look further than the technical discussions and question the system, as I do in my daily life.

The slaves of today are the ones paying for their own cages.

What exactly do you have against technical discussions?

What we have to realise is that when we have technical discussions, we are already accepting existing ideology, which means that we are only able to have technical discussions because we have a tacit agreement on the basics of society, which we never talk about in EYP. This is why we always focus on the ‘how’, instead of the ‘what’ and ‘why’.

This is also why we are not politically neutral, because

Do you see the basics that we do not discuss as wrong or out-dated? Would society be improved if these will be revised?

Yes, I am very critical towards liberalism; I believe liberalism causes a lot of social fragmentation. On one hand we have no feeling of class and we feel as if we make choices freely. But in fact, there are still social norms; we just do not perceive them. Because liberalism presented itself as the solution after totalitarian regimes, we believe that we live in a free society now, but this is an illusion. Norm does not necessarily need to be disciplinary to exist.

How did this different approach influence the topics that were chosen for this session?

The rationale behind the topics is basically finding concrete cases where we see that the categories with which we normally understand the world, do not really match with the issues the world is facing. Therefore, we cannot really use the standard frameworks to solve the new social demands that we are having. Because the liberal categories do not suffice, what we see as natural becomes ideological.

What we understand as the

world is just another ideology that we are taking for granted. Therefore, we are unmasking and revising it.

How do you think that this different approach will influence the resolutions?

The kind of clauses that we are looking for are definitions (introductory clauses) and statements concerning these definitions (operative clauses). I want to make evident that the introductory clauses are never objective, because they are just one way of how the topic is perceived.

This means that at this session, there will already be moral discussions for the introductory clauses.

The ethical and moral nature of the resolutions will be something that everyone can relate to more.

Everybody has an opinion about these topics, because they are about how we see the world. You do not need technical nor philosophical knowledge; these topics could be something you discus with your friends in a bar. They are moral and ideological discussions and I am really happy that we are finally able to realise this in EYP. n

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Often in our everyday lives responsibility is something that we take for granted; everyone has certain duties towards other people that they have to follow – don't lie, don't steal, don't forget to text back – right? But how much responsibility must we take for our fellow human beings? Is responsibility a moral obligation, a human construct, a lie we tell ourselves? We are not the first people to ask these questions and there are many schools of thought when it comes to the philosophy of responsibility. Here are some of the big ones:

Bentham's theory of utilitarianism follows a simple rule: The greatest good for the greatest number.

According to this rule, humans have the responsibility to make choices which provide maximum happiness for the maximum amount of people. The flip side of this is that utilitarians claim no responsibility for the needs of the few. Likewise, they believe we have no responsibility to ensure that our actions themselves are beneficial, once the consequences provide human happiness.

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A theory attributed to Hobbes, contractarians view responsibility in the context of a social contract: That is, humans are responsible for preserving each other's human rights, only under the condition that their human rights are preserved by others. This theory is based in the idea that humans are fundamentally self­interested: our sense of responsibility for other people derives solely from our desire to be protected by them in turn.

matthew gibbons IE

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RIGHT

Founded by Kant, deontology states that actions themselves are either moral or immoral and that we have a responsibility to always act in a way which is morally right, regardless of the circumstances. This centres responsibility on the action, ensuring that our deeds are always ethically right. However, by disregarding context, deontologists relinquish any responsibility for the consequences of their actions. A deontologist might argue, for example, that since lying is wrong, you must honestly answer a murderer when he asks where his next victim is hiding.

So what relevance do these ancient philosophers and their theories have to our lives? As Europe's youth and Europe's future a certain amount of responsibility has been thrust upon you. How you choose to wield this responsibility, what choices you make, what you believe you are and aren't responsible for, this is up to you. This is not to say you must choose a theory, stand by your favourite philosopher and strictly follow a certain ideology; but when the weight of a continent rests on your shoulders, it's important not to just accept the mantle that has been passed down to you, but to question it. So, what responsibilities do we really have and how should that responsibility manifest? How should we observe, adopt or adapt existing theories? How do we take metaphysical responsibility and make it physical reality?

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philosoquotes ARIADNA PUIG ENGEL ES YASMIN KARTES DE

As this session has different academic and discussion approach, we are not only focused on facts but also on the philosophical basis of the committee topics. To show that our philosophical theories are not just attempts but very thoughtful results. In this photo series we compared our participants to wellknown philosophers: We let them imitate their poses and modernize their quotes. n

One must still have coffee in oneself to be able to give birth to a staring dance.

Friedrich Nietzsche

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One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.

Albert Reverendo Mascort

Eatenus ergo sum: I eat, there- Cogito ergo sum: I think, therefore I am. fore I am.

RenĂŠ Descartes Mila Sharifullina

Two things awe me most, the apples and pears above and the noggins inside me.

Immanuel Kant

Two things awe me most, the starry sky above and the moral law inside me.

Mishel aliaj

There is only one way to avoid criticism: do pizza, say pizza & be pizza.

Aristotle

There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing & be nothing.

Mike Graca

Human behaviour flows from three main sources: sex, drugs and alcohol.

Plato (old man)

Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion and knowledge.

Julia Kondratowicz

Leisure is the mother of Catastrophy.

Thomas Hobbes

Leisure is the mother of Philosophy.

Hannes Hieronimi

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UTKAN DORA ÖNCÜL TR

I lost my faith in destiny. Reconstructing how I elaborate the notion of “responsibility” after reading the quote from US First Lady, politician, diplomat and activist Eleanor Roosevelt, I lost my faith in destiny as a divine source that shapes our lives. The epiphany was the fact that we were the ones leading our lives, and I have the complete control over mine. “It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves.” Shakespeare further explains my deduction that we hold the true responsibility to craft our own future.

According to Cambridge Dictionary “responsibility” -along with “something that is job or duty to deal with”- also means “good judgment and the ability to act correctly and make decisions on your own”. However, the notion of “good judgement” has subjectivity in its simplest framework. What makes a judgement “good”? From whose perspective that it is a “good judgement”?

Is it going to stay as a “good judgement” two hundred years from now?

Does it have to be long-lasting? Where is that judgement validated as “good judgement”? The answers variate from person to person because we all have opposed personalities that arise around different ideologies that we

In the long run, we shape our lives, and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.

– Eleanor Roosevelt believe in.

Likewise, if we take the quote as the basis of our thought bubble, we make choices that reflect our own vision of the “good judgement” corresponding to the situation. In terms of choices and our options to propagate, our life is not a singular road in Sahara, it is more of a gridlocked intersection in Tokyo. You are lost in a torrent of possibilities while passing by which you are never lost or certain. You can neither turn back, nor know the junctions awaiting you. The past is unalterable while the future is imponderable, however every act of the present function as a building block to the future where past is the ground that enables us to build. Ultimately, the biggest alterations on our future are caused by our radical decisions.

Your Life is Your BIggest Piece of Art.

drawn by UTKAN DORA ÖNCÜl TR

Art is driven by emotions, so are our decisions.

We craft our lives with our decisions which are shaped by our present vision, which is shaped by our past -the old present-, and are apt to mold our future.

Our past, our present, our future; adding up to our life is our final and eternal piece of art. n

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THE INTERNATIONAL SUMMER FORUM IN MENDEN IS BEING SPONSORED BY:

GmbH Grundstücke & Immobilien