The Spark
Session Edition
Fribourg 2014 - National Selection Conference of EYP Switzerland 2# The Spark 1
Con tent
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Media Team of Fribourg 2014 Editors Veronika Datzer, Germany Sabrina ariana Mellerowic, Germany William Goyet, Video Editor, France
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Journalists Julia Badertscher, Switzerland Anna Barkemeyer, Germany Jacqueline Björklund, Sweden Amy Campo mc evoy, Spain Siebe Geerts, Belgium Andreas Selvig Ødegård, Norway Manon schürch, switzerland George ross, United kingdom Emirhan tekin, turkey Paula Villalba, spain
4 A letter from the editors 6 Teambuilding Impressions 8 Niall with style The fairy godmother gang 10 12 Another Love 14 who are the real winners in life? 16 Being smart in your own way 18 Norway and Switzerland: Staying outside 20 Growing tighter 22 turmoil in the middle east 24 Democrarcy in decline? 26 Brave new world
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A letter from the editors
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Here is to the crazy ones. “We want you to express your opinion despite possible criticism, opposition, and self-consciousness.” About half a century ago, an American literature movement arose, which has inspired the wild and the young ever since. The "Beat Generation" consisted of several poets and writers that confronted conformity, materialism, and sexism. They were one of the first literary movements that spoke up despite the conservatism and censorship present at the time.
We have implemented the TED talks for this exact reason. We believe that you all have a strong voice and that you should be given the opportunity to share ideas with your fellow delegates. Sometimes we have to inspire ourselves in order to inspire others. Simultaneously, we are inspired by others, the young, and the challenging.
We do not want you to kill your darlings and we certainly do not want you to feel “beaten to your socks”. We want you to find your own voice. We want you to express your opinion despite possible criticism, opposition, and selfconsciousness.
This is because we are the ones that are actually crazy enough to think we can change the world. Do not expect a miracle but do your best to change something about an issue that you disagree with.
As you have now experienced, EYP is an organisation that assembles the young, inspiring, and challenging. Individuals come together from all over Europe in order to actively discuss current issues. We have all been brought up differently, cultural divergence may separate us, and yet we come together with one idea: we can change something.
Be active. Do NOT be passive. Speak up. Your voice is counting. "Live, Travel, Adventure, Bless, And don’t be sorry." - Jack Kerouac
Yours, Sabrina & Veronika
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Teambuilding
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Impressions
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It might be hard to believe at first, but believe it or not, our President is indeed, human. Once upon a time, he has been a delegate “for the first time” and he has had his fair share of mistakes and accomplishments. Niall Murphy, our brilliant and talented President has successfully walked a long, yet a wonderful and entertaining road to acquiring the traits and skills that made him the person that presides Fribourg 2014. As of today, he is someone to take as an example, and yet he is somebody we can hug, chat with, and relate to.
The Trinity College graduand himself admits having random habits just like the rest of us. An unexpected one is the excessive use of “uhm’s” in daily speech, which people do not hesitate to remind him of. He states to make an effort avoiding “uhm’s”, yet since Niall has demonstrated various times that he can attain his goals if he wants to, we secretly believe his “uhms” to be a special, personal code of identification.
crophone before and I thought microphones did not pick noise from far away so I made the speech almost making out with the microphone. I did not realise that it was making me sound so loud that everyone was blown away, until, thirty seconds into the speech a member of the board stood up and went to the loudspeaker and turned the volume down.” Despite all, when sitting back down, he decided to continue EYP.
Niall concluded with some advice for “You won’t get this anywhere else.” These are the General Assembly. “Never fear. It‘s easy not the words Niall used to explain why EYP is so to do it when you’re scared, but the rewards special for him personally. He praises EYP for are great if you do. If you think it‘s worth doing assembling adolescents, and for the memo- then do it. Always go for it, and don‘t let the ries that are shaped for they arise instant satis- fear hold you back.” Furthermore, he wants to faction. Niall declares that, if it was not for EYP, encourage every delegate to find the resoluhe would have not met some of his closest tion that strikes him the most, to read it clearfriends with whom he can engage in academic ly until he finds the philosophy and ideology and political conversations. behind, and to fully comprehend it. He wishes the delegates all the best of luck, and hopes to Some of you may wonder how our President’s see some fruitful debates during the General first session went. Where did this person, who Assembly. inspired all participants with his words during the Opening Ceremony, start his EYP career? To him, it contained a certain degree of embarrassment and a large quantity of outgoingness. Niall’s first session, the 2008 Leinster Regionals, is one of his favorite sessions as of today. Our President and the delegate back then, expressed how odd all these “loud, flamboyant, and enthusiastic” people were. His fondest memory of the session was his defense speech. “I went up to the stage and I was trembling when I stood up on the podium. I had never used a mi-
“I went up to the stage and I was trembling when I stood up on the podium. I had never used a microphone before and I thought microphones did not pick noise from far away so I made the speech almost making out with the microphone.”
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The fairy godmother gang By julia badertscher
They are the strong force behind the scenes, mostly forgotten or overlooked. What they do seems so natural to us that we neglect how much effort they put into every coffee break, venue, and bus transfer. They are the first ones up and the last ones down, and although we barely notice them they provide the vital structure of Fribourg 2014. They are the organisers.
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nd 3 u o r a e g avera n o p e have e l n s e t s f r o e s y i e er, th “Organ h t r u F heir . t t h o g t i n k c r i e t r to s e hours p d r o n i s eal s.� to skip m schedule
An organiser’s day starts early in the morning, yet they have to be available throughout the entire day. Preparing breakfast, cleaning up, supervising the transfers, and organising dinner are solely few of their tasks. Lars emphasises how unpredictable and thus stressful the job of an organiser is. Organisers sleep on average around 3 hours per night. Further, they often have to skip meals in order to stick to their schedules. On the other hand, there are of course plenty of good sides to being an organiser. Mario stresses that the teamwork among the organisers is simply amazing. Amongst all the officials, he believes that the organisers are the ones who depend the most on each other. Organisers are constantly pressured, yet joint work usually solves all issues. Throughout the process of organisation, they have become close friends. However, a group of the size of 17 has to be coordinated to be able to work together efficiently.
Therefore, they are led by the Head-Oganiers, Riccardo and Matthieu. When discovering how many EYP Switzerland alumni actually live in Fribourg, they decided to organise Fribourg 2014 together. This was during the International Session in Zurich. One year later, after assembling and distributing their team to different tasks, the event they have dedicated so much time to, is finally happening. Despite their demanding position, the organisers are always positive, friendly, and they will provide you with a lot of good advice. Riccardo addressed two points specifically. First of all, he urged the delegates to not be afraid to approach organisers regarding clarification if something is uncertain. If being informed about all current events, he believes that everyone will be able to genuinely enjoy the session. Secondly, Riccardo encourages all delegates to be as positive as possible. One should never try to focus on the flaws of a session. Sleeping in a bunker and being tired are both issues that can be dealt with. In the end, concentrating on the exciting, challenging, and inspiring moments will make the session much more memorable.
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ANOTHER LOVE By Paula Villalba
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hat little girl has not always dreamed of being a princess? When we were younger, we would spend our afternoons waltzing to the “Sleeping Beauty” theme tune with our dads, the only male we knew above 5 foot tall. Even as we grew older, our dream remained intact. To us, the only things needed to become such a character were a dress and a prince.
“She looks like a princess!” cooed my best friend’s little sister Teresa, as she pointed towards a picture of Apoorva and me. Apoorva’s long hair cascaded onto her emerald green sari. She was a hotel employee I met during my backpacking trip to India. Over the course of just a few days, we had developed this unique friendship, and so, on my last night in the city, she had invited me to meet her family over a meal of “rizala”.
an, who had married a stranger, was so happy with the circumstances under which her life had evolved. As my romanticised conception of love was toppled over by witnessing this new, functional version, I saw Western romance from a new perspective. I realised that love might not be as “free” as we believe it to be. In some cases, social forces may act much in the same way as an arranged marriage. I recognised, much to my dismay, that even my childhood fantasy of marrying As our bond of mutual trust grew even strong- prince charming was flawed; because after all, er throughout dinner, Apoorva began to tell me you cannot get more arranged than the fairy tale about her deprived childhood in the rural region story line of prince and princess, can you? I now of Uttar Pradesh, which prematurely ended with know that it is the happily ever after that counts, an arranged marriage to a man of her same caste not what came before, and those that find happiin the city. ness like Apoorva would certainly agree. Upon hearing “arranged marriage,” I froze, unable to articulate a response. To me, those two words epitomise an oxymoron, representing a reality as impenetrable as a square circle. It was hard to comprehend that sixteen letters determined the course of Apoorva’s life. In Western society, choice seems so natural; yet for the first time, I encountered someone who had never been able to decide on her own. She had a dress, she had a “prince”, yet Apoorva differs significantly from the princess Teresa envisioned. She has never had her fairytale encounter with Prince Charming. Instead, she shares her life with a man she has grown to accept and love after uncertain beginnings.
In the same way that Cinderella’s glass slippers should have shattered under her own weight but instead glimmered and sparkled, love is often less perfect than it is in fairy tales. Yes, it was daunting to acknowledge that love had another facet apart from the instantaneous- magical potion one I had always believed in. However, observing how Apoorva embraced her life finally showed me how diverse true love really is. Nevertheless, sometimes I cannot help but balloon away and hope that maybe one day I will waltz to Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty” theme tune with someone other than my father, another man above 5 foot tall… make it six.
Meeting Apoorva, and learning about her story was a true point of introspection for me. I could not help but feel bewildered as to why this wom-
“I realised that love might not be as “free” as we believe it to be. In some cases, social forces may act much in the same way as an arranged marriage.” 2# The Spark
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Who are the real winners in life? By Anna Barkemeyer
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“We took off early one July morning to fly to Taiwan. Two days and two local tours later, the contest, the reason for travelling all this way, began. We spent the next three days locked up in our room completing our task of building our own little model of how cities interact with water. Later, we learned that we came ninth out of 30 teams. We thought to ourselves ‘this will not alter our lives in any way.’ Not only that our lives remained completely unchanged but also the experience of those past few days had not been affected by our ranking in any way. We all agreed on the fact that we had come on this trip for the experience itself, not for winning. Of course winning would have been a nice addition, yet it was not as if we had lost something by not coming in first. In fact we had won, as we had been in it for the experience and the actual experience surpassed all expectations we ever had.”
sometimes, losing is inevitable. The next game is always the next chance to win or at least, to improve. This playful experience of winning and losing teaches them an essential life skill; setbacks do not have to result in frustration, as the experience of reaching this point can still be enjoyable and also didactic.
This lesson is one which can be utilised for the rest of our lives. Winning does not necessarily have to result in getting the prize. Rather, it means being part of the process and realising how rewarding it can be. Even if the process itself was not enjoyable it can still be rewarding The experience of not being the best is some- in the sense of learning something from it and thing that children experience at an early age improving the next time a similar situation arises. when playing games. Often, losing is met with After all, the saying goes “what does not kill you feelings of frustration or even anger. Howev- makes you stronger”. er, it does not take long for them to realise that
“The next game is always the next chance to win or at least, to improve.”
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Being smart in your own way By Jacqueline Björklund Today’s society still struggles with values regarding knowledge. We are used to think that being “smart” is defined as someone with a high IQ who tests well in school. However, as psychologists further explore learning, new ideas are emerging of what intelligence really is. Psychologist Howard Gardner, argues that there are, in fact, seven intelligences and we are all prone to excel in different ones. • Linguistic intelligence: a sensitivity of the meaning and order of words • Logical intelligence: ability in mathematics and other complex logical systems • Musical intelligence: the ability to understand and create music. Musicians, composers, and dancers often show an excelling skill in this intelligence • Spatial intelligence: the ability to ‘think in pictures,’ and to perceive the visual world accurately. Architects, artists, designers, and sculptors often possess this skill. • Kinesthetic intelligence: the ability to use one’s body in a skilled way, for self-expression or toward a goal. Actors, sportsmen, and dancers are often adept in this intelligence. • Interpersonal intelligence: an ability to perceive and understand other individuals. Political leaders and religious leaders often display interpersonal intelligence. • Intrapersonal intelligence: an understanding of one’s own emotions. Introverts, novelists and counselors often hold this skill. ” Anne Guignon
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So how do you know what you are good at? It can be intricate to be aware of what you are most efficient in. In a school environment, where only a few intelligences are tested at a young age, it can be very difficult for young adults and children to explore what makes them learn more efficiently. Experimenting with techniques and ways of learning is one method for discovering what your intelligences are.
Likewise, sitting and listening to a teacher might be beneficial to some students while others might benefit from a more practical learning approach. Knowing your strengths can enable you to take charge of your education. It therefore makes you have control of your learning and future.
Why is it important? The benefits of understanding and being aware of our own strengths regarding the seven intelligences are extensive. By knowing what intelligences you possess you can adapt your learning to make it more effective. Today there are numerous ways of studying and learning, yet few really know what works best for them – or it has taken a very long time for them to discover it. Whilst some might want to quietly read in a book, others might want to have a heated discussion with peers.
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Norway and Switzerland: Staying outside By Andreas Selvig Ă˜degĂĽrd
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he recent Swiss referendum on limiting immigration from the EU is just a fleck of the evidence regarding the lacking support for the EU. Along with Norway, Switzerland is the only large Western European country outside the EU. In Norway recent polls suggest that nothing is going to change about the current state of art. Over 70 % of the population opposed when asked whether Norway should join the EU. Both Switzerland and Norway seem to do fine outside the economically troubled union.
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“We value our independent voice, a voice that would lose its weight inside the EU as it would come from just another small EU country.”
In fact, both countries participate in financing the EU; Norway through the EEA and Switzerland through bilateral agreements. However, this reluctance has more than an economic perspective. There are practical reasons for remaining outside. In Norway, losing control over agriculture and fisheries, areas which the EEA does not control, is a crucial argument against a joint future. For Switzerland, its system of direct democracy and referendums is a poor fit with EU institutions. Some might go as far as to say that there is a lack of “Europeanness” and solidarity towards Europe among the Swiss and Norwegians. That is obviously simplified, yet one has to agree that our decisions say something about our ideals. What is it that makes us stand out from the rest of Europe, and overlook the fact that many of our laws are created in a Brussel-process we are not a part of? The two countries are organised quite differently; Switzerland being a federal republic and Norway a more centralised constitutional mon-
archy. Switzerland is situated in the heart of Europe populated by people speaking three major European languages, while Norway at the corner of Europe has its own language. However, people in the two countries have arrived at the approximate same conclusion: high emphasis on independence, at least in theory. We value our independent voice, a voice that would lose its weight inside the EU as it would come from just another small EU country. Switzerland uses its voice to champion neutrality, thus keeping open relations with all parties as a principle. Norway on the other hand, uses its voice in its outreaching role in international diplomacy. These roles are rather different but they are equally difficult to exercise as part of the EU. Despite all, the strong sentiments against joining the EU in both Switzerland and Norway might not be signs of antagonism. Rather, it is a way of saying that today’s relationship is the best way for mutual influence between the EU and both, Norway and Switzerland.
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Growing tighter by Paula Villalba
B
lood, grief, separation, and sacrifice are four words that epitomise the tragic occurrences of the Second World War: a war that killed over 80,000,000 citizens, destroyed families, and tarnished the history of the 20th century. To many, the events that took place on the 6th of June, 1944, a day more commonly known as D-Day, marked the beginning of the end of the war. The landing of troops on the Norman coast of France was the springboard that led to the end of Nazi domination and to international cooperation as it stands today. As many of you might be aware, the EYP organises more than 360 sessions throughout the year. All National Committees lead their own projects raising awareness of current European events and politics. In 2012, EYP France started planning an international forum unlike any other. Caen, capital of the historic region of Normandy is the city the troops first landed in 1944. Two years later, it would be the location of the D-Day forum. The vision of EYP France became a reality as delegates from over 25 nations assembled in Caen in order to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings, as one of the biggest and most important events ever hosted by the EYP As opposed to regular sessions, this forum was attended by delegates from non-European countries such as New Zealand, USA, and Canada. The idea behind this initiative was to include international delegates that represented the 17 countries which took part in the Normandy landings of 1944. Furthermore, delegates from countries that did not participate in the Second World War, e.g. Spain, were invited to attend the session. The vision was to provide
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Teambuilding on Juno Beach, where the Canadian tropps landed on D-Day
Frédéric Marois from Québec, Canada attended the D-Day forum as a delegate
the participants with an understanding of how the war was perceived in “neutral” regions other than the directly affected ones. One among the non-EU delegates attending the D-Day forum was Frédéric Marois. He is a 25 year old graduate student from Québec, Canada. Intrigued by how he perceived EYP, I recently interviewed him. Throughout the session, his enthusiasm was contagious and together with a few delegates from the American delegation, he has now started to realise the concept of starting the equivalent of EYP in America. Almost three months after the session has ended, Frédéric’s efforts to create a similar organisation still endure. When I asked him about its viability he answered, “It needs to be built from the bottom, on a local level first, to ensure that it will last in time”. Nevertheless, he is aware of the difficulties in creating this new institution, “We cannot call it a parliamentary simulation because North America has no parliament”. Frédéric has attended several entrepreneurship courses in order to learn more about how to establish an “AYP” (American Youth Parliament) and he is optimistic about its future as an organisation. The forum in Caen successfully helped me to discover how intertwined our national histories truly are. Furthermore, it ignited the spark in delegates such as Frédéric to come up with the idea of creating a similar organisation on the other side of the Atlantic. It is through initiatives such as the EYP that the world can truly grow in unison. As young Europeans it is our duty to establish platforms as astounding as the one provided by EYP France so that the new generations can learn from and interpret different perspectives.
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Turkey In the summer of 2013, a wave of protests across the country took place, triggered by discontent due to Prime Minister Erdogan’s policies and police’s aggressive response to protests. Tensions have now stopped and Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the elections for presidency in August by 51%.
Gaza On the 8th of July, 2014, a fifty day operation was launched by Israel in the area controlled by Hamas. Over 2100 Palestinians and 60 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the Gaza strip since. On the 26th of August, an open-ended ceasefire was agreed. In Gaza today, 475000 people live in shelters or with other families who have hosted them, as over 17000 homes have been destroyed.
Egypt Anti-government protests continue to be stired by rise in fuel price. Unrest in the country started in January 2011, and President Mubarak, whose rule was very repressive, was forced to step down. Even though democracy was the aim of the protests, power was handed to the military and their opponent Islamist groups. In 2012, a Muslim Brotherhood candidate was elected, but he was removed from his position. In May 2014, the elections were won by the army chief leading to constant fear of a return to military rule.
Sudan and South Sudan Lybia In February 2011 Libyan protesters demanded Colonel Gadaffi to step down from power. This led to a violent response from the government. The UN Security Council condemned these actions and voted in favour of an arms embargo which ultimately led to NATO officially taking over the command of operations in Libya. There has been an ongoing conflict ever since, mainly between Islamist forces and their opponents.
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After decades of civil war, the southern part of Sudan secured its independence in 2011. Then, in 2013, a power struggle within the ruling political party evolved into an armed conflict. In December 2013, a long-standing power struggle between President Salva Kiir and his former Vice President Dr. Riek Machar came to a head. Both claimed allegiance to the ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM), South Sudan‘s most powerful political party. Soon, both leaders and their allies took up arms using ethnic tensions and an atmosphere of fear to mobilise supporters throughout South Sudan. Finally in January 2014, a ceasefire was signed between the Government of South Sudan and opposition forces, yet tensions still remain.
Syria The UN estimates that over 3 million people have fled from Syria. The country has been in a state of unrest since March 2011, provoked by the police arresting and torturing teenagers and then responding to protests violently. Since then, the country is in a state of turmoil: protestors have been demanding that Al-Assad resigns. Bombings and massacres are estimated to have killed over 190,000.
Yemen
Lebanon The Syrian Civil War has led to increased polarisation of Lebanese politics over the last few years, resulting in division between supporters and Bashar al-Assad’s political opponents. The current situation has been further deteriorated by the high number of Syrian war refugees in Lebanon.
Protests in 2011 led to reform in November of the same year, when a unity government was formed. In March 2013 reforms continued, as a new constitution started to be written. Conflict still exists, as Al-Qaeda is constantly in action, and Shi’ii protests in the country call for the president to back down.
Iran
There is a proxy war going on between Israel and Iran. The conflict is bound in the religious and political struggle of the Iranian religious leadership against Israel to prevent nuclear weapons being developed by the Iranian government. The relationship is also worsened by Iran’s allies such as the Hezbollah party in Lebanon and the Syrian government.
TURMOIL IN THE MIDDLE EAST By Amy Campo McEvoy & Siebe Geerts 2# The Spark
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Democracy in decline? By George Ross For those believing in the democratic deficit, it is one of the most important problems the EU has to face. Democratic deficit is defined as “any situation in which there is believed to be a lack of democratic accountability and control over the decision-making process”. This problem has been exacerbated by an increasingly low turnout to the European Parliament (EP) elections across the EU. In each successive election the mandate of the European Parliament has weakened. Since the first election in 1979 the average EU turnout has been steadily in decline from 61.99% to 42.54% in the elections in May of this year. This even holds true when considering individual member states’ turnout to the EP elections, however the turnout to most Member State’s national elections has stayed relatively constant.
self has caused a major problem. As you may have noticed over the course of the session, the European Union is an incredibly complex institution with a cacophony of nuances. There are three main pillars in the EU, the European Commission, the Council of the EU, and the EP. Each of these institutions holds a different role in the policy making process with only the EP being directly elected by all EU citizens which So what has caused the continually decreasing is the crux of the democratic deficit in the EU. turnout to the EP elections? This problem has led to voter apathy across the EU, the lack of interest in voting in an election Firstly, the supposed democratic deficit it- for any given reason. All EU legislation has to be
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results 100%
80%
61.99 60%
58.98
58.41
56.67 49.51
45.47
43
42.54
2009 EU27
2014 EU28
40%
20%
0%
1979 EU9
1984 EU10
1989 EU12
1994 EU12
initiated by the European Commission which is an appointed body. In the ordinary legislative procedure the EP and Council only co-decide on whether to accept or reject the initiatives of the Commission. As a result, many EU voters feel somewhat disenfranchised. Another reason for the decline in voter turnout is the “second-order” hypothesis. This is essentially the view of many citizens that the EP elections matter far less than their own governmental elections. They subsequently vote in their national elections but when faced with voting in the EP elections they are not as motivated as they do not feel their vote will have any sort of immediate effect.
Furthermore, voter apathy plays an important role in the declining turnout at EU elections. “Just over one third of Europeans feel well inww.results-elections2014.eu/en/turnout.html formed about their rights as EU citizens” and thus the majority of EU citizens feel no inclination to vote. Many voters also suffer from hapathy, which is the idea that some citizens do not vote as they see no need to change the current status quo i.e. they are already satisfied. Another cause of voter apathy is disenchantment in the current political. Therefore, some voters believe there is no point in voting, as their contribution will not change anything. This can have another negative effect apart from solely
1999 EU15
2004 EU25
Source: TNS/Scytl in cooperation with the European Parlia decreased turnout. It means those turning out to vote are more passionate about the party or politician they are voting for. As these people have a tendency of holding more extreme views, this is one of the contributing factors to the recent rise of the right in the EP such as in the UK (UKIP), Denmark (DFP) and the Netherlands (PVV).
So what is the future for Europe? That is up to you, the youth, to decide. Only by encouraging increased participation in politics at National and International levels can these problems be addressed. The way this is achieved is down to us, the future of our continent.
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Brave new world
From left to right: Fabian Hofmann (Gymnasium Leonard), Iana Culic (Czech Delegation 2), Michael von Ballmoos (Gymnasium Kirchenfeld), Rebecca Ruiz Soria (Collège de Saussure)
One rocket. One planet in ruins. Four heroes. Four escape pods. One Chance. Fear in the dusty air. In this fight for the survival of the human race, will our protagonists make the right calls and give us new hope, or will they be the last of us?
EMPL and Rebecca Ruiz Soria from ECON. Everything seemed to be doomed but then, out of nothing, a Russian rocket emerged. Immediately, their heroic courage returned. All entered. An unknown voice informs them that they are nominated to the power and responsibility in order to keep mankind alive. According to their individual choices, four remarkable personalities in human history are now able to fly off with the rocket onto an entirely different The world is coming to its end. Bloodthirsty or- planet to secure the continuation of mankind. ganisers occupy the Collège Saint Croix. They force the other participants to hand over the Iana decides to go for none other than Gustave session’s whole cookie and coffee supply. Af- Eiffel, both a brilliant and innovative thinker. ter arriving at the organiser’s base, an accident According to her, he should definitely deserve occurs due to the misuse of the school’s tele- the chance to pass on his wisdom and create scope in which organisers accidently threw a further architectural masterpieces with new meteorite off course. When hitting the ground, material found on the planet. Fabian, on the everything dissolves into acoustic and smoke. other hand, choose the French born author AlIn this very moment, destiny predestines four bert Camus whose insightful philosophy of the heroes who have not yet been affected by this meaning of life may be enough to save him a mass destruction of mankind as they were spot on the rocket. After a brief reflection, Rehaving lunch in the cellar of the building and becca presents her perfect candidate to the are now the only four survivors of this planet. group which to her, is US-American actor Will Smith: very humorous, yet perfectly capable of They are Iana Culic from DEVE, Fabian Hof- taking care of himself on his own. This is what mann from AFET, Michael von Ballmoos from the new civilisation needs more than ever.
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Moreover, Michael decides on former actor and American president Ronald Reagan, a good speaker and, additionally, one who possesses an optimism that goes beyond any limit. Further, he emphasises that Reagan’s insightful values should definitely make him eligible for the great responsibility of creating a new civilisation.While their four chosen people are entering the rocket to fly off into the unknown, our four heroes move into a control centre and wave goodbye to the rocket that will take their fosterlings away from earth.
necessarily benefit the planet. Nevertheless, his calm air would sooth any heightened atmosphere he might encounter there. Fearing the worst, Michael decides to embark on a fierce mission to ensure Ronald Reagan’s spot in the rocket. As one of the best presidents the USA has ever had, his popularity reaching across political borders, he will ensure that communism, which he fights until his death, will be rooted out forever. This future, Michael argues, warms his heart immensely and he quickly bids defiance to his counterparts saying that even the last Soviet president Gorbachev warmed up to his protégé through their exchange of jokes amongst each other. Iana is not about to let Reagan be off the hook and once more tries to praise her candidate to the others, stating that Gustave Eiffel, next to building the landmark of Paris, was also involved in the creation of the Statue of Liberty. Those average qualities,
The journey passes well until, one morning the voice of Will Smith breaks the silence: “Earth, there is an uneasy situation going on right here.” Russian aeronautical engineering has failed the four chosen ones miserably as an engine has broken down. Quickly, it is decided that the total extinction of mankind can only be repelled if two of the four protégés will cease to be, as vital supplies were dwindling. Fifteen minutes are left for our four heroes to jointly decide on who will be the two unfortunate souls leaving Fabian quickly opposes, would not be needed the rocket ship. in the new world. Iana is not about to give up and stresses Eiffel’s thinking which would cerFabian starts off defending his candidate, Albert tainly be helpful on a new planet. Furthermore, Camus, highlighting his existentialistic views there was no use for Reagan or Will Smith to and that he does not see any meaning in life but survive, as the new world would not face any that there is something that makes life precious. new wars and so there was nothing to do for Reagan is soon the target of attacks, as Fabian Americans. Michael’s statement, that Reagan points out that Reagan was not a nice person. was a real cowboy with a lovely smile is loudly His past actions are also considered as useless vetoed by Iana. As a last attempt, Fabian warms by Iana who, furthermore, notices that there is up his candidate to the others by stating that no need for a good speaker on the new planet. Camus’ moral opinions and neutral air will best Direct democracy is the answer. enable him to work together with other people. Michael is quick to oppose to that argument, mentioning that Reagan would be an excellent leader and even a direct democracy is in need of somebody courageous to represent a people.
The deadline passes, our heroes have intensely debated this very tough issue and after democratic voting it is decided that the world would not need another Albert Camus or Gustave Eiffel. The remaining two who are to secure mankind are therefore the only two Americans RonRebecca whose protégé Will Smith is trembling ald Reagan and Will Smith. What followes was a of fear aboard the rocket ship quickly goes on happy outburst by Michael; “Yes, the American attacking some of the other candidates, say- dream is saved!” We wish this unusual couple ing that Ronald Reagan’s advanced age could all the best for the future. certainly hinder him from successfully leading mankind. Fabian disagrees instantly, saying that age should be irrelevant during this process of choosing the future of mankind. Rebecca does not let this argument irritate her and further goes on to stress that Will Smith does not
By Manon Schürch
2# The Spark
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28 The spark #2