Balkan Beats 34 - 2020 by Balkan Hotspot

Balkan Beats

2020

#34

FREE PRESS

A BIMONTHLY MAGAZINE BY THE VOLUNTEERS OF THE UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS

Editorial

The 34th Edition 2020

by Michael Magee and Filippo Massariol

It feels as if there is nothing permanent but 2020, the endless year.

Everyone experiences a struggle at some point and time; these struggles can make us better and stronger. Maybe the aim of the struggle we’ re dealing with now is to start from scratch, from our personal strengths and weaknesses to the way we organize society. We had pandemics in the past, from plagues to Spanish flu and Ebola and, most likely, Covid-19 is not going to be the last one. We

can’t avoid the unavoidable, but we can work on ourselves and our society and focus on what’s important. This struggle has exposed all of our weak spots; it has catalysed social movements, racial and political, that we were distracted from when life was “normal”.With this edition of Balkan Beats, we want to show you the other side of 2020, and make you see some of the things that have escaped your attention.

Balkan Beats, a part of Balkan Hotspot

Balkan Hotspot is the European Solidarity Corps

changes in the Balkan and Eastern European (ESC) of “United Societies of Balkans”, a NGO region and under the need for the creation of a founded in Thessaloniki in 2008 by a team of ac- better social environment. tive young people. Key areas of the organization’s activities concern The Balkans and Eastern Europe are geograph- the defense of human rights, the organization of ical regions with many cultural features which youth exchanges and training courses, which will offer a broad spectrum of actions and youth in- bring young people from Balkans and Europe tovolvement initiatives. The organization was cre- gether, the organization of local educational semated as a response to the pressure of constant inars and multimedia production. United Societies of Balkans is a Non Governmental Organization, founded in Thessaloniki in 2008, by a team of active young people. The organization was created as a response to the pressure of constant changes in the Balkan and Eastern European region and under the need for the creation of a better social environment. Key areas of the organization’s activities concern the defense of human rights, the organization of youth exchanges and training courses, which will bring young people from Balkans and Europe together, the organization of local educational seminars and multimedia production(webradio, videos, documentaries).

Main goals of the organization • To promote the values of non formal le- aring,volunteering, active citizenship and democracy for the creation of a better future for European youth. • To promote human rights, solidarity and respect for diversity. • To build healthy cooperation bridges between countries of the Balkan area and that of Eastern Europe with the rest of Europe. • To locate and multiply the special cultural attributes of our societies. • The break down of prejudices and stereo- types between Balkan countries.

UNITED SOCIETIES OF BALKANS, NGO

9, Alamanas str., Agios Pavlos, Thessaloniki

Property of Balkan Beats The United Societies of Balkans, NGO, does not necessarily share the opinions expressed in Balkan Beats. It is illegal to reproduce any part of this publication without referring to the source.

www.balkanhotspot.org

This magazine is distributed free of charge.

Tel./Fax: +30 2310 215 629 | www.usbngo.gr Cover © Sara Angioletti

Contents

Contents Volunteer Life Volunteer Voice

To make Love in pandemic times USB News

Philosophy

Intersectional Environmentalism Society

Colorado is off death row

2020 around the World

Local Life Every day

Mix Fix

Environment

Creation and Destruction, the essence of Existentialism

The choir of a storm

Innovation

The Hyperloop - more than just a pipe dream?

Art

Unlock, up

“We keep working just to have a plate on our table every day”

Weapons of existence

A year to remember

Will the curtain over the cultural sector in Thessaloniki rise again?

Out Of The Borders Freedom

Belarusian protests in 2020

“Black Lives Matter” Trade

All you need to know about the RCEP, the world’s largest economic trade agreement

Alternative cover

Volunteer Life Volunteer Voice

To make Love in pandemic times by Bernardo Guerra Machado

The confinement hit Portugal around March 2020. Following the modernist tendencies of seeking to digitalize artistic expression, I thought of creating a blog named “Fazer Amor em tempos de pandemia” (To make Love in pandemic times). Together with its story, this piece represents as well an open call for all the readers who wish to join the project!

The rules are simple: to share whatever origi-

nal work you have produced in isolation, which should be connected with Love. Obviously, it doesn’t need to be the romantic variant of the term. It can be the affection for the friends you miss; the nostalgia about a place you are not able to visit; the family you are looking forward to see again… and so on, and so forth. There was no problem with offer and demand, as the whole World is bursting with emotions to express; and lacking Human contact at the same time! Little by little, many interesting posts started popping in. So far, there were contributions in 5 different languages. Some were home-made, while others consisted in tales of travellers trapped in distant continents – as in the case of my dear friend Luca Di Eusanio, who wrote the following verses:

The blog’s cover photograph.

The desolate image of the lifeless avenue is a silent strike on the heart which remembers and nostalgically dreams with ash-like mosaics having dancing legs and audacious bicycles It is the joy of the high pasture convinced that at least the giants will let him try to reach the sky

La imagen desoladora de la avenida sin vivir es un silencioso golpe al corazón que recuerda Una Avenida (An Avenue) © Luca Di Eusanio y nostálgico sueña con mosaicos cenicientos Of course it all started within my close-friendship network; nonetheless, the situation got hapde piernas danzantes y atrevidas bicicletas pily out of control – with anonymous participations and people who are completely unknown to Es la alegría del pasto alto me joining in! Among all these pixels, something was made more and more clear: that we are not convencido que por fin made to be still! And, with its pros and cons: we los gigantes dejarán que el intente alcanzar el cielo simply need each other.

Volunteer Voice

The Procastinator’s Nest

©Y

However, it is also true that we had, and have,

a wonderful opportunity to explore the power of solitude. In fact, many of us may well consider this harsh year to be a great tutor, and managed to use its teachings to deeper know themselves. It was the case of Bárbara Guedes Capelas, another good friend of mine, who found a way to carve her journey of self-discovery into the wood.

Self on Wood

Interestingly, it became quite common to hear that

the countryside was the right place to be. There was an exodus from the city’s apartments to the piece of land closest to Nature each one could find. In my case, I had my grandparents’ farm to seek

Vivências Entrelaçadas em Cânticos (Moments tied together by chants)

Volunteer Life

refuge. There, I spent a fantastic time cleaning the garden, collecting chicken eggs, planting potatoes and beans; and, of course, digging into the house’s old library! It was very hard for me to master the art of being mostly alone… but having done some progress with it, and finding a common passion for this lifestyle with Ana Luísa Delgado, we decided to create a letter for Solitude.

(...) que a Solidão tivesse boca, cordas vocais como heras de um verde vibrante e argumentos sólidos para me abalar as crenças e convicções, (...) ou simplesmente discutir cinema; (...) enfim, que da Solidão partissem duas pernas tal raízes, encaixando numas ancas ágeis como um moinho-de-água – e que a Solidão soubesse dançar a Mazurka, Tango, Flamenco... e que para valsear aceitasse apenas Jacques Brel!

Volunteer Life Volunteer Voice

(...) that Solitude had a mouth, vocal chords like ivy with a vibrant green and solid arguments to shake my beliefs and convictions, (…) or simply discuss cinema; (…) that from Solitude sprouted two legs alike roots, which would fit into hips agile as a water mill – and that Solitude knew how to dance the Mazurka,

Tango, Flamenco… and for the Valse she would only accept Jacques Brel!

Carta de Desamor (que nem por isso deixa de ser Amorosa) (Unlove letter [which is Lovely, still]) © Ana Luísa Delgado

being in control of the situation, they were deeply shaken. As usual, I would say; it seems we are destined to have at least one big disappointment each century. Recently, when I moved to Greece, I had the childish hope that the whole thing would be over (I like to consider myself an undercover optimist)… Yet, having to face a second lockdown, I decided to turn back to the blog, gather more material, and try my luck making a book out of it! And here is my invitation for the readers to take part in the project!

An ironic paradox emerged: despite being the Back then, I described the blog as an “Internaonly thing we had to remain in touch, digital technologies were clearly not enough! Alone, they could not deeply satisfy us, by any means. All these algorithms, pixels, tons of information saying one thing and its opposite… they are not the whole story, they can’t contain Human Nature in all its diversity. There is something which can only be transmitted by eye glances, street shoves, bus drivers, lonely storytellers, and other similar little random aspects of our daily Lives. Our faith in the holy technology, our certainty of

tional cooperative which dares to share original, romantic verses, music, drawings, paintings... breaking the metaphysical barriers of confinement”; and those of the digital realm, I now add. Finally, to end with a biblical citation: To digital technology what is from digital technology, to the book what belongs to the good old pages of a book! You can find the blog through: https://covidiuspoeticus.blogspot.com/ And participate by sending an e-mail to: covidiuspoeticus@gmail.com

Volunteer Voice

Volunteer Life

I’ve set my lover in a half-empty glass,

I dare not remove him from his place -

Atop a corkscrew coaster - stained with wine, He taps now and again, to see the hours pass, Unfurling under the spring Sun’s dull shine.

For he might perish and I, as well, from guilt. Oh, but how I long for his thorny embrace! Yet, let my spirit be the only thing to wilt.

Spring Wilt

Dignitas (Dignity)

When her bird tells me that at least you dream And I go away just to find it A step closer to you is one away from harm speaking out of love and hate (to your arms) Speak Song

(…)

Volunteer Life USB News

2020 around the World by Maria Boukouvala and Eirini Mavromoustaki

Volunteering as self-improvement, Maria Boukouvala in Italy 2020

If I had to describe my experience through European Solidarity Corps with just one word, this word would be evolution. Through this specific project, if you are between 18-30 years old, you have an opportunity to discover yourself and develop aspects of yourself that you don’t even know of. It sounds a little bit “cliché”, but I can assure you that it isn’t. Suddenly, I was in a foreign country, in a foreign city, with people that I met for the first time, without knowing the language of the country. Many times we might think “I wish I could start my life from zero”, well, this is your opportunity! It may not be starting from zero, but it’s an opportunity to do things in a completely unknown environment , without knowing anyone at the beginning : Travelling, new friendships, learning a new language and finding hobbies that you could not even imagine. I, personally, was participating in events and groups that I had never tried before. For instance, almost ev-

ery Friday I was going to a group where people from other countries, immigrants, refugees and travelers were gathering and we were improvising how to spend our night. Even at the lockdown of spring, when I was in Italy, I did not regret that I stayed there. It was an opportunity to create strong friendships with my roommates who were participants of the same project. Last but not least, I learned many many things and I got a lot of ideas and experiences at the daily center for disabled that I was working at.

“Acting Local, Changing Global.” Eirini in Portugal 2020

Hello! My name is Eirini, I am from Thessaloniki,

I am 30 years old and I have just completed the 1-year European Solidarity Corps program “Acting Local, Changing Global”, at the Portuguese Red Cross. For many years I was thinking about trying such an experience and for different reasons I was postponing it. For the last two years I have been working as a psychologist in refugee camps and accommodation facilities for unaccompanied minors in the wider area of Thessaloniki. When my contract ended, I thought I needed a break from my job and some time to rediscover what I like. This, combined with the fact that I was 28 years old at the time and that the ESC programs have an age limit of up to 30 years, were the two main reasons I decided to

USB News

Volunteer Life

look for a voluntary European program. The advertisement from United Societies of Balkans (U.S.B), appeared to me randomly on Facebook and now looking back I feel that it was done at the right time and for the reasons I needed.

ages, experiences, languages. My roommates, my colleagues and the friends I met all these months, all helped me to overcome difficulties, to have a great time and to develop. I had the opportunity to travel to various cities in Portugal, to discover its beauties and to learn the language I arrived in São João da Madeira of Portugal, at a good level. on 4/1/2019 and a great experience began. The city has a small Red Cross branch that provides This experience of course was not paved with help to people in need in the city. One of my rose petals. It had difficult times, with first of all responsibilities was organizing and distribut- the global pandemic that stopped the flow of all ing food monthly as well as my activity at the activities and upset our lives. It had a difficult Second hand clothing store. Also a large part quarantine away from my family and with peoof the Red Cross project is to provide support ple I did not know very well. It had conflicts with to refugees hosted in the city. This was one of colleagues and friends. It had moments of lonethe most important parts of my experience. We liness, frustration and not living up to my expectook Portuguese lessons with them, multicultur- tations. And I do not say all these to discourage al meals, excursions to other cities and helped but to emphasize precisely that this experience them with practical issues concerning their daily includes everything, such as life itself and is for life and their adaptation to Portugal (for exam- those who are ready to experience it. Also, what ple, providing food every month, preparing their helped me to overcome any difficulty in front of homes before arrival, receiving from the airport me, was to remember the reasons I chose this or job search assistance). Also, during the year experience, to find my own inner motivations I visited local schools where with the help and and to speak honestly with the people around coordination of my supervisor and other volun- me. Participating in a European Solidarity Corps teers we participated in the educational program program is a unique experience and it is never “Europalien”, in which by playing a board game too late to experience it. Many thanks to Sophia with students we discussed important social is- and Aris from the U.S.B for helping me with their sues such as Human trafficking, gender equali- interest and support whenever I needed it ty and violence. We also organized cinema and discussion nights for the people of the city and created an online clothing store to support the Red Cross.

The other big and very interesting part of this experience is of course the acquaintance with other people from different countries, cultures,

Local Life Every day

We keep working just to have a plate on our table every day by Àlex Sánchez Aragón

The testimony of the Kanoula’s owner, Stella, is just one of the harsh stories that Covid-19

consequences has left behind. Many Greek bars and restaurants are struggling to pay their bills, as the situation has obliged them to close down their businesses for more than 3 months already. The future remains uncertain, but the Government aids seem insufficient to cope with the problem.

If something makes Thessaloniki special for both

by dozens of bars and tavernas every day, and they are always full and buzzing with activity.

locals and visitors, it’s its street life; with two big However, with the Covid-19 crisis, Greek cateruniversities, its young environment is one of the ing businesses have been obliged by state law main attractions of the city. One can easily pass to close down their locals, as it’s considered a

Kanoula taverna at street Raktivan nº 8, near Ano Poli

Every day

Empty terrace of a downtown café in Aristotelous Square

focus of infections. Since the 3rd of November 2020, bars and restaurants are not operating, with no clear signs of opening again. Despite the low number of infections, compared to other countries, the restrictions in Greece have remained strict and inflexible during autumn and Christmas period. Also, in the first wave of Covid spread, bars and restaurants had to cope with a two-month strict lockdown, not being able to open their businesses and fill their tables.

Local Life

for less conventional dishes with high quality of products and originality. Stella and Dimitris are the married couple who are taking the reins of this business.

“We survived the first economic crisis, and we

are not sure we are going to beat this second one”. With this clear statement, Stella sadly admits that she and her family are struggling to pay the bills after almost three months with their doors closed. Despite offering a delivery service, This is why some traditional tavernas have had the phone does not ring every day, and the orders to “reinvent” themselves, offering a delivery ser- are just a few. vice to balance out the economic loss they have suffered since the second wave of infections hit When they have a lucky day and people call for food, Dimitris takes his old scooter and drives hard in Greece. around the city to send the orders; an activity This is the case of “Kanoula”, a Greek taverna he would have never imagined as the owner of that has been functioning near the old city the taverna. They have five workers and they are neighborhood of Ano Poli for 21 years now. It paid by the state while they are not working, but has gained the love and care of locals, going once the Government allows them to open again,

Local Life Every day

they still don’t know if they are obliged to hire all they get immediately kicked out when they don’t of them back. pay the rent for one month, with no negotiation in between”, he adds. “We need the Government to keep paying the insurance of the employees once we restart the In order to help the affected businesses that activity, so the employer doesn’t take on the full have had to remain closed by state order, the amount”, explains Michalis Epitropidis, the gen- Greek Government has approved a regulation reeral secretary of the Association of Bars and garding the rent: the tenants will not have to pay Restaurants in Thessaloniki. the monthly amount of January and February. After a 40% discount on November and DecemAccording to him, 40 food stores or businesses ber, the conservative leaders are going now for have already closed in the center of Thessalon- full forgiveness of the bill. iki because they were not able to pay the rent. “Downtown, very often the owner does not know “We were asking for this measure since the first the tenant personally, so it is more likely that wave of the pandemic, and we want it to keep

USB Volunteer Magdalena Kokonezis with a waiter of Kanoula, Manolis Daltos

Every day

Local Life

the priorities of the financial support, and most going, at least, for March and April”, argues Miof them did not receive the money. chalis, who is calling for more measures. “Forgiving the rent is not enough, we need to reduce the “Now we are just having debts”, insists Stella. taxes for all 2021 and give more direct money for She regrets that the delivery service does not the businesses”. cover all the expenses; actually, she thinks they approximately 90% of their average benefit This was the first aim of “Επιστρεπτέα lost with the pandemic. προκαταβολή”, a national plan for different kind of businesses that was given in the first wave of The family is facing two problems: the platforms the pandemic and offered liquidity for the own- Efood and Wolt, the two main digital applicaers. But it was a tricky measure: the owners have tions that provide the delivery service to the to give back this money in a long term, with small restaurants, charge a 26% of the total amount interest. So, in the end it is a loan that works as for using their apps. Secondly, what people look a patch for the deeper problem. With the new for in a taverna is the coziness and atmosphere approval for 2021, businesses who ask for this surrounding the Greek food, not just the dish. Definancial support will just have to return half of livery may work for fast food, thought for laying the money back. in your couch, enjoy and relax. But users are not Another of the “recovery plans” is “Διέξοδος”, going for traditional Greek food to order at home. a measure from the regional department of Cen- Therefore, the worse is yet to come, according to tral Makedonia, where Thessaloniki is located. It Michalis: “Stores remain open so they can take gives back 50% of the total expenses of 2019 to advantage of the government aids; but when the businesses that have been heavily affected the helps are over and the owners will be able to by the pandemic. One of the main requisites is open back, many will not do it”, he anticipates. to have had minimum 10.000 euros of expenses and up to 100.000 euros. Its main purpose is to And this is precisely what Stella and Dimitris are provide liquidity in the market with public mon- considering. Now, they just work to have food evey (a non-repayable grant), that sums up to 200 ery day to eat. To feed their family. “We live day million euros and is co-financed by the European by day; we know what is going on today, we don’t Regional Development Fund (ERDF). know about tomorrow”.

However, the Association of Bars and Restaurants in Thessaloniki has sent a letter to the Governor of Central Makedonia to complain about this last program because, according to them, the catering businesses have been listed low in

In order to help them to overcome this crisis, the volunteers running this magazine and other volunteers from United Societies of Balkans, we ordered food there for a 25 people meeting as a gesture of gratitude. And it was delicious!

Local Life Every day

Will the curtain over the cultural sector in Thessaloniki rise again?

by Laura Andrés Tallardà

The lockdown has affected the cultural sector from Thessaloniki: from musicians, to theatres, writers, painters and artistic organizations. We analyze the challenges that the artistic sector from the city is facing. as it progresses, it gets difficult from the psychological aspect as well”, explains Kosta Vreto, who festivals have been cancelled, and bars, usually is a guitarist in the band Wardrum, composer, arcrowded, have closed their blinds with the coro- ranger, producer and music teacher. navirus situation. The lockdown has affected countries and cities from over the world. In Thes- Vreto feels that there has not been enough supsaloniki, the lockdown has also closed a window port for the cultural sector in the city, not only of opportunities for artists, who are living (or because of the lockdown, but in recent times. sometimes trying to survive) in a challenging “For the past five years, in Greece there has situation. “This situation has affected writers, been a difficult scene. It’s easier for mainstream musicians… everyone. At the beginning it is cool Greek music, because there is a big audience to to have some time off from everything else, but play for. But for more alternative groups not so much”, he states.

The curtains from theatres have fallen, music

In June 2020, there was a protest from the arts

Performance from Neo Theatro

sector in Thessaloniki. Art workers, musicians, actors and many more were protesting through dance, music and art performance. The main goal of the movement was to demand more support from the Greek government. “Our work was closed first and will be opened last. We can’t stay on the ice. We can’t pull the plug from one industry”, Giota Negka, a Greek singer, stated.

Every day

Performance from Neo Theatro

Are online events a viable alternative?

In a context of necessary social isolation, alter-

native online events have been common in Thessaloniki. “We have organized two online events, the first one on Easter and the second one on Christmas and New Year’s Eve. We’ve uploaded for free five videotaped performances from the theatre’s archive. We want to thank all the artistic collaborators and actors who participated in creating these performances from the bottom of our hearts”, Ioanna Markella Chalkia, Artistic Director from Neo Theatro Thessalonikis, states. This theatre was established in 1983 and it presents a range of theatrical plays alongside other cultural events in Thessaloniki and on tour for children, young audiences, and adults. “A videotaped performance can in no way replace the essential, unique and lively experience offered by the theater. We wish and hope to meet again soon in the theaters, but until then, we stay home and safe”, Markella adds.

Local Life

But: are online events really working? There are different opinions about it, but the fact that most of them are free can be problematic from the economic perspective. “Sometimes, you can do some online events or shows. But that doesn’t pay off. For me, it is really easy because I can work in my studio as well, recording other bands or arranging music for other people. But if my only work was to play guitar, it would have been very hard”, Vreto exemplifies. When the online events are implemented with

a learning aim, there are also several difficulties. Argyro Skitsa, is the president and founder of “Sxedia Stin Poli” (an artistic pedagogic organization) and also a musician. In this organization, they create artistic and cultural workshops for children, to help in their learning process. But they have also faced several issues. “We work with refugee children as well, but it’s not easy to participate in the program. They are living in camps and they cannot go out. It’s also difficult

Performance from Neo Theatro Thessaloniki

Local Life Every day

Wardrum concert in a festival, 2017

for the children, because they have a gap in the learning processes”, she explains.

How can art help to improve people’s life?

Art can be everywhere: in our daily life, while we

have a shower and sing a song, when we watch a movie or series before going to bed or when we walk through the street and find some beautiful buildings. But maybe now, we need art more than we ever did. With the coronavirus, theatres, cinemas, writers, painters, and music bands have tried to improve people’s life in a difficult moment. “Arts and culture can help people in confinement and isolation because they can give people hope, and at such times, we need hope more than ever. Social distancing keeps us apart, but arts and culture contribute a great deal by finding creative ways to keep us connected”, Markella states.

Kosta Vreto, guitarist in Wardrum

Every day

In a moment when we are not always able to see

our family and friends, the Internet has emerged as a way to communicate, but it can also make us feel lonelier sometimes. Art can become a remedy to make us be a part of something. “Art is a way to feel a member of a community. It moves your spirit and your soul, it’s socializing. It’s a process of learning, a process of exchanging with others”, Skitsa points out.

Music, for example, is constantly evolving and

reflecting social situations. When we listen to a song, we can get different feelings depending on the moment. Even if we listen to a song some years later than when we first heard it, we can have a very different approach to it. But, somehow, we all need music. “I think that no one can live without music, without sound. We can make music even when talking to one another. Everybody is pronouncing in a different way. Whenever there is a difficult situation like this one it’s a good point to start evolving with the culture we have”, Vreto affirms.

Local Life

That means that these young artists lose some of their creativity in the present time”, Skitsa.

Arts will have a huge impact in the scene of the

city and hopefully the curtain from the cultural sector in Thessaloniki will rise again soon. “We are optimistic. We believe that artistic creation will be reborn as soon as the lockdown and the restrictions due to the pandemic come to an end. We don’t want to focus on the negative impact. We believe that after the unprecedented situations we live in, positive opportunities will arise. We will observe creative contributions and collaborations which may lead to innovations in the cultural sectors”, Markella declares.

When a door closes, a window can open up and

difficult situations can also lead to opportunities. “Maybe this situation is a good thing in some aspects. For the past 10 years or so, the main bands that are getting out there are bands that have the money or are willing to pay. Even the management side is getting hard now. Maybe this is a chance for people to actually discover music for What about the future? what it’s worth, to listen to a song because it is The future is uncertain, and it is almost impos- a good song, not only because you can hear it on sible to predict what will happen in the next the radio all day long”, Vreto concludes. months. There are certain obstacles that the city is facing now, according to Skitsa, and will probably keep facing in the near future. “I think in Thessaloniki there are challenges at many levels and culture is one of them. Young people often have two options: moving to another city or going to work in public schools because they cannot work only as artists. They leave the tunnel of unemployment to go to the public schools. Wardrum concert in a festival, 2015

Out Of The Borders Freedom

Belarusian protests in 2020

A review of the events

by Chiara Parrucci

Since August 2020, Belarus has been living through a period of crisis of human rights triggered by the presidential election considered by many neither transparent nor fair. In January, I interviewed Natallia Satsunkevich, a human rights activist from the Center “Viasna” to learn more. This NGO is one of the oldest and biggest human rights centers in Belarus, active in promotion of democracy and human rights and in support of civic initiatives. Created during the protests in 1996, from 2004 it is part of the International Federation for Human Rights. While doing their job, the life of Natallia and her colleagues are often endangered.

Lukashenka has been in power since 1994, as

How it all started

Belarusians were called to elect the President of the Republic on the 9th of August 2020. The whole election process has been accompanied by peaceful acts of protests. In June, Belarusian people organised chains of solidarity after Viktar Babaryka saw his candidacy rejected. He was considered one of the three top candidates and opponents of the incumbent president Lukashenka, together with Valery Tsapkala and Siarhei Tsikhanouski. All of them got arrested before the election took place. Following the arrest of her husband, Sviatla-

he consolidated his position with two referendums allowing him to take part in all the subsequent elections.

The 9th of August 2020

When

the election results went public, Lukashenka obtained 79.9% of the vote and for the sixth time in a row won against his opponents. People from all segments of the society claimed that the election was rigged and took to the streets in a peaceful act of protest. “Generally speaking, they were young people, mostly men, but there were also some women” Satsunkevich said. In the following days, a growing number of women joined the protests. From the 12th of August, during the day Belarusian women, all in white with flowers in their hands, started marching along the main streets of Minsk.

na Tsikhanouskaya took his place and led the electoral campaign next to Maryia Kalesnikava and Veranika Tsapkala. Sviatlana’s party was supported by many among the population not only or not particularly because of the party Violence against protesters programme, but as an alternative to Lukashenka, that is, as an alternative to “the absence of This is not the first time for Belarusians to take change” as Satsunkevich described it. to the streets. The year 1996 is remembered as

Freedom

Out Of The Borders

Teachers taking part in the protests next to their students had to face administrative detention the year of massive protests against the refer- and in many cases were fired afterwards. Many endum that brought some important changes in students went through the same destiny and the governance strengthening the power in the were expelled. In order to stifle protests, many hands of the president. universities saw a change of the Dean too. What is different is the kind of violence used to “At Minsk State Linguistic University, students repress civilians.

organised sit-ins, sung protest songs in different [then] the administration called the “The violence against the people detained” says languages, OMON, a special militia force, that started deSatsunkevich “was systemic, applied in large- taining students directly inside the University”, scale, and widespread all around the country”. Satsunkevich recalled. During the most intense days of the 9th, 10th, and 11th of August, people on the streets were On the 12th of November, the whole group of hit and attacked with non-lethal weapons, rub- students part of ZBS, the Association of Belaruber bullets, tear gas, flash-bang grenades. “Gre- sian Students, was detained. nades, for instance, were thrown into crowds of people, without taking into consideration wheth- Nowadays, the situation with students has er there were women, children or elderly people changed: many continue to support the protests, among them”. Besides, many protesters were but they do it in a more discreet way. “At the bedetained by the Police, threatened, and tortured ginning, the protests were more manifest and inat the Police stations or put in solitary confine- volved more students and were more animated. Now, given the fact that a part of the most acment for 2 to 3 days. tive students have been arrested or are waiting Students participation to protests in pre-trial detention facilities, the rest are very scared and continue the activity the way they The first two Sundays after the elections, name- used to”, explained Satsunkevich. ly the 16th and the 23rd of August, Belarusian students gathered to protest. Students chose to show their dissent and some actions of protest “Belarusians, through the internet, were held inside Universities. In particular, during tried to exercise their rights” the 1st of September (the first day of the school year) the police took over the protesters. Many of them were stopped and arrested. The role that the internet has played during the protests is primary: Belarus is a country where the media are controlled by the authorities, but the internet is not so easy to control. For some days, at the beginning of the protests, it had been blocked and people were not able to verify what was happening around them.

Minsk, 9th of August

The Telegram channel NEXTA-live has been providing real-time news and updates of the events mixing the official sources with citizen journal-

Out Of The Borders Freedom

ism. It has now been banned in Belarus, as the (like Volha Kavalkova): “It’s a choice between authorities stated that it is helping with the coor- freedom out of the country or prison in Belarus”. And then added: “We, as Human Rights Center, dination of the protests. say that people finding themselves in such conThere is also SHOD, the digital platform, where ditions are obliged to go away, this has nothing citizens are allowed to vote the candidates that to do with a voluntary choice, both the rights are will – according to the same platform – protect limited and there’s no chance to fully exercise people’s interests in a national dialogue (that is, one’s civil and political rights”. they will represent the interests of the national community in a dialogue with the current authorities). These words are supported by the facts: Once in Latvia, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has been able “Belarusians, through the internet, tried to exer- to meet many heads of State and Government, cise their rights, the same rights that the gov- such as the German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ernment takes away from them. [Through it] the French President Emanuel Macron, and also there have been attempts to count ballot papers, the EU High Representative Josep Borrell. During to count how many people participated in the these meetings she raised awareness of the onmarches”, commented Satsunkevich. going repression and human rights crisis in her country.

“Across the borders, when you are free, you can do more for the change than what you could do sitting in a jail”

The

She has also received the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2020.

“It’s the feeling that Belarusians are not alone and that they are doing the right thing”

current situation in Belarus made many opponents flee the country. Among these, there is the leader of the democratic Belarus, Sviatla- Since the very beginning, the European Comna Tsikhanouskaya, the wife of the blogger and mission recognised the presidential election as former presidential candidate detained in the “neither free nor fair” and condemned the brutal response of the authorities against the peacepre-trial detention facility since May. ful protesters. Later on “called for a democratic Satsunkevich quoted the names of the oppo- solution to the crisis through an inclusive nationnents that either are sitting in jail (as Maryia al dialogue with the broader society”. Kalesnikava), or were obliged to flee the country Starting from October 2020 the Council of Europe has sanctioned 88 individuals and 7 entities with travel ban and asset freeze. These people are considered responsible for supporting in various ways the climate of violence and repression against protesters, opponents, and journalists.

Finally, in December 2020, the European Com-

Victors Avenue, Minsk, 10th of August

mission adopted a €24 million assistance package, whose immediate beneficiaries are Belarusian people, intended as civil society and

Freedom

Peaceful protest in Minsk, 23rd of August

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future of its own country.“During 2020 more than 31,000 people in Belarus have been subjected to repression in its several forms. Things like these never happened before. Each of these people should see their rights restored and we call to create a mechanism of several compensations. Of course people want to be assured that someAs a general comment, Satsunkevich replied: thing like this will never happen again”. Besides, “The sensation is that Belarusians are not left the Human Rights Center advocates initiating alone, they are doing the right thing, trying to criminal proceedings in a public trial against fight for their rights”. the members of the police units who committed crimes against the civilians during the protests. independent media, youth, and small and middle-sized enterprises. The health sector too will receive the support to improve the response to COVID-19 pandemic. However, many questions are left open: for example, who will take the decisions on the behalf of the Belarusian people?

“For human rights activists there’s a lot of work to do”

We need to remember that not only have pro-

tests in Belarus have lasted more than half a year, but also that as of today in Belarusian jails there are more than 160 political prisoners and At the end of the interview I asked Natallia what another 100 have been prosecuted for politithe Human Rights Center “Viasna” hopes for the cal reasons.

Out Of The Borders Freedom

Black Lives Matter The movement that changed history by Katarzyna Ciszewska

Last year the whole world experienced the anger, passion and determination for the ongoing police brutality targeting mostly black people. The Black Lives Matter protests started on 26th of May in the United States and continued up until September gathering people from all over the world.. What pushed people to their limits was a deadly attack on a 46-years old African-American man, George Floyd. The protests without a doubt marked a huge historical event. The unification from people all over the world no matter their race was truly remarkable.

How to use your white privilege

What a lot of white people don’t necessarily re-

ies which made police less aggressive or even stopped them from doing anything at all.

alise is how lucky they are to be white in certain “White privilege was granted to us situations. We can’t even imagine what it’s like at birth. It allows us to believe that to have others see us as suspicious or danger- because we have grown up in the ous simply because of the color of our skin. We same country, we all have had the don’t have to teach our children how to stay alive same chances and have the same if they’re ever confronted by the police. This alconsequences for our choices.” ready counts as a white privilege. In no way does it mean that white people don’t struggle with their lives, but it means that the color of our skin This privilege was granted to us at birth. It aldoesn’t make it harder. lows us to believe that because we have grown in the same country, we all have had the same During the protests, many videos were circulat- up ing over the internet where white people were chances and have the same consequences for guarding the black protesters with their bod- our choices. It allows us to think that we’re all “the same,” without acknowledging that the color of one’s skin actually makes a huge difference in how a person experiences the world and how that person is treated. It’s difficult to say if we could end the white privilege but what we, white people, can do is LISTEN. Listen to the people of color when they’re talking about their struggles. We could never experience the same difficulties as them. It’s important to name your own privilege and use your position or platform to educate people. SPEAK UP AND SPEAK OUT. © Martin Meissner

Freedom

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Black Trans Lives Matter

also matters, so why don’t you pay attention to In 2019, the American Medical Association clas- me?” the person says. Well, of course it matters sified violence against the transgender com- but it doesn’t need any help right now, does it? munity in the U.S. as an epidemic. 2020 was said to be the deadliest year on record for the “It’s crucial to talk about transgender community, especially for Black uncomfortable topics and try to trans women. The year 2020 had seen at least educate yourself and others around 44 transgender or gender non-conforming peo- you. Education and resources are ple fatally shot or killed by other violent means, the key to a change”. the majority of which were Black and Latinx transgender women. According to the Human That’s basically the same as when white people Rights Campaign, that was the deadliest year say “all lives matter”. This slogan was born out for transgender people on record since they beof “black lives matter”, which is a response to gan tracking deaths in 2013. So, needless to say racism and violence against black people. PeoBlack Trans Lives might be the most oppressed ple will argue that “all lives are equal”, as we are group, as it’s targeted through not only racism all human beings. However, Black Lives Matters but also homophobia and transphobia. What was not created to put black people higher in a the activists are fighting for is more inclusion of made up hierarchy. It was to place them as equal black LGBTQ+ community in the movement. One to white people. We live in a world where black of black trans-women activists, Sherry, said that people are constantly marginalised, discriminatblack lives will never matter if you don’t include ed and stigmatised. So using that phrase takes Black trans lives. It is very hypocritical to turn a blind eye when Black trans women are experiencing the same violence.

Do “all lives matter”?

Why is it offensive to say “all lives matter”? Imag-

ine a situation. Someone you know just broke their ankle, obviously you’re going to take care of this person . Now imagine another person whose ankle is perfectly fine. This person gets angry at you for not taking care of their ankle. “My ankle

Out Of The Borders Freedom

gassed, battered and perhaps even shot. For exaways the conversations about racism, as it ample last June, members of the DC National seems to be dismissing and ignoring the problem. Guard were armed and wearing camouflage uniforms while standing on the steps of the Lincoln “Black Lives Matter” is a call for protections Memorial, as crowds of people held a peaceful and recognition. protest. However during the attack on the Capitol rioters had already made it inside the building The differences in police responde before the DC National Guard was deployed.

How do we know that we still have a long way to go in terms of racial equality?

How to support the movement

Unfortunately the fight against racism and poThe most recent event, the assault and van- lice brutality is not finished and there’s still a lot

dalism of the Capitol. The difference in police response is frightening. Comparing what was happening during the summer protests and how aggressive and heartless the police was towards the protesters there’s no doubt that if the Capitol attackers were black they would have been treated way differently. But as they were mostly white conservative men it seemed as they were almost invited inside with extremely limited security. The main difference between these two events is that Black Lives Matters protests were trying to be peaceful movements but the attack on the Capitol didn’t even pretend to be the same. When black people protest for their lives, they are too often met by National Guard troops or police equipped with assault rifles, shields, tear gas and helmets. If the Capitol protesters were Black, they would most probably have been tear

of work to be done. One of the ways to support people of color is to offer financial assistance to those who have been impacted by the violence as well as those who have been arrested for taking a stand. There’s a National Bail Fund Network where you can make a donation to utilize bail. It’s also important to support Black-owned businesses. Especially small local businesses during the lockdown. However, you don’t have to spend money in order to show your support. Social media gives opportunity to use your voice to show solidarity and bring awareness to important issues. It’s crucial to talk about uncomfortable topics and try to educate yourself and others around you. Education and resources are the key to a change. We should keep listening and learning as there will always be new things we can do to help.

Trade

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All you need to know about the RCEP, the world’s largest economic trade agreement by Marco Scarangella

goods imported and exported within the region. In the long term, the agreement aims to reduce The agreement includes 20 chapters of rules tariffs between member countries by 90% over covering several fields. In the immediate term, 20 years, expanding the services sector and esthe pact aims to eliminate duties on 65% of tablishing common trade rules.

What does the RCEP provide for?

Map representing the signatory countries of the agreement.

Out Of The Borders Trade

It also includes provisions on intellectual prop-

ly to be found in the great diversification of the economies of the countries party to the agreement, which are currently at different stages of their development. However, the RCEP will create common rules of origin for products in the area, so that certificates of origin issued in one member country will be valid throughout the region, thus reducing internal shipping and transaction costs.

erty, telecommunications, financial services, e-commerce and professional services. In addition, it overcomes the limits imposed on existing bilateral free trade agreements between countries in the region, first and foremost, the ‘rules of origin’ that determine where goods come from. Before the pact was signed, a product made in Indonesia containing Australian parts, for example, could be subject to duties in some Asean Who has decided to enter the countries. With the RCEP, components from any agreement and who has not member country would be treated equally, giving companies in the region an incentive to look for Among the fifteen participants in the RCEP there suppliers within the trade region. are very different countries. Firstly, the Far East’s three often competing major economic powers However, agriculture remains absent from the China, Japan and South Korea – that signed for understanding, and there is limited inclusion of the first time a joint free trade agreement. This is the service sector and sectors deemed strategic. why the Chinese Premier, Li Keqiang, called it a Little progress has been made in defining com- ‘victory for the free market and multilateralism’. mon standards for products, and no progress has been made on labour and environmental Apart from being certainly due to the need to protection or on the regulation of State-Owned boost their national economies, the signatures of Enterprises (SOEs). The reason for this is main- Australia and Japan can be considered the product of the last four years of Donald Trump’s Asia policy. The ‘vacuum’ left by the United States at a regional level has favoured a rapprochement of regional economies with China.

Also benefiting from this agreement will be the

The moment of the signing of the RCEP by teleconference on 15th November 2021

ASEAN countries - the countries of South East Asia - which will increasingly become the recipients of South Korean and Japanese investment in producing components for their industry. The

Trade

consequence will be to increase their industrial capacity and, in the medium term, lead to a reduction in income gaps in the region. In recent months, South-East Asia has recorded better economic figures than the rest of the world, partly due to the pandemic’s successful containment. In particular, Vietnam is driving the region’s recovery, with GDP up 2.6% in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the same quarter last year. This is in addition to positive figures for the region as a whole: countries such as Indonesia (GDP 2021 +6.1%), Cambodia (+6.8%), the Philippines (+7.4%) and Malaysia (+7.8%) will drive growth for the entire region.

The significant absentee from the RCEP is India,

which had withdrawn from the negotiations as early as 2019, citing the need to protect its manufacturing from the competition and for fear of seeing its trade deficit with Beijing increase.

This move further divides the two Asian giants,

which are reeling from a summer of tensions in the Himalayas. New Delhi had decided to self-exclude itself from the agreement. It feared that with the removal of most tariffs, the Indian market would be flooded with cheap foreign products, effectively hitting small and medium entrepreneurs who numbered over 63 million in rural and urban activities in 2019 alone. Delhi’s decision will make medium and long-term economic growth targets more complex and the acquisition of the technology needed to support

Out Of The Borders

the country’s economic development more difficult, probably making it necessary to strengthen relations with Washington and Brussels.

Is the RCEP a victory for China?

One of the most critical issues within the RCEP

is the Chinese economy’s disproportionate size compared to others, especially after India withdrew from the negotiations. Indeed, there are many advantages of the agreement for Beijing. This pact will allow China to strengthen its sphere of influence in the face of growing USA pressure, mitigate the risks of losing relevance in international value chains and finally do away with the idea that China can be isolated in a global economy. The RCEP is the cornerstone for the creation of an ‘Asian bloc’ which - although less ambitious than other free trade areas such as the EU and NAFTA, which do not offer the same level of integration - represents a turning point in the future of international economic relations.

Comparison of GDPs of the world’s three largest trade agreements

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This is why the agreement is considered a geopolitical victory for China, which gets to formalise and strengthen ties with other Asian countries, presenting itself as an alternative to the economic vacuum and loss of credibility bequeathed to the United States by Donald Trump. Is the RCEP a wake-up call for the West?

The

signing of this historic agreement has alarmed the American political and business world. After the news of the signing of the RCEP, President-elect Joe Biden immediately stated that it will be the United States and its allies who will have to write the rules of free trade, not China. He has already announced a plan on international trade that will be made public in his office’s first weeks. A statement that seems to deviate from the Trump administration’s policies in the name of ‘America First’.

was precisely the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership in 2017 that was one of the factors that facilitated the conclusion of the RCEP and enhanced Chinese centrality in the Asian trade games. Three key US allies (South Korea, Japan and Australia) have become part of a Chinese-dominated arrangement, so a new ‘pivot to Asia’ is increasingly necessary for Washington if the US is not to lose economic, political and trade ties in an increasingly strategic region.

closely linked to the United States, but relations between the two old allies have cooled down during the four years of the Trump government. Something will probably change with Biden’s election, but it is clear that Europe is looking to Asian countries (and China in particular) as a possible trading partner. The EU is now in the middle of the dangerously strained relations between China and the USA and has no interest in a generations-long conflict between the two superpowers. Europe intends to maintain and strengthen its economic relationship with China but under stringent conditions. If the EU were to adopt this kind of policy towards China, it would prompt Biden to adopt a more constructive approach towards the Asian Dragon. This is a stance that – judging by his long involvement in foreign relations and with China – the President-elect would be inclined towards anyway, despite the election rhetoric.

The signing of the RCEP mega-trade deal is inevitably pushing European countries to make clear and decisive political and economic choices. Paradoxically, this pact may prove to be a wake-up call for Europe from the slumber of recent years.

In the middle of the pandemic, East Asia is the only area of the world that has already restarted. In fact, it never completely stopped, which means Regarding the European Union, the situation is that it will have a time advantage in redefining the somewhat different. Europe has always been geography of regional and global production.

Environment

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Intersectional Environmentalism

A movement for the environment and for social justice

by Beatrice Cosner

“Intersectional Environmentalism is an inclusive version of environmentalism that advocates for both the protection of people and the planet.” - intersectionalenvironmentalist.com

Intersectional environmentalism is about bring-

ing injustices done to the communities and the 30 years ago as a “lens through which you can Earth to the forefront, pointing out how they see where power comes and collides, where it interlocks and intersects”. Intersectionality are interconnected. want to focus attention to situations and social It all started in the US with Leah Thomas. While patterns where social justices issues overlap, studying environmentalism in college, she creating unique situations, that are often overthought that social justice had to be entangled looked. With an intersectional view we are able to address cases where our system failed to recwith this movement, but it wasn’t. ognize prejudice happening at the intersection At the same time, Kimberlé Crenshaw’s theory of gender and race of black women. We can be appeared on mainstream media: intersectional able to recognize power dynamics and the “blind theory. Crenshaw coined the term more than spots” that perpetuate injustices.

Out Of The Borders Environment

On May 2020 following the death of George

Floyd and the surge of the Black Lives Matter movement, Thomas noticed the silence on social media of the environmental community. She was annoyed by this. Racism is one of the essential points when it comes to environmental justice. Black people and the discriminated groups of people are those who are most affected by climate change and natural catastrophe. Unfortunately, in a white-narrative of environmentalism there’s only a little space for non-white people. So Leah Thomas post this graphic that read “Enviromentalists for Black Lives Matter” and it went viral. On the back of this momentum, inspired by Crenshaw’s theory, she and a couple of friends created the Intersectional Environmentalist (IE) platform.

Intersectional Environmentalism is about to lis-

White environmentalists are not used to think

about discriminated categories of people, which often are the less responsible for climate change but the most affected. Communities of color and of low-income are most exposed to environmental conditions like poor air quality, bad water quality, food deserts. Gender inequalities are exaggerated by climated-related hazards; women are the most affected. Trans, non-binary, queer people and women are invisibilized by patrarchy, but they are active participants in the fight. When it comes to Indigenous people, those who preserve the 80% of biodiversity, almost no environmentalist community ask them some advice. You never see one of those categories in television talking about environment. On an institutional level, these themes are discussed by white straight temporarily able men for white straight temporarily able men.

ten and amplify silenced voices, to create space in the society and share it with invisibilized people. It is about recognizing privileges and injustices and how these are connected to the environment. It is about recognizing when skin color, However, from India to Ethiopia to California, income, other types of diversity and environmen- local communities are raising their voices and their needs and they’re creating local movement tal issues overlap. and taking actions while governments around Environmentalists are people who fight for the the world are knocking them down with laws rights for a healthy ecosystem where to live, for promoting free trade, GMOs and so on. them and the next generations. They fight It’s important for us, as environmentalists, to for sustainability. raise our voices but also, as privileged people, If you look at the meaning of sustainability it to amplify their voices and don’t ignore them comes to you that it focuses on meeting the or speak for them. Let them speak. Everyone needs of the present without compromising the can see in their city or their country people who ability of future generations to meet their needs. are discriminated or who suffer injustices. The struggle of an environmentalist is that one for So why are institutions and organizations only the protection and improvement of the natulooking at white straight temporarily able men? ral environment.

How environmental justice become and exclu- Human beings are part of it and no one can

sive thing?

be excluded.

Society

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Colorado is off death row Another step forward towards the end of death penalty

by Sara Angioletti

We all agree on affirming that human life’s value is countless and that we should treat every

human being with dignity and respect. But during 2020, the debate on the right to life has raised conflicting feelings. The two most significant constants of our existence, life and death, have caused an uproar in the squares and parliamentary halls—the right to abortion, the legalization of euthanasia and finally, the death penalty.

Colorado abolished the death penalty

March 23rd 2020, Governor Jared Polis abolished the death penalty in Colorado, USA, an event that marked a victory for some and a defeat for others. Further confirmation of how much the right to life is still debated, especially in its various political interpretations.

last time Colorado state sentenced someone to death and the final execution was carried out in 1997.

At this time, the only sentences that have un-

dergone a radical change are those of the three now-former death row prisoners Nathan Dunlap, Sir Mario Owens, and Robert Ray, who now face The new law has been applied since July 1st life in prison. 2020, and it’s not retroactive. It means that those who have pending cases could still be But as Governor Polis said in his statement condemned to death. However, it seems very un- “Commutations are typically granted to reflect likely as almost a decade has passed since the evidence of extraordinary change in the offender. That is not why I am commuting these sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. […] Rather, the commutations of these despicable and guilty individuals are consistent with the abolition of the death penalty in the State of Colorado, and consistent with the recognition that the death penalty cannot be, and never has been, administered equitably in the State of Colorado”. Therefore, the decision was made not for humanitarian reasons, but just “to reflect what is now Colorado law”. Execution chamber for lethal injection

Out Of The Borders Society

United States and the death penalty

some of these because considered as inhuman and cruel.

Colorado became the 22nd state in the United

But who can be sentenced to death?

States to abolish the death penalty and reduce it to life imprisonment. As the Death Penalty Information Centre (DPIC) explains, “Colorado’s abolition of capital punishment exemplifies a nationwide trend away from the death penalty”. Many West Coast states have recently abolished the death penalty by law or limited its use, such as California and Oregon. It seems that “public support for the death penalty throughout the U.S. is near a generational low, dropping from a high of 80% in 1994 to 56% in 2019” states the DPIC.

The DPIC explains that all prisoners sentenced

to death in modern times and those currently on death row have been found guilty of murder. However, cases of rape, mostly perpetrated by blacks against white victims, were punished with the death penalty. When the death penalty was reintroduced in 1976, the U.S. government proposed using the death penalty as a punishment for rape cases. The proposal, however, was declared unconstitutional if death has not occurred.

Today, there are 28 states in the U.S. in which Death penalty in the USA should be aimed at the death penalty is still the law, 22 in which it was abolished and 3 in which the gubernatorial moratorium is applied. As the DPIC reports, “1529 men and women have been executed in the United States since the 1970s, although executions have declined significantly over the past two decades.”

those who have committed the worst of crimes. In some states, even those who have participated in a crime in which a murder occurred can face the death penalty, although the murder was not carried out by them directly. Furthermore, there are many aggravating or mitigating factors to be taken into consideration when a murder happens. Many consider the crime range for The executions were carried out only through which the death penalty is foreseen too wide. methods approved by the constitution. Among Therefore, the sentence can be unfairly applied, the main ones, we find hanging, lethal injection, as stated by the DPIC. fire squad (or fusillade) and the electric chair. However, many state courts have banned using A much-debated case was that of Lisa Montgomery, the only woman on U.S. federal death row. Montgomery in 2007 was found guilty of kidnapping ended in death after she strangled a 23-year-old pregnant woman from Missouri. After approaching the young woman online, Montgomery met her at her home in Skidmore, Missouri, pretending to be interested in buying one of the puppies she was breeding. The woman then assaulted the girl by strangling her and removing the fetus from her uterus, then kid-

Death penalty in the USA

Society

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napped the baby and returned home to her fami- Around the world ly, pretending that the baby was hers. However, if we try to look at the bigger picture, we It was a violent crime that shook the United discover that the death penalty is still well esStates at the time. However, during the trial, the tablished in the judicial systems of many coundefence attorneys intentionally avoided provid- tries. Often applied unfairly and carried out in ing the jury with crucial information about the cruel ways, not only on adults but also on minors. defendant. Montgomery had been the victim of repeated abuse during her childhood and ado- As stated by the International Observatory of lescence. Raped and beaten daily by her stepfa- Human Rights, “In 2019, there were a total of ther and subjected to abuse and torture by her 657 executions carried out around the world, mother, she had suffered irreparable trauma. To excluding China which, as the world’s most proescape parental violence, Montgomery married lific executioner, refuses to issue the data. Five at just 18 but ended up in abusive relationships. countries that carried out most executions were Despite having suffered unimaginable pains that China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Egypt.” caused her personality disorders, depression, Many of these countries applied the death penand post-traumatic shock, the woman was not alty unfairly, as verdicts are often reached with spared the death penalty as has happened in a lack of transparency or in the absence of conother very similar cases, making her story a bicrete evidence. Furthermore, the death penalty zarre case. is not applied everywhere, just in the case of After spending the last few years in a Texas psy- murder. In Saudi Arabia, for example, homosexuchiatric centre, her execution was scheduled for ality is considered a crime and can be punished December 2020 but postponed due to COVID-19 with the death penalty. to January 2021. The new lawyer who had been dealing with the Montgomery case since 2012 has never stopped to ask for the sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment, arguing that the woman was seriously mentally ill at the time of the murder. The judge, however, confirmed the execution date for January 12th, 2021. The only hope was President Trump’s intervention or the waiting for the beginning of Biden’s mandate, who during the race for the White House claimed his willingness to abolish the death penalty at the federal level.

Children are also victims of the reckless application of the death penalty. Protected by International Humanitarian Law, minors should not and cannot be sentenced to death. Despite this, children have been killed from the 90s, especially in countries such as China, the Democratic Re-

Lisa

Montgomery was executed on January 13th, 2021, in Terre Haute prison in Indiana by lethal injection.

Protests against death penalty in Iran

Out Of The Borders Society

Amnesty International activism against death penalty

Fighting against what the organization consid-

public of the Congo and Iran, as Amnesty Inter- ers as the “ultimate, inhuman and degrading punishment” is a slow process. This battle has national stated. become one of the most important for Amnesty International. The organization has saved thouWhere are we heading to? sands of prisoners of consciousness from death There are still 56 countries that implement the row in many countries where repressive governdeath penalty as punishment in the world. As ments don’t allow people to express different the International Observatory of Human Rights ideas like in Egypt or Turkey, for example. reports “Five countries – Mongolia, Guinea, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Chad and Kazakhstan – During an interview with Balkan Hotspot, the have all abolished the death penalty in the last Director-General of Amnesty International Italia few years; a promising step in the right direction explained that “Unfortunately, the majority of for the reduction of its use globally. Additional- public opinion is still in favour of death penalty. ly, the number of documented executions was The cultural change was not so complete as we the lowest in 10 years, with a 5% decrease from hoped it would be and there is still in the minds 2018 to 2019.” But without data on executions of most people the idea that at least in certain in China, the country with the highest number of cases, death penalty can be justified. So some death sentences, it is difficult to understand how states are reluctant to delete it from their laws, it would not be well accepted by part of the public things are actually evolving. opinion so they keep it in their law but they don’t Fighting for life do executions, which is the most important thing for us”. Amnesty International stated that “the death penalty breaches human rights, in particular the The debate remains heated: can the death penright to life and the right to live free from torture alty still represent a viable option to seek justice or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or pun- in the most serious crimes? Or should it be abanishment. Both rights are protected under the Uni- doned because justice is not achieved simply by versal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by denying life to those who took it from somethe U.N. in 1948.” one else?

Innovation

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The Hyperloop more than just a pipe dream? How a 19th century communication technology will radically change the way we travel by Michael Magee

Almost a decade ago, the founder of the current leader in space travel, SpaceX’s Elon Musk,

published an open source paper titled “Hyperloop Alpha” wherein the practicalities of implementing a new form of high-speed travel were explored in a little over 50 pages. Musk invited the world’s scientist to develop the concept, and Richard Branson’s “Virgin Hyperloop” has since presented itself as the leader in the race. In November 2020, Virgin Hyperloop had its first successful manned run in a Hyperloop tunnel.

2020 is a year that saw many of our lives put

on hold. All sorts of businesses were affected, from those based in catering and events to simple commodities like hairdressers and sports centers. However, while entire economies suffered, 2020 was an eventful year for the sciences.

Outside of epidemiology (which, naturally, was heavily researched) there were some significant advances; the first room temperature superconductor was created, and while it has some limitations, it could provide the first steps towards

a new highly efficient power source. The five decade old “black hole paradox” was solved, new chemical compounds were found on Venus that could be indicators of life, and our own presence in space has changed its nature somewhat. Hundreds of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are occupying Earth’s orbit, and last year the same company was the first to send human beings up to the International Space Station in a privately owned vessel.

The transportation tubes we see in Futurama are almost here, under the name of ‘Hyperloop’.

One trope of science fiction movies in particu-

lar is becoming more and more of a reality. The transportation tubes we see in Futurama are almost here, under the name of ‘Hyperloop’.

Out Of The Borders Innovation

This mode of transport seems so futuristic that

many people are taken aback by the very idea, but the concept was put into practice back as far as the mid 19th century. In 1853 “pneumatic tubes” began their use between banking firms and the telegraph office in London. This was done because, while telegraph communication was extremely fast, all communications landed in a central hub from where they had to be delivered to their respective final destinations via horse carriage. This last step of the delivery process was troublesome because of traffic in the

city streets, so financial firms were connected to the central hub by tubes. Messages (and in one of the test runs, a cat) were placed inside capsules which were pushed along the tubes. To provide the pushing force, a vacuum was created inside the tubes, which caused a difference in air pressure on either side of the capsule. The vacuum inside the tube meant significantly less air resistance to slow down the capsule (this is why airplanes can go so fast, since in the upper levels of our atmosphere air resistance is lessened by lack of air pressure). This reduction of resistance is the central point of Hyperloop travel. The Hyperloop goes a step further however, in that it doesn’t simply reduce resistance coming from the front of the capsule, but also seeks to fight gravity and friction from the underside. It does this by causing the capsule to levitate off the floor of the tube, using either air pumps or magnets. This allows the Hyperloop capsule to slip through the tunnel at over 1000 kilometres an hour, which is faster than a Boeing 747 airplane.

By the time pneumatic systems were commonplace, they would circulate up to 200,000 letters per hour in cities from New York to Prague. However, once cities grew in size and started to cater to motor transport that was also becoming more commonplace, pneumatic systems became too difficult to install and maintain. After a while, they began to be used exclusively for transporting documents within buildings, like department stores and banks.

Innovation

What will it do to everyday life?

A time schedule has yet to be determined, but

currently 2030 is the goal for having a working hyperloop somewhere in the world. Analysis of the environmental impact must be done, alongside more tests and then, of course, permits for vast expanses of land must be acquired for construction.

While the Hyperloop may reshape how we trav-

el, the external effects could be extensive. Perhaps the first to come to most people’s minds will be the possibility to visit far away cities for day trips. This new possibility for spontaneity will stimulate tourism, but other potential impacts are plentiful because of the fact that it won’t necessarily be primarily used for holidays, but for workers and transportation of goods. It will inevitably have an effect on the housing market because people will be able to live in cheaper cities while working in, for example, London. The same applies to education; people unable to afford living in London can complete a University course in the city that serves them well without having to settle for a university in a nearby city. How exactly the housing market will adapt to this is not clear, and depends on whether there will be multiple stops in other smaller cities along the Hyperloop route. At least for the beginning however, different groups could see new opportunities presented to them for employment and education.

The postal service will be largely sped up because of the fact that goods as well as people will be in transit, and this may have an effect on

Out Of The Borders

how we shop. If we can order something on Amazon and have it sent through an underground Hyperloop network directly to our neighborhood, packages could theoretically be ordered at a couple of hours notice. This could have an effect on the very existence of physical shops and anything that isn’t Amazon, which are already threatened by current day standards of pricing and delivery times provided by the company.

Whether

the Hyperloop changes things for better or for worse remains to be seen, but this technology has the potential to be revolutionary. It seems that a new era is coming for transportation technologies; autonomous cars are being perfected and even space travel is becoming cheaper with improving materials and fueling techniques. Our first month of 2021 also presented us with a new train prototype from China, which, like the Hyperloop, uses magnetic levitation to reach speeds as high as 600 kilometres per hour. These technologies provide us with yet another example of sci-fi predicting the future and inspiring innovation, and shows us that even our wildest fantasies can come true.

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Creation and Destruction, the essence of Existentialism 2020, Would you rather drown in the same river or die and be reborn? by Filippo Massariol

As Heraclitus said, we never bathe in the same river, but I believe that we can drown. I have

chosen to deal with this topic because I believe that in today’s world we often take too many things for granted, relying on appearances, which in addition to leading us down the wrong path, in some cases hide the true reality of things.

The obstacles of self-realization: us

rules and its prohibitions. Isolating him irreparably, to the point of impoverishing him, blocking interpreted as what veils reality, while reality is him in a rigid scheme. the concrete condition of what exists. Starting from Descartes, the thesis according to which In 2020 many of us have become even more demen know only ideas, i.e. mental representations tached from the flow. Many of us have remained of things, was affirmed. But if our knowledge is slaves to the vicissitudes. And many of us have made only of mental representations, who can drowned in the same river. The river in this case guarantee that they are the object of truth? Often is not a stream of water, but a symbol, that repour subjective vision becomes a barrier against resents our own mental convictions. the true reality. The presumption that everything needs to go Luigi Pirandello, influenced by spiritualistic smooth and follow logic. The illusion that our philosophies such as Henri Bergson’s, argues lives should be free from injustice and sufferthat life is made up of a free flow, continuous ing. And a society that tries to convince us to and independent. Everything that detaches it- believe in rules that go against our nature. This self from this flow takes on a distinct and indi- existential paradox is often the biggest obstacle vidual form, beginning to stiffen and, according to self-realization. We can wash it off, deal with to Pirandello, to die. So it happens also with the it. Or on the contrary, drown with it until we learn human being: in reality we are nothing but an how to swim. indistinct part of the eternal flow of life, but we tend to focus on a fictitious reality that we give What if disorder was the key meaning ourselves, in a personality that we want to be co- of the flow? herent and unitary. I know that many of you will not agree with me, And it is society itself that traps the individual and so be it! There is no unity without opposition. according to Pirandello, with its conventions, its Many of you will have doubts, and so be it! Doubt

In the history of thought, appearance is often

Philosophy

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Looking at human history, have you ever seen

a historical era without wars and evil kingdoms, is the seed that generates certainty and without or totalitarianisms? doubt there would be no truth. And looking at your own life or that of your acMany of you will say we are not the same and quaintances, have you ever seen a life without have different perspectives? So be it! Diversity is problems? I guess the answer is no, and there what makes us alike, because we are all equal in is a reason for that. The world is irrational. It is chaos, it is conflict, it is war. And the balance lies being different. in finding its own harmony in the disorder! Many of you will think that we can avoid disorder and tragic events, and so be it! Because what What if time was cyclical? we avoid today will return tomorrow. What if what we are experiencing now is the If we are different but alike and we all live in this repetition of a universal pattern that repeats itexistential paradox, and you don’t take things self eternally in space and time in the same but for granted but question them, then ask yourself opposite circumstances? If this were the case, this: “ Can there possibly be life without death? death, pain and disease would not be anomalies Creation without Destruction? to be defeated, but simply elements that are part of the cosmic flow and that serve to ensure a rebirth. We would love and try hard with all our might to put an end to suffering, death, war and disease. As the philosopher, E.H. Smith, says in his book But I ask you now, have you ever seen a day with- about irrationality: “Correlatively, a sober assessout a night? Or a summer without a long winter? ment of human history suggests neither prog-

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Just accept life for what it is, which doesn’t ress nor degeneration, but an eternally fixed bal- mean giving up, but being so strong as to underance of problem solving and problem creating.” stand that we can’t change what happens, but our attitude towards it. Eternal return (also known as eternal recurrence) is a concept that the universe and all existence and energy has been recurring, and will continue to recur, in a self-similar form an infinite number of times across infinite time or space.

If every age has the same pros and cons, every

day and every moment can have the same pros and cons of any other moment. What we are facing now are not dark times, but simply times. And the more we try to give a coherent and rational form, the more it will turn against us. What we avoid today, will return tomorrow!

Change yourself and change the world

It’s impossible to change the world and understand how it works, if we can’t change ourselves and our attitude first. I know that at the beginning you might feel uncomfortable and confused, as if you were sitting on a rocket flying towards space. Without having a safety button that would bring us back home to a safe place. But this is life, and this is 2020, a year like all the others in which nothing new and nothing old happens. But only the same events that repeat themselves in the same and different ways. Whether you are scared or not, and whether you like it or not, we are surfers who are riding a very big and dangerous wave and unfortunately we can’t stop it, but ride it.

Philosophy

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The choir of a storm by Filippo Massariol

A beast with the appearance of a man is about to die in front of a whirlwind that bars his

way. Tormented by anguish, he no longer gives himself peace and feels no longer the master, but rather the slave of his destiny. At that point, the Shadow, a metaphorical figure representing the flow and will of life, comes to him. The storm in this case is only a metaphor, what the man is really fighting with are his beliefs that detach him from self-realization and from the flow of life. And that will continue to return if he does not face them. What the man learns by talking to the Shadow is that difficulties and sufferings are part of life. You cannot rejoice without suffering and you cannot live if you have not died at least once. And so in the end he abandons himself to the storm, accepting his fate. In a more distant time that man will become the author of a great revolution, and he will thank that storm for being part of the existential energy.

:“Yo, I’m coming home now!”- Said the man. He tried to start the engine but it was jammed.

ings? Block the pain, block the confusion, stress and block the storm that is coming here to get me. I wish I had an answer for that. I wish I had “There you are right there, in the middle of a des- a plan B, but I don’t even have a plan A, except to ert with a storm coming in front of you. What just keep going nowhere. shall I do?”- The man murmured to himself. And Fog! Fog was there when all the people from this he remembered how many times he felt the same world decided to get sick? Fog was here when situation even from distant childhood memories. they all went against each other, does it work like He wanted art and artistic inspiration and he that? Like when a cell from your body goes crahad that, sure. But now, how. How to deal with zy and then the whole system does. I can hear it clear, yes, the storm is coming, and now I’m a storm? gonna die as I already did many times. No virus, The brain is so tricky, it can be a garden that no burglar, no hitman has killed me so far, but gives birth to the nourishment of your inner soul. this storm that talks into my head is doing so. I Or it can condemn you, sort of like a death sen- can’t believe I could be so silly. I rode the wave tence, because that’s how it feels. Death, pain, so many times: tsunamis and nuclear disasters! chaos. What are those if not just part of the mel- I found a way out when there was not, but I can’t ody? What can I do to be able to block my feel- make up my mind with this decision. © Picsart

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I’m stuck in a hole or maybe my feet just touched the quicksand and now I’m drowning in the sea like the Titanic. I have no shield, no armature, no nothing. I just have to follow the will. The will that makes me find the light in the dark. The will that makes me proud. The will that expresses meaning and not its semblance. The will that sometimes you can only see when you touch the bottom. Because it’s that little step at the bottom of the sea that gives you the leap you need to reach the surface. And here we are, still one step from the bottom, and still wondering if this time we’ll be able to overcome it. “Oh my abyss”, how many times we’ve stumbled. As dusk approached and the abyss deepened, a Shadow attempted to speak to my will.

“I have not come to take you away and destroy you. I have come to forge what has disappeared in you, as indeed in all men, accustomed to technological progress, to economic well-being, who have forgotten what it means to live.” - Said the Shadow.

The dark figure went on to say: “When I come for the flowers and the sweet creatures in those bitter, arid days of autumn, where I give them an icy greeting, I see no despair in their tone. I see no desolation, and I see no regret. But I do catch a glimpse of a tear of will, falling like dew during a long winter. And at that point, they welcome me like an old friend they haven’t seen in a long “Did I say enough? Go away I don’t want to see time and exclaim: “Oh, Shadow, I knew you would you anymore!” - The man cried. come! We have been anxiously awaiting your arrival. For too long we have been blooming and re“I wasn’t clear enough, I said go away.” - He re- leasing the lifeblood from our sun-yellow pistils. peated louder. And now you come to take them away from us!

“You know you can’t send me away!” - Said the Do you think hostility is a foreign value to us Shadow in a firm tone.

“I don’t want you, I don’t want you to save me!” - He replied. “I didn’t come here to save you, I came here to kill you.” - Howled the Shadow.

“Huh, there you go again, you think death solves

everything! Then tell me why death is destruction? Or rather what do you hopefuls call it; I can’t think of... huh, value creation! Sure, that’s brilliant. But now why does my destructive death become a creative force that springs your Shadow power?” - The man asked.

motionless and distracted plants? No. You know how much we strive and that we want to grow without stopping to impose our being as the domain of a disputed territory. And there we are, in the trenches ready, to shoot! We smell it, of course we do. The smell of death begetting rebirth. We are about to wither. But we will never do it without smiling and ripping out of our way with all our might the same pests that will destroy our garden in the name of creation, like battles in the name of peace. And peace it was, ha ha, I can’t wait until I’m the one who’ll be ripping you out of the ground like the grin of a child stepping on an anthill.”

Philosophy

It was then that the silly man asked: “You always talk of flowers, I remember, nature is your friend. Indeed she seems to have a conspicuous sympathy for you. Yet I can never find your story! You always tell the little stories and impose examples, but you never look at your own shadow which greets you in a frightened way. You are afraid, am I right Shadow?”

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he wanted his compatriots to develop a brain and unite against injustice? HAHAHAH!”

“Will you stop laughing, Shadow?” - The man exclaimed angrily.

“You don’t want to have peace, you want to have war?” - Replied Shadow.

“Hahaha how can I blame a man like you!” - Said “Do you call my peace war because my battle

the Shadow sneering in an arrogant tone and then went on to say: “I never have a story to tell because I am not a story. But I am the reason it happens. I am the blood that flows down the craters. I am the volcanic magma in the substrate of the earth. I am the storm that sinks the ship, and I am the wind that keeps it going. I am the cosmic void that gives substance to the earth. I do not have a story and I do not tell it because it would be offensive to you. It is you who make me true and make me proud! You are the lighthouse that lights the way while I remain in the dark, because not all men recognize disorder, or sin. They aspire to perfection while being the expression of the exact opposite! But me, I don’t ahaha, I find perfection ridiculous. I find the perfect in the imperfect, equality in ‘injustice, and fairness in diversity.”

lies precisely in transmuting your malice?” Asked the man.

“Hahahah, no, of course not. Have you ever wondered why you breathe? Have you ever wondered why all your cells die miserably every day? Is it perhaps the fruit of evil, or is it just the wind dissolving the indissoluble and giving order to disorder?” – It said, laughing in an increasingly arrogant manner. “Huh, so you’re calling me a murderer?” - The impatient man asked.

“Oh my dear, murderers were those who did not kill the cells but killed themselves. Out of fear or pity, they thought that they were different and that their bodies could live without chaos. And so they ended up intoxicating themselves and The man continued to stare at that immaterial dying of their own poison, will you do the same?” face that seemed more familiar than anything he had seen in his life. And the Shadow went “Are you calling me a coward? Do you think I am on to say: “Once there was a man who looked not capable of accepting death?” - He said as his like you. You know, you all look like each other face was twisting more and more in despair. but he most of all. At night he would not sleep, rather than close his eyes he would invoke my “Oh no, my dear. I find it much more difficult to presence. He would ask for my help. He wanted accept life rather than death. And you right now are draining your life! You are depriving it of ferme to do the ‘impossible!” tile soil like clay in the bed of the Nile. You see, I once knew a mason and that mason told me “Explain yourself.” - Said the man. that there are no houses that collapse. Or rather “He wanted to fly without wings! He wanted pol- houses collapse but the important thing is that it iticians to stop deceiving and exploiting people; was an earthquake and not you. That storm will

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probably wipe you out, but tell me now, would of life because life is the regeneration of the deyou rather have the storm reduce you to ashes stroyed. And I know that your mind, which does not give up yet, is like a dog with a muzzle or like or your agony?” the hinges of the door or the tons that keep the The man remained silent and then exclaimed: anchor attached to the ship to the bottom. You “Agony I command!” can decide to stay attached to it, and it would remain your choice, but at that point, another “And what commander abandons his ship?” Said blizzard will come and take you away. And what the Shadow and then continued: “So many ice- would you have gotten out of it? Now I must go. bergs have struck thousands of humans, but you The night is calling me, but remember tomorrow know what, they didn’t drown them because they is day or have you forgotten that darkness rewere masters of their craft, and they preferred to mains and does not persist? “ embark into the unknown rather than be slaves to it. Now go on and strike!” “What?”- He said without understanding what the Shadow was trying to communicate. “What will become of it?” - The man asked “I’ve never told anyone, but you know... No road “What will become of it only you know.” - An- you take is straight, and even if you go the wrong swered Shadow. way, your will will force you back to the right one. nothing ends but everything comes “You say you live inside all of us, so why do you Remember back. Now it’s time to go, make your choice, die want us to die? And if we die, why do you surnow or live by dying!” - Howled the Shadow. vive? Are you a parasite?” - The man kept saying.

“How can you be darkness and carry so much light “Oh, I’ve been waiting a long time for this ques- inside?” - Said the man trying to discern the meaning tion. There are many living who die and also of his apparent insignificance. many dead who live. I am Shadow because within I bring light that breaks down my darkness. Otherwise I could not call myself such. I am the death

Philosophy

I’ve learned to accept the light, it’s not so different, and it gives a shape to my shadow that otherwise would remain only substance of raw matter, like a gas that has no shape. But I choose to give shape to what I am because it’s what everyone aspires to but few become.”

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fore: “Yes! Come and get me, come on! I could not wait, haha, hello dear old friend!”

He disappeared, but only temporarily. And the

Shadow remained to look at the sky that in the meantime was clearing up. He continued his journey in the desert in search of other damned “But I’m afraid of shadow, I know that I’m made to be saved, who would reappear sooner or later. of light and shadow, but every time I accept it… Huh, damn it! I’m afraid of vanishing both and And as the immanent silence came, he could going back to being gas.” - Said the man crying. hear the laughter of that man, who was no longer damned. Between the rustle of the wind and If you’re afraid to be who you are it means you the rising of the sun above the deserted mounhaven’t lost yourself enough to find yourself tains that were about to bloom. The calm after again. Bye my friend, we’ll see each other the storms had given birth to another day. again don’t worry!”

The man smiled, and knowing that it would not be the last time he would have seen his beloved Shadow, he opened his arms wide, and shouted to the storm laughing as he had never done be-

“And those who were dancing were thought to be insane by those that could not hear the music.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

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Unlock, up by Bernardo Guerra Machado

Learn the language of the mountains – there is no necessity of moving them aside recurring to strength; no, we can just kindly ask them to let us pass. Your footsteps in the snow, besides those of hares, bears, and wolves, is probably the best book never written! Fill your story with as many strange, crazy

Try thoroughly to gather empirical evidences to the thesis that there is always some solution; and never accept the null hypothesis – there is something out there, I’m certain! I used to be afraid to listen to “Homeward Bound”, from Simon & Garfunkel, while I was away…

characters

as you can – and call them Friends. Spread some chaos every time possible. Master the Tango with Tragedy; and be conscious that a diet based on misadventures is the best one!

Today, it gives me an enormous pleasure to ear it – I wish I could wish I was homeward bound! Be bound to what makes you feel that Life treats you well – and enjoy your journey binding Humanity to something extraordinary!

Art

Please do pass

Natural Kind of Ink

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UNLOCK, UP

Those were news from the island with no name.

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Weapons of existence by Laura Andrés Tallardà

The Persistence of Memory

Clocks are the weapons of existence, the inexorable truth that no one can escape. Don’t waste time or time will waste you. Tick tock, tick tock. Time flies destroying every petal. Days melt like cheese under the sun, captured in tiny pieces of metal, threatened by a legion of ants. In a landscape of blue skies and deep seas,

on a beach whose sand the wind will scatter, there is a dark shadow that blurs yesterday and becomes an unpredictable monster. The fear to forget becomes a fear to be forgotten, to be erased from our own painting. Memory is the most intimate precious jewel, that cannot be shown but remembered. A rough diamond to be polished, a whole existence to be conquered

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A year to remember 1. Locust plague in East Africa – Credits: Ben Curtis/AP 2. Riots in Delhi after the Citizenship Bill passed – Credits: Mahesh Kumar A/AP 3. Trump administration signs a peace deal with the Taliban – Credits: Hussein Sayed / AP

15. Indonesia floods – Credits: Achmad Ibrahim—AP 16. Hurricane Iota in Nicaragua – Credits: https://ticotimes. net/2020/11/17/hurricane-iota-tears-through-central-america-after-nicaragua-landfall

4. Biden wins elections – Credits: https://variety.com/2020/ 17. Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter accident – Credits: Reuters politics/news/joe-biden-victory-speech-kamala-harris-1234825307/

5. Antarctica’s worst heatwave – Credits: Sarah Pabst

18. Earthquake hits Turkey and Greek Islands – Credits: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/turkey-earthquake-survivors-trapped-rubble/

6. Sudan bans Female Genital Mutilation – Credits: https:// 19. Space X Rocket Falcon 9 reaches International Space Staedition.cnn.com/2020/05/01/africa/sudan-fgm-banned-intl/ index.html

7. Weinstein is convicted for sexual assault – Credits: https://

www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-02-25/handcuffedand-humbled-harvey-weinstein-is-convicted-of-rape

8. UK formally left EU – Credits: https://edition.cnn.com/eu-

rope/live-news/brexit-day-uk-leaves-eu-gbr-intl/index.html

9. Black Lives Matter movement – Credits: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images News

10. Colorado abolished death penalty – Credits: https://death-

penaltyaction.medium.com/colorados-governor-signs-abolition-bill-commutes-sentences-3c1d24137844

11. Poland’s protests for the right of abortion – Credits: To-

masz Pietrzyk/Agencja Gazeta

12. Belarus protests against Lukashenko – Credits: AP Photo/

Sergei Grits

13. Beirut explosion – Credits: AFP - Getty Images 14.

Australian bushfires – Credits: https://www.telegraph. co.uk/news/2020/01/01/australian-bushfires-military-deployed-help-devastated-communities/

tion – Credits: SpaceX via Getty Images

20.

North Macedonia joins NATO – Credits: https:// greece.greekreporter.com/2020/03/28/greece-congratulates-north-macedonia-on-joining-nato/

21. Costa Rica legalises same sex marriage - Credits Ezequiel Becerra—AFP via Getty Images 22. Oil leak in Russia’s Ambarnaya river – Credits: https:// www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52915807

23. Nagorno-Kabarakh conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan – Credits: https://it.euronews.com/2020/09/28/nagornokarabakh-storia-di-un-conflitto-che-dura-da-piu-di-30-anni

24. Protests in Thailand – Credits: https://nournews.ir/En/ News/53691/Behind-the-Protests-in-Thailand 25.

Ennio Morricone died – Credits: https://www.latimes. com/obituaries/story/2020-07-06/ennio-morricone-dead

26. Diego Maradona died - Credits: https://greekcitytimes. com/2020/11/26/diego-maradona-died-aged-60/

27. Hong Kong protests against Extradition law – Credits: https://www.dw.com/en/hong-kong-protests-pit-the-citysyoung-against-the-old/a-49390322

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Filippo Massariol | 22 years old Staying in Greece for seven months, until April 2021

Katarzyna Ciszewska | 19 years old Staying in Greece for 7 months until April 2021

Favorite topics are philosophy and art

Favorite Topics are film studies, women and LGBT+ rights, mental health

Marco Scarangella | 30 years old

Chiara Parrucci | 26 years old

Staying in Greece for 7 months until April 2021

Favorite topics are politics, culture, art, food, sport

Favorite topics are languages, social rights, mental health and politics

Michael McGee | 24 years old

Sara Angioletti | 25 years old

Staying in Greece for 7 months until April 2021

staying in Greece until April 2021

Favorite Topics are journalism, politics and social issues

Favourite topics are relationship, culture and sustainability

Alejandro Sánchez Aragón | 26 years old

Bernardo Guerra Machado | 24 years old

Staying in Greece for 7 months until April 2021

Favorite topics are journalism, politics and social issues.

Favorite topics are cultural diversity, stories, and Life

Laura Andrés Tallarda | 27 years old Staying in Greece for 8 months until September

Guests

Favourite topics are journalism, social issues and mental health

Beatrice Cosner

General Directors: Editors: Aristodimos Paraschou Michael MaGee Christian Cibba Filippo Massariol Graphic Designer: Alexandros Tagaridis Find us: www.balkanhotspot.org Usb_ngo.gr

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TEAM

The volunteers responsible for this publication are hosted in Greece in the framework of the European ERASMUS+ Programme, European Solidarity Corps. This project has been funded with support from the European Commision. This publication [communication] reflects the views of only of the author, and the Commision can not be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Balkan Beats 34 - 2020

Articles inside

2020 around the World

To make Love in pandemic times

Weapons of existence

Unlock, up

The choir of a storm

Creation and Destruction, the essence of Existentialism

The Hyperloop - more than just a pipe dream?

Colorado is off death row

Intersectional Environmentalism

All you need to know about the RCEP, the world’s largest economic trade agreement

Black Lives Matter

Belarusian protests in 2020

Will the curtain over the cultural sector in Thessaloniki rise again?

We keep working just to have a plate on our table every day