Interview with Me and Myself

Interview with me and Myself

Me: Hey Myself! I just got this new thought while I was typing in the headline.

Do you want to hear it?

Myself: Sure! Go for it!

Me: Well, initially I thought I would come to this event and write about it. You know, the “World Youth Congress”.

But now I’m realizing that it is actually the other way round.

Myself: How do you mean that?

Me: Well, one could think that we were here to report about this event. But in fact, this event is just an occasion to get us writing. -

Myself: I understand. Is that why you chose this strange form of a self dialogue?

Me: Exactly! It was just an idea, you know I’m bored of these endless talks that say nothing. Like the politicians on the stage today. Where is the artistic approach in all this?

Myself: What is bothering you? Isn’t it nice here? We have a bed, we have food, there are many people around.

Man, we are in Istanbul! What’s wrong with you?

Me: Nothing is wrong, it’s just, I don’t know. What are people expecting from this?

We are sitting on a huge technical university campus built with state money. The whole thing is sponsored by the turkish government and some business partners. Is this the answer to the global problems?

This has nothing to with a cultural movement, this is just an abstract idea put into practice.

Myself: An abstract idea? Why? Don’t you think that there is a huge potential in all these young “leaders” as they call us? What do you mean by cultural movement?

Me: Let me explain. – Today we had this workshop about the MDGs, the Millennium Development Goals:

erase global poverty, primary education for every human being, gender equality, increase maternal and child health worldwide, erase avoidable diseases, protection of nature and international collaboration.

What do you think is the reason why theses goals which were set by the UN for 2015 will not be met, even further, why are we moving in the opposite direction?

Myself: Are we?

Me: Yes we are!

Myself: Why?

Me: As I said, because these ideas are just abstract. They don’t have life. No government will ever solve the problems of today unless individuals start to make a difference. A difference In their minds, in their hearts, in their behavior and their whole way of life. It is all about individuals awakening for responsibility and at this point starting to associate with each other – that’s what I mean by cultural movement. And this has nothing to do with the state.

Myself: Are you an anarchist?

Me: Maybe.

Myself: So whats you problem with the state?

Me: I don’t have a problem with the state. All I want to say is that the pool of ideas and capacities that is needed, the place from which consciousness is created and changed, where the true capital of the future lies, is the individual human being. And an individual human being expressing itself is what we call culture. A climate in which individuals have the space to become themselves, express themselves, see each other, collaborate on the basis of freedom, is what I would call “free cultural life”.-

But this “free cultural life” that is needed to bring in the impulses and potential of individuals – which are the only true resources that we have – is occupied. It almost doesn’t exist. With culture I don’t mean dancing and painting only. I mean the self organization, self administration, the complete self governance and self responsibility of the whole educational life. – And this is blocked by the state. In the Sovjet Union they had “Plan-Economy”. We have “Plan-Education”.

Myself: Wait, wait. You’re saying that your problem with the state is that it is preventing individuals from becoming who they really are and from unfolding their full potential through the implementation of a sick educational system that doesn’t care for individuality but for measurable and comparable results – all equal – all the same. Right?

Me: Right! Or did you enjoy going to school?

Myself: No, it was terrible.

Me: That’s what I’m saying. And now, if you look at this event here. “Civil Society” is what they were saying.

But I don’t see “Civil Society” which is just another term for “free cultural life”. I almost feel like being on a PR event of the turkish government. It’s crazy. And even the NGOs that organize this event work with a hierarchic, state like power structure. The media that is going out is censored by a turkish ministry – because they paid for it. And that’s where the sickness lies again.

Earlier this morning I went to one of these “regional meetings” as I said before. It was terribly boring, I felt as if I was in school again. After the session I talked to the guy who hosted it and he told me that he had been given instructions by – he didn’t even know by whom – 2 minutes before it started. So, no wonder that it feels like being on an educational program for school kids designed by some clever people instead of setting free creative energy.

Myself: Hey man it’s late!

Me: I know, it will be a full day later. Let’s have a rest.

Myself: At least we got something going…

Me: That’s right. Good night.

Myself: Good night.