Dilema veche Eurozine Dilema veche 2011-03-21 Abstracts for Dilema veche no 360-367 (2011)Dilema veche 360, 6 January 2011Mircea Vasilescu
Has Europe grown tired?
In the light of last year's events the author talks about the results obtained by presseurop.eu when its editors asked the readers to vote for "the main European event of 2010" -- from the euro crisis to Wikileaks. He observes that each and every one of these events seemed to generate some sort of crisis in Europe, stressing that at this moment, the EU enters 2011 with the fear that the European monetary system might crash; and this would be a problem for the whole world, not just Europe.Interview with director Andrei Ujica
"Cinema is nothing but a literary genre"
In an open and relaxed interview, the director of The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu talks about the debate his film has started in Romania regarding the communist period and its key figure, the distinction between left and right, Marxism vs. Nazism, and the resemblance between literature and film.Stela Giurgeanu
Where does Turkey's Islamic veil fall?
After having visited Turkey, Stela Giurgeanu recalls her journey from Edirne to Antalya, from Kis Kalessi to Urfa, and then finally to Istanbul -- the last stop before returning to Europe. We are offered a detailed image of this country of contrasts, which combines high quality tourism with narrow streets, tasty foods, old customs and veiled women.Weekly dossier
View from 2061 to today and yesterdayAdina Popescu
At the beginning of the year
This week's dossier offers a look into the future, 50 years from now, humorously attempting to predict how the world will have changed by then, and what may have become of Dilema veche.Liviu Papadima
Theme and variations
In order to look forward, Professor Papadima first goes back in time, to 1960: a classroom in Bucharest during a Romanian lesson, after which he returns to the present: the same classroom where things have not changed as much as one would have thought or hoped. He offers three possible scenarios of how the educational system will transform itself in the years to come.In my day, when books were made from paper...
A fresh view of the world comes from a few children who have answered the following question: "What will be the cultural and historical reference points from 1990-2010, 50 years from now?"Dilema veche 361, 13 January 2011Andrei Plesu
Questions
Andrei Plesu discusses with his young readers that send him questions about the "methodology" of those questions. A question should, at least, express a sincere uneasiness, a sincere wish to elucidate oneself. If the question is only a way of showing off, obtaining applause, then it is not a real question. Other questions concern themes that are too general and grand like "how can we save the country" or about happiness. Such questions are closed in their extensive openness...Mircea Vasilescu
We have the Law of Education
With various difficulties, the Law of Education has been enforced. Because the president supported it, others felt they had to oppose it (Mircea Geoana from SDP for example). Its implementation will be complicated and it will probably take long. Some of its provisions will deeply impact schools and teachers: for instance, the extension of compulsory education from eight to nine years.Sever Voinescu
Havel, rediscovered
Sever Voinescu remembers an older article of his where he wrote about Vaclav Havel's retiring from the presidency on 3 February 2003, after 13 years as head of state. Voinescu quoted Havel's motivations: "Every day I fear more that I shall not meet the standards of my position..." He admired but could not understand Havel's declaration. Now he understands him: "Politics diminishes one's existence, even if it satisfies one's vanity".Cristian Ghinea
How to learn to live with crises
The economical global crisis has given birth to a new literary genre: the economy of crises. The economists who deal with crisis issues have now become stars (even if before they were seen as grumpy bearers of bad news). One of them is Nouriel Roubini, another is Nassim Taleb. Even if Taleb considers crisis as exceptional events and Roubini sees them as regular parts of the economic process, they both agree on the solution: state intervention, but intelligently.Weekly dossier
Are you afraid?Paul Cernat
Fear's society
Paul Cernat starts by referring to fear in the ex-communist regime. He believes that, in the former regime most of us were just accommodating cowards who lived in our own limited worlds. Today, political fear has been replaced by economical and social fear: the fear of losing your job, not be able to pay your bills, die of hunger or become marginal...Florin Iaru
Where do you run?
Florin Iaru, a writer belonging to the '80s generation, narrates his fear of dark and loneliness when he was a kid and his mother was out. His apparently irrational fear was eventually discovered to have a reason: the absence of his father after a nasty divorce.Dumitru Prunariu
"I would like to go back in Space"
Ana Maria Sandu asks Dumitru Prunariu, the first Romanian spaceman (on 14 May 1981 during the Soiuz 40 mission) what the fears of a man who has been in space are (for 7 days, 20 hours and 42 minutes). Prunariu answers that in aviation and cosmonautics they say you are a real spaceman as long as you are not afraid. Fear can be controlled. After travelling into space you are capable of spiritually dominating many people, to analyse and face difficult situations.Dilema veche 362, 20 January 2011Carmen Gavrila
The Leviathan changes the score
Israel may be immune to economical sanctions and political blackmail. The discovery of Leviathan, a huge natural gas reservoir, can provide an incredible energy source as well as independence. In turn, this independence has its price: Lebanon has accused Israel of violating their maritime border as well as international legislation. But whatever the international pressure, Israel has an indubitable advantage.Matei Martin
The German educational reform
Not only Romania, but Germany as well has issues linked to the educational reform. The system proposed by the government in Berlin seeks to promote excellence and raise the average level without compromising competition.Weekly dossier
18 years of DilemaMircea Vasilescu
920 weeks and a half
Dilema veche celebrates 18 years. We look back in time with a bit of nostalgia and present some articles written a while ago: a small and subjective selection of articles.Tita Chiper
The shopping bag communication
This article was written in 1995 as an anthropological analysis of the symbolic gestures of communism, such as queuing to buy food and always carrying a shopping bag with you. Those two things were a symbol of belonging, as well as solidarity.Magdalena Boiangiu
One can be oneself on the radio
This interview dates back to 2007. Magdalena Boiangiu remembers the time of communist mass media. What it felt to be a journalist back then. The most legitimate freedom one only felt on the radio.An economic assessment of the first decade
Andreea Paul, adviser to Prime Minister Emil Boc, writes that in 2008 Romania registered one of the highest growth rates in the world, but at the same time growth was accompanied by serious macroeconomic imbalances. She notes that Romania is a country of extremes: no motorways but relies on auto production, energy and information technology. She writes that economists have not been taken into account by politicians and believe that the economic situation will change for the better when the economy becomes more moderate and more creative.Dilema Veche 363, 27 January 2011Andrei Plesu
About desperation
Andrei Plesu writes about desperation in hard times when recovery theories don't work. Better than motivational talk is concrete intervention, even a modest one, like a gift. Listening and empathy also work when other help cannot be provided. Desperation is neither a weakness nor a sin. However, you should not exaggerate the desperation, use it to increase your ratings or as a political weapon.Andrei Manolescu
Mount Everest is shrinking
Access to Mount Everest has changed over time. Now it is commercialized climbing. We now need expeditions to clean up the area and even in the most dangerous areas there are ropes permanently in place. You can get to over 5000 meters by car. Not only is it more accessible but its' height has been reduced over the time, from 8848 m in 1955 to 8844,43 m in 2005. You could say that even Everest it's no longer what it used to be.Weekly dossier
How to...Valentin Muresan
Is it enough to just be happy?
On the pursuit of happiness. People have always wondered about happiness, the real problem is that they have too many answers. Some see happiness as material happiness; however money is just the means, not the real thing. Some see it as satisfying all pleasures, others as virtue and creation. Some see happiness in faith. There is also the concept about quality of life which includes access to education, to work, to healthcare. Although cheerful by nature, Romanians score poorly in surveys on happiness. In France, Sarkozy has invited two Nobel prize winners, J. Stiglitz and A. Sen, to run a committee to conceive the so called "development indicator" based on quality of life, environment and education. Anamaria Dobinciuc
Manuals on how to live
The first self-help books were books on morale, work and faith. One of the first successful books was How To Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, published in 1937. Nowadays, a recommendation by Oprah helps boost sales. Most of the books highlight only positive thinking although, writes Dobinciuc, everyone should balance positive and negative thoughts. These books will continue to exist as long as people are dissatisfied with their lives.Adela Marcov
Life for dummies
From childhood we are faced with sets of rules on how we should live our lives, from parents and teachers to colleagues. We learn that sometimes we don't fit the pattern, and we are judged. Marcov tells us of her own experiences of being sent home from school for not wearing a skirt, of losing points in an evaluation for smiling too often, of working in a place were there were rules on how long a skirt should be or how many colours of eye shadow to wear. The point is that you cannot satisfy everybody: you should just live your life.Dilema veche 364, 3 February 2011Mircea Vasilescu
We and our foreign news
Mircea Vasilescu writes that although Romanians complain that other countries are not given enough attention, in turn they do not seem interested in what happens in other countries. He notes that television in Romania has poor news coverage about the revolutions in Arab countries, although Romanians would be interested in this type of events as it reflects their own history.Cristina Foarfa
The music behind the Iranian Islamic veil
Cristina Foarfa has been to Iran and describes underground concerts in Teheran.Cristian Ghinea
Dictators vs. Islamists?
Cristian Ghinea asks: did people demonstrate for bread or freedom in North Africa? He believes that the West is mistaken when they view it as dictators vs. Islamists. The real dilemma in his opinion is: useful short-term dictators vs. unstable and oscillating democracies.Madalina Schiopu
Among the Romanians in Italy
Madalina Schiopu describes several recent cases of Romanians who live and work in Italy. They work hard and save their pennies and are unlikely to return to Romania. These workers represent a considerable group that Italians are forced to take into consideration. To some Italians, they are scapegoats representing all ills, while others defend them and see them as victims of the "fascism" that lingers in Italian society.Daniel Daianu
Crisis and welfare state
Daniel Daianu reviews the challenges facing the US and Europe under the current crisis. He believes that to overcome the difficulties, it takes vision and strong political leadership, mobilizing resources, social cohesion and competitiveness. He adds the need to revive moral values.Weekly dossier
And behind the glass, nothing. Transparency and secrecyCiprian Rus
Watergate, Sexgate, WikiLeaks
Ciprian Rus compares these three cases as a way to define the way journalism is carried out in three different periods.Interview with Christian Mititelu -- member of CNA (National Broadcasting Council) and former manager of BBC Romanian service
Curiosity vs. public interest
Christian Mititelu recounts how the BBC treats sensitive information. He explains the criteria by which secret information that come into the possession of a BBC journalist can be published. He emphasizes the distinction between public curiosity in mundane matters, and true public interest.Andrei Manolescu
Intelligence secrets
Andrei Manolescu seeks to discover the extent to which American diplomatic information disclosed by WikiLeaks are important, and how the secret services are advantaged or disadvantaged by this type of disclosure.Adrian Stanica
Secret maps
Adrian Stanica recounts the adventures of researchers in recent times in Romania when secrecy laws on obsolete nautical maps, topographic or geological, were still in force.Dilema Veche 365, 10 February 2011Andrei Plesu
Hatred and checkmate
From the political to the cultural environment, hatred is forever strong and always present in our country's public space. On the one hand, the government and the opposition usually function by hating one another. On the other, different groups of intellectuals develop some sort of hate-based relationship. Plesu introduces the idea that once hatred appears, the one who is hated finds himself in a no-win situation -- no matter what he does or doesn't do he can't make the hatred go away.Rodica Binder
The limits of revolt and the fantasies of incapability
Binder quotes Gesine Lötzsch (leader of the Left Party in Germany), who presents the advantages of the communist model, and expresses a desire to return to that model as a solution to today's problems. Binder also discusses a French book entitled The Coming Insurrection, written by "The Invisible Committee", which highlights the idea that our world -- dominated by capitalism -- is going in the wrong direction and the only chance for the future is, in fact, a return to the (communist) past."Egypt won't become Iran"
Interview with Yehia Ghanem, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram independent newspaper
Yehia Ghanem talks about the protests in Tahrir Square and how they started, a possible evolution of the current situation, and also about the similarities between the Egyptian revolution and the Romanian in 1989, and respectively the Iranian revolution, together with the possibility of Egypt becoming an Islamic republic.Weekly dossier
The part and the whole. Regional identity and developmentIaromira Popovici
Between better and home
This week's dossier sheds some light on a few aspects of regional development in Romania, cultural identity, the feeling of home, the need and obligation to follow EU's rules, rural and urban areas, family etc.Gabriel Pascariu
The urban development, where to?
Gabriel Pascariu begins with a brief description of how Romanian regional development is connected to the wider theme of European identity, and the three ways in which its cohesion objectives should be met: social, economical and territorial. He points out that regional development must be seen as more than an opportunity to use European funds, that it is a complex process of building strong, lasting economical, social, cultural and political relationships. Also, he adds, EU's development model is concentrated around the idea of "growth poles and urban development", which doesn't necessarily mean it will have the same benefits when applied to our country.How do we get to "the best regions"
Interview with Dumitru Sandu
Dumitru Sandu talks about Romanian regions and the disparities between them, the counties as artificial territorial units and why he doesn't believe common thought to have actual basis in reality, socio-cultural identity and other aspects of regional development.Dilema veche 366, 17 February 2011Andrei Plesu
A few species of imbeciles
This text, written on a trip to Berkeley, California, deals with different types of imbeciles, Romanian and others. The Romanian media imbecile is certain to be smart, to have defended, for 500 years, the West from the Turks, and to be the victim of a global conspiracy. There are also American imbeciles: they consider the communist disaster "an interesting historical event". Fortunately for the US, they depend less on their imbeciles than Romania does on its.Matei Martin
Is there any compatibility between Islam and democracy? - a rather optimistic vision
Matei Martin synthesizes articles concerning the recent events in the Arab countries. The optimists believing that the change of regime won't also mean the coming to power of radical Islamists are few. Oliver Roy, in Le Monde diplomatique, states that the West relates to these events from an older perspective: that of the Islamic revolution in Iran. In his opinion, we are dealing with a paradox: Islamization of a de-politicized Islam. The "democratization" and popularization of Islam has pushed the radicals to the margins of public space.Stefan Colceriu
Realist manifesto for recuperating classical studies
In the context of a diminishing interest in philological and classical studies, everywhere in the world and in Romania, Stefan Colceriu, PhD in Classical Philology, proposes a solution: the founding of an Antiquity Studies Department, which would include the study of classical languages, but also of history, philosophy, archaeology, anthropology and antique religions. This structure would also ease the cooperation between Romanian universities and others in the field from abroad.Madalina Schiopu
Israel: the mosaic people
Surrounded by enemies and with such a controversial external image, with a militarized, forever threatened, daily life, the state of Israel still attracts Jews from everywhere, even those materially well off from the US or Western countries.Weekly dossier
To be wrong is RomanianStela Giurgeanu
Mea culpa (yet, maybe not)
Giurgeanu writes about the inability of many Romanian public figures to truly admit their mistakes. This reveals a system with no backbone, due, in many respects, to the communist system that destroyed values.Bogdan Voicu
Errare humanum est?
The sociologist Bogdan Voicu writes that, in our society, recognising a mistake seems degrading because of the fear of making a fool of yourself. As compared to other societies in Europe, in Romania it is more difficult to admit your mistakes and to learn from them.Antoaneta Tanasescu
"The word 'rating' entitles almost anything today"
Antoaneta Tanasescu states that in the present Romanian society there is a great gap between the private and the public self. The media encourages this phenomenon of replacing the private self with a public image. Having enough audience seems to allow anything.Dilema veche 367, 24 February 2011Andrei Plesu
On chicken and grammar
Years ago, an experiment revealed that people see only what they want to. A group of researchers showed a movie to a tribal community which had no connection with the outside world. When asked what they had seen they all gave the same answer: some chickens on a meadow, the rest of the action being something obscure and unimportant. How do "civilized people" behave in similar circumstances? When faced with an unfamiliar culture do they only pick up on insignificant details?Andrei Gorzo
A skilled mob
Gorzo writes about the much acclaimed film Black Swan. "I cant remember any recent film in which the old clichés -- on sexual repression or how much artistic perfectionism costs -- to have been presented with such exaggerated bad taste."Daniel I. Iancu
Rodes and villages in the Pyrenees
Iancu writes about Catalan villages almost lost in the valleys of the Pyrenees. In Esterri d'Aneu there is no European Union or NATO. Just Catalonia.Weekly dossier
Some like it MarilynAnca Gradinariu
Actress or icon?
Marilyn Monroe herself wanted first and foremost to be a good actress, although she had, in fact, only one character to play: the blonde sex bomb.Sebastian Ispas
Actress, model or something?
What exactly was Marilyn? She was a very ambitious person. "In spite of her inferiority complex, which was likely to have followed her through life, Marilyn was equipped with an invincible perseverance."Ana Maria Dobinciuc
A death that doesn't reveal anything
The official version of Marilyn's death -- the suicide, is of her taking and overdose of sedatives. But the big question remains: did she have any reason to commit suicide on the 4 August 1962? One thing is certain: an unresolved mystery is more fascinating than the truth.