{"id":781,"date":"2016-02-11T09:26:10","date_gmt":"2016-02-11T08:26:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/?p=781"},"modified":"2016-10-21T23:50:53","modified_gmt":"2016-10-21T21:50:53","slug":"does-bielefeld-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/2016\/02\/11\/does-bielefeld-exist\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Bielefeld exist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"troll-imadeWEB-1\"<\/a>\u2018Listen carefully and repeat\u201d was to be the phrase he remembered most when he began to learn German.\u00a0\u00a0 Critics suggest that with these words, he would have already learnt the basics of what characterises and distinguishes German schools.\u00a0 Of course it\u2019s not really true, as the example of a city such as Bielefeld proves.\u00a0 But there are other German cities, such as Bonn, or any other city that has around 320,000 inhabitants.\u00a0 So let us take one of these cities, let us take Bielefeld as representative of all German cities with an approximate population of 320,000 people.<\/p>\n

The city of poets and bookworms <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Eymundsson-150x150\"<\/a>Bielefeld has 129 publishers, which in 2010 published a total of 1,505 books, including 350 works of poetry and literature alone, then 286 translations of foreign literature and poetry and in the field of philosophy, 16 works written by the city\u2019s own philosophers, as well as 15 translations of foreign philosophers.<\/p>\n

These works by Bielefeld\u2019s authors were printed by printers and bound by bookbinders, then all 1,505 works were delivered to the city\u2019s 26 bookshops in order to feed the reading habits of the good folk of Bielefeld who were impatient to devote their long winter nights to their hobby: reading books.\u00a0 Of course, in Bielefeld a book is only a book if it combines the work of poets, graphic artists and bookbinders with the knowledge of the booksellers. From this it should be clear that the burghers of Bielefeld consider \u2018reading\u2019 to be anything but looking at sentences and devouring words.\u00a0 And so, year after year they wait for the stream of books to return before engrossing themselves and are always surprised by any novelty, by anything that didn\u2019t exist beforehand.<\/p>\n

In Bielefeld, this situation has led to the rise of a community of all those connected with the publishing industry: the Authors association of Bielefeld, a union of authors whose role is to protect freedom of expression in literature.\u00a0 This association handles agreements with the publishers, theatres, press, institutions and other bodies that wish to publish or use the works.<\/p>\n

This is how, in Bielefeld, 70 writers manage to make a living just by writing; the city pays commissions to a special fund that covers the books loaned by public libraries and their use as educational tools in the city’s schools.<\/p>\n

Such is the status of Poetry and literature in Bielefeld that the local dairy organised a poetry competition for the city\u2019s schoolchildren and then published the children’s poems on their milk cartons.\u00a0 Familes in Bielefeld could therefore enrich their days by reading the poems at breakfast, such as the one below:<\/p>\n

In the past
\nI was so happy
\nTo torment him
\nAnd no-one dared reproach me<\/em><\/p>\n

Today
\nI saw him,
\nNow he is famous,
\nI am jealous of him.
\nWho am I?
\nA nobody!<\/p>\n

Welcome to the city<\/strong><\/p>\n

We should not therefore be surprised that the city\u2019s mayor writes to those who visit it, the tourists, and explains to them that is very unlikely they are in this city, since most of humanity can be found elsewhere, a scientifically proven fact:<\/p>\n

\u201cIs our place of our birth an accident? Is it subject to a general rule?\u00a0 Did I already exist in another form before I was born?\u00a0 Did I have anything to do with where I was born? Why did Adolf Hitler and Eva Braun not have children? Surely they tried to have them?\u00a0 Is it possible that no child would have wanted them as parents? I don\u2019t know, but I don\u2019t believe in coincidences.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe that God rolls the dice, especially where human lives are concerned.\u00a0 These thoughts inevitably lead us to consider \u00a0Schr\u00f6dinger’s \u00a0cat. Here we have probably one of the world\u2019s most famous cats (maybe a close second after Ninja cat?).\u00a0 How is it that we still\u00a0 don\u2019t know its name?\u00a0 So what was the name of Schr\u00f6dinger’s cat?\u00a0 Abracadabra? I can\u2019t remember any more.\u00a0 Let’s call it Phoenix.\u00a0 It’s a common name for cats.\u00a0 Phoenix was a type of cat that was alive and dead at the same time.\u00a0 It has therefore always existed, and\u00a0 even if Schr\u00f6dinger killed his cat with undeniably bad taste, the cat is still alive in Schr\u00f6dinger\u2019s house, while Schr\u00f6dinger himself died long ago: <\/em><\/p>\n

\u0394x \u0394p \u2265 h\/2<\/p>\n

Does this means that I have always existed, or perhaps I have never existed and what\u2019s more, I don’t exist now either?\u00a0 Impossible! This would mean that our entire existence was unreal and only existed in our imaginations.\u00a0 So if I don\u2019t exist, neither do you.\u00a0 I find that difficult to believe.\u00a0 The facts speak for themselves.\u00a0 If I don\u2019t really exist, then how can I take a plane for Finland, send myself a postcard of Tarja Halonen, the president, go back home and greet the postman as he delivers my postcard?\u00a0 Who knows?\u201c<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe father was an alcoholic and the mother always tired“<\/strong><\/p>\n

„We could compare the nation with a family, that has an alcoholic father who had been drunk for years … He had wonderful ideas, but only when he had them.\u00a0 This loud mouth had no compunction in sending his family packing.\u00a0 His catch phrase was\u00a0\u2018Stop talking bullshit!\u2019, yet his family trusted him.\u00a0 Partly because his family loved him in spite of his drunkenness and his mistakes, but also because they were quite simply afraid to stand up to him.\u00a0 The family began to wonder if he were not some kind of genius rather than an alcoholic with psychological disorders, a brilliant man able to see things that your average loser was too stupid to see … In the end, he was indeed obliged to acknowledge his mental, physical and financial ruin.\u00a0 He went off to rehab.\u00a0 But the family were bereft, bewildered, confused and angry.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This was the mayor’s speech during the second debate on the council\u2019s annual budget and the citizens, who called his apparent flights of fancy \u2018frighteningly accurate\u2019, praised this speech.\u00a0 Nevertheless, the mayor warned them against the rage that \u2018burns\u2019 energy and leads to exhaustion, since grief and despair breed inactivity.\u00a0 \u201cAnger is human and may be necessary, but if left to build-up, it becomes a deadly substance that poisons the mind<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 These were the mayor\u2019s words and he had already announced in his speech on the city\u2019s budget:<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t share a set common ideology.\u00a0 We are neither on the left or on the right.\u00a0 We are both.\u00a0 We are not even certain that this issue is important …. How many times can you cut a cake?\u00a0 Who will have a small slice?\u00a0 And who needs a really big slice?\u00a0 What is luxury and what is important? Is it better to steel from children than from old people? \u00a0\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

The most honest politician in the country<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"gnarr_cover-182x300\"<\/a>At this point, it\u2019s worth pointing out that this is not a city we are talking about here, but a whole nation, which has no more citizens than a city like Bielefeld.\u00a0 And this speech was given by a mayor who adopted the name of J\u00f3n Gnarr, and his term of office which put him in charge of the 8,000 employees of the city of Reykjavik is now over. He may no longer be in power, but that’s not to say he would not have been re-elected.\u00a0 Quite the reverse.\u00a0 After just one year of office, the nation gave him the title of the country\u2019s most honourable politician.\u00a0 According to a ranking of political figures in Iceland published in the daily newspaper Morgunbla\u00f0i\u00f0 on 11\/03\/2001, J\u00f3n Gnarr came first in terms of sincerity (28.8%), working with local government (23.7%), personality (29.5%), while he was at the bottom of the class for determination (5.0%), power (5.6%), the firmness of his convictions (17.9%) and the ability to work under pressure (3.5%), which made him the most honest and the most honourable person in Iceland.<\/p>\n

This ranking irritated more than a few:\u00a0 Is it not those very qualities of \u2018determination\u2019, \u2018power\u2019, firmness of his convictions\u2019 and \u2018ability to work under pressure\u2019 that sets politicians apart and makes them who they are, whether in a dictatorship or a democracy – which in this respect is the same – and irrespective of whether the regime is secular or religious?\u00a0\u00a0 And does that mean that politicians are only politicians if they are sincere, work with local government and are endowed with a strong personality?<\/p>\n

Well here are the last words from J\u00f3n Gnarr’s annual budget speech for the city.<\/p>\n

„Miss Reykjavik has a future ahead of her. Perhaps she had an alcoholic father and a mother who was always tired.\u00a0 But that won’t stop her.\u00a0 She forgives everyone, and turns to face the light.\u00a0 Reykjavik has the potential to the cleanest, most beautiful, most peaceful and most exciting city in the world, with a global reputation for sympathy, culture, nature and peace; it’s a diamond that we must polish if it is to shine.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The comedian\u2019 <\/strong><\/p>\n

What is a comedian? Let us give the floor to J\u00f3n Gnarr himself:<\/p>\n

„A year ago, I found myself on the island of Puerto Rico. I had just finished a film, which I had both written and produced with a few friends.\u00a0 I found myself unemployed and wondered what my next project might be. <\/em><\/p>\n

Until then, I had worked in an advertising agency, before being laid off following the recession and the economic downturn.\u00a0 I kept up-to-date with the situation in Iceland by news sites on the internet,\u00a0 I got into the habit after the collapse.\u00a0 After the collapse, I was barely interested in politics and even had to make quite an effort to avoid having to follow the events in this corner of society.\u00a0 This is what I did until everything collapsed in a huge crash and our Prime Minister appeared on television to ask God to bless us.\u00a0 It felt as though I had been hit with a wet cloth.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 What had happened? After that, I began to follow the news closely.\u00a0 Wherever I went, all discussions revolved around this: in parties, business meetings and with friends I met in the street. <\/em><\/p>\n

In an instant, I became addicted to news.\u00a0 And the more I followed the news, the angrier I became.\u00a0 Angry against the capitalist bankers.\u00a0\u00a0 Angry against the system that had failed.\u00a0 But I kept my fiercest anger for the politicians.\u00a0 All, without exception, were incompetent, egotistical idiots, or so I thought. <\/em><\/p>\n

I was mad at myself and mad with the people who had elected these politicians.\u00a0 I wanted to do something.\u00a0 I went down to<\/em> Austurvollur several times to participate in the demonstrations. But I couldn\u2019t make up my mind to join them, heart and soul.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to throw faeces into Al\u00feing, nor put up with the police.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t want to vent my rage by launching a blog. <\/em><\/p>\n

All this anger in me and around me began to make me afraid.\u00a0 I was afraid that it would grow and strengthen until something awful happened.\u00a0 I felt everyone’s suffering.\u00a0 I empathised with those who, as a sign of protest, remained silent while banging on pots and pans; but also with the worried politicians who hurried to their cars, or who stood in front of the cameras, with fear in the eyes.\u00a0\u00a0 I empathised with the policemen who stood facing the angry crowd.\u00a0 At the time, my father lay dying in hospital.\u00a0 He had been a policeman in Reykjavik for more than forty years.\u00a0 During all those years, he had never been promoted to a higher rank, because he was a communist.\u00a0 I was sad that he was dying without ever having known that the socialist-green party had taken power at Al\u00feing.\u00a0 That would have made him very happy.\u00a0 I love this city and I love this country.\u00a0 I love the people who live here.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This makes one wonder whether it is fair to measure the greatness of a nation by the size of its population.<\/p>\n

The Frankfurter Rundschau ran the headline:\u00a0 „A clown moves to serious matters“ and Henryk M. Broder reported live from Reykjavik: „Reykjavik is on standby for a coup d\u2019Etat\u2019.<\/p>\n

J\u00f3n, the \u2018clown\u2019 handed over the town council to his successor.\u00a0 The\u00a0coup d\u2019\u00c9tat was over. Yet, was he a clown?\u00a0 Was it a coup d\u2019\u00c9tat?<\/p>\n

Translation: Jackie Dobble<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"de\"<\/a>Bielefeld gibt es gar nicht?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\"fr\"<\/a>Bielefeld n\u00b4existe pas ?<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018Listen carefully and repeat\u201d was to be the phrase he remembered most when he began to learn German.\u00a0\u00a0 Critics suggest that with these words, he would have already learnt the basics of what characterises and distinguishes German schools.\u00a0 Of course it\u2019s not really true, as the example of a city such as Bielefeld proves.\u00a0 But … Does Bielefeld exist?<\/span> weiterlesen →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[274],"tags":[440,340,338],"class_list":["post-781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-the-road","tag-bokaflod-en","tag-jon-gnarr-en","tag-reykjavik-en"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6uOIU-cB","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":758,"url":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/2016\/02\/09\/history-will-take-care-of-the-rest\/","url_meta":{"origin":781,"position":0},"title":"History will take care of the rest","author":"Bj\u00f6rn Eriksson","date":"9. Februar 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The techno digs straight and regular holes into the heavy midday heat.\u00a0\u00a0 Just like every noon, stoic tourists sprawl in the bar\u2019s padded sun loungers, consuming foreign faces and bodies with curious, bored gazes like cheap commercials that glide past their eyes in the middle of a film.\u00a0\u00a0 On the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "On the road"","block_context":{"text":"On the road","link":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/category\/on-the-road\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"BildKrajina2-300x200","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/BildKrajina2-300x200-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":727,"url":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/2016\/02\/02\/the-baker\/","url_meta":{"origin":781,"position":1},"title":"The baker","author":"Bj\u00f6rn Eriksson","date":"2. Februar 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Every morning, the men but also a few women used to philosophise on the bench, while people arriving at the East train station hurried to catch their bus and get to work or school on time.\u00a0\u00a0 The workplace of the men and women on the bench outside the East station\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "On the road"","block_context":{"text":"On the road","link":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/category\/on-the-road\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"troll-imadeWEB-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/troll-imadeWEB-11.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":788,"url":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/2016\/02\/12\/a-child-of-society\/","url_meta":{"origin":781,"position":2},"title":"A child of society","author":"Bj\u00f6rn Eriksson","date":"12. Februar 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The man with the tattered coat opens his briefcase, taking out a few sheets of paper and walks round the room to offer them to some of the customers seated at the tables.\u00a0 Probably an insurance salesman looking for new customers he can hoodwink into buying his very latest special\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "On the road"","block_context":{"text":"On the road","link":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/category\/on-the-road\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"troll-imadeWEB-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/troll-imadeWEB-11.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":767,"url":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/2016\/02\/09\/the-information-society-based-on-science\/","url_meta":{"origin":781,"position":3},"title":"The information society based on science","author":"Bj\u00f6rn Eriksson","date":"9. Februar 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Tilvera: In a democracy, no-one is powerless. Man\u2019s power can be broken by a man, by a revolt of moral conscience and by civil society. \u00d3nytjungur: He who prefers to say nothing often resorts to hollow concepts; and since the hallmark of societies is the love of chatter ... Tilvera:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Snjall"","block_context":{"text":"Snjall","link":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/category\/snjall-en\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"troll-imadeWEB-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/troll-imadeWEB-11.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":773,"url":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/2016\/02\/10\/resonant-bodies\/","url_meta":{"origin":781,"position":4},"title":"Resonant bodies","author":"Bj\u00f6rn Eriksson","date":"10. Februar 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"They were back.\u00a0 It was impossible to ignore them.\u00a0\u00a0 The cooking pot lids. With every topic discussed, the owner of the hair salon struck a mannered pose:\u00a0 \u201cPoliticians are like pigeons.\u201d\u00a0From behind he examined the expression of the culprit in the mirror and seeing that his phrase had not missed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "On the road"","block_context":{"text":"On the road","link":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/category\/on-the-road\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"troll-imadeWEB-1","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/troll-imadeWEB-11.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":734,"url":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/2016\/02\/02\/the-exhibited-object-has-been-irreversibly-consumed\/","url_meta":{"origin":781,"position":5},"title":"The exhibited object has been irreversibly consumed","author":"Bernhild V\u00f6gel","date":"2. Februar 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In Iceland, the forests are too few to camouflage the rubbish, which is why farm machinery, cars and other old junk generally lie rusting at the back of houses. Sometimes you can find real museum pieces, such as an only Rafha range with beautiful spirals that used to be a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "On the road"","block_context":{"text":"On the road","link":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/en\/category\/on-the-road\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"bv1-300x300","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/bv1-300x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=781"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1223,"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/781\/revisions\/1223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.algorithmics.is\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}