Demokratische (In-?!)Kompetenz der Bürger

Quelle: pixabay.com, eigene Darstellung. 
Zitat aus: Lind, Georg (2002): Ist Moral lehrbar? Ergebnisse der modernen moralpsychologischen Forschung. Logos-Verlag, Berlin.

The burn-out of our planet

©SF

Let's talk about ressources... well no, let's talk about us and our planet. How do we want to live? How can we live? How do we really want to live? Christoph Heinrich from WWF Germany says that we need a fundamental rethink. We need a new definition about wealth and success which includes the healthiness of individuals and the environment.
Is this what free trade agreements like TTIP and CETA aim for?

Read more about the living planet report 2016 

Mexican (poor) boy striving for education

Arturo with students of a literacy project for elderly indigenous, Nov. 2015

SonjasSofa: Today I welcome my amazing guest here on the sofa who already achieved a lot in his life: Arturo E. Martínez from Mexico. He tells us about education in his country and about what really counts in life.

Speaking about education is such a broad issue. Being born in a context of poverty and inequality can be an obstacle, but never determine the person that you can become. Where shall I start my story? I never had classes where I could learn how to use a computer. In my school we had 15 computers, but we were not allowed to use them. Our teacher always said that we didn't know how to use them properly and that we probably would break them down. I couldn't understand why he didn't even tried to TEACH us how to use a computer, so that we would NOT brake them down. In the end, I found another way to learn how to use a computer, thanks to my first non-formal job: Gardening.

Sustainability in daily life - taste the waste

I just made apple puree out of squashy apples. With a hint of cinnamon... taste the waste! It's rather tasty. Well it was not waste yet, but I didn't want to eat the apples anymore, so in the end I would have thrown them away. Sustainable consumption often means that you're faced with a cognitive dilemma. In this case: throw the apples away, hang around and watch a movie or find a solution for the apples and act sustainable?!
It's all about habits and laziness.

But it feels great to change habits.

Parisian (fl)air

Weird crossroad in sticky Paris with a halved house.

City life or country life?

Foto: SF, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, East Germany

Usually you can't choose where to stay. But what if you were really free to decide where to live, would you opt for the city or the country life?
Well, after having enjoyed sleeping in a site trailer for almost two weeks I'm in love with the chirping of crickets, the sky full of brights stars, fresh air, great fruit trees and the dew on the grass in the mornings... Going back to the city definitely means waking up from niced dreams!

How I became an urban farmer!

My first own garden salad!

Our field of 40 square metres

Since spring 2016 I've joined an urban farming project called "Ackerhelden". Together with two friends who told me about the project I rented a piece of land. We grow potatoes, kohlrabi, salad, pumkin, tomatoes, spinach and much more. In short, urban farming or urban gardening is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around a village, town, or city.

Why do I make the effort to plant my own vegetables instead of buying them only in the supermarket? Our modern agricultural production systems function at the expense of human beings and the environment. Meanwhile many people are talking about climate change and sustainability. But too few are willing to change their habits and their way of life. I think it's not only about producing words but also action! At least we could try a little bit more. 

A walk through Lublin

Fancy toilet in Lublin

What happens if you get off the bus after a four-hour ride from Kraków to Lublin? You go to a fancy toilet of a rather shabby bus station. Catholic Poland is full of surprises! ;)

Russia on the map of the world

A hostel in Lublin, Poland. Look at the map. Anything special about Russia??^^

Changing perspectives: Another world is possible

You can see a lot when looking at the surface of a pond. You can see and experience things differently when changing perspectives. You can change everything by knowing that there are many ways of seeing things.

Pic: SF, Surface of a pond

Schreiben! Meditative Ruhe und Schrei der Verzweiflung

SF: Uni Bibliothek

Fast jeder hat schon mal die gut gemeinte Frage gestellt bekommen: Und, wie läuft's, wie kommst du mit deiner Arbeit voran?
Sei es nun eine Fach-, Haus-, Bachelor-, Master-, Diplom-, Magister- oder Doktorarbeit. Und viele kennen das unangenehme Gefühl dabei, wenn man darauf gerade wirklich keine Antwort hat. Die Eine-Million-Euro-Frage bei Günther Jauch ist nichts dagegen.

Kein Grund zur Panik! Dass das alles ganz normal ist, versucht uns Wilhelm Schmid in "Mit sich selbst befreundet sein" (S. 335-336) deutlich zu machen.

Der Lebenskunstphilosoph sagt Folgendes über die Höhen und Tiefen des Schreibens:

• Ähnlich wie andere Tätigkeiten ist das Schreiben eine Übung der philosophischen Lebenskunst, eine Übung des Geistes, eine Asketik, die in Briefen, Mails, Tagebüchern und in kleinen Texten zur Selbstverständigung vollzogen wird, auch in schriftlichen Arbeiten an Schulen und Hochschulen, die in erster Linie dazu da sind, diese Arbeit an sich selbst zu leisten, auch wenn das nicht immer so vermittelt wird.
• Es handelt sich um eine Arbeit, die mit Ängsten, Unsicherheiten und Selbstzweifeln verbunden ist, mit einiger Verzweiflung über die tägliche Mühsal der Detailarbeit, die nicht sichtbaren Fortschritte, die wachsenden statt schwindenden Unklarheiten, die Desorientierung und das Misslingen - und ebenso mit einiger Euphorie über den sichtbaren Fortschritt, die endlich erreichte Klarheit, die Orientierung, das Gelingen, keineswegs erst im Ganzen, sonder schon in jedem Detail.
• Schreiben, das ist die meditative Ruhe und der Schrei der Verzweiflung, der Kampf um jede einzelne Formulierung, jedes Wort, jeden Begriff, um zu prüfen und zu spüren, ob das 'so stehen bleiben kann'.
• Wie befreit ist demgegenüber das Aufatmen, wie beglückend die Hochstimmung im gegenteiligen Fall: 'O wie schön, wie die Worte fließen' - ein Glück, das so überwältigend sein kann, dass es den Einsatz jeder Mühe lohnt.
• In jedem Fall ist dies eine Erfahrung fürs Leben: am 'toten Punkt' anzukommen, zutiefst entzweit mit sich und der Welt, und immer wieder darüber hinwegzukommen, zutiefst einverstanden mit aller Welt und sich selbst.

***
Writing is an exercise in philosophical art of living.
Writing means meditative calm and scream of despair.
Writing is depression and euphoria together.
Writing gives wings to learn and grow.
Writing is all about working on oneself.

Der Terror terrorisiert... unsere Nerven

pixabay

Der Gedanken an Karneval in Köln verursacht bei nicht wenigen Bauchschmerzen und Angstzustände. Da fragt man sich, ob der Besuch beim Rosenmontagszug nicht der freiwillige Gang in die Hölle sei. Nicht primär in die Hölle der Karnevalisten, das kommt ein zweiter Stelle. Aber der selbstbestimmte Eintritt in die Hölle der Terroristen. Diese Monster lauern doch nur darauf, endlich das feierwütige und ungläubige Köln auszulöschen. Oder? Die Beruhigungspille, also das Versprechen der Polizei mit jedem Karnevalisten händchenhaltend Fastelovend zu feiern, hilft nicht gegen fiese Schweißausbrüche und die kollektive Schnappatmung, die sich nur beim Gedanken an den Kölner Hauptbahnhof einstellen.

Was ist gefährlicher, Terrorismus oder die Angst vor Terrorismus? Wenn wir als Gesellschaft so weitermachen, dann sterben wir an Herzversagen. Und das noch bevor uns auch nur irgendein Terrorist schräg anschauen kann. Dann haben die Terroristen mit minimalen Kosten einen maximalen Nutzen erreicht. Wie praktisch!

Political change in Poland?

Today Aleksandra Kołeczek is a guest at the sofa and talks about Poland's current political situation. She is a co-spokesperson of the Green Youth in Poland. Aleksandra works and lives in the capital Warsaw. 

Cover of Steffen Möller's book, own editing

SonjasSofa: Dzień dobry. Why did so many people vote for PiS? 
 

Aleksandra Kołeczek: The conservatives from PiS (Law and Justice) won because of the resentment and lack of mobilisation of the society. Many years of domination of the center, neo-liberal party PO (Civic Platform), had made a lot of people disappointed. Their lives were very much different from the vision the ruling government promoted – economic growth did not cause a greater social justice. Nonetheless, it seemed that politicians that were supposed to represent the nation did not seem concerned enough with this. The credibility of the political class was constantly disqualified because

Inside Bosnia: My Foto-Film of the whole trip

2015 review: Their borders are not my borders

Foto: Emese S.

When looking back at year 2015 we can definately say that it wasn't a boring one. Or let's put it differently: Our world seemed and still seems to descend into total chaos. There's so much happening at the same time: Wars, migration flows, terrorism, climate change and much more. Nobody knows, if 2016 will be better or worse.

But while 2015, taken as a whole, was a really bad year for Europe and a successful one for nationalists, for me personally it was the most European year I've ever had in my life! I've never had so many friends and facebook-contacts whithin the European Union and beyond. Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary, Turkey, Italy, France, Britain, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Bosnia and Herzegovina, USA, Ukraine, Iran, Russia, Georgia ... And indeed, I'm still texting with some of these people and I'm still thinking a lot about them. I've never met so many warm-hearted people from different nations than in 2015. I'm really grateful and I wouldn't like to miss this wonderful experience.