Cynthia, Swiss – The LCR

TRUMP-19

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Last night over dinner my eldest son, almost 8, asked me if Donald Trump had become rich by winning the lottery. Amused, I told him that Trump’s father was already a rich man when his son Donald started making his own money in business. He replied, “I think Trump’s father got rich by making TikTok videos or something similar.” I don’t know where my son got familiar with TikTok as no one in our family owns an account, and the anachronism was of course a good reason for my partner and I to have a good laugh, but then I started reflecting on my son’s vision of the world.

Two years ago, they didn’t know who Donald Trump was, and Covid-19 didn’t even exist. Since January 2020, these have been our main focuses, as we watched the news of the world and commented on both situations, in both cases appalled by what we heard and saw. We have since learnt how to keep a safe distance with other people, how to wear a mask correctly, how to wash our hands thoroughly. We have learnt that being a racist, a misogynist, a con man and a liar could make you, then destroy you. Or not exactly…

To be honest, the overrepresentation of Trump and his acolytes in the media was almost as much a sore as the literal toll Covid-19 was taking on humanity. Waiting shakily for the weekly update on the toll, the safety measures and closures, wondering whether schools would close again was, and still is, our daily lot. Comic relief came in the form of a character Shakespeare would not have disowned in this larger-than-life tragedy. How many times did I think I had heard it all, only to be contradicted the next day? I didn’t attempt to count, and I am glad I didn’t. Rather, I used Trump as a lesson to teach my sons about truth, respect, tolerance and fair-play. I told them they were growing up in a very special time, and they needed to remember that our planet defends itself against us sometimes, just as we defend ourselves against people like Donald Trump.

I watched, flabbergasted, as the Capitol rioters claimed to rescue their nation from the Big Bad Democrats. I watched as they invaded, threatened, broke, stole, and laughed. I watched as they made excuses for themselves claiming they were just doing what the President had enticed them to do, powerless as he was to fight against this newly born evil called defeat. I watched as the President himself failed to bear the consequences of his words, his acts and his lies. I was lucky enough to watch, instead of lying in a hospital bed attached to a ventilator. This, I told my sons, is how a dictator falls. This is how a nation realizes it must stand together stronger and reclaim what is their founding principle: justice and freedom for all. It didn’t take long for me to be disappointed. The decision to reject the impeachment of the now-former President of the United States is a political move, by no means justice. You may loathe or love the man, but you must recognize him for what he is, and has always been: a selfish, arrogant, and spoilt megalomaniac. Losing the election was only fair revenge considering the harm he did to the American people. The ultimate step was to acknowledge that he had behaved the same way as those leaders he admires so much. Impeaching him was the only way to tell the Americans they had been swindled, mistreated, and lied to. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” That we had to wait for it to happen –again— in the Land of the Free, couldn’t be more ironic.

If Biden, or anyone, wants to help fix this broken country, he must start with the people who claim they are dedicating their life to making it great. The fracture between Democrats and Republicans can heal, just like a broken bone, with reason and admission of guilt, not excuses. Fresh faces representing the USA’s multiculturalism will be needed to cement and reinforce the unity. Donald Trump shattered an already fragile skeleton, watched it crumble and danced onto its pieces. His failure to address the issues revolving around the pandemic contributed to his downfall, but the level of protection he benefits from is properly shameful. Aristotle’s assertion that all communities aim at some good only serves to highlight the decision-makers as prioritizing their own good at the cost of their country’s. We are witnessing a very special moment in history as the whole world is fighting a deadly virus. Since we have to rely on our governments to drive us through this crisis, now their time has come to shine, although making amends is sometimes the only way.

By refusing to impeach Donald Trump, the Republicans have lost the trust many Americans, but also world citizens, had in justice. Sadly, I presume they have also gained unconditional support from those who think that getting away with crime is proof of leadership and strength. I do believe there’s dignity to be found in acknowledging one’s mistakes before starting anew. Hopefully, my sons will grow up to see the USA stand again, proud to be free as a true democracy, and Donald Trump will never be on TikTok.

Similar Read: Post-Covid: Look to Japan

Follow the Leader… or Maybe Not

Spring has come and the Covid-19 is still with us, filling news reports and front pages. Bodies pile up in hospitals in some countries, in others extreme lockdown measures have enabled the virus spread to be limited, and the medical staff handles the situation bravely. The number of deaths all over the world is soon reaching, as I write, an appalling 200,000, for almost 3 million diagnosed cases. The USA amounts for a fourth of the fatal cases.

Trump’s daily briefing points are an embarrassing comic relief in the tragedy whose ending is still unpredictable. He has now decided these press points are not “worth the effort,” and I do not know whether to be thankful or desolate. At a time when leadership and trust is most crucial, he fails to embody the strength and good sense Europeans relied on so many times in the past. It is like watching a gutter TV reality show, and obviously he knows a lot more about that than about empathy. Erratic syntax, limited vocabulary, references to absurdities like disinfectant injections (justified as sarcasm on the next day, ha ha) and promoting non-tested miracle cures, tantrums whenever the question is not to his liking, blatant lies and disinformation… all of these offer a sharp contrast with many (not all, looking at you, Brazil) governments’ response to the pandemic.

In Switzerland, the federal councillor in charge of the Interior, Alain Berset, has uttered a phrase that is now the epitome of the crisis, “As quickly as possible, as slowly as necessary.” It is true that the idea of not rushing things is quintessentially Swiss, and we are often mocked for our slowness in many matters (driving, speaking or making decisions being a few). However, despite the crisis affecting many entrepreneurs and businesses, small and big alike, the Swiss people stick to this motto and mostly follow the recommendations as strictly as they did following the March 13^th lockdown. Some shops are scheduled to open on April 27^th, such as garden centres and hair salons, providing yet another test of the popular compliance with emergency circumstances.

Unlike in several American states, there are no demonstrations in the streets accusing our authorities of turning into tyrants or asking for our freedom back. No one here thinks we have been robbed of our liberty or imposed some sort of slavery, which is something I read on an American protester’s placard. As for now, the moment, the streets and parks are empty, in the supermarkets the distance rules are observed and students are patiently waiting for a decision to be made by the federal council about whether or not they will sit their matura exams (= high-school diploma, A levels). The decision will be made and announced this week, as quickly as possible, as slowly as necessary. Younger students will already go back to school on May 11, while high schoolers will have to wait until June 8^th.

As a teacher, I am looking forward to going back to school and seeing my students again. It’s been a month and a half now, and distance teaching/learning has become my new routine. I will not linger on how much time I spend adapting resources or modifying documents, trying to reach students who do not reply to emails or submit work for assessment. It is my job, and I do it in whatever conditions this crisis has imposed on us. I do it with my own children at home, waiting for me to entertain and play with them all day long. I do it in between baking and cooking, finger painting and seed planting, floor mopping and laundry folding, hide and seek and car playing. I do it at night, when the kids and my partner sleep. I do it.

Nevertheless, I have observed what I already knew, but did not see in such proportion before: the amount of people who think teachers are lazybones who deserve their pay to be cut down for doing nothing all day and ostensibly bragging about it on their balcony or in their garden while others still go to work as normal. It looks like half the population thinks this way, judging by the comment sections of online newspapers. And they do not use words as kind as the ones I have chosen above to express their grudge. It saddens me to witness this lack of faith and trust in people who, after all, sometimes have to neglect their own children to make sure others’ get their daily or weekly supply of knowledge. I have no access to my school buildings (homeless people have been accommodated in them), and I have over 100 students. I cannot, unlike my children’s primary school teachers, print and send, or deliver, files. We rely on the internet and the distance learning tools and programmes our department has chosen for us to work with. In just a week, we had to learn how to use them, get organised, alter programmes and adapt whatever was planned to this new situation. We did it. Well, to be honest, most of us did.

Yet some parents (and some non-parents) are unhappy about our incongruous right to a salary when working from home. I read a mother accuse teachers of being Nazis in disguise for wanted to send her children to the gas chamber, aka the classroom. Of course I find it unbelievable to have the nerve to compare the final solution with trying to teach kids. But what I also cannot believe is the idea that the teachers have their word to say in this. We are employees, we do what our hierarchy tells us to do, (in that case, going to work), which is why another fraction of the population hates on us right now: we are like the blind SS, obeying orders against the general good. I did not choose the job thinking I was going to get praise and statues, but I am still stupefied by the constant outbreaks of hate and criticism. As teachers, our role today is to maintain a sort of normality, a routine of learning and understanding the world we live in, through remote connection with all these pupils and students whose parents have to worry about other concerns. We try to make sure they are OK, we let them know they can reach out to us in any case, and we reassure them. We give them homework, set up video calls and formative tests so they can move on and feel they are doing their part. We tell them they are important because they are the future, so they need to know things to make the right decision when it comes to them being in charge.

I have already thought about the perfect activity for my students to practise their own criticism skills: I am going to show them a few pictures of these American protesters, and ask them what they think of that. Would they rather live in “dangerous freedom” rather than “peaceful slavery”? Why does the US resonate as some dystopian setting, reminding us alternatively of “The Handmaid’s Tale” when some compare the right to abortion to social distancing and wearing a mask, or “The Giver,” a novel by Lois Lowry presenting a society in which all differences have been suppressed —suggesting they fuel dangerous behaviours and crime—hence leading to a safe, but deprived of any free will, civilization. Inequalities are more than ever palpable amidst the pandemic, with the poorer populations paying too dear a price for their leaders’ lack of action. If only this crisis could make things change for the greater good, and erase some of these differences instead of intensifying them…

The 6^th American president, John Quincy Adams, said “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” In that respect, today’s teachers are much more real leaders than some presidents.

Spreading Consideration: How the Coronavirus Pandemic Can Teach Us to Care

Whether it’s on my newsfeed or on TV, every hour brings new developments and criticisms about the handling of the COVID-19 crisis. Even my 6-year-old has an opinion on it. Besides reliable information and statistics, I see jokes, memes, and videos making fun of the apocalyptic situation in Italy, Iran or China. However, amidst the flow of information and hoaxes, a pattern emerges: we should take care of one another, and especially of the elderly.

It’s clearly established that those at risk are older people or those who have serious health issues such as cardiac or lung problems or a weakened immune system. Some say it’s just good sense, but when you think about it, other pandemics and outbreaks didn’t quite resonate like this one. Whether it’s bird flu or swine flu, SARS or the measles, in unvaccinated communities, these epidemics didn’t get the same media coverage and level of anxiety worldwide. Why is that?

Adults care for themselves, parents for their children and babies… but who cares for the old? How many isolated senior citizens pass away unnoticed for weeks or months? Each summer, authorities warn them to drink enough and reach out if needed during heatwaves. At Christmas, charities organize dinners for the lonely. In some cultures, such as in China, the elderly are highly respected and unlike in many western countries, they aren’t parked in nursing/retirement homes as soon as they show signs of dependence or senility. Conversely, they are honored and cared for at home by their own children who become at the same time parents and caregivers.

This may explain why many people feel this crisis is different: it is lethal almost exclusively to the ones whom we didn’t think needed protection. As a rule, everybody acknowledges a new-born is vulnerable and must be shielded from threats such as viruses. But people also tend to think that the elderly can take care of themselves and are experienced enough to avoid risk-taking when it comes to their fallible health. Unfortunately, that is not the case and right now what someone may deem a simple cough or a little temperature can wipe out your lovely granny and your funny grandpa. Even if it may be consoling to think that it is in the order of things, they may still have good years ahead of them to enjoy their family and to make the most of this much-awaited time to themselves after working hard and raising a family.

On a personal level, I still have one grandmother and she deserves long years of leisure and serenity after enough hardships. Some of my colleagues are close to retirement and my parents are in their 60s. To those who laugh this off pandemic by thinking it is natural selection, I hope they have considered who they put at risk, even more so within their own family circle.

Count your blessings and respect safety measures, listen to health professionals and remember that optimistically, one day, you will be the elderly person hoping people still acknowledge and value your existence.

(Brexit) Deal Or No Deal, Who Cares?

With October 31st in the rearview, there was something the British were dreading more than Halloween tricks this year, namely the possibility of a no-deal Brexit. More than 3 years after the referendum, the situation seems comical. The dramatic promises Boris Johnson made vanished into thin air again after the House of Commons rejected the text summoning elections before Christmas, a moment deemed inadequate by the Labour Party. Denouncing this hostage-taking strategy, Johnson foresees he may need to count on the European Council’s decision to refuse any postponement. Now a delay has been granted until January 2020 and as I write, Johnson has just obtained the right to organise anticipated elections after all. Politics is a slow and intricate process, even more so when the government is polarised and can’t seem to reach a compromise.

As inextricable and sad as the situation may seem, what seems to reach a consensus is the weariness and annoyance surrounding each news report and twist. Who can pull it off if Boris Johnson can’t? For many, he was the strong leader the UK needed after the many rejections faced by Theresa May. If at first each move or each decision would hit the headlines, it has now become more like a tired joke told by a drunken uncle at a family gathering: no one laughs and, in fact, no one cares. Tragically, millions of people are waiting for a decision that will change their life, present or future, but the rest of Europe has had enough.

At first, there was some kind of euphoria, this idea that things could change after all, even here in the middle of the Old Continent, people could make their voices heard and traditional alliances could be cancelled. On the other side, there was fear and tears, despair and crushed hopes, torn families as well. But in short, there were feelings! If people used to be hopeful and optimistic about the deal they were sure May or Johnson was going to secure, it seems like today they would say something along the line of “Yeah, whatever.” I’m not even brushing at what a no-deal Brexit would mean for the country, economically and socially, ditto for the rest of Europe. The impact of this decision will probably exceed predictions, positively or negatively, only time will tell. But what seems obvious is that the longer it takes for Brexit to happen, the less positive energies remain to obtain the best conditions possible.

Similar Read: Brexit: The Predictable Divorce?

TRUMP’S HOME IS WHERE THE HATE IS

“Immigrants are the lifeblood of this country – we’re a nation of immigrants – and neither of us would be standing here today if it wasn’t.”

“Clichés. There’s a point of saturation.”

At the beginning of T.C. Boyle’s premonitory fiction The Tortilla Curtain (1995), White American liberal humanist Delaney opposes his wife’s Kyra pejorative view of immigration. These words definitely sound like they were spoken yesterday during a White House press conference. They sound like something you can overhear in a bar, at a bus stop, in front of the school gate, at a family dinner party. They sound like something an American president whose grandparents were born in Europe and whose third wife holds a Slovenian passport would definitely not endorse. The only thing is that he actually does. In the eye of his devotees, Trump’s efforts to blackmail Sweden over the totally legal and justified incarceration of A$AP Rocky, professionally counselled by Kim Kardashian, undoubtedly contradict the groundless allegations of racism. His nonsensical understanding of law, justice and freedom of speech is simply appalling.

How many times have people intimidated strangers to go back home if they weren’t happy with the way things are done in [insert any country, preferably dominated by a White population]? No criticism allowed, no awareness-raising on serious issues, no calling out inappropriate behaviours… As a theoretical stranger, your dissident voice does not matter. Your opinion does not matter. Instead, your name, your skin colour, your mother tongue does. It’s not about who you are, where you were born or what you do, it’s about what you threaten and who you endanger. By raising their voices, Ilhan Omar, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley became scapegoats for the likes of fictional Kyra thinking in real life. And sadly, there are many, who like Kyra reckons that “everybody’s got a right to work and have a decent standard of living, but there’s just so many of them, they’ve overwhelmed us, the schools, the welfare, the prisons and now the streets.”

Guess what? They’re overwhelming the Congress now. Except that they didn’t cross any border at night like coyotes, they were born free or given refuge and nationality lawfully. And they belong here as much as anyone who wants them to leave.

“The more you give them the more they want, and the more of them there are,” says one of the characters in The Tortilla Curtain. Without a doubt, many immigrants took instead of waiting for something to be given to them. Ask Native Americans. Delaney sees Mexicans as migratory animals and the displacement, “made for war, for violence and killing, until one group had decimated the other and re-established its claim to the prime hunting, breeding or grazing grounds.” This is what Trump and his base are afraid of: losing their grounds to these women who fight for the greater good. The war they are anticipating is not to be made with bows and arrows, guns and swords on a battlefield. They instead feel like this herd of females is going to decimate their insubstantial White male domination over a nation of immigrants. Blows given with words. Fatal injuries caused by justice and equality. Carcasses of White patriarchy littering the land of the free.

To be honest, I’m only half-surprised by the “go back home” comments. I expected them to be paired with “do the cooking and watch your kids” advice. This would have been completed the picture: these foreign, arrogant and silly women would have known where they truly belong: in the kitchen of some remote village in an underdeveloped country, cooking rice for their out-of-hand offspring. Well, that’s probably where Melania would be if it hadn’t been for her good looks and luck – although I’m not sure this is my definition of luck. In 2018, Melania herself complained she was “the most bullied person in the world” in an interview. Why wasn’t she encouraged by her dear husband to go back home after voicing her discontent with the way people treated her in the USA? That would have been sound advice, and also hopefully pretty effective. Nevertheless, she still hasn’t raised her voice to defend these women in the same situation as her. She may be stuck in the kitchen after all.

On a personal level, as the mother of bi-national children who have only once ever set foot in the country where their father comes from, I’m bracing myself for the day someone tells them to go back home if they don’t like it here. They have only one home. They were born and are being raised to consider this home a safe place and the world their oyster. I’ll be glad whenever they come home because it is filled with compassion and love for others. Unlike Trump, our home is not where the hate is.

ALABAMA ABORTION BAN IS TAKING WOMEN BACK TO THE DARK AGES

As the news of the Alabama abortion ban reached my ears, I got shivers down my entire body. A body that I own, that I cherish–most days at least–, a body I now realize that some men think doesn’t actually belong to me.

Back in the Middle Ages, men were actually convinced women, dripping blood once a month, were the incarnation of Satan, orgasms were a devilish force men were warned not to release and the uterus was held responsible for every strange ailment women seemed to be so prone to displaying, such as… sadness. You would think people in 2019 know better. You would be mistaken then.

By denying women the right to own their bodies and to decide whether or not they feel ready to bring a child into this world, these men bring us back to these dark ages of ignorance and cruel patriarchy. By excluding rape and incest as valid reasons to deny women, and unfortunately sometimes girls, the right to overcome nature and make a rational decision, these men show how little they know about women, abortion and health. By implementing the heartbeat rule, they demonstrate their lack of awareness of basic biology. Unless you’ve been trying for a baby and are taking pregnancy tests regularly, or have a very regular cycle, 6 weeks is often the moment the pregnancy is discovered. I was 8 weeks pregnant when my gynecologist told me there was no heartbeat. After enduring a very traumatic surgical procedure to clear my uterus, as I was crying my heart out my (male) therapist told me, “You haven’t lost a baby. You’ve lost a fetus.” So it’s fine to rationalize when nature takes its course, but not when a woman takes control of her body? I never went back to this therapist. To this day, it remains one of the most unacceptable things I’ve been told because when you deeply want a baby, or when you get pregnant and feel ready to be a mother, the baby is not only in your belly, but also in your head, in your dreams, in your future.

On the other hand, when the pregnancy is not wanted or can’t be carried out willingly, it turns into a nightmare or a haunting dilemma. What should be taken into account is the potential wreckage of two lives, maybe more, compared to the benefits of constraining a woman to give birth. By refusing to acknowledge most women seeking abortions, especially in searing-poor areas and countries, are victims, and will probably struggle to come to terms with what they had to do, these men confirm that they, in fact, are not men: they are self-entitled idiots with bigotry-caked brains. Sadly, one of them was elected president of the United States, and rallied his peers, swarming over progress like maggots over an open wound. By refusing to accept that men are responsible for their own bodies as well perpetuates a supremacy based on one thing, and one thing only: the medieval fear of women.

Whether a rapist needs a knife, a gun or his hands around a woman’s neck to gain access to her genitals, whether an uncle or a family friend need threats and promises to convince a little girl not to tell anyone that they share a very special secret, whether a husband or boyfriend refuses the use of contraception or press for one more child, whether any religious leader or authority pretends that birth control is against His law, they are all committing the same act of violence against the very beings on whose existence our survival depends. Contraception does not always work, doctors are sometimes wrong, timing may not be adequate, and these are only a tiny portion of the reasons that may lead a woman to end a pregnancy. And you can take my word that any woman who had to undergo this is somehow scarred. Even if she knows there was nothing else she could do. The pro-life argument has to be about the woman in the first place, and empowering girls, giving them the assurance they can choose what is best for them, providing easy and safe access to contraception, ensuring both boys and girls get adequate sex-ed and the right talks on consent, mutual respect and dignity is the only way abortion numbers will fall. Criminalizing abortions will result in tragic deaths, suicides or illegal abortions. Angel makers will operate in backrooms at the cost of human lives, again.

Actress Alyssa Milano suggested a sex strike. What if tomorrow women decided to go on reproductive strike? What if the access to a woman’s reproductive organs were denied indefinitely? What if women decided to force vasectomy on all men by passing a bill stating that males don’t know what they’re doing with themselves and need to be put under strict control, without exception? Or what if we decided to offer these men the Godly mission of caring for all those abandoned children waiting for parents in orphanages? After all, that would solve so many problems, all at once. I have never, ever, heard of a place where men abide by women’s decisions regarding their sexuality. I wish such a place didn’t exist, to be honest. Because the only person who is allowed to make decisions regarding their body and organic functions is the person who lives in that body. Women need to stick together and fight back against this retrograde oppression. And if there’s one thing that is even more unbelievable than a bunch of male politicians imposing such a senseless decision in order to “protect life”, it is women sharing their point of view.

At some point in my life, I had to make the hardest decision of all. I did get an abortion. My doctor had told me there was no way I would ever get pregnant without strong medication. I had already had a miscarriage, so after years of infertility, it felt as if nature was playing the cruelest trick on me. With a future father who chickened out of the picture as fast and sneakily as he could, a family who was appalled at the situation and studies to complete, my choice was the rational one. I was not going to make so many people, including an innocent child, suffer. I still think about it when I look at my beautiful sons, who wouldn’t have been born if I hadn’t made this heartbreaking decision back then. Nurses, doctors, anesthesiologists, counsellors… they were all sorry for me and knew how lonely and desperate I was. A few years later, I sought advice and group therapy helped a lot to appease my grief and guilt. I’m glad and proud to say that in Switzerland, there are measures to protect women who seek such procedures, which are performed in hospitals or private clinics (abortion clinics don’t exist) and paid for by health insurance, and no one is hurling abuse at women entering these facilities to make them suffer through their “walk of shame.” If there were, I’d take my sons and my students there to teach them about dignity, freedom and solidarity.

History and the Christchurch Massacre

“I sleep well. It’s the politicians who are to blame for failing to come to an agreement and resorting to violence.”

You may recognize these words as those of Mikhael Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK-47. In a world where terrorist attacks and mass shootings have become a daily reminder of the power weapons confer to their holders, there is always a pending question: who is to blame?

Judging by the latest information, the Christchurch shooter was inspired by several European events and figures: Anders Breivik, Marine Le Pen, and the Balkan War among others. This idea that the good, rightful Christian world is being invaded and threatened by the blood-thirsty, ignorant Muslims is not new, but it is sickening that some people still act accordingly to such nonsense. Breivik slaughtered teenagers trapped on an island. Marine Le Pen and her party (Front National) lost the French elections because their claims are absurd, their ideas are utterly racist and the French were either more hopeful or less cynical than the Americans or the Brazilians, who both chose to rally behind pseudo-charismatic, fear-inducing, history-ignoring leaders. There is no such thing as a Muslim invasion. Swapping the word “Muslim” with “Mexican” or “LGBTQ” works as well. The people do not feel threatened or cornered. But to divide is to conquer. It does not go any further than that.

The Balkans were indeed invaded, centuries ago, by the Turks. Many Albanians and Kosovans still revere Skanderbeg as a hero and model of patriotism who fought to defend his country. Nevertheless, many of them are Muslims. If these people can accept their legacy, why does an Australian native decide that he has to go on a shooting spree after invoking the spirits of men who are, or have been, tried by the International Court of Justice for organizing and perpetrating the most recent genocide in Europe?

The Albanian and Kosovan diaspora constitutes one of the most important minorities in Switzerland, and most of them are Muslims. The stigma of the war is still blatantly visible in this community, and conflicts with Serbia over borders and the Kosovan independence are intense. Second or third generations have Swiss passports, do their military service, marry Swiss citizens and could not care less whether their children are the invaders or the invaded. Claiming that the tyrants who cold-heartedly ordered women to be raped and men killed, houses to be burnt not even 30 years ago are modern heroes is simply ignoring the most important lesson history has taught us. Brenton Tarrant was probably not very attentive when his History teacher talked about the Crusades. There is no peace to be found in weapons and hatred.

Similar Read: Muslim “Re-Education” Camps?

Shamima Begum is a Mother… It matters

I am a mother. I gave birth to two healthy boys in a hospital, surrounded by professionals and never lacked anything I needed to take care of them as well as I could, except experience for my first-born of course. Shamima Begum is a mother as well. Contrary to me, although she gave birth three times, she can only hold one baby in her arms today. Contrary to me, she didn’t live in a safe environment with everything available in case the babies or she needed anything. Her husband didn’t read parenting books, didn’t wander the streets with his babies in a brand-new foldable pram or in a fancy ergonomic baby-carrier. Her children died. Both of them died and now she’s waiting with her third child for a future. A future in which both she and her child are taken care of, sleep safely and have access to medicines, vaccines, and doctors in case they should need them. Why is Shamima denied what every woman should be granted as soon as, willingly or not, they find themselves pregnant? Because when she was only a fifteen-year-old British girl with a less marginal future ahead of her, she made the wrong choice.

I’m not defending her choice, but I’m deeply convinced that all teenagers make mistakes.

Edit: If she had smoked pot, shoplifted or drunk more than she should have, there would be no question as to whether or not she could return to her native country. She’s not a drug addict, neither a neglecting parent. But she went too far, to Syria, to ISIS, to a romanticized utopia. She believed, as many teenagers did and still do, that she knew better and that she would be taken seriously and useful there. She thought she would be loved and doing the right thing, proving her family, teachers or whoever said she’d better listen that they were wrong. She says she’s willing to change if that can change authorities’ minds about her coming back. Isn’t that what any lost and contrite teenager would say? She has been through so much we can’t even begin to imagine, and she’s still grieving her dead babies while nursing a newborn and trying to keep him alive.

Shamima Begum deserves better than to be forsaken and denied: she deserves a second chance including psychological support, medical care, and the certitude that as a mother. She has a duty toward her son: doing her best to ensure he grows up in a world made of opportunities and learns from his mistakes. Because just like any other kid, one day, he’ll make some too.

Similar Read: Shamima Begum Is a Mother… It Matters

Brexit: The Predictable Divorce?

Back in December 1992, Swiss voters refused to join the EU, and many lamented that Switzerland was going to be an island in the centre of Europe, soon isolated and helpless. Again rejected in 2001 and 2014, potential membership stayed pending until 2016, when it was officially cancelled. Last year, the world witnessed Great Britain choosing to cut loose from the EU. The Swiss were not surprised.

If there is one thing Brexit is teaching us, it is that no economic and political breakup can happen without hurting. Not a day passes without stories of torn families, aborted career hopes and abandoned plans. The consequences are devastating and heartbreaking, even though Brexit supporters keep repeating there was no other way out. When the relationship loses its balance, it is time for a divorce.

When it had the choice, Switzerland refused to commit to the EU, despite going on several dates along the years, securing beneficial treaties while refusing the downsides of an exclusive marriage. Those who predicted the continental island was going to regret it had to admit they predicted wrongly. Too afraid of losing their identity, the Swiss preferred to wait and see whether they had really missed the boat to their honeymoon.

The UK refusing to adopt the common currency, the Euro, was undoubtedly a strong move and a very symbolic one. While many countries struggled to counter the effects of the introduction of the Euro, the UK proudly kept their Queen’s portrait in their wallet. The power of the Swiss franc was definitely an argument against the bond.

Similarities can be seen between the USA and the UK in terms of what is at stake, and although the reactions and suggested solutions differ, the idea of sacrificing one’s happiness for the common good is hard to handle for those who think that being patriotic means being separated. The 2017 Catalonia debacle is yet another example of the rise of political and ideological divorces.

A crucial element to its uniqueness, Switzerland’s protective attitude towards its independence dictated the refusals, even when the dowry seemed attractive. Today, many people feel relieved they get to be the shoulder on which to cry instead of the estranged other. They feel sorry for the UK, but cannot help but thinking “We knew it was going to happen.”

The Delicate Art of Compromise

There are numerous parallels between the USA and Switzerland, a small country niched in the centre of the European continent. Both rely on federalism, both had to fight to gain or preserve their independence, and both have a huge number of weapons in circulation among the civil population. However, this is pretty much all there is to compare. Over the last couple of years, it has become obvious there is one characteristic these two nations do not share, and this is the art of compromise.

If Swiss citizens are allowed to keep their armed service rifle at home, it is strictly forbidden to own matching ammunition. Permits are delivered according to strict rules and security checks. Over the last 18 years, there have been very few mass shootings, resulting in less than 20 victims. However, army weapons tend to be used in suicides and when killing happens within the family or private circle. Swiss citizens rely very little on weapons when it comes to their own protection, but rather on private alarm systems and quick police intervention.

This peaceful approach to safety and crime is probably best mirrored in the political system and traditions of Switzerland. The seven members of the Conseil Fédéral (Federal Council) are elected by their party and each year, one of them is elected President. The major parties are usually represented according to a stable blend of political affiliation hence ensuring a balanced government. The Chambers are similarly constituted. Whereas the American campaign for presidency showcases the traditional battle between Republicans and Democrats, the Swiss live and swear by compromise. This is a very Swiss thing to disagree but go with the flow anyway. It does not mean each Swiss citizen is happy with the way things are, it is more a matter of submission to the supreme authority, the People, who regularly vote despite an obvious cultural, linguistic and social discrepancy.

Far from perfect, this system nevertheless allows people with different origins, languages, creeds and traditions to live quite peacefully together. Looking at what is happening to Switzerland’s neighbour France with the Yellow Vests Movement, or to the USA since the shutdown, it is only fair to wish they could function with compromise as well. This requires strong egos to back down and minor voices to rise, so they can meet halfway.

But the question remains, is it what powerful leaders are after? From the outside, it seems like the shutdown has nothing to do with the people, but embodies the personal and selfish victory –or defeat—one man will meet. Decisions need to be made, and what is at stake is not whether or not one man is right, but the wellbeing of thousands of people. Compared to the hundreds of migrants pouring into Europe, fleeing armed conflicts, famine and hopelessness, the USA cannot be fearing an invasion. As a nation of immigrants, who settled in the immensity of a country that already belonged to its Native peoples, the USA have a duty never to forget how they became to be.

Borders, walls, fences, and limits have probably always existed and today can still be admired as the stone ghosts of their builders’ will to protect themselves: the Great Wall of China, Hadrien’s Wall, Berlin’s Wall, or their ideological counterparts, the Iron Curtain, the Swiss Röstigraben* among others. Some know there is already a wall between the USA and Mexico, as depicted by the American writer T.C. Boyle in his 1995 novel “América”, the Tortilla Curtain rises between those who dream of a better future and those who seclude themselves in their gated communities to avoid contact with the invader. As the novel shows, the enemy is not always the stranger, and evil can grow its roots among the “rightful” ones.

No system, no regime, no government has ever been labeled perfect, but as the time comes, people can make a difference. As with children fighting over a toy, waiting for politicians to reach a compromise requires patience and understanding. But meanwhile, it requires people who work to receive the salary they deserve too. And this is why the art of compromise works in Switzerland: no one is left without a benefit.

*Imaginary line separating French-speaking and German-speaking parts of Switzerland, alluding to a typical dish made of grated potatoes.