rarely read the daily news or listened to news broadcasts. In general, she kept away from politics. She was, however, very interested in the big developments in society, but maintained that you don’t see them if you get too involved in all those day-to-day politics.
She pondered which forces really shape human soci ety, the effects of technology, the economic system and long-term cultural changes. So when some claimed the fall of the Berlin wall as the final victory for capitalism, she saw almost the opposite. True, the Soviets were defeated, and communism and socialism were thrown in the dustbin of history. But that was the short view. The long view was that when the threat of communism was gone, when the ghost had disappeared, critique of the capitalist project could no longer so easily be dismissed or discredited. What she feared was that when the threat of communism disappeared, the military industrial complex would find new threats to motivate continued spending on useless armaments, and if there were no new threats to be found, they would manufacture them.
R onia believed that there was more to learn from history than what to expect from the future and today. Instead of daily news, Ronia read serious magazines and books on politics and history. She usually skipped articles about how new technologies would change the world. She had read once that for each generation, all technologies that would shape the lives of that generation would already have existed when they were born. And that certainly had been true up to her parents. But she was less sure about her own generation. And for a change, this evening she read an article predicting that the “internet” could become a forceful tool for revitalizing democracy. Or for manipulating people, she thought cynically, just like the radio and TV. They also had great democratic potential, but look what happened to them.
She found it hard to fall asleep. She thought about Olaf and Selma, that she probably had misunderstood his signals. And what signals had he actually sent anyway? And even if he had sent signals did they mean anything? The guy is married, in the first place. Thoughts like that came, went and came back.
She woke up early, feeling restless and went for an early walk. Coming back to the hotel around seven, she passed by the breakfast room and found him there.
“Hi, ” she greeted him as she approached his table. “Can I join you?”
“Of course, you are most welcome ,” he said, folding his newspaper, the International Herald Tribune.
“Please go ahead reading if you want; you can tell me what has happened in the world. I rarely read any newspapers.”
“How is it possible to be without the lifeblood of a daily news injection?”
“I see it more like death blood ,” she said. “Ninety-nine percent of the news is about deaths, torture, rape, war, and natural disasters, just to mention a few.”
“I see your point. Let’s test the theor y, and I will see how much positive news I can find in this issue.”
He initiated a stream of words in a speed you nor mally associate with sports reports on the radio.
“Ah, here is the first one: There is a cease-fire in Chechnya, but honestly who cares, most people don’t even know where Chechnya is, and would you mind trying to spell to Chechnya and Grozny or Oshogoshtjuktjikstan? Next: Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without Sinn Féin. Is it good that they talk or bad that Sinn Féin is not at the table? Depends on their table manners, I guess. And then the killer one: Steffi Graf defeats Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the longest ever women's final at the French Open, to win her 19th Grand Slam title. So good for sweet Steffi and so cruel for poor Arantxa—but what can you expect with parents naming you thornbush, which is the meaning of her name. I don’t know what to say about the weather report. Warm in Geneva, but far too cold in Scandinavia and blasting hot in Saudi Arabia,
She pondered which forces really shape human soci ety, the effects of technology, the economic system and long-term cultural changes. So when some claimed the fall of the Berlin wall as the final victory for capitalism, she saw almost the opposite. True, the Soviets were defeated, and communism and socialism were thrown in the dustbin of history. But that was the short view. The long view was that when the threat of communism was gone, when the ghost had disappeared, critique of the capitalist project could no longer so easily be dismissed or discredited. What she feared was that when the threat of communism disappeared, the military industrial complex would find new threats to motivate continued spending on useless armaments, and if there were no new threats to be found, they would manufacture them.
R onia believed that there was more to learn from history than what to expect from the future and today. Instead of daily news, Ronia read serious magazines and books on politics and history. She usually skipped articles about how new technologies would change the world. She had read once that for each generation, all technologies that would shape the lives of that generation would already have existed when they were born. And that certainly had been true up to her parents. But she was less sure about her own generation. And for a change, this evening she read an article predicting that the “internet” could become a forceful tool for revitalizing democracy. Or for manipulating people, she thought cynically, just like the radio and TV. They also had great democratic potential, but look what happened to them.
She found it hard to fall asleep. She thought about Olaf and Selma, that she probably had misunderstood his signals. And what signals had he actually sent anyway? And even if he had sent signals did they mean anything? The guy is married, in the first place. Thoughts like that came, went and came back.
She woke up early, feeling restless and went for an early walk. Coming back to the hotel around seven, she passed by the breakfast room and found him there.
“Hi, ” she greeted him as she approached his table. “Can I join you?”
“Of course, you are most welcome ,” he said, folding his newspaper, the International Herald Tribune.
“Please go ahead reading if you want; you can tell me what has happened in the world. I rarely read any newspapers.”
“How is it possible to be without the lifeblood of a daily news injection?”
“I see it more like death blood ,” she said. “Ninety-nine percent of the news is about deaths, torture, rape, war, and natural disasters, just to mention a few.”
“I see your point. Let’s test the theor y, and I will see how much positive news I can find in this issue.”
He initiated a stream of words in a speed you nor mally associate with sports reports on the radio.
“Ah, here is the first one: There is a cease-fire in Chechnya, but honestly who cares, most people don’t even know where Chechnya is, and would you mind trying to spell to Chechnya and Grozny or Oshogoshtjuktjikstan? Next: Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without Sinn Féin. Is it good that they talk or bad that Sinn Féin is not at the table? Depends on their table manners, I guess. And then the killer one: Steffi Graf defeats Arantxa Sánchez Vicario in the longest ever women's final at the French Open, to win her 19th Grand Slam title. So good for sweet Steffi and so cruel for poor Arantxa—but what can you expect with parents naming you thornbush, which is the meaning of her name. I don’t know what to say about the weather report. Warm in Geneva, but far too cold in Scandinavia and blasting hot in Saudi Arabia,
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