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<font size=3>Hi, <br>
<br>
I found it's interesting that discussing initiated by activists from so
called Western fraction.<br>
I agree with Will and Laura that problem is not unilateral coming from
the Western who only dominate but in the same time I would like to point
out why easterners allows so develop in unbalance way and make westerners
feel more powerful and smart even its far a way from the reality. Here
some half-philosophical ideas:<br>
<br>
1. "Quest" syndrome.<br>
for many to visit a place abroad and even on own land but with foreigners
insolvent awake a "guest" syndrome when people get closed and
awaiting to be treated in certain way with following respect and giving
space for the "owner" to rule the situation. It has a bit to do
with Eastern mentality/hospitality discourse when a host is full
responsible for the guest with giving and care as much as possible from
the heart and the quest just consuming and enjoy. If he start to be too
much self-initiative- it will be considered as a unrespect. This is one
of the so called communal rules when hospitality is a great tool to care
for others. In western discourse is a bit different: even you are quest,
you act autonomously and don't expect too much from the host. In most
cases if you are invited, you supposed to bring own food with, pay own
cover a costs of your staying as a normal things of rational society. Any
the main is to care yourself of your own feeling good, have initiative to
get integrated by yourself. Sometime the present of two different
perceptions about hospitality as many other wrong expectation from each
other can cost a problem.<br>
<br>
2. Differences in finding a common topic.<br>
<br>
Now it concerns not real anarchists but more broader circle of activists:
the most of western alternative activists clearly have problem with
capitalist system of being in and looking for alternatives, also
expressing interest to the Eastern friends to find some solutions also
coming from them maybe. In the same time Easterners naively think that
the answer is in Western style of being and therefor don't understand
"what these westerners not happy about (they have everything they
need: money, doll, supermarkets etc) and what they want always to
discuss. Many participants coming to the West to taste it, but not speak
how bad it is. There might be again a clash of expectations. I don't know
is it real correct to say concerning anarchists but many so called civil
society children of Papa Soros, are like this.<br>
<br>
3. Different distance to the reality.<br>
<br>
This is a reason for mentioned above factors. While a mainstream media is
a main source of information about the West still with its
"shiny" side, people cultivate "myths" about smart
Western heros, good equipped, powerful, having a lot of money etc which
somehow concerns all Westerners (I mean also Americans) in a perceptions
of easterners. Somehow it works like a psychological pollution. I am
experience exactly different by seeing how such smarter, who trained push
certain bottoms in automatic tools, plays role of "cool man",
in a situation when automatic does not reply, getting into a looser. And
then a simple person close to the ground, who have good develop
"inner smartness", able find a way out of the situation without
pretending to be a hero.<br>
What I wanted to say with that starting from so far a way is
following:<br>
sometime I have a feeling that people from the east living more close to
the ground, to real world. They look on things more simply, without
having brain full of theories and ideas, but ready to action/make changes
without discussion it too much. For me it was always exhausted
participate in endless discussion about topics which rather gave me
impression "talking for talking" when in the end I did not have
idea for what all this was. Recently I find out that this feature is one
of the German tradition described in book of Sylvia Schroll-Machl
"Die Deutchen-Wir Deutchen". where intercultural interaction is
a main topic. The best for me would be a balance: A Westerners less
talking using the political cliches and looking into a real world, coming
from a books into a reality to learn a language of simple person.
Sometimes Easterner blamed of political illiteracy. This is true. But I
want to be careful into turning now eastern population into total
learning western tradition which was developing many years. I also want
westerners learn to be more "inner world" kind of people. Last
point is important cause I know many people are so: they don't speak too
much but they have got incredibly nice world hidden under the silence and
they able to do a lot cause they feel it by intuition, they don't need
discuss_rediscuss too much certain things. This is partly a phenomenon of
so called "Eastern soul" (expression which has nothing to do
with a religious). There can be found solidarity, real help.
understanding, warmness etc which is missed in "pure
discussion" habits. There can be found a life and because of
it, it's more likely to get a feeling that life is possible to change as
a real things instead of just talking about it.<br>
<br>
be continued..since there are more hidden under the surface.<br>
<br>
Olga<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
>I was particularly interested in two ideas in the presentation of the
<br>
>Spotykach list:<br>
>- the imbalance in communication between participants, often with a
<br>
>predefined sense of dominance of the western participants [Does this
mean <br>
>the "westerners" define THEMSELVES as dominant, or they are
MADE dominant by <br>
>the "easterners"? Or a bit of both?!]<br>
>- finding ways of overcoming the predefined discriminative
organizational <br>
>and psychological inequalities bewteen east and west.<br>
><br>
>I was heavily involved in organizing the Anarcho-Syndicalist
East-West <br>
>Meetings in 1992 (Berlin), 1994 (Prague) and 1995 (Füzesgyarmat, HU).
I felt <br>
>the meetings were rather chaotic, as I think most other participants
did <br>
>too. That's probably unavoidable when you have people coming together
for <br>
>the first time from a range of different countries, backgrounds and
<br>
>generations; anarchists, anarcho-syndicalists, council communists,
<br>
>counter-culture punks, etc., etc. Not to mention the language
barrier...<br>
><br>
>One situation that comes to mind took shape at one one of the
painfully <br>
>slow, multi-lingual assemblies at the meeting in Prague in 1994. For
a few <br>
>days no one from Poland had been at the meeting at all, it seemed,
but then <br>
>a group turned up. Anna Niedzwiecka was one of them. Unfortunately
the <br>
>people were very withdrawn and I don't remember them making any
<br>
>contribution, verbally or otherwise (e.g. helping with cooking,
fetching <br>
>water, etc.). I think something was really wrong with the
"vibes" there, but <br>
>I never found out what. Several months later I saw a rather negative
report <br>
>on the meeting in Mac pariadku, but my Polish is poor and my memory
even <br>
>worse, so I never understood what it said. I can imagine that there
was some <br>
>perception of predefined dominance - it would have been great to
understand <br>
>how those people felt the dynamics to be. <br>
><br>
>Bye for now.<br>
><br>
>Will, Berlin (FAU) <br>
><br>
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