Mirko Tobias Schäfer / Assistant Professor
University of Utrecht Department for Media and Culture Studies
Mirko Tobias Schäfer / Assistant Professor
University of Utrecht Department for Media and Culture Studies
Date November 2007 / Category News
The right wing party winning the latest elections in Switzerland communicated their political objectives in an online game. As reported by Ian Bogost on Watercoolergames the game's hero is a white cartoon goat called Zottel. In "Zottel rescues Switzerland" the user has to solve missions such as kicking out black sheep "representing criminal foreigners", intercepting passports issued to immigrants and shooting "EU tax collectors" for the sake of a "flourishing Switzerland." (see screen shots)
The shocking aspect of the game is its trivialized racism, presented as a playful and harmless game. It would have been impossible for the Swiss People's Party to launch a version of Ethnic Cleansing a racist First Person Shooter developed by Neo-Nazi label Resistance Records. Even right-wing conservatives would have distanced themselves from the obvious endorsement of violence, white power, and racism. But it is actually that very spirit that the Zottel game thrives on.
Xenophobia and racism are wrapped into a cheerful online game promoting the People's Party's concern for safety, order and independence. Employing stereotypes of criminal immigrants, unwilling to adapt to Swiss law and culture, the People's Party promotes nationalism and hatred for foreigners as funny leisure activity. The obvious implication is actually the call for race war and genocide promoted explicitly in Ethnic Cleansing. The campaign represents the recent trend in European politics making nationalism sociable as protectionist conservative policy.
Date September 2006 / Category News
Date November 2004 / Category News
Of course I am deeply concerned about the tendencies going on in Europe lately. Dumb people exploring their proud into "their" nation. I can only refer to Schopenhauer's excellent comment on this problem:
"Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Aphorisms
"Aber jeder erbärmliche Tropf, der nichts in der Welt hat, darauf er stolz sein könnte, ergreift das letzte Mittel, auf die Nation, der er gerade angehört, stolz zu sein. Hieran erholt er sich und ist nun dankbarlich bereit, alle Fehler und Torheiten, die ihr eigen sind, mit Händen und Füßen zu verteidigen."
Arthur Schopenhauer, Aphorismen
And I think, we don't need these fools around. So we all should tell them to **** off and to leave for another planet!
Tags Opinion
Date April 2005 / Category News
Gott ist tot: aber so wie die Art der Menschen ist wird es vielleicht noch jahrhundertelang Höhlen geben, in denen man seinen Schatten zeigt.
[God is dead; but given the ways of men, there may still be caves for thousands of years in which his shadow will be shown.]
Friedrich Nietzsche (Die fröhliche Wissenschaft)
Tags Opinion
Date January 2006 / Category News
Austrian gutter press and politicians are mad about the art project "25 peaces" which consists of artists' contributions on Europe. Three posters have been heavely criticised because of their motives. They feature a group sex scene with the participants wearing Bush, Chirac and G.W. Bush masks, a swastika as one of the European stars, and "the origin of the world" covered with an European-flag-panty.
It is not surprising that a right-conservative newspaper such as the Austrian Kronen Zeitung is arguing against the display of the motives in question (although they display naked women in each issue) and it is even funny that the Nazis of the Freedom Party are criticising the motive displaying the swastika. But it is very dangerous that politicians take part in judging what art is and what it is not, that obviously politicians of all parties have become art critics over night.
Even more disturbing is their understanding of art, expecting public relation tasks and advertisement purposes from art and artists. As the Austrian minister for foreign affairs mentioned, the motives in question were not helpful in communicating Europe to the citizens. In my opinion the politicians of all Austrian parties did a very poor job in communicating Europe to their citizens. In opposite to the artists this would have been their job.
The criticised works were removed from the exhibition. That's Austria in 2006.
A very good article on the subject was published in Der Standard: Verlogene Machteliten.
The origin of the narrow-minded outrage: Tanja Ostojic's contribution.
Website of 25 peaces.
Date September 2007 / Category News
The recent trend in Germany towards surveillance is threatening civil rights seriously. The right wing minister for Inner Affairs even requires clandestine online searching of personal computers next to wiretapping, and data retention. This would be similar to house searches without even notifying the occupants. The constitutional legality does not approve the practice why CDU and CSU politicians currently try to change the laws. The plans for data retention of all citizen's Internet traffic, phone calls, e-mails and even the logging of geographical location in relation to mobile phone communication will be in effect soon. A growing group of concerned citizens is organizing actions for defending what is left of our civil rights.
Date November 2004 / Category News
Very interesting how the EU administration is pushing directives that help monopolists to regulate markets and to avoid competition. Next monday the directive on software patents will be adopted by the council for agriculture, environment and fishing (I guess these guys really know how software works).
According to a recent survey of the Deutsche Bank Research software patents will stiffle innovation and market growth. According to a HP memo published earlier this year software patents will help Microsoft to keep open source out of the market.
More information:
FFII
Free Software Foundation Europe
Tags Opinion
Date March 2005 / Category News
On Monday March 7th the EU Commission accepted the directive on copyrights and software patents against the will of the EU Parliament. The M$ lobby won. Software patents are about to be legalized in the EU; Europe won't make a difference any more. It will harm our cultural freedom, it will stiffle innovation and slow down economic growth. The future won't be open.
Unfortunately the EU Commission is obviously neither representing the people nor Europe.
Council Presidency Adopts Software Patent Agreement Against Council's Rules
De website van NoSoftwarepatents.com in het Nederlands: Geen Softwarepatenten.
Tags Opinion
if software patents become legalized or if the digital culture and software remains free to evolve in Europe.
The decision is less about technology as some rightists suggest, it is rather a decision on cultural freedom and the free market. Software patents will stifle economic growth and innovation, they are used by monopolistic companies to regulate markets and to rule out competitors.
There will be a demonstration against the directive pushed through by the commission lately on July 5th in Strasbourg. The Economic Majority will show up and demonstrate against the attempts of the few big corporations, their lobby and the corruptionists to restrict the economic development of European companies.
Tags Opinion