The article “Indians suffering from vacation deprivation, survey claims”, written by Himanshi Dhawan and published by the Times of India on 7th°November 2014, describes the deprivation of holidays and the reasons why people end up taking less days off then they would be allowed to in India. It starts off by claiming that India came out to be the fourth most holiday deprived nation of the world, with 40% of the people not being able to plan holidays in advance. Indian people also rank fourth on feeling guilty about taking holidays, with 67% stating this. A five city survey by Expedia found that there are differences within the country. People from Delhi took the most holidays while people from Mumbai took the least. One reason people don’t take that many holidays is that they don’t feel like they get enough days off at work. The average number of days off per year in India is 19.6, but many take fewer days off than they actually receive with an average of taking 15.5 days off a year. The main reasons why people don’t feel like they can take any holidays are a work schedule or a personal schedule that doesn’t allow enough time to take holidays. People also said that they wanted to save days in order to take a bigger holiday the following year, hoping to get money in exchange for unused days off or having problems with coordinating a date that would work for themselves and their family, friends or partners. Vikram Mahli, an Expedia MD Asia says that holidays are important to maintain a good work life balance and employees can stay more focused and happy at work after re-energizing. Funny enough, India is also one of the top three countries in which people stated that they would be willing to make sacrifices in order to gain more holidays.
What we have to say about this:
What are the most common Indian holiday destinations and what is their general mentality towards holidays? And how much does our mentality towards holidays and the destination we chose here in Basel differ from the ones in India? Most Indians do not go on holiday or go but not as long as they would be allowed to, because they don’t like to miss work or for any of the reasons mentioned in the text above, a personal schedule that doesn’t allow for work, having problems coordinating with friends and family, wanting to receive money in exchange for unused days off but also for saving up days for a larger holiday the next year. When Indians do go on holiday, they mostly chose destinations within India and neighbouring or close countries like Nepal, Thailand or Singapore. This is because most Indians don’t like to leave their work for a long time since they feel guilty when they do. When they leave Asia, their most common choices are the U.S. and Canada or London, Paris and Switzerland. We presume that the reason why they chose to visit Switzerland might be because many Bollywood movies have been filmed in the Swiss Alps and that Switzerland is a great contrast to India. Most Indians prefer to travel by bus, since it is much more affordable than travelling by train or by plane.
Here in Switzerland people have a very different attitude when it comes to holidays and very different destination, too. Most Swiss people go on a holiday (about 11 to 14 days) once a year, some go twice and about 20% either don’t go at all or go three times or more. The most common Swiss destinations in the winter (we have a big skiing culture here) are the Swiss, Austrian and German Alps. During the rest of the year most Swiss people prefer to travel to warm places. The top destinations are Spain, Turkey, Italy and the Canaries. Most Swiss people spend up to 2’000 Swiss Francs per person for transport and accommodation. The most commonly used transport is by plane or by car. In Switzerland, we usually don’t view holidays as something you should feel guilty of. We enjoy taking a break from work and everyday life in general. Holidays are viewed as a time to get together as a family, to relax and to slow down before returning back to the things we have to do on a day to day basis. Some people also use them as a status symbol in order to show of their wealth to others. This might be a total opposite to Indian culture. We think that work is seen as something important in India and that this might also be a reason why people feel guilty when they take a leave from it. One reason that surprisingly didn’t come up in the article was the financial reasons for not going on holiday. This reason is present her in Basel, although most people can afford to go away, but some might not be able to afford destinations that are too far away. In fact, ten percent of the Swiss population cannot afford to go on holiday ever. /M.P./M.A./S.H./
In the article “What’s Holding Back American Teenagers? – Our high schools are a disaster” Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, discusses the flaws of American high schools. The article was published on the 11th of February 2014 on www.slate.com.
The author begins with the political debate in the U.S. concerning education, which he takes up again at the end of the article. He then continues saying that American high schools score below average in international assessments and asks the question that he is trying to answer in this article: “What’s holding back our teenagers?”
Laurence Steinberg then writes that a study based on OECD data that compares high school students’ participation and belongingness, hints that American high schools are a place of social rather than intellectual engagement, which is a difference compared to the economic competitors of the States.
He also mentions the fact that a high school student’s level of boredom peaks during class and that in the last 40 years students’ scores haven’t increased in reading or math.
Prof. Steinberg goes on by stating that contrary to widespread belief, both ethnic differences and poverty have nothing to do with the fact that the scores of high school students haven’t increased, but that it’s the American educational system’s fault that a large number of college students drop out of school.
Laurence Steinberg believes this underachievement costs the country multiple billions of dollars a year and comes to the conclusion that the only way out of this downward spiral is reform. In his opinion this reform should include programs to enhance the “non-cognitive” skills needed to complete a college degree.
He finishes the article with the sentence: “Our kids will never rise to the challenge if the challenge doesn’t come. “
What we have to say about this:
The first thing that the author of the article mentions is the political discussion about the educational system. This is an issue that has become very relevant again since President Barack Obama has made renewed promises of change recently. However, the school system in America hasn’t changed much at all in recent history. Since we’re a part of the Swiss school system we notice or hear about changes all the time. For instance, we learn about changes in how certain subjects count for our report or how the year below us has an extra semester of Gymnasium before they do their final exams. Children in Switzerland also now spend a year more in elementary school instead of secondary school, perhaps to better develop the “non-cognitive” skills mentioned in the article. As far as we know, there haven’t been any changes to the American school system regarding which school children attend at what age or anything similar. Perhaps the schools in America would benefit if there was some reform in these areas.
The focus on social aspects of school also seems to be something that is especially prominent in the US. While developing social skills is certainly not a bad thing, it might be playing too big a role in students’ lives and taking focus away from school work. We only have experience with the Swiss system but it seems to us that there is less of a “high school popularity contest” than there is in some American schools. The educational system in the US seems to place more emphasis on things like high school sports teams or events like “homecoming” or “prom”. While these things are valued very highly amongst students, they might also be another factor distracting from what students actually attend school for.
Another reason for why American schools do so poorly compared to other highly developed countries might be the way the material itself is taught to the students and the way that their progress is measured. One of the ways that progress is measured in the USA is through standardized testing. Standardized tests are exams where every student in the school system takes a test with the exact same questions. Many important exams relevant to college admission are done this way in the States. The school itself is also measured by the results of its students. Schools that do well in these exams are even occasionally rewarded with extra funding. Many believe that this has led to teachers “teaching for the test”. This means that teachers spend many of their classes coaching students to pass a specific test instead of actually teaching them the subject. So even if a student passes the final exam they might not know much about the subject.
Another reason why students might be coached to pass their exams is to boost admissions into college. This is a trend most likely brought about by the fact that nowadays many jobs require a college degree. But as mentioned in the article, many that attempt to get these degrees fail due to lack of knowledge, knowledge that they should have probably been taught in high school. In our school system our progress is measured through a long process where the average of our marks is taken from tests all throughout the semester. Whether we get to go to university is decided by some final exams in key subjects, that are far less standardized compared to America, and a written project that is done by each student individually.
We are of the opinion that the point mentioned last by the author is the most important. We completely agree that certain people need to be pushed a bit to achieve their full potential. The brightest people will always succeed in whatever kind of school system they are placed. However we think there are some who will not if they are not faced with challenges. We think that the Swiss system of constant evaluation leads to increased pressure on students but also to more people reaching their full potential. We think that more focus on school work itself and more challenging tasks for students increases the level of education.
(M.C, M.H)
The New Zealand Herald published an article on 7th November 2014 with the title “Rail link the key to a unified city”. It was written by Sudhvir Singh.
Nowadays a lot of people are addicted to every kind of vehicle. We often need to move from one place to another and we love to travel. Therefore we waste a lot of time being stuck in a traffic jam. Auckland is now trying to change this by reducing the traffic and revitalising suburban town centres.
Auckland has a wide range of rail networks. The rail usage has increased from year to year. Unfortunately the network ends in a dead end at Britomart, which makes it impossible for the Aucklanders to be offered services on a frequent schedule. In order to change this the city rail link (CRL) intends to break the bottleneck at Britomart.
The CRL is needed for being able to develop a "true" transport system. According to it the best way to positively influence the suburban development is to make it possible for people to have access to frequent public transport. By using the railway, a lot of people get off the road, which reduces carbon pollution. From these changes Auckland will profit the most because it will have faster access to the city. In addition by having access to improved railway transportation people will be able to save a lot of time.
What we have to say about this:
Reducing traffic by changing the railway networks has a lot of advantages. We are going to compare the public transport systems of Auckland and that of Basel. After that we’ll try to explain the reasons for the differences between the two.
In Auckland there are three different of public transport systems; bus, train and ferry. The organisation behind them is called AT (Auckland Transport). Auckland’s public transport system used to be well maintained, but in the 1950s it replaced all of its trams with buses because it feared the high costs of electricity. But this replacement led to a collapse of the number of rides. This meant that there were fewer people who accessed public transport and therefore fewer rides took place as well. The urban intersection of the whole traffic system is the Britomart Transport Centre.
The Auckland transport system isn’t considered to be such a good one. It can’t be compared to the transport system of other large cities. In the eyes of the local population private transport is seen as more important than public transport, which is the cause for many traffic jams. Buses make up the most important part of the public transport system. Therefore, the bus connections are constantly being improved. Thanks to this effort, they’re fairly good. In order to fight pollution caused by exhaust gases, the railway network will be expanded, as described in the article. This is done because the trains don’t drive to Auckland’s central business districts.
In Basel things work quite differently. We have buses, trams and trains that are run by three different companies called BVB, BLT and SBB. SBB is in charge of the railroad lines while BVB and BLT take care of the large number of tram and bus lines. These organizations enable people to travel from A to B fast, safely and without having to wait long due to a tight timetable. Basel’s transport system is much more sophisticated than Auckland’s and it’s known for its punctuality. We therefore believe that Basel has a very good public transport system.
The reason why compared to Auckland Basel doesn’t have as many problems with managing its traffic is that Basel is a much smaller city. Auckland’s population includes almost
1,75 times as many people as the one of Basel and its agglomeration. The ratio is 1:3.8. It’s therefore easier for Basel to organize such matters. Another reason is the economic wealth of New Zealand and Switzerland. The latter is richer and thus has more money to spend on its infrastructure.
The importance of a good traffic system becomes apparent when we look at the various advantages of public transportation; there is less pollution and there are fewer traffic jams because more people use public transport if they can be sure about its reliability. For that reason we think that it’s a good idea to expand Auckland’s railway system. This will especially be helpful for such a big city and it will surely reduce the afore-mentioned problems.
According to an article by Adam Nossiter entitled „Nigeria tries to „sanitize“ itself of gays“ which was published in New York Times on the 8th of February 2014 strict laws have been introduced to punish and „sanitize“ same sex people in Nigeria.
In this article it is written that same sex is forbidden in Nigeria since British colonial time. However, recently the situation has deteriorated, especially in Northern Nigeria due to the Shariah law, which was signed by the president Goodluck Jonathan. This law is supposed to ban same-sex marriages but in reality it is much worse as it violates the basic universal human rights according to the United Nations. In fact, people suspected of being gay or to support them are prosecuted and imprisoned for ten years. According to local Islamic law the penalty is much more drastic and could even be death by stoning.
The article further explains that the population is eager to denunciate and kill suspected gay people and that in cases where the government’s sentence was jailing and not death the population threw stones and bottles at the victims outside the court.
The article says that Nigeria News media are largely supportive of the law and suggest that gay people are similar to animals. Even worse, the foreign affairs minister Viola Onwuliri praised the law as „democracy in action“ and suggested that Western critics are hypocrites to promote democracy and then complain about a law, which the populace supports.
While the international community criticizes this situation in Nigeria, in other African countries the former president Olusegun Obasanjo already suggested ten years earlier that „homosexual practice" was clearly unbiblical and un-African.
Due to this situation in Nigeria, gay people who live their homosexuality openly are greatly at risk and they have to hide or leave for towns further south which are not under Shariah law.
What we have to say about this:
Marriage, adoption, being together in public: Equal rights for homosexuals have beed successfully established in several Western countries. But the social acceptance of homosexuality doesn’t grow everywhere. The number of people who show tolerance towards homosexuality is high while it is almost zero in African and Arabian countries, according to a global study by the American PEW Research Centre. Nigeria is an extreme example of a country, which has created a law against gay sexuality. Homosexual acts of every kind are prohibited and punished in a dreadful way by the state. Thus, gay people are forced into the underground.
But how can the tolerance of actually innocent people be so limited? It has to be connected to the importance of religion in Nigeria. Gay sex just doesn’t correspond to the moral teachings of the church. For them, it is not right and acceptable to think differently about love than so-called normal people. In their eyes, the traditional family is challenged and something must be going wrong.
Another point made by homophobic people is that heterosexual partnerships are necessary for reproduction. In their eyes, it’s against the laws of nature if men want to form a family together.
There are even more arguments the homophobic can bring up: Homosexual pairs often omit protection during sexual acts, because they are not educated about enough. Maybe they are mindless of the same danger that comes from heterosexual acts. This causes even more cases of Aids/HIV infection. Nigeria’s health situation would simply decrease, if homosexuality wasn’t forbidden.
We find the State’s penalties - even death too cruel compared to the “crime” (they see it as a crime) that the gay people commit. It should be everyone’s own decision, how to love and to live. Unfortunately, human are hardly ever taken heed of in Nigeria when it comes to the right to sexuality, which means that the victims cannot defend themselves against the violent acts they have to endure in their home country. This will continue till the laws that make this violence legal, have been changed.
The Nigerians should follow the example of Western countries such as the USA or Switzerland. Nowadays, the people there show more tolerance towards homosexuality because it has become a growing movement. More and more people stop being ashamed for what they are. As many celebrities, they feel the courage to out themselves in public. A good compromise between strict interdiction and total liberalization is the law in Switzerland that regulates this issue. Since 1942 homosexual actions are legal and registrations of gay/lesbian partnerships have been possible for a few years now, but adoption by homosexual couples is not possible. We like this middle way – nobody has to be raised in a family that is different from the norm and homosexuals can still enjoy their way of life.
Finally, we think that homosexuality should be legal everywhere, including Nigeria. And we hope, that it will be possible one day. (Fe, Ch, Ke)
According to an article from today online by Amanda Lee the government in Singapore wants cycling to become a more “viable transport option”. Currently, cycling makes up one to two percent of Singapore’s transportation possibilities. There are a few factors that influence the popularity of cycling. On October 22nd a book was published written by Singapore’s Center for Liveable Cities (CLC) and the United States-based Urban Land Institute (ULI). The book contains ideas and important measures which make cities more “bikeable, walkable and people-friendly”. One of them is to keep motorized traffic slow in pedestrian areas to encourage cycling, says Dr Park Byung Joon, who is an expert of urban transport management. Another point is to make street crossings a priority. What is also important is that the walking and cycling paths are more appealing and society feels comfortable. Cycling should be more convenient and an easy, fast way to travel from A to B. But what has to be ensured is that these cycling paths and sidewalks are safe. A way to do this is by enlarging the traffic lanes. This can also prevent cyclists, pedestrians and drivers from getting into conflicts. By 2030 Singapore is planning on creating a 700 km long cycling network to connect homes and neighborhoods. This should encourage people to get out their bikes and cycle for a healthy environment and a beneficial society and economy.
What we have to say about this:
This article only shows that the government of Singapore wants to change Singapore’s transport habits, but not why it’s important to do that. Singapore has one of the highest level of pollution in the world, which is mainly caused by motorized vehicles. This strongly affects human health. These particles are fine enough to settle down in our lungs and cause serious health problems. The amount of people with asthma problems and lung illnesses has risen by 20 percent in the last few years. In general Singapore has a bad reputation for not taking care of their environment.
Another big factor that contributes to the bad air in Singapore is that their population rate has rapidly grown in a matter of only a few years. Nearly 90 percent of their forest has been cut down and their pollution is enormously high compared to the rest of the world. So, in order to manage this problem, getting people to use their bikes more often is a good solution.
Compared to Basel, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) in Singapore is more than three times as high. Even though Singapore is a bigger city than Basel and has many more people, this is still an outrageously big difference. A possible reason for this is that Swiss people pay more attention to their environment. There are plenty of organisations (for example Greenpeace) in Switzerland, which try to preserve nature, to prevent firms from cutting down forests in order to build new highways and housing developments, or just trying to keep the country clean. This has a great impact on the Swiss environment.. This is also a reason why Switzerland has one of the best reputations in the world in terms of cleanliness and pollution. Here, our pollution levels are regulated by strict laws. In Basel for example, it’s against the law to drive a motorized vehicle within the inner city. To compensate for that, there are parking areas for bikes at basically every corner.
In Switzerland about 70% of the population own a bike, whereas in Singapore the number of bike owners isn’t even registered. The reason why we cycle more also has to do with cultural differences. In Singapore cycling used to be a more important mode of transport after World War I, but lost it’s appeal after the 1970’s. During this time the people in Singapore got wealthier and were able to afford private vehicles. So biking was a “lower-class form of travel”. The focus was then on building better and wider highways for motor transport. At the same time Europe began paying more attention to health and the preservation of nature. This explains why we have a bigger cycling community.
About 30% of pedestrians and bus commuters would be ready to switch to cycling in Singapore, which would have a positive effect on the air pollution. We personally think that it is a very good idea to invest in Singapore’s cycling infrastructure.
(M.S, A.P, J.G, S.G)
In a New York Times article written by KJ Dell’Antonia entitled “When the Message on Marijuana Is Still ‘Just Say No’” the marijuana consumption of teenagers in the US and the fact that the use of marijuana has changed are discussed. As known, marijuana is legal for medical use in already 23 states, of which two, namely Washington and Colorado, have legalized it also for recreational use for people the age of 21 and over.
The author says that the perception of marijuana legalization depends very much of the family situation. If the parents smoke or smoked “pot”, then they might perceive the idea of a free-for-everyone consumption differently than a family where none of the members have ever consumed marijuana.
The fact that in a lot of States marijuana is used as medicine doesn’t mean that it’s good for everyone. In fact the effects of marijuana on a developing brain aren’t fully clear yet. Often young smokers have bad memory, which leads to bad school performance, but we have to remember that teens that are already struggling with brain function problem may more likely start consuming marijuana.
When teachers find out that a student smoked or even brought along marijuana to a party, they might be thrown out of a team or band. In almost every high school there is a no-tolerance policy concerning marijuana and it’s still illegal in every state for teenagers.
A conviction due to illegal marijuana consumption can have big consequences on the later life. For example, one may not get a visa for some countries or may be disqualified for some jobs or not get admission to some colleges. The police often look the other way when the suspected teenager is white, but in case of a black teen or other minority children this often isn’t the case.
In the article it is said that the most important thing for parents is to have open and ongoing conversations with their children. The parents should also respect the perspective of their children and also talk about the perspective of other families. A Colorado Hospital worker tells us, “Have conversations, not lectures”.
What we have to say about this:
Marijuana is the most commonly consumed illegal drug in the world according to US government statistics. Not only in America, but also in many other countries the legalization of marijuana is a frequently discussed topic. Many people have different opinions about this issue partly because the effects of the drug on the brain and body haven’t been studied in detail yet. Especially teenagers are vulnerable to this because of the fact that their brain and body haven’t fully developed at this point of age. A widely spread myth is that marijuana a can cause schizophrenia. It has been proven, however, that this is only the case if the consumer already feels a certain degree of schizophrenia. In other words, the drug enhances emotional feelings and this has an impact on how the brain works.
As mentioned in the article the consumption of marijuana is legal in 23 States for medical usage and in two States even for recreational use. The US is one of the only countries were the state shows such a tolerance.
The legalization of cannabis is discussed in many countries, so what is the situation in Switzerland, or, more specifically, in Basel? The article released by the “Basler Zeitung” shows that the drug is quite popular in our city. At the moment one would receive a fine of 100CHF when 18 or over if caught smoking pot. If a teenager gets busted, he will attain help from the State in form of self-help groups and will be registered in the police file. This file will be erased if no further illegal actions are committed until reaching the age of 18. But due to the common use of marijuana here there might be a penalty free use in Basel in the future.
An important point that is mentioned in the article is is the attitude of the parents and family. Parents shouldn’t hold lectures about how bad the consumption of marijuana is, but instead hold ongoing conversations with the child. They should also let the teens make their own experiences. This is because the parents often are too strict and achieve the exact opposite of their intentions.
A sad thing in the US is that adolescents of minority families often receive a more severe penalty than white teens, who often get away without having to face any consequences. We think that this discrimination shouldn’t be the case in the 21st century anymore. The penalties in Switzerland are the same for every race, but still areas where a lot of migrants live have a higher density of police forces.
If you compare the laws of the US to those in Switzerland, the main difference is that the consumption of marijuana is illegal here, even though it’s often tolerated. In our opinion the usage of marijuana should be legal because most of the consumers who are high have a higher self-control than than people who are intoxicated with alcohol. Moreover, there is no reported death caused directly by cannabis. We think it is important though to remember that that the effects of marijuana haven’t been fully understood yet and consumers should be mindful, because it often leads to harder drugs. Since everyone can make their own choice whether or not they want to consume cannabis, we believe Coffee Shops like in Amsterdam would be sensible because regulated and controllable. (ol, lu)
We have chosen an article from the Times of India entitled „Turn Your Whole Life Into A Celebration“, which was published on October 21st by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. The article deals with a cultural and religious issue. It compares the way Indian culture is celebrated nowadays to the way it was celebrated in the past. The author attempts to show this with the help of the festival Diwali, which started a few days ago on 23rd October. This festival celebrates the good that prevails the bad, for example the negative things in ourlives. The bad doesn’t necessarily have to be caused by demons, like the story in which the Hindu god Krishna eliminates the bad in form of the evil king Naraka Chaturdashi. The text states that bad can also enter people’s lives in form of desperation, depression and frustration. It then goes on to compare the differences that Indian celebrations and rituals are approached between the past and present day in India. Not only the number of celebrated festivals has gone down due to people being “too busy”, the attitude and way they are celebrated has changed too. Festivals are viewed as holidays; people get up late and eat a lot. The author reminds us that in the past festivals were celebrated more frequently and very differently, being days of activity and coming together as a community. The author wants Indian people to remember the true meaning of festivals and to approach every day in a celebratory way in order to gain positivity and forget about seriousness in life.
What we have to say about this:
The main issue the article wants to show us is the real meaning of festivals/rituals and the way in which they are celebrated today. We think that this issue is quite present here in Basel, too. We might have a different main religion and mentality here, but we still have traditions and an idea of what they mean. In India festivals have a different meaning compared to the festive days that are celebrated here. Festivals in India are more numerous, unique and colourful than the ones we have in Basel. They are supposed to celebrate life and community. They are celebrated differently according to region and each of them takes place to celebrate a different legend from Hindu mythology. The example given in the article is the festival of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Light. Diwali celebrates the Victory the Hindu God Krishna over the demon Naraka Chaturdashi (There are other legends too but we chose this one as it is mentioned in the article) light and positivity overcoming darkness and negativity. Indian people celebrate by cleaning their homes, wearing their best clothes. They also light many lamps which are called diyas inside and outside. Fireworks are set off and feasts and sweets are eaten too. The festival usually consists of five days, although changes in its length may occur in different regions. Diwali is considered one of the important festivals in Indian/Hindu culture and it is a holiday in many countries outside of India, for example in Mauritius and Singapore. One of the most important festivals that can compare to the ones in India here in Basel is Fasnacht, which takes place annually in February. It basically is a festival that is supposed to chase the winter and evil spirits away. It is not religious, but it’s celebrated by many people all ages so we thought that is a better comparison than religious occasions like Christmas or Easter. In Basel, Fasnacht is celebrated during three days: It starts with the Morgestraich, the first parade that starts at four o’ clock in the morning. There then are many colourful parades over town, people dress up and there are many parade floats with Waggis on them. A Waggis is a type of costume that is supposed to represent a Frenchman from our neighbouring French province Alsace. During the parades the Waggis hand out sweets and goodies, flowers and leaflets with rhymes on them that criticise or make fun of political or social issues in a sarcastic, funny way. Very loud music is played by different groups that take part in the parades. Fasnacht is celebrated differently throughout Switzerland, but the Fasnacht in Basel is considered the most special, since it plays such an important role here and brings people together. In conclusion, both India and Basel each have their own festivities that are celebrated very differently. We can see a link between Diwali and Fasnacht, since both of them are here to chase bad things away by coming together and having a great time. We think that celebrations like these two are important for us to be less serious about life and having fun, coming together to celebrate and enjoying the moments we can share with each other. /M.P./ M.A./ S.H./.
In this BlogSpot Article called ‘’In search for a home’’ dating from the 5th of December, 2010 the anonymous female author says that celebrating festivities of other religions is important. It helps us to learn about the joy of other people.
She grew up in India, from where Diwali, the festival of lights comes. It has always been her favourite festival and she longs for its preparations.
She has moved to many other countries and had to realise that all of them do not celebrate Diwali as they do in India. Then she moved to Fiji and to celebrate Diwali there. During the preparations in the weeks before Diwali, the author has the feeling that the Diwali of her childhood has returned. This does not only happen because the stores in Suva begin to sell traditional Diwali decoration and food, but also because of the special atmosphere. The author is invited to a party in the evening and everything there reminds her of the Indian culture. She realises that there is one important thing to be said about Fiji: this small island country is not only working to maintain the old traditions, but also trying to incorporate new and different ones into its culture. She is excited that the other women were also dressed specially for the Diwali festival, she thinks that everything is perfect. It is not a religious event and people that are not Hindus celebrate, too. The author is happy because after a long time, she isn’t the only one who is celebrating and therefore it is also more significant for her. She describes the day to be just like in India. The praying instruction on the radio which she follows is something that does not even occur in India. And in contrast to her past Diwalis in the States she is actually performing the prayers and not just doing them virtually. A few months later, her idea that celebration unites people is confirmed because of Christmas greetings in a Hindu Shop.
We see that the people in Fiji are open to the different festivities of the various religions in the country. It is not strange for them to celebrate a festivity of another religion. On the contrary, they have many different celebrations of various religions during the year. It seems like the Fijians are able to fuse the traditions of many religions together.
Another important point that comes up in the article is that people in Fiji are actually very open. The people in Fiji have different origins: some of them are Indian, like the author, or they are indigenous Fijians but there are also other ethnic groups. Consequently there are a lot of different cultures and traditions on this small Island.
They let each other take part in the festivities of different religions without excluding those which do not have the same religious believes. We think this is an important point because it shows the attitude of the different “ethnic groups” living in Fiji towards each other. The Indians in Fiji are a good example for this tolerant attitude because they let other people join their Diwali celebrations and also try to incorporate their traditions in Fiji’s culture. On the other hand we assume that they are also interested in participating in other religion’s festivities. So there is a lot of interaction between the different cultures and they like to share their own traditions and also learn about the others.
Celebrating together and sharing the joy of festivities like Diwali connects the people from different religions and brings them closer together. The important thing about these holidays isn’t just the fact that people learn about the different religious backgrounds. It also creates a positive atmosphere and enriches the every-day life of the insulars. More importantly, it also helps to reduce conflicts between the different races since in the past there were a lot of tension between the ethnic Indians and the indigenous Fijians. But now they show interest in one another’s cultures, which means they learn more from each other and therefore have more understanding for the different cultures. This leads to more tolerance between the cultures. Other opinions are accepted.
We can find more positive than negative aspects in this behaviour. For example, one can learn a lot about the mentalities of others, it also leads to more social cohesion and a better atmosphere in the country. But we think that the festivities might lose their original meaning. So we could understand if some religious people did not like the fact that others celebrate their holidays without knowing what the actual religious meaning of the rituals is.
If we look at Basel we see that there are hardly any religious festivities where people from different religious backgrounds celebrate together.to Basel, we hardly have any festivities with different religious backgrounds, which we celebrate all together. Maybe this is because in Basel we do have different religions, but most religions are practices by minorities. The majority is Christian. By contrast, there is not main religion in Fiji. Hence the locals naturally have more contact with other cultures. Another reason could be that we might be more reserved and do not want to have such an interaction with other religions. For example we and most people we know do not celebrate Hanukah. (Z.K., S.W., V.B.)
According to an article by Naomi Lindt entitled “Expanding the Cultural Realm in Singapore” published on 10th June 2011 Singapore has always been the “cultural desert”. It is known for its efficiency, modernity, tidiness and order, compared to the chaotic rest of Southeast Asia. Now Singapore wants to change its image from a sanitized mall culture to a new authentic one, famous for its art and architecture. The government is trying to support local artists and architects and has invested more than a billion dollars during the last 20 years to turn Singapore into a “global arts city” by 2015.
The country has grown in many cultural aspects. It has founded new cultural institutions, has built museums and has organized several art events. For example, they arranged the Art Stage Singapore, an event that is similar to Art Basel.
It’s not only the visual art that is evolving, however. Local fashion designers own their own boutiques and have created their own fashion labels. Instead of selling all kinds of well-known international brands, Singaporean young fashion designers are making a name for themselves by successfully inventing their own clothing lines.
The Singaporeans are heading towards a bright cultural future in terms of experimenting and creating new things and making progress in the fashion industry. More and more citizens are buying local. They have noticed the great potential of their country, which is still developing when it comes to cultural issues. They have realized that “what makes Singapore special is what Singaporeans make and create.” With this mindset people in Singapore are helping to change society. They are also preparing the way for a better future for themselves and their country
Singapore is generally known for its modern architecture, its malls and its high international rankings with regard to education, healthcare, and economic competitiveness. But what Singapore is missing is culture. There are a few reasons why Singapore has never really developed an authentic identity. One of the reasons is its history. From 1826 to 1963 Singapore was a British colony. During this time an independent culture didn’t have the chance to emerge. Most British habitants didn’t really care because they weren’t planning on settling down for good.
Since their independence, Singapore has been creating an identity of its own and has produced a culture of its own. A factor affecting this process is that 42% of Singapore’s population are foreigners. There are 4 different official languages. English is the first official language, even though 20% of the population doesn’t even speak English. With such a multiracial population there are also many different religions. So creating a consistent culture for all of Singapore’s population is very difficult.
What we have to say about this:
The article above describes how people in Singapore and the government are trying to achieve this goal. A problem that seems to be coming up is the restrictions imposed by the government. During an art exhibition, artists were afraid the “Media Development Authority” would show up if they discussed controversial topics like the death penalty, immigration and national identity. Now to understand this we have to find out who this authority is and what it stands for. The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) explains their purpose on their website: “The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) promotes and regulates the media sector so as to contribute towards economic growth and help foster a cohesive and inclusive society in Singapore “. So on the one hand they promote the means of communication within Singapore but regulate and censor Television, Radio and Newspapers/Magazines and other ways of communication. It seems that an art exhibition that thematises controversial topics was seen by the MDA as a provocation, making it necessary in their eyes to step in. There are other companies working for the government controlling the media.
Compared to Switzerland Singapore is a very young state. Founded in 1291 Switzerland has had 700 years to establish its own culture. We can see this in our daily lives; in Basel traces of our ancestors are everywhere. We see them in the old buildings dating back to up to 800 years and in the variety of museums. The first public museum in Europe was opened in Basel in the 17th century. But what is similar to Singapore is that Switzerland also has four official languages. So culture in Switzerland really depends on where you are. The different regions were mostly influenced by their direct neighbors, France, Germany and Italy, with whom they share the language.
In Switzerland there is the “Federal agency for culture”. This organization generally just supports Swiss culture within the legal framework of Swiss laws. But it doesn’t specifically control it as much as the Singaporean government does.
To sum it up we can say that the culture in Switzerland differs a lot from the growing Singaporean culture. Just the fact that these two countries are located in completely different parts of the world reinforces this.
We personally hope that Singapore will succeed in developing a thriving culture of its, because it is important for a country and its people to have its own identity that unites them and at the same time remains authentic.
In the New York Times Article, written by Kirk Johnson, Ian Lovett and Michael Paulson, “2 Die, Including Gunman, in Shooting at Washington State High School“, the tragedy of a State High School located in Marysville, Washington is reported. It includes interviews of friends and family members who knew the 14-year-old gunman.
Schools in the US know, that shootings aren’t impossible, as the past has shown, and are likely to happen anywhere. Because of this many schools are prepared for a lockdown in the case of an emergency. In order to perform such a lockdown the schools have to train for a worst-case scenario. This had the result that many students and even teachers didn’t take the alarm seriously on Friday 24th October 14 as the gunman opened fire at 10:39 a.m., which resulted in one death and four serious head injuries. The motive of the shooter isn’t clear yet.
As already mentioned the shooter was 14 years old and was called Jaylen Fryberg. He was a very popular freshman and even played in the high school football team. Eyewitnesses described Jaylen as a funny person and everybody loved him, but close friends reported, that they had seen a change in his behavior. The days before the shooting he was really quiet, which wasn’t normal. Others told the reporters about how scary it was and how extremely shocked they were.
After the tragedy, candles were lit and a lot of the people attended the church ceremony wearing school colors. After a minute of silence the local pastor spoke out the wise words, that the most important thing to do in cases like these, is to love and support each other.
Every now and then, US schools are affected by shootings. This is partly the reason why more and more citizens are against the current gun laws, which allow everyone in Washington at the age of 21 to buy a gun if they receive a license from the city police chief. There are many motives for these shootings. often the students who tend to use this kind of violence have some connection to guns. In Jaylen’s case, he was an avid hunter and gun enthusiast.
Normally the trigger for these kinds of actions are often social and mental issues. But in this case here, the shooter didn’t just aimlessly shoot at people. It was a planned killing of the four victims, which he invited via SMS to the cafeteria. This distinguishes this situation from other school shootings. In an article published on People.com, it is mentioned that Jaylen had lived in a block on the Tulalip Indian Reservation since he was born. The book “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” shows, with what social matters a Native American living in a reservation is confronted with. It is also known that Jaylen had a fight over a girl, which might also have been a reason for his dreadful act.
But has something ever happened in Switzerland? In the Swiss history there has never been a school shooting. An article published in the Swiss newspaper “Tagesanzeiger” lists all rampages in Switzerland, but nowhere a school shooting is mentioned.
One reason for this is the much smaller population a fact that explains why people here get more support and why the standard of living is higher. Another reason is, that in Switzerland you are not allowed to have a gun of any kind in your house, with exception to soldiers, who don’t have ammunition. The criminal rate is much lower here. The reason for this is, as already mentioned, the much higher standard of living.
But still there is a chance for such terrible events to occur in Switzerland. Like in many countries, this topic is getting more and more attention. The reason for this is partly the rise of social media, which makes it easier for young people to bully someone, because you don’t have to be directly confronted with the victim. It is even possible to do this anonymously.
The good thing in Switzerland is that it’s almost impossible for the offender to get his hands on a firearm, especially if he’s still under aged.
We believe that cases of amok, such as the one that in Marysville, are terrible and should be prevented by trying to stop cyber-bullying, which is very difficult though, because children tend to have bullied the weaker ones for hundreds of years. We also think that the gun laws in America should be stricter so that it’s not so easy to get one’s hands on a gun, which, as we have observed, can lead to the death of innocent human beings.
In the New York Times article of the 23rd of October entitled “Doctor in New York City Is Sick With Ebola” the journalist Marc Santora tells us about the circumstances of New York’s first Ebola case and how the authorities have dealt with it up to this point.
The article can be divided into two main parts, one of which is the whole story behind the Infection of Doctor Craig Spencer, the other being significantly shorter and about the situation of Ebola in the US in general.
Marc Santora begins with the main point of the article, namely that doctor Spencer has been diagnosed with Ebola after treating the disease in Liberia himself and that government officials have been doing everything humanly possible to determine if there is a possibility that the disease has already spread further.
He also states the “crowded metropolis” had been preparing for this case for months by studying how other cities had handled similar situations. He then continues by telling us how the infection was noticed and under what conditions Ebola can spread.
Also, he mentions where possible transmissions could have occurred and who was quarantined excluding Dr. Spencer himself. Transmission is still unlikely due to the fact that Ebola is transmitted via bodily fluids.
Marc Santora then goes even further into detail, saying that the government believes that it is improbable that people who were in contact with Craig Spencer have Ebola that originates from him. He then adds that the necessary precautions were taken and that Mr Spencer did everything correctly after his return from Liberia.
Finally the author puts the first case of Ebola in New York in a bigger context by giving different facts about Ebola and saying that earlier mistakes can be avoided and the risk is minimal.
What we have to say about this:
Since the outbreak of the very deadly Ebola Virus in western Africa, many people have been concerned about how the disease could spread. The case discussed in the article is not the first case of Ebola in the United States, however it is the first in a major metropolitan area. The first case was a man travelling from Liberia who fell ill in the States and transmitted the virus to two of the nurses who were treating him in Dallas, Texas. Due to this sequence of events the world closely followed how the United States medical infrastructure would handle the first case in a major city like New York and how they would stop it spreading in such a densely populated area. As mentioned in the article, the patient from New York was an aid worker who returned from Guinea.
This raises an interesting question about how aid workers in general should be treated after returning from areas where they could have possibly contracted Ebola. The safest and most secure way to ensure that returning aid workers couldn’t spread the Ebola Virus if they had caught it would be to quarantine them for about three weeks. Since it takes a maximum of 21 days for someone infected with Ebola to start showing symptoms, three weeks would be long enough to ensure the virus couldn’t be spread. However, subjecting returning aid workers to a rather long quarantine upon return to the United States might not be the best idea. A mandatory quarantine could actually deter people from signing up to go and provide desperately needed help in countries where the virus is still spreading. It could also mean that the health workers that do contract Ebola won’t receive the same level of medical care, if they for example had to spend their three weeks quarantine somewhere overseas. Another possible unintended side-effect of a quarantine could be that certain returning aid workers would simply lie about what they were doing in Western Africa. If people did this, the authorities would have more difficulty monitoring potential sources for an outbreak.
To our knowledge, there hasn’t been a case of an aid worker returning to Switzerland carrying the Ebola Virus. This doesn’t mean that the Swiss authorities shouldn’t be considering what they would do if this situation arose. Someone travelling from West Africa with Ebola will still remain a possibility for the near future.
One could also ask the question whether anyone should be allowed to travel in to or out of regions affected by a very dangerous disease. Some countries have considered or even implemented bans for flights to the affected regions. When it comes to this issue there is probably a slight difference in mentality between Swiss and American people. When you compare the media coverage of the two countries it seems that people in the United States are more fearful of an outbreak than the Swiss. The wide-spread media coverage of the patients being treated in America has probably led to Americans greatly overestimating the danger of this outbreak. This is not the first time that the US media have blown an issue out of proportion. It seems that Americans are more easily influenced by their media in general. Here in Switzerland things like Ebola don’t get the same kind of sensationalist news coverage as they do in America. This might be the reason that the Swiss seem calmer and more reasonable when faced with a crisis like the Ebola Virus. However, considering Switzerland’s rather conservative foreign policy in general, we could imagine that if things got really bad and Ebola was wide-spread across the world, Switzerland might be one of the first countries to restrict travel to affected areas.
We think that all of this illustrates a difference in culture between the two countries. Namely that Americans rely more heavily on media coverage for their information. This is probably not a good thing considering that media, especially in America, can be very misleading. In America it seems that news agencies seem more focused on being first than being right. This pressure to report things as fast as possible leads facts being widely reported without any context. We don’t really see it in this article but you could definitely tell certain news outlets were more focused on spreading the news that a potentially deadly disease had reached America than providing a context, for instance by explaining how unlikely it is for someone who hasn’t been to western Africa recently to catch it. We are of the opinion that this way of reporting the news is damaging and only spreads panic and that it is something that we shouldn’t make a part of our culture. (M.C ,M.H)
An article by Lauren Wilson entitled „Australian poverty rate hits 13.9 per cent, ACOSS report shows“ published on the website news.com.au on 12th October 2014 discusses the reasons for the increasing poverty rate in Australia. Today, Australia has more than 2.5 Million inhabitants who live below the OECD poverty line. These 19.9% of the population live with less than 400$ per week if they are a single adult or with less than 841$ per week if they are a couple with two or more children. The executive chief of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) says the findings highlight the need for a national plan to tackle the problem of poverty. She also mentions that such a rise of the poverty rate is unacceptable. In addition, she emphasizes that the community has to be confronted with the problems if there should be any improvement.
According to the report, the worst situation is found in the island of Tasmania with 15% of people living in poverty. Directly behind lies Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and last in line is South Australia with 11.7%. It is also mentioned that women are more in danger of living in poverty than men. We also learn that a half of all the recipient of welfare live below the poverty line set by the OECD.
What we have to say about this:
According to the statistics, Australia has had a continuum economic growth since 1992. In 2008 the national unemployment rate decreased to only 4 percent, which was the minimum for over 30 years. Australia has a well-developed education system, a good health system and in general people have a high standard of living, even though there are more than 2.5 million Australians out of 23 million inhabitants living below the OECD poverty line today. In the past two years the national poverty rate rose to 13.9 percent. For the Australian children the situation is even worse: 17.3 percent of kids across the island live in poverty and as far as single parent households are concerned more than one of three is poor. And the unemployment rate in Australia is about 6.4 percent in 2014. So what happened?
In 2009 the financial crisis hit Australia. More than 300’000 people lost their jobs and the unemployment rate rose to 5.59 percent. In Switzerland the unemployment rate rose from 2.5 to 4.5 percent. After the financial crisis the rate decreased very fast in Switzerland and two years later was almost as low as before the crisis. On the island the rate only decreased to 5.3 percent and stayed constant in the following years. Since the beginning of the year the rate has risen and in July reached a rate of 6.3 percent, which is the highest in 12 years. More than 1.5 million Australians don’t have a job today.
Unfortunately there’s not a real system to support the unemployed in Australia. Compared to Switzerland the unemployment benefit is extremely low. With the budget of a welfare recipients a normal live is nearly impossible and for a lot of people it means living in poverty.
But the main reason for the rising unemployment rate and the increasing poverty rate is the high population growth. In 2013 the Australian population grew about 1.7 percent. 60 percent of the growth was due to immigration. The Swiss population grew in the past year about 1.1 percent and only grows because of immigration. A lot of people come to Australia to work there, but then can’t find a job. But not only immigrants are suffering because of the lack of job offers. Also teenagers between 15 and 24 years have problems finding a job. About 18 percent of them don’t have a job.
The Australian economy is growing and every year there will be new job offers but the problem is that the economy doesn’t grow as fast as would be required to satisfy the demand for new jobs, a demand caused by the growing population. And because there is no real system to support the unemployed a large part of the population lives in “poverty”. (Gr, Ma, Jo, Ni)
According to an article by Sam Boyer entitled “School absenteeism in Auckland horrifies police” published on 25th September 2014 the police in New Zealand visited three different schools; the Manurewa high school, the James Cook High School and the Alfriston College. During their expedition they made a shocking discovery: Of the 4586 students that should have attended schools, 321 were absent! This corresponds to about seven percent of all students.
This generation of students doesn’t seem to fully understand the importance of education for their personal development and professional careers. They don’t take school seriously as they used to. The percentage of teenagers playing truant increases from year to year. In “The New Zealand Herald” it is written that only one year ago the percentage of the high school students who didn’t attend school regularly were just 3.9 per cent. Now there are nearly twice as much. The police and the teachers are asking themselves why such a high number of teenagers aren’t quite interested in attending school anymore and what they’re actually doing during their absence. In the article it says that some people suppose that the high school students are probably involved in youth crime like burglaries, shop-lifting, vehicle crime and so on. In this neighbourhood students take part in criminal activities even at primary and intermediate level. Of course it isn`t clear whether or not the presumption are true. However it is possible since the number of youth crime is rising. Nowadays even children of the age between 12 and 15 are committing criminal offences. It’s clear that action has to be taken which means that for example punitive measures will be taken if parents aren’t able to control their children and if they fail to teach them certain manners. Teachers hope that these operations will reduce the amount of the truant children.
What we have to say abou this:
We assume that the population’s opinion about youth crime in New Zealand isn’t any different from ours in Basel. It’s seen as something bad that we should try to reduce as much as possible. As we’ve seen in the article youth crime also leads to truancy and since education is essential for young people, New Zealand has taken certain measures. These include a Youth Crime Action Plan (YCAP) that is the same all over New Zealand. This is a plan to reduce youth crime and help those who offend to turn their lives around. Government agencies work together more closely with schools, parents etc. to stop problems before they become an issue. It also aims at helping the people behind the statistics because they don`t offend without reason. There are often personal problems behind their actions and in order to prevent them from reoffending the government takes care of their issues. If an offender is caught, the police either just warns him or he gets a youth justice coordinator who stands in for his interests during the family group conference where it is decided what’s going to happen with the offender next. If they can’t agree on a fair punishment a punitive measure will be defined by the youth court. This method is used for every crime except murder. The success rate of the YCAP is 90 per cent.
In Basel there isn’t such a complex system. A few years ago, youth crime wasn`t even recognized as a serious problem that needs to be solved. Now there are seven youth workers called “Jugendsachbearbeiter” that take care of these cases. They are spread over three different police stations in Basel-Land and their job is to deter crime by correctly informing students about offenses and to identify young criminals in cooperation with the youth advocacy as well as the police. Meanwhile they have a special daily journal in which they collect all probable youth crimes so they’re able to conduct investigations very rapidly in case of increasing crimes in a certain area. They also need many connections to people that work closely with children and teenagers because they seek contact with persons directly involved. Adolescents who commit a crime in Basel are then sent to the youth court and if necessary to a psychologist.
Now we’re going to look at the results of these two methods. In New Zealand, youth crime has decreased by about 34 percent over the last twenty years. The ministry of justice announced that only a fifth of all the offenders appeared a youth court. That’s because the police is looking for alternative methods to punish young people since they think it’s too harsh to immediately handing them over to the criminal justice system. One of these alternatives is for example the YCAP that we`ve talked about about. This decline of teenagers appearing at the youth court is shown in the following statistics that we’ve found in another article. In 1997/98 there were about 900 adolescents taken to a youth court while in 2011/12 that number had decreased to 189. By contrast we see a slight increase of youth crime during the past ten years in Switzerland. But since 2011 this value has decreased again. So this means that even if youth crime is still a problem it’s apparently in decline in Switzerland and New Zealand thanks to the success of the actions taken.
In the article “The Growing Epidemic of Police Violence: Is It Time to De-Militarize Police Forces?” John W. Whitehead, president of the Rutherford institute and author of ‘A Government of Wolves’, tells us about the increase of police brutality and how the problem can be solved in his opinion.
The author of the article begins with the important question, that he hopes to answer, namely “how long will the police be able to get away with its ruthless tactics, before the people say ‘stop’?” He continues by giving us two examples of the police overreacting, where either humans or their pets were severely harmed through police wrongdoing. Further he explains that the source of the problem is the attitude of the “Special Weapons and Tactics”, in short SWAT, because nowadays these trained-to-kill teams are involved even in harmless situations. He also states that general mentality of the police department has changed from protecting the population from the bad guys to fighting an all-out war against crime.
The author then continues by giving us another two examples where instances of the police overreacting has led to casualties, this time focusing more on the “shoot first, ask questions later” aspect, followed by an explanation why he thinks that this is the case today. His explanation is that police officers are trained to use excessive and even deadly force and to report their actions in such a way, that there isn’t any doubt that the officer dealt with the situation correctly and thus avoiding legal complications.
To finish the article Mr. Whitehead states that the problem can only be solved if the police get rid of their violent mindset and that the people themselves need to take the initiative.
What we have to say about this:
This article shows quite well that instances of police brutality aren’t uncommon in the USA. There always seem to be fresh reports in the media about the police overreacting to harmless situations, or police brutality. It’s also frequent that police forces use excessive or even deadly force under circumstances that do not warrant it. Many people are of the opinion that police officers abuse their power, for example through overuse of their tasers or their pepper sprays. In Basel the use of SWAT team equivalents is nowhere near as common. Most situations in our local area are dealt with in a very low-key way instead of the large-scale police operations that seem to occur in the United States on a regular basis.
The differences in the way that police forces conduct themselves results in a major difference in mindset between Americans and the people in Basel and the rest of Switzerland. For instance when we get pulled over by a police officer, we don’t usually have any concerns about the officer treating us unfairly or even physically harming us. The thought that a member of a police department would harm us when we interact with them never really crosses our mind. This is probably due to the fact we do not hear about these sort of things happening near us. We are of the opinion that things like this just don’t happen as often where we live. When the people of America regularly hear about police wrong-doing in the media, they develop a deep mistrust of the people whose job it is to protect them.
This mistrust leads to some serious negative consequences. If the population don’t trust their local police force, it makes the jobs of those police officers much harder. People are less likely to cooperate and more likely to avoid any interaction with law enforcement if they can. This reduced cooperation caused by the general mindset of the people could therefore hinder police investigations and lead to more crimes remaining unsolved.
We also get the sense that people feel helpless when dealing with the police in America. People do not dare put up any resistance or protect themselves from them out of fear of facing more severe consequences. And even when people are wronged by police officers, the officers themselves very rarely face any consequences. Many instances are reported in such a way that the officer himself is absolved of any wrong decisions. Officers feeling that they are untouchable because they think they can get away with anything, is probably what leads to these cases of police brutality in the first place.
We also have the same opinion as the author of the article when it comes to the mentality of law enforcement in general. We think there is a huge difference between Switzerland and the US when it comes to this aspect. The “shoot first, ask questions later”-attitude is not prevalent where we live. It exists in the US partly because every citizen has the constitutional right to carry a gun and that police officers need to protect themselves if they have to. But it seems that within the police force a culture has developed, where police officers try to avoid all risk by using excessive force, even in situations that do not warrant it.
To summarize, we think there is a very stark contrast between the police force in our local area, where people do not feel threatened by the law enforcement and the US where an increasingly aggressive and militarized police force has led to the general population fearing the people employed to protect them. (M.C, M.H, L.B, O.M)
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