Occupying banking

If someone had told me half a year ago that I would be working for a bank fulltime and loving it, I would have been completely incredulous. For all my principles of keeping an open mind and trying not to judge, banking was among the things I could hardly imagine myself doing. To have money as the content of my work, to worry about interest rates, capital, credit lines, wasn't a very romantic or fulfilling picture.

And it wasn't very likely either. Mind you that in my education I haven't put great emphasis on the kind of skills commonly associated with banks. Sure, I know a little bit about industrial accounting, have completed a two-year round in a big company as an apprentice, but first and foremost I have spent the last years of my life as a social science student at university doing scholarly things like reading, traveling, hearing lectures, and learning a bunch of languages. Also, sociologists around here have a reputation of being somewhat to the left of the political spectrum, while the future bankers - your clichée economics majors - are generally deemed a lot more conservative.

So if life were a straight line I would probably be protesting with the occupy movement now or writing about what is wrong with our financial and political system today (I still might, just wait *g*). Instead I am sitting at a desk 40 hours a week working for a financial institute associated with one of the biggest banks in Germany. And I'm happy with it!

A huge part of my fun at work is owed to my position in the company. I am a trainee in the business development department and thus the topics I am concerned with have a lot to do with societal, economic and technological trends. Yes, the angle is financial, and the products I constantly learn more about are deposits, exchange tradeable funds, and credit cards, but I enjoy the complexities of this new and unknown field. I am surrounded by intelligent and fun people who enjoy what they are doing. They do not comply with any of the stereotypes that the news proliferate, when they report about the debt crisis and wall street execs. Those people exist somewhere, I am sure, but my definition of banking and bankers has become a lot more concrete in the last three months and I have gained respect for the people making a living with it.

Of course understanding the financial industry is not the same as saying it is all good. There are a lot of things that need improvement. More transparency is probably the biggest change I would wish for and possibly also the one the financial industry is most afraid of, because money is earned every time customers do not fully understand a product. A lot of the revenue is justified however, because banks are in the risk management business and taking a risk off people's hands should be rewarded. But in the long run, we might all be better off, if kick-backs from selling expensive and complex products were replaced by annual fees for bank advisory services. My knowledge of the matter is still thin of course and tomorrow another piece of the puzzle might come to me that changes my outlook. But that's part of the beauty of a new job, so much to learn!

2012 will bring many new things to my life and I will keep shifting activities for a while to come. One of them is blogging and it remains something I truly enjoy. I modestly hope to contribute something to your life as well as my own. I hope you are all doing well and have started 2012 with good energy. Take this smile and have a great week :)

About the economy

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." This is the starting quote from Charles Dickens' classic masterpiece "A Tale of Two Cities". The cities are London and Paris, or maybe metaphorically the old Paris and the new Paris, before and after the French revolution of 1789. It is the story of how the privileges of the wealthy and politically powerful, their pride and sense of entitlement, and not least their abject disgust of the less fortunate, who are unable to lift themselves up from poverty, brought about a revolution and all the horror that followed in its wake. It is a cautionary tale about how ugly, emotional, and violent things can get, if the majority of the people in a country is continuously disregarded and feels neglected by their entitled leadership. Of course, there are no parallels to our modern enlightened democracies, where people choose their leaders themselves. Or are there?

I just came across this documentary involving the statements of some politicians and economists done by Al Jazeera English, that makes an excellent case, that there is a growing disconnect between the politically and economically powerful and the majority of Americans.



Although this report is specifically describing the American situation, it is not an American problem. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening or already as wide as it gets in many countries of this world. I could cite GINI coefficients or top tax rates to make this point, but the sad thing is that we are all already very aware of the inequality in the world.

But there are two very different outlooks on the problem and how to solve it. Some say: "Well, if we could only get the world economy on it's feet again and finally relax those trade rules to get government out of the way and stop pussy-footing around who is really creating value on this planet.", while others say "We are in a desperate situation, where the rich control politics through money. Trickle down economy has been proven wrong, but they try to keep people oblivious. If we could only get the rich to pay their fair share, maybe through a global tax on financial transactions, or there will be hell to pay."

I personally believe in the democratic process of debate and compromise. I also have a high opinion of meritocracy, when it comes to economic issues, but not when it comes to social class. You should not have to earn your right to speak by having enough money, but every voice should be represented independent of its weight in gold. Politicians who do not follow this guideline of balancing the interests of all members of society, irrespective of economic power, but based on their human value as citizens, are making a devil's bargain. They are becoming puppets of interests other than the common good.

I happen to agree with the rating agency Standard & Poors on their assessment of "America's governance and policymaking becoming less stable, less effective, and less predictable than what we previously believed." I think one way out of this mess is to re-establish reliability and accountability in politics. Not by "brinksmanship", as the Republicans have shown by holding the country's future hostage, but by putting every opinion out there and having an unemotional and reasonable debate that does not negate any of the facts. A compromise is when all sides give a little and everybody albeit grudgingly still supports the final deal. It would definitely make policymaking a lot more predictable and effective! And, hopeless idealist that I am, I think also a little more just...

Justice has been done

(...or has it?)

So the leader of the world's most feared terrorist organization is dead. His influence was destructive and I am glad he is no longer going to influence people to take up arms for a radical cause. However it is a fact that he has already succeeded in making the world more violent, and as a martyr he might just continue to do so for a while, if somebody does not stop this vicious cycle. There will be others and an idea cannot die like a person.

Put it however you like, I just don't think that the death of a man is a reason to party in the streets. It is eerie to imagine the similarity in feeling between the terrorists after a successful attack and those civilians celebrating the death of their enemy.

Maybe we should take the moment to reflect on some perspectives we are less used to in the west. So here is an article about reactions from parts of the arab world.
And I would like to invite you to something even more interesting than reading about what other people think. Listen to a sociologist for a couple of minutes and let him help you explore an interesting way to think empathetically about other people. His experiment sure had an effect on me, maybe it will on you: Sam Richards' Radical Experiment in Empathy

Hope you are all having a happy and peaceful day out there!

Next stage

So I handed in my final paper in sociology. Eighty-seven pages filled with insight on how social movements and the new technologies interact and where modern research is still lacking. The result is satisfying, at least in my eyes (advisors take their time). Now I can concentrate on the next stage, the final exams, that will complete my studies. In 3 months time I am graduating from university having reached the equivalent of what would be called a masters degree in the rest of the world.

So thoughts have started about what to do next. The rest of the world is where my attention is directed. I wanna get out there, do things, solve problems, meet interesting people and contribute to projects for the betterment of humanity. A broad vision, and one shared by many. Yet on how to put it into practice? Suggestions and job offers are welcome :)

During a quick brainstorming I can come up with a whole bunch of options. Should I become an interpreter for Portuguese or Spanish and go to Lisbon for a masters program? Would I be happy building houses in Peru or Ecuador for a development project? Maybe some internship at an international organization is more interesting and offers more perspective. Or is academia not so wrong for me after all, like in a doctorate in the United States or here in Germany? And what about that firm I am going to found with a friend? Is it going anywhere?



Quote found at Fanoos.

During these phases of insecurity in the face of life decisions, I try to look back as well as forward. In the past many decisions weren't active decisions at all. Some were made for me, not by anyone else, but simply by the lack of better options. Sometimes my vision changed when I found myself in different circumstances than I had planned. So with the confidence that looking back on today in ten years, I will be happy with my decision, I go ahead and just do the best I can!

On connection

I recently read the book Connected - The surprising power of our social networks by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler. They have, through many years of research come to scientifically explain some of our vague common knowledge about how human networks function. They go so far as to call these networks human superorganisms because of the way they are intradependent and persistent over time.
I am particularly interested in the topic due to my own research and my own hypotheses about social change. One fact stated by Christakis in the 18-minute speech he gave to TED below is intuitively clear to all of us: "Obesity is not a unicentric epidemic. There is not a patient zero of the obesity epidemic, and there was no spread of obesity out from him. It's a multicentric epidemic. Lots of people are doing things at the same time."
I consider this to be a fundamental fact in all kinds of change at a societal level, meaning people living under basically the same living conditions. Humans are have certain choices how they react to their circumstances and the sum of their choices create social change. In the face of political problems that means they can either conform or protest and thus a protest movement is not going to come from one source alone, but from many sources at once which occasionally might join forces.

On social movements

For my thesis I have been doing reading in social movements and different models of explaining what makes it probable that a common social or political interest transforms into a wave of activity from people with different backgrounds. So to give you a snippet of what I am up to these days, here are some of the ideas I have come across:

Some researchers think it's social structure that has the most influence on whether a movement takes off. Think of a society with a lot of young academic people when a lot of structural change is going on. People moving to the cities, new industries growing and modernizing media can all contribute to the surge of movements because change is 'in the air'.
Then there are constructivists that say it's all about how you frame the situation to help a movement grow. If you find a way to credibly explain to the public that the circumstances they are living in are unjust and inacceptable, that there is a certain reason for it and that you know how it can all be helped, over time you are sure to find followers.
And some say that it's all a matter of how the political opportunities are structured. Different authors lay emphasis on what has the most influence, but overall they consider the political system (democratic, open or closed, pluralistic or not) and how well you are connected to the people in power as crucial factors.

For my paper I am focusing on what the internet has changed or is going to change with respect to how a movement is created. More and more people are informed and connected to the neverending stream of information. I myself feed it with this post. Does it make a real difference, except that some things go faster than before? Is the internet actually furthering democracy? Well, if I had the answers to those questions yet, I would probably not be posting it here first, but I might let you know as soon as I have more insights to offer :)

So I will leave you with your own thoughts and a short and interesting video to illustrate what makes a movement from the most practical perspective :)

Civil Society 2.0

This short documentary talks about how the big public protest marches and the so called Strike for Education came about. It was the new media combined with spontaneous crowds with a common interest à la flashmob. Being one of many and still having a say is a powerful experience and genuinely democratic, unlike the kind of representative democracy we are finding ourselves governed by in Germany. It has made me think about whether this kind of international protest could have happened in pre-internet times. Is it a question of scale or is there a whole different sort of interaction at work?

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If you stumble around the internet these days, you come across many stories that fall in the categories "reflection on technological advancement" or "analysis of the impact of social media". And being part of this whole new sphere of human existence has inspired me to research it for my thesis by which I hope to earn my degree as a sociologist.

It's so interesting to me how many people still mostly ignore (as do most conservative politicians) the force that is the interconnectedness and evergrowing communication between individuals. In 10 or 20 years time I expect for the digital divide to close significantly. If we succeed in defending net neutrality against some corporate interests, we will soon feel the power of the opinions of millions of Africans, Asians and South Americans that so far have a lot less voice in the global discussion (much like at the WTO).

So expect to hear more about this part of my life in 2010 :)

If the right was right

I highly recommend you read THIS ARTICLE. I have little to nothing to add to the point of view as presented by Cynthia Boaz and plenty of my own perceptions of America from the outside point to the same conclusions.

Here are just two central points that are made:


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A genuinely Christian lens on international politics would not call for violence against one people by another in the name of God, but would ask that all people recognize that our moral and democratic obligations extend beyond our own borders, and that our political, economic, and spiritual development is deeply interwoven with the corresponding development of others.
*******
Jesus was a socialist. There, I said it. To read the Gospels and come away from them with a picture of Jesus as anything but an advocate of communally-shared resources requires a level of cognitive dissonance that I simply cannot fathom.
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Thanks to Leila for passing me this :)

Global Connection

Us Now from Banyak Films on Vimeo.

Ok now, I should be excerpting a book chapter about foreign policy right now, but this here caught my attention immediately. I could not stop watching this stunning and absolutely breathtaking documentary about the ways in which our society is actually changing and what it could become. I think it helps us all to recognize and understand better what we are doing on the internet every day. We have impact: myself writing this, and you reading this, staying with couchsurfers in Morocco and hosting French students, giving and receiving advice on computer forums, voting on political questions in online polls, microlending via kiva.org.........

The economic aspects of this change towards an open source society reminded me strongly of the Cluetrain Manifesto (supplied in many languages), a landmark book that states 95 theses about some things today's companies have to understand about consumers and the market they are acting in by now. You should check it out after watching the video.

I would now just like to give you some quotes from the film. Please invest the hour in watching it, because what is described is absolutely relevant to all of us!

"Every company is gonna be naked. ...We don't have to be ashamed..."

"Let's start being open source right now!"

"I call this Government 2.0."

"This is a powerful force for good."

For more material take a look at the website. Have a wonderful day everybody :)

"Leisure" by W. H. Davies

WHAT is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?—

No time to stand beneath the boughs,
And stare as long as sheep and cows:

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass:

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night:

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance:

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began?

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

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Maybe you like to think about this for a moment, and if you have a little more time to reflect, you may also want to read this. Stop for a minute today and enjoy some of the beauty around you. Have a wonderful day!

Life is in our hands

Nothing more important at the beginning of a new year than to make one thing perfectly clear: 2009 is ours to shape in a positive way! If we mess up, well, then it will be our problem for next year, and who wants that?! ;)

I just found this on a friend's blog and although I did not quite agree with the message at first I watched the whole two and a half minutes. And YES, what earth has to say is exactly my point.



I feel if we need to worry at all, we should be worried about our own fate, not the planet's. We need to start doing the things that are good for ourselves in the long run.
My suggestion: One less war would spare many lives. It would also mean one less argument against the rotten idea that we just can't live peacefully and have to fight for our lives...NOOO, we need to cooperate for our lives! Trust each other. Man is not only man's biggest enemy, but also man's biggest asset. If everybody on earth could see this truth we would start thinking of each other as partners for our common future. What we need for that is in us, the capacity to trust. Let this be my message for the new year: Give trust freely and be trustworthy yourself, the reward is mutual :)

Good friends and life right now

Do you ever get the feeling that a good conversation with a friend can heal your soul from the inside out? I have had such conversations. Conversations that left me with new hope and a different perspective on the problems I would have to face at that time. Those conversations could also make the best moments in life even better because I find it is equally important that you share your joys with friends as your griefs. You are not less interesting because you don't worry about anything, you are not a spoiler of someone else's fun if you tell them about your sorrows. To learn that is essential for a good friendship!

The friends that can give me that feeling are the most appreciated and closest. I am trying to be for them what they are for me and hope I tell them often enough how much I need them and enjoy their company. Some of my friends are also part of my family, some family members are among my best friends. So I am not sure it is important to make that distinction.

Since my new semester has begun I have been quite busy, preparing a presentation on "The Sociology of Violence", a really interesting topic whose objective it is to analize the way we handle violence in public. On the one hand we never quite get to the core of the matter if we just occupy ourselves with the reasons and circumstances under which violence statistically or typically arises. On the other hand we enjoy ourselves watching movies that hardly ever get around showing some violence, because after all it is an integral part of the human condition, whether we think it will always be so or not. So that is one of my new topics.

Spanish also has made a good start. I sit in classes that discuss varieties of the language, historic development and almost extinct dialects, literature and morphological analisis, by which I mean splitting words into their smallest elements... I am amazed at how little effort I need and how much more motivation I have for this than for my former law studies. It makes me confident that I really could finish my studies as planned in less than two years time.

Meanwhile many of my best friends are just about to graduate or beginning to think more seriously about their future jobs. I can't think about it right now and although my future is on my mind a lot some things I cannot decide right now. But seeing the development in my friends certainly gives me that inner impulse to get on with it and reach the point where they are now. I have so many intelligent and interesting friends and wish I could be around most of them more, which I guess is part of my international life.

Now I am on my way once again from my parents' house to my university town. There is a party with some people I have not seen in a while and I am looking forward to exchanging some stories. If you feel a little lonely right now, leave me a comment and then call a friend you have been planning to contact for some time. It will be worth it. For me it always is! Be happy and have a nice Sunday!