56th edition – Lessons – Pike & Hurricane

Lessons on democracy: the blank vote

Merle Emrich — Sun, 14 Jun 2020 15:30:02 +0000

It is easy to claim that low voter turnout during elections is due to complacency, indifference and a lazy attitude of taking democratic rights and freedoms that others died, and are still dying, for granted. However, low turnouts, spoilt ballot papers and especially blank votes can be political statements in themselves.

Blank votes and democratic dissatisfaction

Who can be surprised by low turnouts, symptomatic for a lack of confidence in party politics, when policies do not overlap with rhetoric? When elections are presented as an opportunity to evoke positive change but positive change does not come. When the choice offered on the ballot paper seems to be that between plague and cholera. When people feel they need to vote tactically or that their vote does not count due to a winner-takes-it-all system or percentage barriers. Thus, low turnouts don’t necessarily hint at an increasing political indifference in Western society but at an increasing disillusionment with the representative democratic system as it is which makes people turn to informal rather than formal means of political participation.

This trend goes hand in hand with the increasing number of protests as well as blank votes. In the Spanish elections of 2011, 300 000 blank votes (ballot papers that have been left blank), 300 000 spoilt votes (ballot papers that have been filled in or submitted incorrectly) and 100 000 votes for the blank vote party Escaños en blanco (‘blank seats’) were counted which represents about 3 percent of the voters. In the second round of the 2017 French presidential elections 11.52 percent of the ballots cast, more than ever before, where either spoilt (3%) or blank (8.52%). As single cases they hint at the people’s dissatisfaction with the candidates in a specific election, when it becomes a trend it becomes evidence for more fundamental dissatisfaction with the system, says Chiara Superti (Columbia University).

Illusions of democracy

The solution certainly cannot be to brush of all those who do not vote or vote blank as indifferent or even undemocratic. Instead, non-voters, blank votes and spoilt ballot papers can offer insights into citizens’ political opinions. Lessons can be learned from them if we take a step back and reflect on our understanding of democracy.

In The UNESCO Courier sociologist Alain Touraine identifies two prerequisites for democracy: 1) freedom of political choice which makes possible a system in which power is distributed based majority decision, and 2) social conflict, for instance the workers’ movement. Granted, it would be a mistake to adopt a black-and-white thinking in which there exist only democratic and non-democratic systems instead of recognising the multitude of forms and levels of democracy. And, at the same time, if we critically inspect people’s freedom of political choice and democratic representation, we must admit to ourselves that our representative democracy is far from perfect.

In his video on democracy, the YouTuber Oliver Thorn (Philosophy Tube) presented a re-calculation of the Brexit referendum result taking into account the people who were not allowed to vote (prisoners and non-British residents). According to his calculation only 71.2% of the people who have an interest in the UK’s future were allowed to vote on it. Thus, merely 26.6% of the people living in the UK voted to leave the European Union. All debate about Brexit aside, it is fair to say that in this case, as in others, it was not a majority who made a ‘democratic’ decision. And even among those who are able to vote, the majority can overrule the voices of minorities and marginalised groups reducing the democratic system to democracy for the rich and the privileged.

The blank vote

Voting blank as political protest or statement is not a recent phenomenon. It can be traced back to the beginnings of modern Western democracy: in the 1881 French legislative elections around three percent of the votes were voided and in some areas up to 20 percent of the ballot papers were spoilt. Many of the comments that were scribbled on the ballot papers were written in a sophisticated language and showed an understanding of complex political concepts which suggests that the votes had been spoilt as protest based on an informed decision.

However, in many cases blank votes are not taken into consideration. In countries like the UK they are considered spoilt votes. And until recently this was also the case in France. Since 2014 blank votes are counted separately from spoilt votes but have no impact on the election results. Countries like Italy, the Netherlands, Costa Rica and Brazil have the same approach. Blank votes are in these cases merely symbolic. Yet, their recognition would have a real impact on election results. In 1995, Jacques Chirac would not have won the majority in presidential elections, and neither would have François Hollande in 2012, had blank votes been calculated into the election results.

Only few countries recognise the blank vote, and many of them not fully. In Sweden blank votes are only taken into account in referendums. And while Switzerland recognises blank votes, they merely have a noticeable impact in certain local elections since a relative majority is sufficient to win the presidential elections. In Spain blank votes are taken into consideration when calculating the participation threshold, yet only valid ballot papers are used to calculate the seat distribution in parliament. It is in Latin America where we can find countries that fully recognise the blank vote. In Colombia blank votes can invalidate an election making it necessary to repeat it. This second round, however, cannot be invalidated. Likewise, in Peru blank votes can bring about a repetition of the elections if they represent two thirds of the votes.

Recognising the blank vote

While the recognition of the blank vote might lead to voters favouring rejection over approval votes and a high number of blank votes might result in a political crisis, it can benefit democracy in many ways. It would not only better reflect the political will and opinion of the voters but might also lead to higher turnouts. The option of voting blank would provide additional incentive for politicians to present election programmes and policies that convince the voters rather than presenting nothing more than the lesser of two evils.

In countries like Italy, Chile and Colombia, Chiara Superti argues, often more votes are cast blank than are given to many minor or extreme parties that are generally considered the choice of protest voters. Politicians should see the blank vote as a sign of the people’s discontent before it augments to a level that erupts in widespread protests, says Olivier Durand, founding president of the Association pour la reconnaissance du vote blanc. He promotes the adoption of a system of recognition of blank votes in which a certain percentage of blank votes would lead to a third round in the French presidential elections with different candidates.

The debate on the recognition of the blank vote in France reemerged in the context of the Gilets jaunes movement. But its history predates the recent wave of protests. Since 1958 there have been 60 law drafts concerning the blank vote. In 2017, seven presidential candidates expressed their support for its recognition. And only Emmanuel Macron (La République en Marche), François Fillion (Les Républicains), Marine Le Pen (Rassemblement National) and Philippe Poutou (Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste) did not mention the blank vote in their election programmes.

The recognition of the blank vote might make elections more complex and complicated. Yet it might also make our democracies more democratic. And no matter which side we take in the debate on the blank vote, there is one thing at least that we can learn from it: democracy is not singular. Democracy contains multitudes of different forms and levels of democracy. It lives of constructive debates that do not hold on to the current form of democracy as the one truth, the ultimate democratic achievement but that are open to change in order to improve lived democracy.

by Merle Emrich

Photo Credits

What type of a democracy…, Tim Green, CC BY 2.0

Democracy, Nico Hogg, CC BY-NC 2.0

Brexit, Ungry Young Man, CC BY 2.0

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When everything fails: lessons from Nauru

Isa Tiilikainen — Sun, 14 Jun 2020 09:49:11 +0000

In the Pacific Ocean, 4500 kilometers northeast of Australia, there is a tiny island nation called Nauru. The population today is at around 12 000 and it is one of the least visited countries in the world. In the 1970s Nauru earned the reputation of being the wealthiest nation of all, measured by GDP per capita. But the tragic chain of events that followed can now serve as a lesson for the rest of the world.

A long way to independence

Let’s start from the beginning. The history of Nauru has been a road paved with tears. In the 1800s European merchants brought alcohol and firearms to the island, leading to a ten year civil war during which one third of the population died. Then the Germans took over and Nauru was made part of Bismarck’s Empire in 1888.

After the First World War, the UN ordered Nauru to be under the mandate of Britain and Australia. Then came the Second World War. Nauru was occupied by the Japanese and bombed by the US. Japan took over half of the population as slaves to the Chuuk islands and left Nauru close to extinction.

For the next two decades Nauru was again ruled under Australian mandate, until the year 1968 when the island nation declared its independence.

Nauru’s wealth

But how did Nauru end up as the richest nation in the world? It’s all thanks to a natural resource called phosphate.

In the year 1900 an Australian prospector, Albert Ellis, was the first to discover phosphate on the island. In an agreement with the Germans, the British ’’Pacific Phosphate Company’’ began exploiting the reserves in 1906. Phosphate is a key ingredient in fertilizers, which started becoming increasingly used in intensive farming during the 1950s. For decades, all the money gained from Nauru’s natural resource went to the Brits and the Australians. But with the declaration of independence in 1968, Nauru nationalized it’s phosphate mines. And so the fun began.

The increasing population of the world needed more and more food, which created a huge demand for agriculture fertilizers. Ship after ship of phosphate was transported to Australia and from there onward, and money was flowing to Nauru. There was no need for taxes. Education and health care, everything was free. Phosphate made every single citizen so rich, that by 1970s Nauru had the world’s largest GDP per capita. If we count the total in euros, Nauru exported 2,2 billion worth of phosphate in less than 35 years.

Turning tables

But what follows when one gets too much money too quickly? Foolishness. Nauruans began importing all kind of electrical equipment and refreshments to the island; fridges, freezers, televisions, sports cars, steaks, cheeses, soft drinks. Building bigger houses and establishing its own airline for a nation with a population of then 7000. Buying sports cars didn’t make much sense either, as the country only has one road with a speed limit of 50 km/h. But everyone needed to have a car, or two or even three. And when people didn’t have to work much anymore, traditional professions like fishing practically vanished.

Years rolled by as Nauruans were enjoying their life. Until the century changed to 2000s and the nation made an observation. The phosphate had run out. So, not only was Nauru now facing economic devastation after losing their only source of income, the mining had left the island’s nature severely contaminated. Nauruans had been digging the land under their feet. It is estimated that 40% of the marine life has been lost as a result of the pollution.

80% of the land mass in Nauru is uninhabitable today. Practically the whole center of the island is in ruins after of the phosphate mining. Where there used to be tropical mango, lime and papaya trees, there now is landfill where the wrecks sports cars lie on top of each other. Nauru has become unable to sustain any agricultural crops of their own and is fully dependent on imported and highly processed food that comes in mostly canned.

During the 80s and 90s, there had already been some talk about the financial state of the island, and the nation had found a brief source of income from becoming a tax haven. Especially the Russian mafia took advantage of this and allegedly laundered several tens of billions in cash through Nauru.

When all the phosphate then ran out, the State of Nauru declared bankruptcy in 2001. This meant that all of nation’s banks fell and the properties that the state had gathered in previous years had to be sold. Nauru turned to cash economy and unemployment rate at the island rose to 90%, a rate which it still is at today. A new plan was needed, to get the nation back on its feet.

Nauru and Australia

Australia came to the rescue, but with a hefty cost.

Around the same time in 2001, a refugee crisis was erupting in Australia and the country had started to adopt strict immigration policies. It was decided that any migrants who came to Australia by boat would not be taken in anymore. However, all these refugees that were turned away, needed to be relocated. And so, Australia made a proposition to start collecting them at Nauru. This decision is known as the ’’Pacific Solution’’ and it ended up becoming Nauru’s economic lifeline.

Today, Australian aids form a large part of Nauru’s GDP. By estimate, the refugee deal benefits Nauru with several tens of millions a year. But the fact which Nauru doesn’t want media attention on, is the conditions at the detention camps. Human rights organisations have reported of assaults, sexual harassment and child abuse. Refugees are not allowed to leave the island. Some have even ended up committing suicide.

Nauruans are annoyed at the negative media attention the country gets. They view the detention camps as a matter of Australian politics which they have little to do with as the camps are largely run by Australians. And as a country with major financial issues, the deal was impossible to turn down. The Australian Labor Party has suggested that the refugees should be moved to Australia, where they originally were headed. But this would then be a another major blow to Nauru’s economy.

Protesters in Perth, Australia, 2015

Climate change as an added threat

Not only has Nauru faced environmental devastation and economic catastrophe in recent years, the island is now also in the front lines of the climate change. It is estimated that if the sea level keeps rising with the current speed, before the year 2100, Nauruans themselves will become climate refugees. Less than one meter rise is enough to cover the only habitable part of the island, the one road where every citizen lives.

While the story of Nauru poses frightful omens for the future of the world, it could just act as a warning example. The rest of us still have a possibility to choose a different path. Just by looking at the historic statistics on increasing global average temperature, average energy consumption or the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, it becomes evident that the current rate of exploitation of natural resources is in no way a sustainable plan for the future. It is now up to the world not to replicate the mistakes that Nauru has made. At least the former President of Nauru, Baron Waqa has some hope. In 2017 he was asked: Could the story of Nauru be a lesson to the rest of the world? He answered: “Well yes, it was a learning lessons for ourselves too. We didn’t plan for this to happen. So, could the rest of the world learn from this? I sure want to believe that they would.’’

by Isa Tiilikainen

Photo Credits

Nauru, 2013, casjsa CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Air Nauru Boeing 737-400;C2-RN10, August 1994, Aero Icarus, CC BY-SA 2.0

The site of secondary mining of phosphate rock in Nauru, 2007, Lorrie Graham /AusAID , CC BY 2.0

Love Makes a Way, 2015, Louise Coghill , CC BY-SA 2.0 CC BY-SA 2

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Do we ever learn? About the politics of recurring mistakes

Nina Kolarzik — Sun, 14 Jun 2020 09:25:53 +0000

“…it is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you’re attempting can’t be done.” ― Terry Pratchett, Equal Rites

A second world war, a second gulf war. Another outbreak of an infectious disease, an environmental crisis that scientists warn about since decades. Black Lives Matter does not only exist since last week and it is by far not the first movement against racism … it does not seem as if humans are capable of learning from mistakes. Or are we? Why are problems approached again, if people have failed before in solving them? And why is it important to make mistakes?

Learning from mistakes

A reason why people continue making mistakes is because we do not like to be wrong. In many cultures, for example in the USA, errors are avoided if possible. In everyday life, we have an internal sense of being right. This does become a dangerous problem, as an individual and a collective.

One reason why we insist on being right is because we might not realise when we are wrong. And another one is that when we realise it, we do not like the feeling of it. Culturally, we have learned dogmas about that successful means not to make mistakes. We learn that the one who does many mistakes is clumsy, lazy, does not work or study hard enough. We deal with this by becoming “perfect” and we are afraid of being wrong because it means in this situation that something is wrong with us, so we insist on being right. One example is Donald Trump: more than other politicians he always claims to be right.

However, being wrong is not a defect but it is something natural and fundamental to us. As humans, we are curious and ambitious and want to find out the truth and how things work. This is what drives us to produce things, to be creative, and it also includes failing from time to time. But insisting of being right can keep us from preventing mistakes.

However, when we realise and admit that we are wrong, we can learn from it. Learning from the aftermath of WWI, when Germans wanted revenge for the punishments they had received, the international community integrated Germany after WWII into the European society and included to build the European Union.

Acknowledging mistakes is an important step towards growth. How often was it said that we need to learn from the examples of 1945? What will the EU learn from the causes of Brexit? We explore mistakes and think about different solutions. It is important to make errors and study them, then we will also lose the fear of failure and embrace it instead. Productive failures enhance the learning eventually and if things do not work out, we come up with another idea. The more certain we were of a wrong answer, the more we remember when being corrected. This is probably because the surprise is bigger and we give more attention to the new information.

“Only a fool learns from his own mistakes. The wise man learns from the mistakes of others.” ― Otto von Bismarck

Mistakes happen to individuals as much as in politics. Take the COP15 of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen 2009. Its results back then did not meet up with the expectations, and many tried to explain the failure. Years later, the Paris Agreement was signed and it can be argued that future negotiations have learned from the mistakes made in Copenhagen. Thin and thick learning has been taking place, means adjusting strategic decisions as well as expectations. Especially in international politics, failures are analysed to avoid future mistakes and blame.

From mistakes we learn and by learning we find new tools for another try. That is not to say that everyone will and it is not a promise for that the second try will work out. Or the third or the fourth. Bernie Sanders could tell you about that. Therefore, while it might seem like people do not learn from mistakes and do the same attempts over and over again like Sisyphos, they might actually have made adjustments with every new try.

Just as individuals, politics and foreign affairs, too, develop and change through the processes of making mistakes and learning.

Forget to learn

A part of learning is forgetting. It is a normal process and “necessary part of memory”. Contemporary research is increasingly treating learning, remembering, and forgetting as one process. Forgetting is not that information are actually lost from our memory, but it is not possible for us to access the information and remember it.

We are making memories all the time, intentionally or automatically. When we form a memory, the hypothalamus comes into play. It is one of many parts of the brain that is responsible for memories. It is critical for making the connections. The information that get to our brain through sensory systems (visual, audio etc.) are connected in the hypothalamus and synapses become stronger. A memory is created. The way we learn or experience things, how often we repeat and later actually make use of them, impacts of how safe the information is stored: in the immediate, the short-term, or the long-term memory.

Since this happens constantly, our brains would get literally filled up and overloaded one day. That is where forgetting comes in. After some time and if they are not “used”, the synapses go back to their former, lower level of strength. Information is captured and then the brain has some time to figure out what is worth keeping and what is not. The information that is considered boring or unimportant fades away to clear the mind for new information to be taken in.

The inference theory is a widely accepted explanation for why we forget: memories are interfering with one another. New information interferes with old memories, or previously learned information hinders forming new memories. The “forgetting curve” describes the relationship of forgetting to time. Most information is lost quickly, but if it is stored in the long-term memory, it is quite stable. Information that seems forgotten can be recalled or recognised when the memory is triggered.

What does the discussion of forgetting mean on the grand scale? Humanity needs forgetting to some extent to evolve, I would argue. Sometimes we might need to forget that someone has failed. If we forget it, or the severity of the consequences, then someone will try it again and at some point might succeed. This counts for fighting against social inequalities as much as for fighting a climate crisis.

History is the memory of humanity, as Golo Mann said. But knowing about history does not ensure that the same mistakes are not repeated. This memory might also forget certain things. Therefore, history can repeat itself. And earlier or later, problems are tried again after failure which is necessary to progress and arrive at something new.

by Nina Kolarzik

Photo Credits

Error 404, Aitoff, no attribution required

Earth hour, sumanley, no attribution required

Child, Tumisu, no attribution required

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Photo story: Black Lives Matter Malmö [4 June 2020; 9 June 2020]

Merle Emrich — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 15:42:45 +0000

The post Photo story: Black Lives Matter Malmö [4 June 2020; 9 June 2020] appeared first on Pike & Hurricane.