On radio tomorrow, speaking about utopia and politics

A moment of shameless self-promotion … I will have my two minutes of fame on the ABC’s Radio National Encounter program tomorrow (Saturday), called ‘Heaven and Earth’. I’ll be talking about utopia, religion and politics. The program begins at 5.05 pm, with a repeat on Wednesday October 3 at 1.05 pm. Somewhere in that mix I guess I will turn up. Or, of you prefer, you can listen now at the streaming audio & podcast links on the Encounter website at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/encounter/heaven-and-earth/4276300 with a transcript to follow early next week.

All of this is hosted by the irrepressible David Rutledge.

 

A question: what is best image for Fleshly Readings?

It’s down to choosing an appropriate image for the cover of The Earthy Nature of the Bible, to be published soon by Palgrave Macmillan. After much discussion, two have made the run-off election:

 

Easter in Saxony

One of the many temptations of spring is to head off into the Wald (bush) on long walks. It takes a bit of discipline to wait, but in the end the temptation gets too much. Every afternoon we head off for a couple of hours or more.

But the locals have a peculiar habit, one among many. Given that it is Easter, they like to festoon any bit of bush with eggs. It might be a straggly thing in a can:

Or some elaborate job:

Usually the eggs are painted:

Eggs and … rabbits. I could never quite figure out the connection; whether the rabbits are supposed to lay eggs, but who’s to point to a slight inconsistency?

Probably makes more sense to put a rabbit on a bicycle:

At least the Moravian sheep is mercifully spared of bunnies and chook eggs:

 

In search of Spreequelle (source of the Spree)

As some may know, Berlin straddles the Spree (in many ways). Having heard that the source of that wide and heavily used river is in these parts, I set out on my bicycle to find it. I passed through villages with signature shingles:

Before sinking into the bush, sorry, Wald:

As you can see, the road became a little rough. But at last, I found the much younger Spree:

Yes, that’s ice. By this time, a bracing sub-zero wind was blowing from Siberia, ice now covered the track, I lost feeling in my toes, fingers and other unmentionable extremities …

But I bravely pushed on, following the Spree, until at last I found its (real) source:

At which time I realised a number of things: these parts are known for wild boar; I had trouble feeling anything past my elbows and knees; the sun was setting; I had about 25 km to get home.

 

On Western Europe

At last I have a phrase to add to ‘that strange country between Canada and Mexico’. This from Diakonov:

The peninsula of the Eurasian continent which is called Western Europe.

(The Paths of History, p. 157).

 

A 50th birthday gift … with a difference

Thanks the gods for the welfare state. I mean, without it I would never have received this after my fiftieth birthday:

I believe it’s a DIY job …

 

Stalin, the economic whizz-kid?

The usual story about the dreadful era under Stalin is that it was an economic disaster, that collectivisation led to massive famines and economic hardship. I have addressed the recovery of Stalin as an innovative and dynamic war leader a little earlier – a recovery brought about by war historians rather than political analysts or even Marxists, who shy away from the man with the moustache like Australians from a visit of the English queen.

But that inveterate Stalinist, the Mindless Berlusconi Youth, has directed me to another interesting piece of information: a graph tracing the percentage of world GDP, along with population.

What’s interesting about this graph is not that it comes from a source not particulalry favourable to our man – the Financial Times. It takes little effort to notice the peak under Stalin – 10% of global GDP, second only to the USA. Those war historians have wondered why the USSR was able to recover so quickly after Hitler’s devastating invasion. Perhaps an answer lies here, in the deep reorganisation of industry and agriculture known as collectivisation. It also makes it perfectly clear that 1991 was catastrophic for Russia’s economy, a situation from which it has not recovered, for now it produces a little over 2% of global GDP.

 

Žižek, Butler and Cornel West at ‘occupy wall street’

With an appropriate pause to make sure the movement had global exposure, Slavoj Žižek, Judith Butler and Cornel West have now graced the ‘Occupy Wall Street’ movement with their presence, West even managing to get himself arrested more than once.

But it does make you wonder: were they carrying ‘I am 1%’ posters?

(ht: cp)

 

Back to Lenin …

Tomorrow, I promise, especially since I finished volume 45 of the Collected Works last night, where Trotsky gets the thumbs up (after being roundly condemned up to volume 42) and Stalin cops a verbal lashing (after shining up to vol 42).

 

More News from Newcastle: BIG Tuesday

It’s all over here.