Franz Kafka was born on July 3rd, 1883. He was a German-speaking Jew from Prague who later lived a painful, miserable, and sad life. Franz Kafka possessed particular capability of explaining the most ordinary emotions in an exceptionally grotesque, unordinary, and human way. His writing style, his way of articulation, and the philosophical questions he tries to answer are unique.
There is a misconception that RT broadcasts lies that are very close to fantasies. My experience tells me that, on the contrary, RT is useful. It is useful if you are aware of the propaganda and of the tactics that its journalists use. Many of them are disdained in their profession because of their affiliation. However, they are very good at their job. They do everything to make you believe their narrative and to get you like a fish on a fisherman's hook.
Kant’s wish for man to escape his own immaturity and fight off the constraints of tutelage has not been fulfilled. People have become voluntary servants to corporations and governments under the guise of capitalism.
China’s autocratic regime is abusing its technological capacities not only to suppress the freedom of its citizens, but also to launch cyber-attacks on foreign countries. It seems that China will ominously become a leader in the development of quantum technologies in the near future. Consequently, the security of blockchain technology, which is highly effective and widely used, could be endangered. This could cause significant problems for Western states that are heavily dependent on the security offered by blockchain technology.
A slightly unusual little addition to the Il Ponte content for today comes in the form of a run-down for the month of March. We want to give our readers a little overview of what has been going on in the quaint world of BISLA. Since this is the pilot of reviews, it is shorter. Nevertheless, we hope that as time goes by, we will have more content for you to read. For now, we shall keep it brief.
The book A Voluntary, by Aaron B. Powell, tells the story of the end of the world and the self-destructive fashion that somehow defines the setting of today's society. In search of the right start for this reflection, I came across his quote, which struck a chord: "Will this generation be able to turn things around and learn a valuable lesson from all of this? I hope so, but I have my doubts. The damage has been done. And as a lifelong student of history, it's quite evident that human beings don't learn from the mistakes of past generations."
Learning from your past mistakes is easier said than done. A very current example can be seen in Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
While watching “the race” for vaccine registration, reading about the billions of euros the state has already invested into IT projects, and realizing that reality does not reflect these investments, one does not know whether to cry or laugh about the tragic amateurism that accompanies anything concerning IT in our state.
Time for diplomatic statements and empty journalistic phrases is gone. Europe is at war and the world we live in is changing before our eyes.
We live in a society that requires mobility so we can go places and live our lives. Most people drive a car, use a bus or train. However, what if no one would own a car anymore as a means of personal transport, but rather use it as a service along with other public transport?
Barbara Kelemen graduated from BISLA in 2017 and continued her studies at London School of Economics and Peking University, where she earned double masters. Currently, she is working as a research associate at Security Intelligence Consulting Company in London. It has been three years since she left BISLA, but she has remained in touch with the school ever since. Today, she decided to share her experiences with us.
“If you want to see the fate of democracies, look out the windows”. This line, of Fallout New Vegas’ Mr House, is quite the rhetorical statement. After all, the player can only ponder in shock, whether the destitution of the radioactive wasteland that Fallout New Vegas takes place in is the result of representative government. Is it? What are the shortcomings of democracy, and why does it seem that democracies, despite being, as Churchill put it, “the worst form of government except all those that have been tried”, seem to sometimes yield such unsatisfactory results? Perhaps it has nothing to do with the form of government itself, but like in many such cases, the corruptibility, irrationality, and blindness of human tendencies
November 2021 has been turning out to be a difficult month for the United States. On 3 November, New York State Rifle and Pistol Association Inc. v. Bruen (NYSRPA II) was argued before the United States Supreme Court, and with implications from the 6-member conservative majority on the court, there is a lot at stake in American Politics.
The Slovak Prime Minister, Eduard Heger had an interview on the national radio last week. The most interesting moment came when he said, out of nowhere, that his government might consider mandatory vaccination of some groups of the population, even though the government had refused this possibility many times before.
This is unthinkable for any civilized country. It is not normal for a prime minister to open such a serious topic without first consulting it with his coalition partners. However, let us forget about form and focus on content for a moment.
Mandatory vaccination is a rational idea that many developed western countries are coming up with. Does that mean we should introduce it too?
What is the difference between liberal democracy and a populist-extremist government with a firm hand such as Orban’s? The second weekend of October showed us that the difference lies in just a few tenths of a percent.
Excessive Regulations, slow but sure harmonisation of taxes and social systems - see the European minimum wage - and the international politics, best describable as a trainwreck - see Borrel in Moscow, Sofage affair and Brexit, in which the EU looked like a big powerful bully. The 100 page-long regulatory manual on AI is only a cherry on top of all of this. It would not be the EU if it did not try to regulate to death the new up and coming industry. Countries having historically high debt and poor performance on international indexes of economic freedom. And they all seem very happy about it
The pandemic causes physical difficulty breathing but it slowly creeps over the mind as well. Of course, to make the situation even more challenging, the soul also does not receive the nurturing it needs. It is almost like the trifecta of doom that makes people ask themselves, will this ever cease to haunt us?
Kishore Mahbubani is a Singaporian intellectual, writer, civil servant and diplomat. He has written more than half of the dozen books and he served as a member of Singapore´s mission to the United Nations and was its president of the security council. In his book Has the West Lost it has pointed out a new strategy for western nations for the ages after the Western domination of the world’s - military and intellectual. Autor praises the Western philosophy for the destruction of feudalism, which has plagued the population of the World for centuries on every continent. determining the way of life of each individual before he was even born to his state on his deathbed. However, he points out that the age of Western domination is over and the West haven't even noticed.
This is an interview with the principal of the QSI International School in Bratislava, Daniel Blaho. In the interview, we discuss education in Slovakia, how it has changed over the years and how it has been impacted by the COVID-19 epidemic.
Paula graduated in 2019. She is currently studying Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po in Paris. Even now, she is willing to take part in BISLA activities and help current students with any questions they might have regarding graduate studies and her experiences. She came a long way since she started studying at one of the best universities in the world. How did she manage to get there and how did BISLA help her on her way? All of this will be answered in the following interview.
A year ago the European project was heading for the first place in the echelons of the world of politics. The United Chaos of Donald Trump and the never-ending Brexit talks with the United Kingdom resulted in a power-vacuum of the standard superpowers, which the EU was happy to replace. However, the first dents in the European tent had started to appear. The bleak response to the Hong Kong security law and the Uighur deportations only raised the finger of European diplomats, with few condemning tweets and press releases. The poisoning of Alexey Navalny and his detention and sentence of 3.5 years is, as of today, only being met with a raised finger, press releases and threat of sanctions.
