#do's and don't's of Norwegian culture + society

[germiyahu]

Not too thrilled that my other post is getting so many notes when I'm not satisfied with it for a multitude of reasons. Let's have a do-over, hopefully much more succinct and to the original point.

When Palestinians, actually basically all Arabs, or all Muslims, say "Jerusalem is holy to us it is the 3rd holiest city in our religion." The White Western Leftist (WWL) will say "That's so valid your religion is so interesting and beautiful Hamas did nothing wrong I love the Houthis!"

But if a Jew ever rebuts "Jerusalem is holy to us as well, it's our holiest city, basically the only one we have," the WWL will probably roll their eyes, scoff, probably say something like "Okay but like why are you still using your outdated Zionist death cult to justify colonialism? You really think the Bible justifies killing millions of Palestinians?" and start going on and on about how Judaism invented everything bad about Christianity.

My hypothesis: These people are not allies to Muslims (Palestinians). They are condescending to them. They are throwing them a bone because they feel bad about how the Muslim world has been treated, well ever since Sykes-Picot, but especially post 9/11, the Patriot Act, The War on Terror, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Drone War, Libya, Nato, The Arab Spring, the list goes on. They don't think Muslims are capable of building the kind of societies they want, not without their gracious help. They don't think Muslims should have the same ideals of democracy and human rights, because they don't expect that from the Brown People. They won't ever hold them to such a standard because "Ugh where do we get off lecturing them?" even though they would never think this of Jews.

These people are not equals to Jews, something something Sartre they think they are both superior and inferior (which makes them superior). They are not just trying to hold their fellow citizens of the world to account. They are trying to put Jews in their place. They are projecting their religious trauma onto Jews because they do not understand Judaism. They see Judaism as Power. They are trying to delegitimize Judaism as a religion (and it is a religion, including the parts of religions that give atheists the "ick," including a lot of mysticism). They are trying to caterwaul about Jews being responsible for the world's ills and that they expect Jewish People to be better than this. To evolve beyond religion and community and affiliation and identity. They want Jewish to be nothing more than a box ticked off on a census. A neat little factoid about yourself, like how your neighbor Cheryl has Norwegian ancestry.

My only conclusion is that these people find Jews and Judaism repulsive, and they find Muslims and Islam primitive. Unlike their parents' generation, they appreciate the primitive. It is noble savagery to them. Unlike their parents' generation, the comparatively cosmopolitan modern secular Western sheen of Jewry (applied to Jews against their will) is not something that we almost lost from the world, but an annoying holdover of what we almost successfully purged from the world.

Because remember, while they hate their parents and everything they stand for, they still deep down want Daddy's approval. So it makes perfect sense why the psyche would displace anger and trauma and all that caused by Christianity, and look elsewhere to place blame. It falls at the feet of Jews and Judaism. Because my culture could never, there has to be a missing puzzle piece that could explain- oh there it is. The Jews did it. And wow look how easily this can slot in with every other antisemitism conspiracy theory.

The audacity to think I could make a shorter version of that post 😂 But basically it's this: The WWL, the Zoomer Left, the Tankies, whatever name you call them... they think that they can "save" Muslims by offering up Jews, and the terrorist fascist fundamentalists like Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, they're on board. They're all in. Normal ass every day Muslims/Palestinians? They just want peace, they just want rights, they just want sovereignty. The WWL is not interested in that perspective.

They have not once in their lives thought of what they could possibly do in terms of reparations. No no, tweeting and marching for a weekend are quite enough. They have not once in their lives turned inward and self reflected on the ways they benefit from and their own role in these systems of supremacy, that have harmed Muslims around the world. Jewish blood is more than enough to pay for operation Iraqi Freedom. Jewish lives are a fetching price to assuage the Westerner's guilt. You know since they have so much trouble turning inward and reflecting on their own contribution to Islamophobia, it might do them good to practice a little תשובה... but I don't know 😌

[ifindus]

Do you think Norway could’ve studied any subjects in an uni at some point? Considering how they are literally immortal, I just feel like he would probably do something like that.

Oh wow, I do have a lot to say about this. First some backstory:

While Denmark established its first university in Copenhagen in 1479, Norway was not allowed his own. This was only worsened during the 1600s, when it was decided that to work in any posistion of power in the state of Denmark-Norway, you needed a university degree. This put Norwegians at a great disadvantage and essentially only made influencal posistions available for Danes. Norway was fighting for the right to his own university from 1661 and until his liberation. Still, during the 1770s, Norwegian students at the University of Copenhagen formed their own "society", a social club where they would meet, drink, exchange academic talk, and reject Danish culture while emphasising the Norwegian one - at most they had 100 memebers. This was the beginning of the national romanticism that would sweep through Norway during the 1800s.

Then, in 1811, a Norwegian society was fed up with not being allowed a university by the Danish King, so they started a campaign where people could donate to the cause - because the reason for no university sited by the Kings was often "no money". This was a huge success, raising more than 150 million Euros in today's money, only sponsored by the Norwegian people. Employers by the Danish King in Norway were instructed to work against this funding campaign, the reason being the King was afraid a Norwegian university would be a risk for the union between the two countries. Eventually he had to give in to not risk even more uproar amongst the people.

Norway got its next university in 1910, then NTH (now NTNU) in Trondheim and this was a huge win for the region, who until then had felt estranged from the decisions in Oslo and treated as lesser. Today Trondheim and NTNU is regarded as the student city in Norway, focusing mostly on techology and sciences.

So, with that in mind, here is my headcanon as to what Norway would have studied at which point in history:

Københavns Universitet, 1770s: Literature

Universitetet i Oslo, 1810s: Law

NTH/NTNU, 1910s, Electrotechnology

NTH/NTNU, 1970s: Economy

I don't neccesarily think Norway would enjoy university so much as to get a bunch of degrees, but I think he would appreciate it for what it is and get degrees that would benefit his people and be relevant for changes in the society and world around him. These courses and dates are not picked at random.

[vertebrae-entertainment]

23.01.24 - Environments

Hey y'all, happy new year! Things were pretty much busy from the get-go for us, so we haven't had time to post a proper update. But now we're here, and here's whats up!

This is a reference picture my partner took for me on one of our trips to my hometown of Stavanger, Norway a couple of years back. Stavanger has been a great influence of multiple of my games, mostly due to a love-hate relationship, complicated nostalgia and pride. Its a gorgeous town with lovely nature and bustling culture, but it is also full of rich jerks and elon-pilled right-wingers. Thats what the oil industry will do to you!

Anyway, thats neither here nor there- i think anywhere you grow up, you have a complicated relationship with.

If you've been peeking at our discord (hey, come hang out with us!) lately, you might have noticed that i've been posting a bunch of mockups for environment art and i thought i could give y'all an insight into how important dirt is to me!!

Environments have been on the backburner for a long time for me, mostly because im not an environment artist and i am pretty intimidated by the task ahead. My task is: portray post-apocalyptic Norwegian society and nature, and make it so that Fangst wont be mistaken for just any other game. It needs to be both unique and also very deliberately reflect real world locations. That's no small task!

But i've made some visual breakthroughs lately, and that has made me able to grasp the task much easier. Its been in the art recipe for this project all along, the key words being impressionism, brutalism, texture! The trick was combining it in the right way.

Here is a mockup i posted earlier this month. The angled texture on the rocks is strongly inspired by brutalist concrete sculptures, with a thick outline to show the player what is and is not a platform. Overlaid is a real-world picture my partner took of some algae and plant growth on rocks close to the sea.

The background is impressionist, clearly distancing it from the lens and 'player space' by taking on a different artstyle. We have mentioned earlier that we're inspired by the work of Munch, and have earlier tried to replicate the sun from this piece in-game.

The characters are also modernist, but in a different sense- taking inspiration from the UPA revival movement most famously seen in early 2000s cartoons such as Dexters Laboratory and Samurai Jack. I suppose this could make them a third, separate layer of modernist art!

Right now some aspects don't fit as cleanly into the formula- plant life is proving tricky, and remains semi-realistically styled. UI is deliberately made to look like real-world objects, because i think it helps it stand out against the other layers. Readability is my primary concern right now, i have a tendency to soup that away in the hunt for exciting art direction.

Next time, i'll be talking about a whole separate beast again- architecture. Nothing is more norwegian to me than dingy little wooden houses along a coastline, so you bet your ass im putting effort into it! But also, GLOBAL GAME JAM IS COMING UP- so i might also talk about that :3 We'll see.

Have a good one! -Hauk

[alarrytale]

Marte, you answered an anon and I can't remember exactly what you said so sorry if I get it mixed up but it was something like most pop fans being female and they need men to project fantasies on so gay men must be closeted and they won't be allowed out unless their labels know it won't harm their career, and that Harry might not be allowed out as he appeals to women. But if that is the case, I do think you're right btw but speaking theoretically, how will things ever change because straight people will always be the majority and pop fans will always be mostly female. If straight people and lgbtq+ people even out it'll probably take a century. So that's my first question, how will things change if they keep doing the same thing over and over again? My second question is that how do they know that a gay man can't be really successful if they are closeting gay men and not investing in them like they would a straight person? I hope they're not using S*m and L*l N*s as examples because they're really controversial figures so the gp hasn't warmed to them. But if Harry was to come out it probably won't impact his career much but how will they come to realize this if they don't let him come out in the first place? All I can think of is that they might plant a new gay artist to see how they perform while keeping their current artists closeted in order to protect their investments. I don't know how it works but it makes me feel like nothing will ever change because no one wants to take the risk? It might only start to change if lgbtq+ media becomes more popular than straight media so there is reason to force people out their closet.

Hi, anon!

I don't think things will change when talking about the demographic make up. Young het females will always need male celebrities to project onto and het women will always constitute the majority of fans in the pop music genre. What would be a solution is to actually sell het men to these het women and not closet gay men and make them fit that mold.

I think what we can hope for is more diversity. A little of everything to please everyone. There are plenty of het women who will love gay male artists, because as i've mentioned before, the ability to project is just one of several things that attract het women to male celebrities. Also, a popstar being gay won't stop people fantasising either. It might dampen the realism of your dreams, but nothing is stopping you from sleeping with H in your dreams or marrying him, even if he's out as gay.

The reason the industry is cautious about out gay male popstars is because they've already tried it and failed. Coming out when you've already become successful is okay ish now. Frank, Troye, Sam, Sofian and lil n*s did it as examples. There are examples of people who came out before their career took off and didn’t make it after, possibly because society just wasn't ready yet, or they couldn’t find a way to market them and make them interesting. Will Young comes to mind.

People who bend the rules, are ahead of trends and do unexpected and revolutionary new things are interesting and exiting. Drama follows them. Most of the artists who does this are queer. So queer culture and queer artists will be popular to follow and be a fan of. I don't think we need to underestimate the size of the queer community either. I don't think it's a risk to take nowadays to sign an out queer artist. Yungblud is doing fine. I can name three different successful queer norwegian males played on the radio right now. Men singing about men. Winning awards too. So it's coming, it's just slow.

[aromantisk-fagforening]

Queer history in Norway

I'm mostly going to be translating one wiki, but this will be a quick overview over queer history in Norway. Mainly to motivate myself to read it, but ask for clarification if I phrase things weirdly. This is pretty much an uncritical translation, I'll probably look further into a couple of these things.

Summary:

while being gay wasn't favored, there were no homophobic laws before christianity came (1170). Over the years one could become an outlaw or be burned at the stake for gay sex. You weren't always punished though, because they didn't want to talk about it. In 1781 there was a marriage between two people who were afab, one who lived as a man, possibly trans (possibly bigender). In 1814 Norwegians got our constitution.

In the 1900's there were "romantic friendships" and "peppermø" (ace/unmarried) culture. World world two happened. In 1972 being gay was no longer criminalized. From 1948 there were a couple queer organizations, who in the end turned into the one known as Fri - organisasjonen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold (Free - the organization for gender/sex and sexuality diversity). It became illigal to discrimiate against gay people in 1981. In 1993 gay people could become partnered, but not adopt nor marry in the church. In 2008 gay people could marry.

Since 2010 no "perversions" have been recognized as mental illnesses (homosexuality from before, fetishes, sadomasochism, transvestism etc.). Since 2012 you haven't been able to send gay asylum seekers back to homophobic countries. 2022 was queer culture year (skeivt kulturår). A ban on conversion therapy is in the works, it's only not out-right supported by KRF (who want to make it more difficult to transition) and FRP (who appear not to care either way). A third gender is going to be introduced legally.

translation note:

I don't know all the nuances of slang for sex, especially not historically, so I'm calling anything that seems like it could be sex sex, I'm including the words so you can do your own research, some may mean getting romantically involved I have no idea. Another thing is that sometimes things are about any non heterosexual orientation (e.g. bisexual, asexual) and the original text just says gay (homofile), then I'll just say gay, it is known as an umbrella term, so maybe it works, idk. Some things may also apply to trans people, but they're rarely mentioned.

Lokal Historie Wiki: Skeiv Historie (queer history from a wiki):

The first time homosexuality is mentioned in history is before christianity came here. Gay men were called feminine and bitches, which was very derogatory. Society seemed to be against them, but we don't know of homophobic laws.

When christianity came laws against homosexuality were made, in year 1170. It was inexcusable, one became an outlaw for having gay sex. ("Um to karmenn blandar seg med kvarandre").

In 1687 with Christian Vs norske lov (norwegian law) you could be burned at the stake for anal sex (sodomy). Not many were punished like that because people didn't want to talk about it in case it inspired more gay sex.

in 1781 a trans guy and a (cis) woman got married. Labels were different, but if he lived like a guy I'll call him a guy.

In the 1800's there were more words for gay "tvitotling", "tvetulle" (two tools), which has been used for intersex (tvekjønna) animals was used to describe people who trancended gender/ broke gender/sex norms (kjønnsoverskridende). Another word was "båing" (both), used about gay men and lesbian women. There are some signs of society not being exclusively negative towards queerness.

In 1814 we got "one of the most progressive constitutions in the world". Also, a university student had to quit his studies and leave the city after being outed as gay, but not legally punished. And people were aware of the Greek society being more accepting of homosexuality/sexuality.

In 1842 Christian Vs norske lov (norwegian law) was superseded by community service or prison time. Having gay sex (incl. lesbian) was called "against nature" ("omgjengelse mot naturen") and still punished. In 1846 three girls were punished for having lesbian sex, one with 1,5 years of community service and two with 15 days of prison with only bread and water. In 1847 they were found not guilty. In 1854 they were convicted for outrageous behavior ("forargerlig oppførsel") instead of unnatural sex.

(1886). Gay men on the other hand had to leave their university and got a lot of drama when people learned they were gay. New term: "kontrærseksualitet" (contrary/deviant sexuality). The idea of "sexual perversion" entered the psychiatry. The "I was born this way"-argument (født sånn-argumentet) got introduced. People thought kinks, fetishes and being gay was caused by masturbation, mental illness or negative external impulses (unsure what the last one means). And people still thought it was contagious.

In 1902 (straffeloven) being gay was further criminalized. Paragraph 213 banned "utugtig omgjøngelse" (lewd/undisiplined sex) between men. Gay men were basically told to be discreet as the law was to be put in to action when it was of concern to the general public (allmenheten). It was completely legal to discriminate towards gay men on the job and hosing markets because being gay was illigal.

Several women in the 1900's lived together in what was called "romantic friendships". Some of these may be percieved as platonic and not everyone in them called themselves lesbians. "peppermø" (literal: pepper maiden) was an unmarried woman over 30 and they were of many orientations, especially many who today probably would have called themselves asexual. They were a community or culture that broke with the heteronormative/heteroamatonormative society, because women were according to norms supposed to get married as early as possible.

1924: Alf Martin Jæger wrote gay fiction, homosexual (homoseksuell) was used for the first time in fiction. 1932: The doctors Karl Evang and Torgeir Kasa wrote an article saying people were born gay and deserved human rights (which was radical at the time). In 1937 a lesbian identity was described in "Følelsers forvirring" (feeling's confusion/the confusion of emotions) by Borghild Krane, and she talked about a demand of marriage for security.

WWII came. The nazis sent gay people to consentration camps with a pink triangle, which has later in time become an important symbol of gay people's struggle and gay visibility as a minority. The Norwegian nazi party (Nasjonal Samling) wanted to make paragraph 213 stricter but didn't succeed. People in gay relationships with Germans could be punished by German (Nazi) law.

In 1949 we got the first gay organization, a local branch of the Danish Forbundet av 1948 (Organization of), but it only lasted half a year. In 1950 Det Norske forbundet av 1948, DNT-48 (The Norwegian Organization of) with Rolf Løvaas as its leader. It became independent from the Danish Forbund av 1948 in 1963. They fought against the paragraph 213 (straffeloven § 213), but also for informing people and solidarity amongst gay people.

In 1961 the first Norwegian trans man (Aker sykehus) and in 1962 the first Norwegian trans woman (Rikshospitalet) got a gender affermative operation.

In 1965 the first gay radio program aired (on NRK). The Norwegian [university] Student's orgnization discussed gay people's situation. And in 1966 FTPN, a trans rights organization, was established, it became independent in 2000 and changed name in 2014 (FTPN still).

In 1972 paragraph 213 was repealed. Kim Friele was at the forefront of this (she died in 2021).

In 1975 Lesbisk Bevegelse (Lesbian movement) was founded. Since DNT-48 had a strong focus on gay men people wanted a lesbian, feminist organization.

In 1966 Åpen kirkegruppe was founded to fight for gay christians. In 1976 Arbeidsgrupper for homofil frigjøring, AHF (working groups for gay liberation) came.

In 1977 being gay was no longer a mental illness according to Norsk Psykiatrisk Forening. In 1982 the state, sosialdepartementet also removed homosexuality as a diagnosis.

There was some in-fighting, so in 1979, to unite everyone Fellesrådet for homofile og lesbiske organisasjoner i Norge, FHO (the common/joint council for gay and lesbian organizations in Norway) was made.

In 1981 paragraph 135a and 394a gave protection for gay people. These paragraphs, though most known as the racism paragraphs (rasismeparagrafene), protect from discrimination based on sexual orientation. They protect from discrimination in employment and housing. Later gay people came the work environment law (arbeidsmiljøloven) in 1998 and 2005.

In 1983 Helseutvalget for homofile (the health committee for homosexuals) was founded. The HIV-epidemic had come, and it affected gay men especially, though it did affect other people as I'm sure everyone knows. It increased stigmatisation, people were calling it "a punishment from God" (protestant christian). In 1987 came Landsforening mot AIDS, LMA (country wide). Kirkens bymisjon (christian organization, does a lot of good stuff) opened Aksept (accept) the first center for HIV-positive people and those sick with AIDS. In 1988 AIDS or HIV was not a valid reason for firing someone. The same year Pluss (plus) was founded for those with HIV. In 1999 LMA and Pluss became one, eventually turning into HivNorge (who, in addition to their HIV stuff, today support a couple of queer organizations)

In 1992 Landsforeningen for lesbiske og homofile (The National Association for Lesbians and Homosexuals) was made from the combination of DNF-48 and Fellesrådet for homofile. Later they expanded their name to add bisexuals and trans people. Since 2016 they've been called Fri - foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold (Free - the organization for gender/sex and sexuality diversity).

In 1993 the partnership law was passed. It let lesbian and homosexual couples have mostly the same rights as heterosexuals through marriage. But they could not adopt nor get married in the church. With religious freedom in mind they didn't instruct the church to change their way. In 2008 a new marriage law came, which made gay (incl. lesbian) people allowed to marry.

Skeiv ungdom was founded in 2004. Skeivsnuen anselag was founded in 2006 as a continuation of Drangeleik (danish, boy game). Oslo fagottkor (fagott isn't a slur in Norwegian, but it's based on the english) was founded in 2004.

In 2010 no "perversions" were any longer recognized as mental illnesses (homosexuality from before, fetishes, sadomasochism). Since 2012 you haven't been able to send gay asylum seekers back to homophobic countries. A ban on conversion therapy is in the works, it's only not out-right supported by KRF (who want to make it more difficult to transition) and FRP (who appear not to care either way). A third gender has been introduced legally.

In 2008 the state made an action plan titled "better life quality for lesbians, gats, bisexuals and trans people". Then the LGBT (LHBT) center was made in 2011 as a knoweledge center from sexual orientation and gender identity. In 2015 Skeivt arkiv (queer archive) was opened. They belong to the University in Bergen (UiB).

2022 was queer culture year (skeivt kulturår). The pride of 2022 there was a shooting at a gay bar in Oslo and Oslo Pride was cancelled.

Further reading:

Tone Hellsund: Currently alive researcher at the university in Bergen who among other stuff has written about "peppermøsamfunnet" (non-partnering women). (bora.uib.no). (ethnologist specialized in gender studies).

Alf Martin Jæger: "Odd Lyng" (gay fiction) in 1924.

Borghild Krane: "følelsers forvirring" (lesbian fiction) in 1937

FRI - foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold.

More organizations (my post of links)

Bergen Open Research Archive. Free to read. Has (among other things) queer studies. Some is in Norwegian, some in English.

queer rights today on Wikipedia

[dailyanarchistposts]

Footnotes - Part 1

I don't want to post the whole book without the footnotes; but it seems obnoxious to put the footnotes in a bunch of tags, so that's why I'm only tagging this with the book title.

[1] Sam Mbah and I.E. Igariway write that before colonial contact nearly all traditional African societies were “anarchies,” and they make a strong argument to this effect. The same could also be said of other continents. But as the author does not come from any of these societies, and since Western culture traditionally believes it has the right to represent other societies in self-serving ways, it is best to avoid such broad characterizations, while still endeavoring to learn from these examples.

[2] “The Really Really Free Market: Instituting the Gift Economy,” Rolling Thunder, No. 4 Spring 2007, p. 34.

[3] Robert K. Dentan, The Semai: A Nonviolent People of Malaya. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979, p. 48.

[4] Christopher Boehm, “Egalitarian Behavior and Reverse Dominance Hierarchy,” Current Anthropology, Vol. 34, No. 3, June 1993.

[5] Amy Goodman, “Louisiana Official: Federal Gov’t Abandoned New Orleans,” Democracy Now, September 7, 2005. Fox News, CNN, and The New York Times all falsely reported murders and roving gangs of rapists in the Superdome, where refugees gathered during the storm. (Aaron Kinney, “Hurricane Horror Stories,” Salon.com)

[6] Jesse Walker (“Nightmare in New Orleans: Do disasters destroy social cooperation?” Reason Online, September 7, 2005) cites the studies of sociologist E.L. Quarantelli, who has found that “After the cataclysm, social bonds will strengthen, volunteerism will explode, violence will be rare...”

[7] Roger M. Keesing, Andrew J. Strathern, Cultural Anthropology: A Contemporary Perspective, 3rd Edition, New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1998, p.83.

[8] Judith Van Allen “Sitting On a Man”: Colonialism and the Lost Political Institutions of Igbo Women.” Canadian Journal of African Studies. Vol. ii, 1972, pp. 211–219.

[9] Johan M.G. van der Dennen, “Ritualized ‘Primitive’ Warfare and Rituals in War: Phenocopy, Homology, or...?” rechten.eldoc.ub.rug.nl Among other examples, van der Dennen cites the New Guinea highlanders, among whom warring bands would face off, yell insults, and shoot arrows that did not have feathers, and thus could not be aimed, while another band on the sidelines would yell that it was wrong for brothers to fight, and attempt to calm the situation before blood was shed. The original source for this account is Rappaport, R.A. (1968), Pigs for the Ancestors: Ritual in the Ecology of a New Guinea People. New Haven: Yale University Press.

[10] “The Aims and Means of the Catholic Worker,” The Catholic Worker, May 2008.

[11] Graham Kemp and Douglas P. Fry (eds.), Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies around the World, New York: Routledge, 2004. Semai murder rate, p. 191, other murder rates p. 149. The low Norwegian murder rate shows that industrial societies can also be peaceful. It should be noted that Norway has one of the lowest wealth gaps of any capitalist country, and also a low reliance on police and prisons. The majority of civil disputes and many criminal cases in Norway are settled through mediation (p. 163).

[12] Robert K. Dentan, The Semai: A Nonviolent People of Malaya. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1979, p. 59.

[13] Dmitri M. Bondarenko and Andrey V. Korotayev, Civilizational Models of Politogenesis, Moscow: Russian Academy of Sciences, 2000.

[14] Harold Barclay, People Without Government: An Anthropology of Anarchy, London: Kahn and Averill, 1982, p. 98.

[15] Christopher Boehm, “Egalitarian Behavior and Reverse Dominance Hierarchy,” Current Anthropology, Vol. 34, No. 3, June 1993.

[16] The victories of the movement and the failure of the IMF and World Bank are argued by David Graeber in “The Shock of Victory,” Rolling Thunder no. 5, Spring 2008.

[17] The paragraphs regarding the Hill People and Southeast Asia are based on James C. Scott, “Civilizations Can’t Climb Hills: A Political History of Statelessness in Southeast Asia,” lecture at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, February 2, 2005.

[18] Alan MacSimoin, “The Korean Anarchist Movement,” a talk in Dublin, September 1991. MacSimoin references Ha Ki-Rak, A History of the Korean Anarchist Movement, 1986.

[19] Sam Dolgoff, The Anarchist Collectives, New York: Free Life Editions, 1974, p. 73.

[20] Ditto, p. 73. The statistic on Graus comes from p. 140.

[21] Gaston Leval, Collectives in the Spanish Revolution, London: Freedom Press, 1975, pp. 206–207.

[22] Sam Dolgoff, The Anarchist Collectives, New York: Free Life Editions, 1974, p. 113.

[23] The criticisms of the this and the following paragraphs are based on an interview with Marcello, “Criticisms of the MST,” February 17, 2009, Barcelona.

[24] Wikipedia, “Asamblea Popular de los Pueblos de Oaxaca,” [viewed November 6, 2006]

[25] Diana Denham and C.A.S.A. Collective (eds.), Teaching Rebellion: Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca, Oakland: PM Press, 2008, interview with Marcos.

[26] Ditto, interview with Adán.

[27] Melford E. Spiro, Kibbutz: Venture in Utopia, New York: Schocken Books, 1963, pp. 90–91.

[28] Robert Fernea, “Putting a Stone in the Middle: the Nubians of Northern Africa,” in Graham Kemp and Douglas P. Fry (eds.), Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies around the World, New York: Routledge, 2004, p. 111.

[29] Alice Schlegel, “Contentious But Not Violent: The Hopi of Northern Arizona” in Graham Kemp and Douglas P. Fry (eds.), Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies around the World, New York: Routledge, 2004.

[30] Melford E. Spiro, Kibbutz: Venture in Utopia, New York: Schocken Books, 1963, pp. 83–85.

[31] Gemma Aguilar, “Els okupes fan la feina que oblida el Districte,” Avui, Saturday 15 December 2007, p. 43.

[32] Natasha Gordon and Paul Chatterton, Taking Back Control: A Journey through Argentina’s Popular Uprising, Leeds (UK): University of Leeds, 2004, p. 45.

[33] William Foote Whyte and Kathleen King Whyte, Making Mondragon: The Growth and Dynamics of the Worker Cooperative Complex, Ithaca, New York: ILR Press, 1988, p. 5.

[34] Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 2002, pp. 183–187.

[35] Michael Albert, Parecon: Life After Capitalism, New York: Verso, 2003, pp. 104–105.

[36] Diana Denham and C.A.S.A. Collective (eds.), Teaching Rebellion: Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca, Oakland: PM Press, 2008, interview with Tonia.

[37] Ditto, interview with Francisco.

[38] Cahal Milmo, “On the Barricades: Trouble in a Hippie Paradise,” The Independent, May 31, 2007.

[39] Technically, human elders provide a reproductive function because they store obscure types of information like how to survive natural disasters that only occur once every several generations, and they can also serve to increase social cohesion by increasing the amount of living relations within the community — for example the number of people with the same grandparents is much larger than the number of people with the same parents. However, these survival benefits are not immediately obvious and there is no evidence of any human society making such calculations when deciding whether or not to feed their toothless grannies. In other words, the fact that we avail ourselves of the benefits of the elderly is a reflection of our habitual social generosity.

[40] Gaston Leval, Collectives in the Spanish Revolution, London: Freedom Press, 1975, p. 270.

[41] Neille Ilel, “A Healthy Dose of Anarchy: After Katrina, nontraditional, decentralized relief steps in where big government and big charity failed,” Reason Magazine, December 2006.

[42] Albany Free School website (viewed November 24, 2006) www.albanyfreeschool.com

[43] Natasha Gordon and Paul Chatterton, Taking Back Control: A Journey through Argentina’s Popular Uprising, Leeds (UK): University of Leeds, 2004, pp. 43–44.

[44] See chapter 5 in Uri Gordon, Anarchy Alive! Anti-authoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory, London: Pluto Press, 2008.

[45] The description of the New Guinea highlanders in Jared Diamond’s book (Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, New York, Viking, 2005), particularly the portrayal of their curiosity, wit, and humanity, does a great service to dispelling the lingering imagery of so-called primitive peoples as grunting apes or noble savages.

[46] “Wikipedia survives research test,” BBC News 15 December 2005 news.bbc.co.uk

[47] “Editorial administration, oversight and management” Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org

[48] Patrick Fleuret, “The Social Organization of Water Control in the Taita Hills, Kenya,” American Ethnologist, Vol. 12, 1985.

[49] Sam Dolgoff, The Anarchist Collectives, New York: Free Life Editions, 1974, p. 66.

[50] Ditto, p. 88.

[51] All the quotes and statistics in the paragraph come from Sam Dolgoff, The Anarchist Collectives, New York: Free Life Editions, 1974, pp. 88–92.

[52] Ditto, pp. 75–76

[53] George Katsiaficas, The Subversion of Politics: European Autonomous Social Movements and the Decolonization of Everyday Life. Oakland: AK Press, 2006, pp. 84–85

[54] The Stonehenge Free Festivals, 1972–1985. www.ukrockfestivals.com Viewed 8 May 2008.

[55] The Curious George Brigade, Anarchy In the Age of Dinosaurs, CrimethInc. 2003, pp. 106–120. The statistic from Ghana appears on page 115.

[56] Emily Achtenberg, “Community Organizing and Rebellion: Neighborhood Councils in El Alto, Bolivia,” Progressive Planning, No.172, Summer 2007.

[57] Although the author of this piece chooses the term government, the underlying concept should not be given parity with what in Western society is considered to be government. In the ayllu tradition, leadership is not a privileged social position or a position of command, but a form of “community service.”

[58] Emily Achtenberg, “Community Organizing and Rebellion: Neighborhood Councils in El Alto, Bolivia,” Progressive Planning, No.172, Summer 2007.

[59] All the quotes on Symphony Way come from Daria Zelenova, “Anti-Eviction Struggle of the Squatters Communities in Contemporary South Africa,” paper presented at the conference “Hierarchy and Power in the History of Civilizations,” at the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, June 2009.

[60] Oxfam America, “Havana’s Green Revelation,” www.oxfamamerica.org [viewed December 5, 2005]

[61] Sam Dolgoff, The Anarchist Collectives, New York: Free Life Editions, 1974, pp. 163–164.

[62] This theory for the fate of Easter Island is convincingly argued in Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, New York, Viking, 2005.

[63] Eric Alden Smith, Mark Wishnie, “Conservation and Subsistence in Small-Scale Societies,” Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 29, 2000, pp. 493–524. “As population density and political centralization increases, communities may exceed the size and homogeneity needed for endogenous systems of communal management” (p. 505). The authors also pointed out that colonial and postcolonial interference ended many systems of communal resource management. Bonnie Anna Nardi, “Modes of Explanation in Anthropological Population Theory: Biological Determinism vs. Self-Regulation in Studies of Population Growth in Third World Countries,” American Anthropologist, vol. 83, 1981. Nardi points out that as decision-making, society, and identity go from small-scale to a national scale, fertility control loses its effectiveness (p. 40).

[64] Bruce Stewart, quoted in Derrick Jensen, A Language Older Than Words, White River Junction, Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing Company, 2000, p.162.

[65] Jared Diamond, Collapse: how societies choose to fail or succeed, New York: Viking, 2005, pp. 292–293

[66] For example, the United States and Western Europe, responsible for most of the world’s greenhouse gases, are currently forcing hundreds of millions of people to die every year rather than curtailing their car cultures and reducing their emissions.

[67] The ten percent figure and mention of the two attacks in Germany come from Nathaniel C. Nash, “Oil Companies Face Boycott Over Sinking of Rig,” The New York Times, June 17, 1995.

[68] Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, New York: Viking, 2005, p. 277.

[69] H. Van Der Linden, “Een Nieuwe Overheidsinstelling: Het Waterschap circa 1100–1400” in D.P. Blok, Algemene Geschiednis der Nederlanden, deel III. Haarlem: Fibula van Dishoeck, 1982, p. 64. Author’s translation.

[70] This analysis is well documented by Kristian Williams in Our Enemies in Blue. Brooklyn: Soft Skull Press, 2004.

[71] In 2005, 5,734 workers were killed by traumatic injury on the job, and an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 died from occupational diseases, according to the AFL-CIO “Facts About Worker Safety and Health 2007.” www.aflcio.org Of all the killings of workers by employer negligence between 1982 and 2002, fewer than 2000 were investigated by the government, and of these only 81 resulted in convictions and only 16 resulted in jailtime, though the maximum allowed sentence was six months, according to David Barstow, “U.S. Rarely Seeks Charges for Deaths in Workplace,” New York Times, December 22, 2003.

[72] These are widely available statistics from US Census bureau, Justice Department, independent researchers, Human Rights Watch, and other organizations. They can be found, for example, on drugwarfacts.org [viewed 30 December, 2009].

[73] Wikipedia “Seattle General Strike of 1919,” en.wikipedia.org [viewed 21 June 2007]. Print sources cited in this article include Jeremy Brecher, Strike! Revised Edition. South End Press, 1997; and Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States, Perrenial Classics Edition, 1999.

[74] Diana Denham and C.A.S.A. Collective (eds.), Teaching Rebellion: Stories from the Grassroots Mobilization in Oaxaca, Oakland: PM Press, 2008, interview with Cuatli.

[75] Alan Howard, “Restraint and Ritual Apology: the Rotumans of the South Pacific,” in Graham Kemp and Douglas P. Fry (eds.), Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies around the World, New York: Routledge, 2004, p. 42.

[76] Both observer quotes from Jamie Bissonette, When the Prisoners Ran Walpole: a true story in the movement for prison abolition, Cambridge: South End Press, 2008, p. 160.

[77] One can’t help but compare this to the British spreading opium in China or the US government spreading whiskey among indigenous people and, later, heroin in ghettos.

[78] Natasha Gordon and Paul Chatterton, Taking Back Control: A Journey through Argentina’s Popular Uprising, Leeds (UK): University of Leeds, 2004, pp. 66–68.

[79] Graham Kemp and Douglas P. Fry (eds.), Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies around the World, New York: Routledge, 2004, pp. 73–79. The cross-cultural study is M.H. Ross, The Culture of Conflict, New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.

[bogkeep]

now, i'm not a Movie Review Guy, and have in recent years found that i prefer to keep my Media Watching Experience more to myself, but i watched both puss in boots: the last wish and strange world in the cinema just now and i DO need to yell a little bit.

these two movies aren't related beyond being Two Animated Movies Being Available To Me At The Same Time, (and i saw them both dubbed to norwegian,) but i feel like the difference in Expectations VS Reality is fun :') the strange world recommendations came by way of tumblr going "YOU HAVE TO SEE IT BECAUSE THERE IS AN ACTUALLY ON-SCREEN GAY PROTAGONIST IN IT AND DISNEY ISN'T PROMOTING IT LIKE AT ALL" which is true, although i reaaaally don't like the concept of "this movie is having a rep but isn't getting attention and therefore you MUST see it so they get the message that it's marketable" like I KNOW... WE LIVE IN A SOCIETY.... i just prefer to watch movies for fun and not to make a statement... but ALSO it's an adventure movie and i DO miss adventure movies. some of my favourite movies of all time are atlantis: the lost empire, treasure planet, and sinbad: legend of the seven seas. i am VERY easy to please, just give me some vibes and some creatures and preferably some charismatic characters if you've got some to spare. i'm probably the only person on the planet that thought The Good Dinosaur (2015) was a nice movie because i liked the vibes of it. so i figured strange world is at LEAST going to be pleasant to watch on a big screen! like it's a perfectly decent movie. disney has every resource in the world so their BASELINE is decent movies. it's very pretty, i DO like visuals, the atmosphere is nice, and they play the instrumental parts from lone digger by caravan palace at some point to my absolute delight. there is at least one shot i thought was absolutely stunning and impactful. the message is also a good one! like it's all Very Fine. i was right about watching it on a big screen and i'm glad i went. but it's... my impression of it is very much in line with my feeling about how disney movies are just getting Too Smooth for me. obviously as an adult i want media with some more crunch to it! something a little more complex!!! i know this movie is for kids!! but like it just feels like they're playing it SO safe. very "i heard kids these days like stories about generational trauma... an environmental message... explicit gay rep... people of color... cool and badass women...." so they tailor made this movie to be the safest bet possible AND THEN DIDN'T EVEN PROMOTE IT?????? and like i think all of those checklist points are swell things to have in movies and i do not doubt the people who made it put a lot of love and care into this!! it's a fine movie!! but it could have been MORE... it could've had some crunch... some flair... like i get that atlantis has its issues but at least atlantis had some BITE to it, a little bit of commander rourke going "i prefer the term adventure capitalist :) if we returned every artefact to their culture our museums would be empty :)" like hot damn

maybe the dub made the dialogue stand out weirdly but i felt like 90% of the dialogue in this movie was just "but i'm NOT you, dad!!!!" AND IT GETS A LITTLE HEAVY HANDED... they could have done a teensy bit more showing and a little less telling. like i don't know if kids enjoy watching familial disputes THAT much, especially if they're there for Funky Creatures. it forgot to have a little bit of Fun and Shenanigans!!! so anyway yeah it was kinda mediocre, i had a perfectly ok time, still think it's absolutely bonkers how there's just absolutely no advertisement like. what gives i didn't even realize there was a Second puss in boots movie until i saw a gif of Cool Sickle Wielding Wolf. and like, the first puss in boots movie is... forgettable. like it sure exists! it sure has puss in boots in it!! from shrek!!! it's a shrek spinoff but with less of the satire that made shrek popular!! so it's like, why WOULD you go see a SECOND puss in boots spinoff movie all this time after the shrek franchise heyday? BECAUSE IT HAS A COOL SICKLE WIELDING WOLF. and then you see it and it's like HANG ON THIS ANIMATION IS KINDA GOOD. and then you're like WAIT I'M ACTUALLY INVESTED. and then you're like WAIT I'M HAVING FEELINGS??? and at the end you're like HOLY FUCK WHY DID THIS MOVIE GO SO HARD. yes it's a little sappy and a little predictable and doesn't lean into any of the satire and cynicism you'd expect from a shrek spinoff BUT IT HAS THE GALL TO BE SINCERE. like im starting to feel more and more >:( when i can feel movies PURPOSEFULLY tugging on my heartstrings to make me cry with CHEAP TRICKS but this movie GENUINELY. MADE ME TEAR UP IN WAYS THAT FELT WARRANTED. it went "yeah maybe it's a little corny, a little cringe even, but wouldn't it be nice to just enjoy life? :)" and like man, is it speaking UP AGAINST the cynicism towards fairytales THE SHREK FRANCHISE POPULARISED?? HELLO???? like yeah maybe i'm overhyping it. who's to say. BUT if you want to see a cool as fuck sickle wolf that is genuinely terrifying in the most awesome way...................... we can all enjoy a cool sickle wolf every now and then i think

[loodgietersbedrijfutrecht]

Which is better to live: Sweden, Denmark or Norway?

I am danish and have lived in Sweden for five years. I've also been to Norway several times. (**)

Denmark is a bit more like The Netherlands than Sweden and Norway, have no mountains, plain areas, are more liberal, attitudes a tad more european and it's a little warmer, Denmark have lots of forest though, everywhere, and has ocean and lakes all around and through. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

Sweden is as a country vastly beautiful in its nature - and is very cultural, as is Norway and Denmark too.

Sweden is gold regarding immigration, having taken a whopping 100.000+ immigrants and refugees a year, for years.*

Norway is the most expensive.

I find Norwegians and Danes to be very alike in many ways, and I never met a Norwegian that I couldn't instantly talk—and easily—with. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

Danes are better at talking to people they don't know I'd say, though Swedes are in some cases more accepting, however they can also be more judgemental, they just don't loud mouth it like Danes do,- as do my Dutch friends—our humor is also more alike and "radical" than that of our Norse neighbors.

All three countries have well functioning, rich societies, good healthcare and between us I'd say we have an overall-albeit in some areas dysfunctional- big extended family kinda vibe going.

We all got lots of nature, though Sweden and Norway are way bigger, however, the inner city cosiness of urban Denmark is special and people are very warm to strangers and foreigners in general.

Crime has risen significantly in Sweden. Still, you can feel safe, only the case has been less so in many urban areas in recent years. — I've been made aware that the statistics are changing though, this is great news! Safety first. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

Jutland (Mainland Denmark) where I am from, you can go basically anywhere, also in the bigger citiesb (relatively big size-wise as Denmark is Small, in context, bigger city here = over 50.000 people in-city) and feel safe.

A girl can go for a run through Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city, by herself, at night, and feel safe.

— From our hotel window at night, looking over the city of Aarhus a few years ago, my Swedish gf made me aware about this which I didn't see as something out of the ordinary.

— This is because it's different from several larger Swedish cities in revent times, like the one we lived in, which has seen an escalation of violence. (Not to glorify Denmark, there are places here where the same is true, but the unsafe areas in larger cities are more seldom to my knowledge.) Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

Norway is seemingly quite flawless and rich (yes, Denmark's infamous drunk minister handed the our oil reserves back in the day, we love them anyways best we can), but then again, they f.ex. haven't taken many refugees and immigrants and therefore left the responsibility all in the hands of Sweden and Germany, mostly,

Norway's capital Oslo is also known for its flourishing heroin culture.

Norway is still one of the most peaceful countries in the world. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

I am proud of Sweden for taking resposibility in this way, for helping all these refugees, seeking to help those in dire need. It's a pure intention, though some may argue against it.

Sweden also doesn't have a "war machine" as such, just a tiny army. I appreciate that they don't participate in wars, then again, not being in Nato allows for more bullying by Russia.

The balance of refugees would be achieved if evenly distributed among european countries, but most do not want to share the load of responsibility, of course Sweden is ten times bigger than say Denmark, but still. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

I absolutely loathe any kind of racism and violence, so does the vast majority of us Scandinavians. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

All are quite peaceful and safe, and reccomendable to live in I'd say.

You will find mostly kind and caring people in all countries, easier to spot here in the summer though.

Swedes are quite private-sphere/private space -based. They value relational integrity and may in general not have so many relations and deep conversations with people they don't know very well,- as do Norwegians and Danes more randomly, overall, so if a Swede commit to a friendship, it's in a way more of an honor.

Danes are not so private and can talk about almost anything openly and in public. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

Norwegians are probably the most easy-going.

Danes may tend to praise themselves as the best Scandinavians sometimes, and rage against the politics and this and that, the loud-mouth culture lol. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

Basically zero corruption in either country.

*"According to an official report by the governmental Swedish Pensions Agency, total immigration to Sweden for 2017 was expected to be roughly 180,000 individuals, and thereafter to number 110,000 persons every year. Know that Sweden has a population that only recently crossed 10 million. Loodgieter Utrecht and Lekkage Utrecht or Verstopping Utrecht

Since our countries are so small and have been part of each other before, I guess most differences amount to what would be the difference between states in much larger countries.

States: Sweden, Norway, Denmark.

[lokisprettygirl]

You are the best Loki x reader writer I know so therefore I entrust this prompt to you

Marvel/Bridgerton/Queen Charlotte AU

The reader is one of queen charlotte's daughters, she is black (IK some writers have an issue with black-coded readers so you don't have to write it if you don't want to). It's the time period when the only heir to the throne has died, queen charlotte has told her children to find suitable partners to marry and make babies with. reader approaches her mother and confesses that she has been secretly courting a man already, the only problem is that he is a bastard. Loki Laufeyson (Laufey is his mother) is a Norwegian Duke, he is the result of Odin's infidelity with Duchess Laufey (Odin failed to tell Laufey he was a married man when they had a fling). Odin has made it very clear that he does not see Loki as his son and Loki has gone by his mother's name as such (You can make Laufey be married or not that is up to you, but she loves her son that is apparent in how Loki owns his own property and his mother dots on him every chance she gets)(the other dynamics with Frigga and Thor are the same as they have always been). He owns a very famous business in Norway and is respected in his community and noble society. he is currently staying in his estate in Britain to be close to the reader and the reader visits him frequently. They are deeply in love and wish to marry each other and have children but they fear what society will say about them. do what you want with this prompt. I have started watching Queen Charlotte and thought of this prompt. It would mean the world to me if you even look at this and consider prompt much less make a series of it so here you go, my measly idea. I love all your Loki x reader books btw and have most of them liked or reblogged on my account.

First of all thank you so much for your nice words for me, i can't believe I'm the best you have read, that's overwhelming because I don't think of myself as that but thank you so much dear 💚

As much as I appreciate this and the time you must have taken to write this I am not sure I can write this series because first of all I have never seen Bridgerton (I find it really stupid I'm sorry, the concept just doesn't appeal to me at all) and I'm not overly familiar or better word would be- much interested in that time period.

Another thing is If you have read my fics you'd see my readers are always inclusive but also written in a way one would right an oc, I never mention their physical appearance so it's still a reader insert, the only race I prefer writing is Indian reader and that's because I'm an Indian girl and I write from experience. I don't know anything about being black, i don't know their lifestyle or their day to day struggles so I'd never ever be comfortable with Writing them, maybe that's the reason why some writers are not writing for other races because people are not so gentle these days when it comes to race, if a writer was to write a black reader and God forbid they wrote something that's not in black culture, god knows they will be attacked and will be blamed for racism.

That being said the plot seems interesting and I'm honoured you came to me with this so I just want to apologise that I won't be able to write this down. But I'm hoping you'll find someone to write this. Again I'm sorry 🥺💚

[brandliu123]

Culture Shock and Confusion (mark this)

It is all known that English is universally used around the world both in business and social and travelling situations. Most international travellers, tend to speak English as an assistant tool to cope with the complexity of native languages in our destinations. In China, my home country, people who get an education would like to speak English with foreign travellers to help them out with local confusion about culture.

However, the most concerned problem I care much about is that some Norwegians do understand English but they don't speak it. In my view, it is kind of inappropriate to leave one person aside because that person couldn't understand or speak Norwegian besides considerable inconvenience in daily routines.

Actually, most Norwegians have a reasonable mastery of English. We will find that English can be spoken in most public supermarkets and restaurants, as well as in hotels and with service providers. If the travellers are feeling uncomfortable starting a conversation in English, it is even more important to learn a relative amount of Norwegian. It is easier to establish an independent life if understand public information, chat in a social setting, and read basic road signs. If possible, use Google Translate or make native language partners accompany you at the same time, and try to avoid any isolation from society and people around you during the whole trip.

A foreign language can be a barrier that will cause culture shock and confusion in some ways, keep in mind that make preparations for Norwegian first and then feel free to seek help from others about it anytime to have fun in Norway.

Reference: https://www.oslo.kommune.no/english/welcome-to-oslo/learn-norwegian/the-importance-of-learning-norwegian/#gref

[skallagrimsson]

His Majesty King Harald's speech on New Year's Eve 2023.

Invisible hands helps us, writes Jon Fosse, our own Nobel Prize winner in literature, in one of his poems. These invisible hands can be so many different things: Love, friendship, a belief in God, will, hope.

We all need some invisible hands. And many of us need them a little extra now. Both here at home and in the world around us.

Tonight I want to encourage you to light candles.

A light for all who suffer in wars and conflicts.

A light for people we miss.

And a light for hope.

Hope that a better world, where we can all live in freedom and peace with each other, must be possible. Hope that what is difficult in our lives must become a little easier to live with.

For me, there is a defiant hope in this one word: We.

We is a small but spacious and beautiful word. For us, it embraces us all. It is the opposite of us and them. The opposite of putting each other in stalls.

Together, we contribute to creating a good environment at school, at the workplace and in our local environment. Together, we have agreed that in Norway we must take care of each other, so that we all have the opportunity both to give and to receive during our lives. Together we create an understanding of right and wrong so that we can behave properly towards each other and take care of the trust between us.

To bring about this community for real, we need

To listen

To speak the truth about reality

To be patient.

I strongly believe in listening. Listening gives hope for a community with room for everyone. Because something a little magical can happen when we actually listen to each other.

We will be seen.

We are taken seriously.

We straighten our backs.

It's almost too easy and good to be true! And that is something we can all achieve.

It worries me that a number of young people, but also older people in Norway today do not feel seen, understood and counted on. I fear it will create anger and frustration that could harm our community.

To each and every one of you I want to say: I don't know what it's like to be you. But I would very much like to understand. Hold on to the fact that you are a whole person for better or worse, like everyone else - especially when others forget to remind you.

Accept help when you need it.

And be helpful to others when you can.

I hope you feel that invisible hands are supporting you. Maybe not always. But that you have something or someone that gives you strength and hope. Remember you have a voice. Use it when you can!

Listening is connected with speaking the truth about what has happened, and acknowledging each other's reality.

It was also a prerequisite for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's work, which was presented this summer. There, shocking stories were told about the injustice committed against the Sami, Kven and Forest Finns through the brutal policy of Norwegianization - which lasted from around 1850 until well into our time.

People were deprived of their language, their culture, their self-confidence and their identity. For some, it cost them their lives.

And all this was done in the name of nation-building – in a Norway that at the time itself needed to build self-confidence as a nation after 400 years of Danish rule. The Norwegianization was a loss for all of us.

A loss of a cultural wealth that belonged - indeed belongs - in our own country. Looking with open eyes at what has actually happened is crucial for the reconciliation work that must now follow in the wake of the important report.

This also applies to other relationships in life - and in conflicts in the world around us. We must acknowledge what has happened, what cannot be undone. And what we have to build on together - after all.

Listening, and speaking honestly, I think is crucial for a community. And then we need the difficult patience.

I've lived long enough to know that things take time. Both in society, between people, and in ourselves. Much of lasting value has no quick fix. It has taken us generations to build the society we know today as ours, of which we are proud and feel at home.

A foundation in building society is about how equipped we are as a people and a nation to face dangers and threats. Both internal and external. Our most important protection is a robust and persistent people who can withstand a blow.

We cannot take peace and freedom, resources and common goods for granted. We must stand guard! Norway's preparedness is, when it comes down to it, the sum of each individual's resilience.

We build on this positive force all the time through good partnerships. Through strong local communities. By standing up for each other, in the belief that there is a common good. It gives me great hope, because this is something we can all be part of. Both with invisible and active hands.

But then there are areas where the last thing we need is more patience.

Many young people write to me and express concern that not enough is being done to take care of nature and our earth. Young people are giving up on adults who don't take strong enough action, and not fast enough. I share the young people's concern and their impatience. The hope is that the new goals the world's leaders have set must be followed by action.

We now need everyone's impatience before time runs out for us. I cannot express this strongly enough.

Dear everyone,

When it's cold and dark, it's important to remember all the warmth, strength and good will that we humans share with each other on a daily basis.

It is natural for us to help each other. To comfort. Sharing.

We must cherish this good spark within ourselves.

Because this is us, this is us.

My New Year's hope is that we will be the invisible hands that support each other.

Happy New Year!

[cappymightwrite]

Ahh! I’m Norwegian and live just outside of Oslo. Small world, ehh? If you’re new to this strange, strange country then here’s a few advices to get you through life here:

-You have to try brown cheese at least ONCE.

-Don’t talk to people on the bus or any other form for public transport. We’re all snowflakes and we get scared easily.

-But if you meet someone while you’re out walking in the forest/mountain/anywhere outdoorsy then you have to acknowledge them. A subtle nod is enough. If you don’t then you’re a b*tch. I don’t make the rules, that’s just how it is.

-Sh*t’s expensive here! Everything’s expensive. Deal with it. Complaining doesn’t work. We’ve been doing that for decades and where has that gotten us? Oh, right... Stuff got MORE expensive.

-If you’re a Trump-supporter you’re simply wrong (we’re mostly socialists, so...)

-Don’t be rude to waiters or people working in stores. Don’t be a f*cking Karen.

-People here don’t really smoke (cigarettes at least) all that much, because we think we’re too “cool” for that since we have snus. If you don’t know what it is, check it out! I don’t mean to try it, but you need to at least know what it is. Even though the Swedes invented snus we Norwegians are really proud of it and treat it like it’s our own invention. If you do decide to try it, don’t throw the used baggie in the ground. That’s yucky! Find a trashcan!

-Speaking of Swedes... We hate them! Especially when it comes to sports! It doesn’t matter if we come in at second to last place as long as we beat the Swedes! But we also love them because they have cheap food, tobacco and alcohol! Hurray!

-We’re all alcoholics, by the way. If you’ve lived here for a while then you might have heard about the chaos that unfolded when the Government tried to shut down Vinmonopolet (the only liquorstore) during lockdown because of COVID. If you haven’t heard about it, then ask someone and they’ll tell you. It was ridiculous...

-You don’t have to wave the bus down when you see it coming. They know to stop when they see you on the bus-stop.

-If you press the stopbutton and the bus for some reason doesn’t stop, then don’t yell for the driver. You’re just embarrassing yourself. Just accept your fate and get off at the next stop and walk the extra distance.

-If you’re sitting near the window on public transport and there’s someone beside you, don’t tell them with words when your stop is coming up. Saying stuff like “Hey, my stop is next. Can you please move so I can get out?” is simply unforgivable. Just play with the strap on your bag or ruffle your jacket a little and they’ll understand you want to get off.

-If you decide to use Voi (all this electric scooters) then don’t drive like a maniac! Respect the pedestrians and don’t leave them lying around everywhere! It’s annoying and something everyone in Oslo hates.

So, there you have it! The 101 on how to fit into the Norwegian society! Hope you enjoy it here and that it’s not as scary as I make it sound. If you need any more sound advices then let me know! 😜

Hei! This is all very good advice :)

– I have tried brown cheese! My housemate and I made Norwegian waffles together the other day — very tasty!

– No interacting on public transport, and the silent, unspoken etiquette in general... as a Brit, and someone who goes into London quite often, I strongly concur, lmao.

– I think, if anything, I've become more left-wing since lockdown...

– Ex-barista + bookseller here, plus I did used to work at quite a fancy supermarket as my afterschool job... so I always try to be nice and considerate, because been there.

– I did go on an electric scooter once (1) whilst living in Reykjavík... let's just say, not for me, lmao.

Tusen takk! :D

[dailyhistoryposts]

The Suontaka Viking

[from NPR]

The possibly-nonbinary Viking warrior has been a subject of interest and debate. What was this person's life like?

They were alive from the late Nordic Iron Age (1040-1174 CE) and buried in Finland. The Scandinavian Iron Age, and the Bronze Age preceding it, were characterized by extensive contacts with other cultures in the Fennoscandian Peninsula (today the Finnish, Norwegian, and Swedish mainlands, and some parts of what is now Northwestern Russia) and in the Baltic region (including what is now Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Germany, Lithuania, and Poland).

[The objects buried with the Suontaka Viking]

Scandinavia had year-round settlements and animal husbandry for a while at this point. The population of the area was expanding rapidly and international trade was booming. They exported furs, slaves, falcons, and castoreum for perfumes, and imported silk, jewellery, glass, and swords.

The term 'Viking' often refers to the entire group of people also called the Norse, but more accurately it's a job. Vikings sailed abroad to raid, pirate, trade, and settle, and travelled to much of the Atlantic-accessible known world (and beyond--the Norse found and settled Greenland and Canada many hundreds of years before Columbus).

Culturally, the Norse spoke Old Norse, a North Germanic runic language. They mostly followed the Old Norse religion before being Christianized--our Suontaka Viking appeared to follow Finnish mythology. The culture was very centred around respect for and remembrance of the dead--most runestones told of dead family or comrades, numerous burial sites have been excavated as graveyards, tumuli (burial mounds). However, the majority of funerals took place at sea be either burial or cremation. When buried like our Suontaka Viking, they were buried with important possessions from their life.

Society was divided into three socioeconomic classes: Thralls (slaves in charge of chores and construction), Karls (landowning free peasants), and Jarls (landowning aristocracy). There were many intermediate positions and some degree of social mobility. Women were subordinate to their husbands and fathers but had rights and independence beyond what was seen in the rest of Europe at the time. Women had no political power but did have religious authority, artistic authority, and economic power, and some military power.

Norse diets were diverse. Meat was smoked, cured, preserved in whey, made into sausages, boiled, or fried. Seafood, bread porridges, dairy, and produce were abundant. People drank beer, mead, fruit wine, or imported wine.

Society had a number of sports and games. Society values the benefits of social gatherings, community participation, and festivals. They played instruments such as harps, fiddles, lyres, and lutes.

[A Tafl board, a Viking chess game]

Our Suontaka Viking was likely wealthy and well-respected. Poorer Norse fighters used spears, and wealthier Vikings used swords (mostly symbolically or decoratively--the seax remains the primary Viking battle weapon).

They were buried with a number of artefacts. These include a hiltless sword with silver inlays, three brooches, a sheathed knife, a twin-spiral chain-bearer, and a sickle. They were also buried with a bronze-hilted sword, but likely afterwards, perhaps by the next generation to hide it. This is a unique mix of gendered objects not seen in other burials from the same time.

The Suontaka Viking was buried in a grave that appeared to belong to a high-status and wealthy warrior woman. However, recent studies have found the possessed XXY chromosomes (Klinefelter syndrome). People with Klinefelter syndrome are assigned male at birth (AMAB). Symptoms, if there are any, would like present at puberty, potentially with less body hair and with breast growth, but some people with Klinefelter syndrome do not notice at all.

This means the Suontaka Viking was AMAB and raised as male, but at least sometimes wore women's clothing and was remembered by their society this way. They were buried as a wealthy person, meaning they were not shunned by their family or society. The Suontaka Viking was dressed in warm and well-made clothes, with valuable items, on a feathered pillow. They were raised male but lived life in a feminine way and were buried in a way that is, to quote to the original paper, 'gender-mixing'.

We don't know how this individual lived their life. We don't know what they would've called themself in their own day, and we certainly can't guess what they would call themself if they were alive today. However, we can be certain that this is a person who lived in a unique place in a society with typically rigid gender roles. They lived in a way not typical for their people and were accepted and loved.

Read the original paper here.

[volterran-wine]

Not to beat a dead horse, but I think I’m starting to understand this all better thanks to you.

A mate bond equals potential for something great. If they want to pursue this, then they court. And then the final stage is being fully mated/bonded (like modern day spouses)?

Ok, so does Vampire Society have their own tradition for that final stage? The vampire equivalent of an exchange of rings and wedding ceremony? Or is it more like some ancient cultures where you just walked into your spouse’s house and boom “we’re officially together now.”

I am glad that my worldbuilding and headcanons are steadily but surely becoming easier to understand. One disclaimer though; most of my headcanons are in no way canon to the Twilight universe. Someone else may very well have a different perspective on how mates work and it is just as valid. This is simply my version, for my writing and character/worldbuilding.

𝐕𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬 & 𝐖𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

Yes, the mate pull informs a vampire of the potential another holds; and then it is their decision if they want to pursue anything or not. The courting period can be long or short depending on how much the two parties want to lean into this union, at the end of the day; the most important part is the two vampires dedication to one another. That alone decides if it will be a successful union or not.

I do not think vampires have what we humans consider to be a traditional modern wedding, at least the western style ones (I cannot speak for all cultures, I am but a humble Norwegian Woman). There is not a ceremony that must be conducted for the two to be considered proper mates. If two vampires showed up one day and informed others of their new status, then that is all that need to be said.

Within my worldbuilding vampires do have vows, but they are for their mates ears only. An almost bonded pair would find a secluded spot and speak from the heart in private, promising whatever they see fit for their mate and their eternity together. Those vows is the most important thing, they are raw, honest and it is expected to expose the entirety of your soul in that moment.

This is why bonded pairs can come across so differently from one another, there is no standard mold to what the union must look like. Some have a very traditional, monogamous and marriage like relationship, while others may have open relationships where the bonded pair come together at the end of the day. Both are just as valid, the status of a mate-bond is a private matter.

Don't get me wrong, if a vampire wants some sort of ceremony; that will be allowed of course. Usually this happens when one half of the pair was recently turned, and because of that still clings to their humanity; most vampires would gladly indulge their mate if some sort of ceremony is what they wanted. From time to time I believe The Kings acts as officiates within their own coven, gladly overseeing their guards unions if they wish.

[inmyarmswrappedin]

I followed tarjei, et al bc of their work and kept up to date until I lost interest in what they were doing with their careers. But looking beyond myself and directly at how some fandoms achieve longevity, it seems like actors, musicians, shows and movies that don't have a huge body of work or a large catalogue of music or didnt have a long run still survive bc they stay connected &/or the essence of what was/is loved was kept mostly in tact. Imo a lot skams essence has been lost over time

Hi anon! 🍇 Well, I can get some of that. For instance, I was really put off by skam twt asking that Druck drop at least one clip per day, and better yet, multiple clips a day. As it is, I find the way Druck drops clips to be a bit predictable sometimes, like if they do a Saturday clip they most likely won't do a Sunday clip. Or how the Friday clips during s5 tended to happen between 3 and 6 pm. The way Skam dropped clips felt more unpredictable, because they didn't time their texts or social media content to coincide with or presage a clip. Honestly, the few times Druck dropped a clip after like 10 pm in s5 or s6 felt so surprising and unexpected the way Skam clips used to be. And needless to say, I will happily settle for 4-6 clips a week as long as they are long, full of character details, paced well, etc etc.

But otoh, I think a major part of Skam's essence was cultural. Stuff like the characters being less chatty in general, less loud, less directly confrontational, minors living in shared flats, talking about chlamydia all the damn time... And if you actually want to adapt Skam to a different country properly, then that Norwegian je ne sais quoi is going to be lost. For instance, if Skam had been adapted word for word and microexpression for microexpression to Spain, the characters would've come off as unacceptably sexist, withdrawn, serious, and just not very Spanish all in all. So ultimately, what connects all the Skams together, the Skam essence if you will, and since it can't be soundtrack for budget reasons, or episode runtime, or directing style, is the storyline. Aside from that, every Skam is its own show in a different language with hard to describe but very definite differences when it comes to body language, intonation, attitude, and so on. That already makes it hard to compare to large franchises like Star Wars, which is all in English and made in the US, or Misfits, which was similarly short but didn't get a remake.

Some people talk about how Skam is unique in that it was a show that got a large number of adaptations, but really, what sets Skam apart is that it was a show with a major gay storyline that got a lot of adaptations. Shows like Ugly Betty and Red Band Society have also been adapted in more than 7 countries. The difference being, of course, that fandoms don't follow these adaptations country to country. They stan the version they watch, and don't bother to seek (let alone compare) other versions.

[aromantisk-fagforening]

I was thinking about how the Norwegian words for women are like, uhh how do you say (fine, pyntlige), more formal or "nice"

first, "dame", so that is a nice™️ word for woman in Norwegian, like lady. But in English the same word, just in English pronunciation is

" a woman of rank, station, or authority: such as the wife or daughter of a lord or a female member of an order of knighthood — used as a title prefixed to the given name".

And the primary word for woman, "kvinne" is from the same etymologically as queen. (an illustration of the similarity: kvinne -> quinne -> quinn -> queen)

I don't know if there is any meaning behind it.

If I were to guess (emphasis on guess), I'd guess more fancy women were the ones who exchanged cultures with others, alternatively that people viewed Norwegian women very positively. or potentially it's something related to women in Norway having a pretty high status in society (at least in the Viking ages) and that it maybe was worse elsewhere (source: none*).

*I do have a source for the women in Norway having a fairly high status, that being our history books and history teachers. I don't have a source nor any real knowledge of women's status in other places historically (except a bit about Romans, Spartans and Athenians, but yk, there're more countries in the world)