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Hi fromĀ Switzerland!
I’m back in the tri-border town, and the first thing I see in the streets is theĀ Basel Tattoo. My friend was planning to get some ink done during this annual convention.
That reminded me ofĀ those two girls traveling “toĀ Nice” on a flight toĀ TunisiaĀ (TikTok videoĀ with 4 million likes). Another acquaintance bought a ticket forĀ RigaĀ (Latvia) and ended up inĀ RijekaĀ (Croatia), a story I retell in the collection ofĀ destination mix-upsĀ that happen more often than you’d think.
Basel Tattoo hasĀ nothing to do with tattooing. It’s a military music festival!
Now, I understand fetishes come in many forms. But to me,Ā 130,000Ā people lining the streetsĀ (that’s more than whatĀ Eurovision‘sĀ Turquoise CarpetĀ in the same town attracted) toĀ celebrateĀ anything related to armed forcesĀ in today’s world is somewhat bizarre. On the other hand, it’s better to seeĀ men dressed in kiltsĀ armed with bagpipes instead ofĀ rifles.
Strangely, weaponry can be an uninvited guest on even the most innocent parades, such as, for instance, nude bike protests, which I recently wrote about. My experience of theĀ LondonĀ event was very positive. The crowd was cheerful, and despite the impression tabloids could distill from online comments, there was no expression of hostility from the onlookers.
That was not the case at theĀ World Naked Bike RideĀ inĀ Los Angeles, where a man in black (this one with a real tattoo on his face)Ā opened fireĀ at the participants.
At a similar charity event inĀ Chelmsford,Ā England, two men on an e-scooterĀ kicked the cyclistĀ mid-ride.
The naked bike ride inĀ Buffalo,Ā New York, had to be canceled this week afterĀ organizers received threatsĀ of being hit by cars, being thrown at with bricks, and other assaults. All in the guise ofĀ making America moral again.
Taking violence to the streets makes us no different than monkeys. Literally. InĀ Lopburi,Ā Thailand, home to the famousĀ Monkey Buffet FestivalĀ and a town that has an actual macaque prison, a hundred of themĀ escaped the enclosureĀ earlier this month. They ran loose through theĀ neighborhoods, damaging properties, and even breaking into the local police station, not for the first time.
There are violent outbreaks among primates atĀ Basel Zoo, as well. Just days apart,Ā Yeba, the 14-year-old silverback gorilla, has takenĀ two young livesĀ in his harem – first biting a younger male on the genitals, prompting euthanasia, and then accidentally biting the chest of his newborn. Nature conservation organizations started calling on the zoo to stopĀ breeding gorillas in captivity.
Although we don’t live in aĀ jungle ourselves, but freely roam our western civilized streets, we still breed violence whenever we feel others will endanger “our way of life”. Well, the way of life that resorts to violence whenever it feels threatened by other people sharing the same coordinates is not the least dangerous lifestyle choice, is it?
Living in today’s society, among folks with various sets of beliefs, perspectives, and life ideas, requires us to employ tolerance. Unlike gorillas or macaques, humans have evolved to control their primal instincts. So when provoked by different concepts in life,Ā instead of emptying our arms, we should rather arm ourselvesĀ with empathy.
Have a non-violent weekend,
IvanĀ KraljĀ Ā Ā
Pipeaway.com
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