‘Brains’ vs. ‘Cows’

A couple of days ago in one of our Fontys Marketing lectures (‘E-commerce’ to be more specific) the topic of ‘internet or online privacy’ came up, along with some discussion and questioning about Facebook. You know like: Who uses your information, for what purposes, and their weird policy about them being owners of the content you upload to the site. In other words, how basically your ‘digital life’ is owned by this company and whoever this company’s ‘side-kick’ is/are (it does not take too much thought to figure out at least one of Facebook’s most powerful ‘comrades’).

All of this made me remember how once upon a time in a land not so far away, I had to read a book.

(What an ‘interesting’ sentence: “Once upon a time in a land not so far away I had to read a book!” Probably 99% of you, my dear readers, clicked the red ‘close’ thingy placed on the tab’s right-hand side after reading this. Meaning that I am possibly ‘talking’ (‘writing’) to myself at the moment… I can’t blame you!)

So, again –to my 1% (or maybe none) remaining ‘audience’–:

Once upon a time when I used to study journalism in a land not so far away, I had to read this book called “Cómo Nos Venden la Moto” (meaning “how they sell us the motorcycle”, if translated directly to English), written by Noam Chomsky and Ignacio Ramonet.

In brief (and explained in a more graphical way), what these authors write about is how…

In the United States throughout the, relatively recent, history two ‘characters’ were ‘conceived’:

1. The ‘elite, most capable and intelligent members of the community’ (according to: … …‘them’ ): Formed by the country’s government and corporations.

2. The ‘disconcerted flock’ (named this way by members of the intelligent elite): Consisting of… the rest of the country’s population.

The intelligent elite is ‘very intelligent’, according to the intelligent elite! While the disconcerted flock is… very ‘stupid’ according to… the intelligent elite!

So, because the members of the disconcerted flock are simply ‘too dumb’ to understand things, and because of this, they are not capable to decide what is best for their future and themselves; the intelligent elite (because they are ‘very intelligent’ and therefore ‘they know’ what is best for the disconcerted flock… which is, of course, 99.999999% of the times what is best for their own, intelligent elite’s, interests), decided that the disconcerted flock’s role in society should be: To just be distracted!

…to make sure that this works, the intelligent elite adds a little bit of ‘fear’ and ‘terror’ to the distraction!
The goal: Make the disconcerted flock believe that ‘everyone’s the enemy’. But… most important: Make the flock strongly believe that violence is the only existing mean available to combat this ‘enemy’ (invisible enemy).

The goals are to make the flock be distracted and terrorized because, although they are ‘dumb’, sometimes they tend to question things and they start causing troubles, such as: Strikes, protests, etc… Asking for change (a phenomena known by the intelligent elite as a ‘democratic deviation’).

As ‘weapons’ to ‘domesticate’ the disconcerted flock, and therefore avoid this so called ‘democratic deviation’, the intelligent elite uses propaganda and public relations. Mainly they make use of ‘concepts (messages, slogans) emptied of content’ which cannot receive any opposition (such as, for example, very nationalistic messages). An opposition to these, if there was any, would be taken as coming from a very subversive individual; seen by the rest of the disconcerted flock as a ‘weird’ and ‘special’ case. And of course: “Who wants to be the ‘black sheep’ (… …or the ‘baby blue cow’!)?” Right?

And so, by using their power and ‘weapons’, the intelligent elite begins to ‘manufacture consensus’ (a majority of opinion), where opposition to actions and ideas coming from above will most likely not happen; with a now ‘distracted’, ‘domesticated’ and ‘lethargic’ flock.

The most incredible thing, perhaps, is that all of these happens in a ‘democratic’ and consequently (supposedly) ‘free’ society!

Authors highlight similarities in this given situation with the Leninist approach, who also believed that “common interests usually dodge public opinion and that just a class of specialized, responsible man who are intelligent enough can understand and solve the problems derived from these”, but rather than being applied by force under the control of a totalitarian state it has been applied by using different methods under the ‘control’ of a ‘democratic’ (“power to the people”) state.

This is the basic information that the authors share in the book. All of course with the historical background, mentioning some of the most relevant members of the intelligent elite and specific historical cases where they make use of propaganda and public relations to manipulate and control the flock; followed by the explanation of how the U.S. intelligent elite applies this same concept to their foreign politics (which, unless you have been living under a rock in the past many years, it should not come as a surprise). Iraq, Vietnam, El Salvador, Cuba, The Philippines, my little Guatemala… Countless ‘interventions’ in the name of ‘democracy’…

The book was written in 2001; it would be interesting if a new edition would be written to see how Facebook and all these social network things play a role now a days in ‘domesticating’ the, what would be now for these intelligent elite members, pretty much world-wide disconcerted flock! (Haha!) 

Anyways, it is a (short and) recommendable book! After reading it the first time, and learning other unknown things about mass media communication back in the journalism year, I reached to my personal conclusion that just like in the food industry some companies sell junk food (McDonalds, Burger King, and trillion others!); within the communication industry they also ‘sell’ junk news, TV shows, movies, etc… And just like you have the opportunity of choosing between junk food or healthy food (though now a days even fruits and vegetables are genetically altered and full of chemicals sometimes); you also have the choice of choosing what ‘you brain eats’…to put it that way.

Our Creative Writing teacher, back in the Fontys minor study abroad in Sevilla, used to make use of the word “elegance” (most of us relate it directly to clothing but), coming from the Latin word of “elegantia” means the ability to choose… to extract the best. An ability that every human being possesses.

And speaking of food! Lets end up this post with something perhaps a bit less boring:

What is the most ‘un-tempting’ student food you have ever tried, seen or heard of?

I’ll share with you a (true story!) friend’s breakfast secret recipe –

Yes: Corn flakes with milk energy drink… It would have never come to me! A TAURINE-ized way to start the day. And you can’t forget –student style: 38 Euro cent Corn Flakes and 29 cent energy drink!–
So, enjoy your energetic breakfast in a few hours (I really hope you do not take this as a recommendation for your ‘early morning menu’!)  

Thanks for scanning through this post! (I hope it was not too boring)

‘till next week!
PEACE OUT
Your writer,
Maria

Jetlagging in Legoland: The “inside-out” guide to Fontys Venlo survival

and, HELLO AGAIN

After quite some time Follow mE reappears again! Going back to Fontys a couple of weeks ago was equivalently painful to getting slapped in the face (got several things to do!). Therefore, starting to write again took me longer than expected. I apologize for that. But ok, we get started, again:

After globetrotting for the past year due to the internship and exchange semester abroad, we are officially back for our last year of studies in The Netherlands (nom de plume, “Legoland”).

You know… perhaps it depends on where you are coming from, but from my perception every time I come back to this country everything is just too perfectly put in place. The first time I ever came here was like stepping into a new-kind-of-“fairytaly”-dimension and this time was no exception; because after being in Guatemala, then India and then Spain… ‘The Legolands’ comes as a bit of a…

…“neatness shock”!

Even the train rides seem to be so properly (obsessive compulsively) organized. It is like you have got cows, then sheep, then horses, then cows, then sheep, then horses, etc… (they could even scroll a billboard right outside the window, without the train even moving and fool you as far as the ‘view’ is concerned!).

Ok… all this with the exception of individuals coming from Amsterdam, who may have ‘misbehaved’ in some sort of way! In these particular cases it would be more like:

Yes: Children, adolescents, adults… avoid eating the smurfs’ ‘houses’ when in Amsterdam! Because afterwards they will take revenge on you!

[I am not ‘speaking’ out of personal experience by the way! Do not take this the wrong way!].

So, I will stop fooling around! This blog post is dedicated to those students who are considering Fontys as their future ‘higher education supplier’ and are (or perhaps will be) experiencing a ‘cognitive dissonance’ (doubts) of some sort.

Today I will try to cover the basics of what Fontys and Venlo is all about as sincerely, briefly (so you don’t get bored) and clearly as possible.

The location: Venlo

Welcome to Venlo! Hmmm… What can I say about Venlo? I mean I cannot lie to you; the first thing you will notice when you come here is that you have decided to spend at least 2 and one half years of your life in a Ghost Town!

[..now you are supposed to left-click on the video below]

[…just to make you feel better about it!]

Good news though: It is not as bad as it sounds! You have the advantage of being in a ‘centric spot for travelling. You have got Germany just a few minutes away, Belgium is also very close; a few hours away from France, The Czech Republic and you can also swim to the UK if you ‘fancy it’.

The nightlife in Venlo might disappoint you. Over and over and over and over and over (just… over and over again!). BUT, when you have accepted the fact that it undeniably will not get any better, you can either make your own nightlife in a house/s (…with black-headed people!)…

…or, even flee Venlo from time to time!

Cities such as Eindhoven and Nijmegen are close, which have a larger young/student population than Venlo, and so they have more of an active and live environment. Maybe Düsseldorf or Cologne are other options for ‘entertainment’. Then, the  ‘popular’ area to go out for some Fontys students is in a German town called Kaldenkirchen, which is practically neighboring Venlo. I cannot really comment on this as I have been there just once.

The University: Fontys International Business School

[Perhaps if I write something bad about Fontys, I might run the risk of failing every subject this semester! ...but, I will take the chance! Just for you my dear readers!]

I would like to remind you that this is my own (and therefore, subjective) personal opinion. What can be perceived as a “pro” for me might be perceived as a “con” for you and vice versa! Of course, all opinions are equally important. You can still feel or think whatever you want to feel or think. Relax, take it easy!

The protons (Fontys’ positive charge): The good thing about Fontys, and no one can take that away from this institution, is the 1 and a half year of freedom which is given to you. Meaning the 1 and a half year you go for the semester abroad and the two internships. In other words, the best thing at Fontys is actually that you get to leave Fontys! (I am joking! Or maybe not! You know, I simply cannot help it! I am sorry…).

This ‘going abroad’ aspect and the internship practical approach was the thing that mostly caught my attention when deciding to apply for Fontys. Without this, I might have never had my International Marketist jungle adventures in India, which I would not change for anything in the world.

The neutrons (Fontys’ neutral charge): Although Fontys calls itself an “International Business School”, lets clear something up: It is still on its way to becoming an “International Business School”. In diapers yet, maybe beginning to crawl.

Yes, there are much more exchange and international students coming in comparison to 3 years ago when I just arrived; but lets face the truth, international students are still a minority, Dutch students are more but not so many, and German students form the greater majority (approximately an 80%, please correct me if I am wrong).

The electrons (Fontys’ negative charge): Three main words – organization, atmosphere and exams -.

Fontys could be compared to one of those students who tends to miss deadlines, is not on time and forget things from time to time (…like me, for example). You need something and they can take ages, without caring, really! If you are late for paying them one month though, then it becomes a scandal!

The atmosphere could be improved, especially during lectures (some of them!). Maybe it is because the class where I am is small, merely 13 students, but there is no interaction. It is like a “post-apocalypse”-kind-of-environment. By the end of it, merely a few ‘survive’ (most of the times I cannot include myself in this group).

And then the exams… this was mostly a problem during the first year – I would read questions which were written in this codified English language I could not really be sure how to interpret-. Later I found out that it was because the questions had been directly translated to English from Dutch or German. It made exams, more confusing than they usually (already) are!

Apart from this, well, you learn. You do learn fancy marketing terms such as the one I used previously –‘cognitive dissonance’ – and everything that comes with it! So, you know, you can bike on the streets of The Legolands and scream “cognitive dissonance” all over the place and everyone will look at you like: “Genious!” …Haha! It sounds so ‘cultured’!

[I’ll try it in my next internship interview… you know, just slip in the word “cognitive dissonance” somewhere in the conversation and, for all one knows, I might end up as the company’s General Manager!]

…Oh, I am in a good mood today (already more like ‘tonight’)! And I hope you are also, because one last section of this blog post and I say goodbye for today!

Transportation and housing

I can understand that whenever you go to a new place you have to think about these two ‘little details’.

Here in Venlo, the transportation answer is simple: A bike. You are in the world’s bike country, so there are more than enough bike roads for you to spin on! You exercise, get some breeze on your face and take care of your planet; fair enough! Venlo is small, so you can get around fairly easily.

When it comes to housing it takes a little more care. If you are a first year student, Fontys probably helps you arrange the accommodation for you. There are three student buildings at the moment -Pastoor Op Heijstraat (first picture), Doctor Cuypersstraat (second picture – while under construction-) and Prinsessesingel-.

*A short, but useful advice: If you do not like rats in your flat, avoid a room at Prinsessesingel! As I have heard more than one story involving ‘rodents’ in that particular building.

In case you have decided to look for a place by your own means, I recommend 100% to first check the room and house (or flat), along with knowing who you will be living with before signing any contract (of course, doing this is recommendable to do in any place, wherever you end up going).

The reason in this case is that, well, Venlo is kind of full of illegal substances producing/trading… to put it that way! So it is good to know where you end up living. Despite this, you can always find nice and quiet places, and Venlo is a safe place.

Personally, I never faced any troubles, until recently when returning to my previous house and finding out that it had become a “disco”: Parties that last more than 48 hours non-stop, broken windows at past midnight and finding a stranger sleeping on top of your washing machine are more than enough signs to look for a new place! Now it is happy time, feeling like I live on the top of a tree, a good view rather than broken windows: We survived!

…and you also survived this long post, congratulations!
Thank you for reading!
‘Till next week!

Peace out
Your writer,
Maria