René Seifert - Entrepreneur & Global Citizen

3D-Rendering of Heart, originally uploaded by drurin.

I am just testing the direct upload function from my Flick-account to my blog. The picture, by the way, I took at the event at Teleradiology Solutions on Tuesday. It shows how the company is able to transform 2D-pictures from a CT into a 3D-model which can be turned around at will.

I believe that particularly Westerners tend to attach quickly labels like „democracy“ (=good) and anything which does not run (useless) elections every 4 years „a totalitarian regime“ (=bad). Having lived in Germany, certainly a democracy, for more than 30 years of my life and almost 4 years in India, acclaimed as “the biggest democracy in the world”, I have gotten a bit disillusioned by that easily proclaimed equation “democracy = good”; “rest = bad”.

Let’s ask ourselves the question what a democracy should entail and let’s examine India: Yes, people are able to vote, but what is it worth? Effectively, the vote is a selection between a rock and a hard stone where after 2 to 3 years of the rock, the hard stone will take power and vice versa. Corruption of the political system is beyond imagination and it really doesn’t matter at which party to look at. Where effectively every public project works at the speed of a snail with the biggest portion of funds end up in corrupt pockets instead as concrete on the roads. Let’s inspect the rule of law and equality in front of justice. This in particular is a joke in India where every month a few hundred women go up in flames in their kitchens because their families did not pay up the dowry. Although everybody knows what’s happening, do you think anybody cares? Subsequently, out of entirely mutual distrust between citizens and the government, India entirely lacks any civic sense. Just take a walk in any Indian city and you will see what I mean. Do you think the farmer who is about to swallow poison because he is not able to repay the loan loaded with daylight robbery interest rates really cares if he has this magic vote he can cast every few years? Or those women who go up in flames? Or those who queue days and nights in front of government offices without any civil servant paying any attention them for something which is important for them to survive? I could continue the list endlessly. My point that I am trying to make is not blunt India-bashing, it’s rather putting that much celebrated label of “biggest democracy in the world” into right proportion.

Let’s move on to Germany. A lot of the points above certainly don’t hold true for Germany. Yet, just because it is a democracy, it does not mean that things are in good shape. Take the town of Mügeln in Saxony where eight Indians got hunted down and beaten up by Neo-Nazis last week. It is too simplistic to retort that these are singular cases and justice will be done. In the latter I do believe, but if some Indian friend asked me if Germany was safe to travel, I would affirm for the former west, but express my reservations for certain parts in the east. Why can’t a society cope effectively with such antisocial elements? Let’s look at the massive overregulation and superfluous interference of the state in terms of a hugely inflated tax regime (for me the harsh word “regime” truly deserves it connotation in this context) and ease of doing business. Or useless, inflated and redundant semi-state organizations like the “Kassenärztliche Vereinigung” (For my non-German readers. You better don’t want to know. It’s some apparatus that is in charge for allegedly creating equality by distributing funds for the public health system in Germany). Not just that this bureaucratic monster, as an example of galore of others, is hugely inefficient in the allocation of resources, but it also grows and absorbs resources for itself like a cancerous abscess. And I wonder that Germans have become so complacent not to call these obvious defects “totalitarian” and treat them as massive derogations of essential civil liberties. Finally let’s take the abysmal chancellery of Gerhard Schröder who got elected once as replacing 16 years of Helmut Kohl, and after a miserable 4-year track-record he got re-elected based on his undisputed talents as the biggest con-man in Germany after World War II. Let’s conclude this chapter with the country having let abuse itself in the last two decades by getting flooded with the wrong people from abroad who don’t contribute neither to society nor economy and moreover don’t possess the least affinity to the existing culture. This again is labeled, and it’s called “asylum”.

To summarize my criticism about these alleged “perfections” of a “democracy”: In case such a “democratic” system has been too long intact, not disrupted by major overthrow or such, it tends to become highly self-serving. It will create an agony among the people and disconnect the act of election from true choices for a difference. And this agony will lead to something which Germans call “Politikverdrossenheit” (=sullenness for politics) as it either makes people feel suffocated from the governmental strangulations. Or, even worse case, there won’t even be the pain of realizing is.

After this long fore-play, let’s turn to my affirmative case for Singapore. To be very clear: There is no paradise on earth and the grass always tends to be greener on the other side, which, after grazing on it for some time will begin to tarnish. However, all that criticism on Singapore is in my opinion entirely exaggerated. Guys, I believe that Singapore with that type of criticism has a large luxury problem – at worst. Historically, in 1965 Singapore got expelled from Malaysia and this unfertile piece of swamp could have just decayed to just another country like Bangladesh where both governance and its people are pitifully poor. But maybe, at the same time, carrying the phenomenal label of being a “democracy”. Instead, what followed is one of the most amazing success stories in latest history. If there is any label which hits the point, then it is “Singapore Inc.”, suggesting that the city-state is being run rather like a corporation.

In the nutshell, Singapore is an example how the concept of a “benign ruler” has successfully materialized. Taking up all my points of above from India and Germany, and they will epitomize exactly at the opposite in Singapore: No crime, no corruption, law & order, civic servants treating citizens like customers, low taxes, cleanliness, free commercial environment leading to a GDP per capita on a level of a developed country. And the best: All this embedded in constant feedback-loops where the system is self-healing, self-improving instead of self-serving. And the other side of the equation, and I second that entirely, Singapore knows exactly what it does not want: drugs (you get hanged), vandalism or anti-social behavior (you get caned) and undifferentiated immigration. Overall, I believe that the overall mix of initiatives and punishment is in the right equilibrium. Especially, after seeing it with my own eyes that there is nothing like a constant “big brother is watching you” with a minor infringement getting immediately prosecuted. Singapore Inc. does not waste precious resources on such stupidities. It would simply be inefficient.

Sure, there are no elections like we know them in those loudly heralded “democracies”. Correct, freedom of press according to our understanding does not really exist. Do I find that good? No. But looking at the overall picture and giving up here and there something to gain much more in other parts is for my taste a viable compromise. The worst mistake, by the way, which is made most often in the west consists of the assumption that “those poor Singaporeans must feel awfully suppressed and subjugated by a totalitarian regime and have no deeper longing than that for freedom and democracy”. Or in the more subtle form: “They have never tasted the sweet fruit of democracy, so they can’t even know on what they are missing out.” Get a life, frankly: Nobody in Singapore gives a shit. By contrast, they are rightly proud of what they have achieved in just 42 years through hard work within a favorably installed governmental framework.

Admittedly, I don’t feel able to answer the most daunting question: How can you make the “benign ruler”-model happen in other countries without having them drift away into real totalitarism? Does it “scale” beyond 4.5 mn people? I don’t know. But still, if I had a choice between my home country Germany being run in such a shitty way like nowadays or being governed like Singapore, I don’t have to think twice. In that respect I feel safe to say that “Singapore is a blueprint how a country should be run”.

11.35 PM

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Sometimes you know why people are where they are and that’s well deserved. Take Larry Page, Google’s Co-Founder who gave a talk in February this year. As Larry being a PhD-droptout from Stanford University, his traits are very much that of a scientiest which you feel across the entire speech. If you got an hour and eight minutes, skip the daily soap and check this out:

Larry Page as the Übernerd is certainly not as a compeliing speaker as for instance Bill Clinton, yet what he has to say is pretty powerful. He talks about how Google as a company basically evolved by accident from a scientific project and how this could serve as an example for many other areas. What was critical in his view is to combine scientific excellence with entrepreneurial zest, business acumen and marketing focus. He moved on to talk about lots of problems that could and should be worked on from a scientific perspective in order to then build scale in the marketplace. One of his personal issues of interest is obviously climate change and green energy. He quotes his “favourite statistic” on the solar power that goes down per year in the desert of Nevada per quare mile - more or less the area that a nuclear power occupies. And it turns out that basically the amount of energy delivered as solar heat from the former equals that of nuclear heat from the latter.

Interesting also to follow Larry in order to get into the mindset how Google as an organization works on specifically defined problems: with small teams of around 10 people, with the experience to deliver the best results. During the Q&A session a lady from the audience wants to know how applied science could help building jobs. In a polite way, Larry defies the inner logic of the question by retorting “building jobs is not the key metric we should look at”. Rather he suggests, we should imagine a state of happyness in which we strive to live and subsequently build our capabilities around it. As an example he mentions that there were hardly any more jobs in U.S.-agriculture compared to a few decades ago, “and we still have enough to eat.” Indeed, that’s the best pleading for relentless structural reform through innovation propelled by a higher cause.

You might be wondering why I am blogging today as if it was my last day in life. I am currently updating my cerebral Web 2.0 hard drive. And I am wondering in turn how how a piece of content gets appreciated - rather unexpectedly. I took this video 4 weeks ago in Tokyo which shows the poisenous Blowfish being cut by a skilled chef. The point is that the fish is still alive and moving throughout the procedure.

Interestingly, the 2:55 minutes film has been viewed more than 1.600 times and commented on a regular bases.

12.44 AM

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I wrote about it on Tuesday here, today The Economist has picked up the story as well. Richard Gere’s kissing of Indian actress Shilpa Shetty and the subsequent arrest warrant from a mentally disoriented judge.

There is hardly anything which stirs more controversy in India than “SEX”. Merely speaking out the word will make people either pale or blush. The level of hypocrisy is endless. I remember the story of a former employee of mine with whom I had built a good rapport. He mentioned that in the absence of his parents during their vacation, he had his girlfriend moved into the house. God beware that his parents knew. Not just about her moving in for a week, but for him actually having one. Him, who was supposed to be married off according to the choice of them.

Anyway, I congratulated him to his move of courage and and tapped him on the shoulder for his civic disobedience. Then I asked him if later in the future he would allow his son to move his girlfriend in when he was out on vacation. “No, Sir, of course not!”. - “What a hypocrite you are”, I replied. He had the final say with “Sir, that’s the beauty of Indian culture.”

Just before my departure to the airport for Tokyo to the EO-University , I came across this interview (German language) on Spiegel.de with the famous Indian economist Jagdish Bhagwati. In his charming ways he still sees a future for Europe, but jokes around that “Europe, you will not fall asleep, will you?”

In my view, the benefits of the European integration certainly do outweigh the challenges: First and foremost, looking back “only” a thousand years in European history, a period of peace at least within the member states for the last 60 years should not be taken for granted. It’s not just the “big talk” of the flat world, but definitely much earlier the good feeling of one Europe where it makes a difference to travel and to trade with one currency. Just to name one big achievement.

On the other hand, with my overall sceptism of Germany as one of the steamboats of the EU, one sadly has to add that there are two other countries which are even more notorious underperformers: France and Italy. All three together, part of Donald Rumsfeld’s famous saying of “Old Europe”, umfortunately possess a strong political and particularly economic weight in the entire European fabric. No wonder that under such a dominant leadership of gradually market-averse members, the club has developed into a cancerous monster of over-bureaucratization which badly requires radical reforms.

Mr. Bhagvati quotes the example of over-standardization for all and everything like the size of condoms. In that context Italy must have rebelled, because they wanted them produced 1 cm longer. Maybe that’s right when I am in the country for a visit and need to buy some, but usually the Italian size rather lies in the realm of microscopic measures - LOL

Prague, city of beauty, centre of history and home to Kafka. Once she instills her charm on you, it feels like a magnet that pulls you back for more. It’s been some 7 years that I had been there the last time - hence high time to a reloaded homage of presence.

The other side of the medal is clearly that hardly anywhere else the wisdom “you are not alone” is as true as in Prague. Although beginning of March is not even top-season for traveling, other people seem to fall for the same line of thought to pass Prague a visit on the weekend. Low budget travelers from Eastern Germany, likewise usually purchase power strong Japanese. Like this guy who pretends not to have anything to do with the “who is the gayest chap in da house”-contest by looking deliberately into the other direction - LOL

In contrast to my previous visits when everything was literally “dirt cheap”, prices have moved up steeply. In addition, cities which live to a good piece from tourism tend to develop an unpleasant environment of scams, touts and overcharging. After three years in India, my skin has certainly become thick and my attention vigilant to such stuff, but it becomes really annoying where you expect it least. And it goes like this, for example: All written guides about Prague warn you about the taxi drivers who want to take you for a ride. As you are on vacation and don’t want to be in constant “combat mode”, you ask your concierge a 5 star hotel to call you a taxi to bring you to a place 8 minutes away on the other side of the river. The taxi drops you, charges 350 Czech crowns and you wonder that this was quite expensive (EUR 12.-) compared to what your tour-book suggests. Back to the hotel, whereto you flagged a cab yourself, kept vigilant, the price for the same route amounted suddenly to only 150 Czech crowns, you complain about overcharge to which the concierge’s dry reply is: “Well, the 350 crowns are a fixed price, so you are comfortable that you don’t get cheated.” A Kafkaesque joke couldn’t crack better …

Everyone needs an anchor. Mine for coming to Prague was a woman, my undisclosed long-year companion, and another woman we went to see, listen and cheer: Shakira. Playing live on her “Oral Fixation”-Tour through Europe. One of the few artists I always wanted to watch in concert.

Her performance exceeded all expectations, especially after such an event I feel like starting to revalue the artistic work of music which goes beyond just an omnipresent sound-carpet running in the background. In spite of being a super-talented writer, musician, dancer, beautiful woman, Shakira’s appeal lies in her natural appearance which doesn’t need huge special effects or an army of choreographers. She is the show, the show is her and her truth is that hips don’t lie

“And I’m on tonight
You know my hips don’t lie
And I’m starting to feel it’s right
All the attraction, the tension
Don’t you see baby, this is perfection”

Prague and Shakira together, certainly the combination of accomplished perfection.

3.15 PM

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