From Survival to Power – Part I

 

When Wishes Build Systems

Nowadays, I often hear this from elderly people when we talk about wars, crimes, terror, refugees, politics, technology, artificial intelligence, computers, and billionaires:

“Everything was better in the old days.”

As a child, I heard this nonsense too. That’s the human being — even with a brain.

Humans remember events, not patterns. History does not come back wearing the same uniform, it updates its wardrobe.

History is part of the school curriculum.

They teach us dates,

not

mechanisms.

We learn about heroes,

and not

systems.

And of course, fear resets learning.

That was one of the reasons I hated school

BUT

I have read what my ancestors lived

NOT what schools summarized.

 

In the beginning, millions of years ago, the first and loudest wish was survival.

Food today.

Water nearby.

Shelter tonight.

Safety from predators and enemies.

Life was immediate, and Tomorrow was never guaranteed!

*

They had no villas, no three or four cars, no private jets, no cruises. They did not play golf, football, or tennis.

*

In prehistory, when humans were still part of nature, and survival became somewhat stable, another wish emerged:

Life beyond today.

Healthy children.

Fertility — of people, animals, and land.

Protection of the group.

They learned belonging and recognition:

To be part of the tribe — not cast out.

To be seen as useful, brave, wise, or skilled.

Loneliness then was a death sentence.

*

At that time, there were no sports, no nightclubs, and no political parties.

*

The unknown arrived:

Storms.

Disease.

Drought.

Death.

Sun.

Rain.

War.

Love.

So humans imagined many gods — each responsible for one force.

All terrifying.

All unexplained.

Humans wished for:

Spirits that protect.

Rituals that calm chaos.

Stories that turn fear into meaning.

This is the soil where goddesses, gods, myths, and magic grew.

Then came curiosity and the search for meaning — the quiet but deep wish.

Even very early humans asked, without words:

Why are we here?

Why do we die?

What is beyond the dark?

Burials with objects, cave paintings, and symbols tell us clearly:

They did not just live.

They wondered.

A better future — hope. Hope was simple, but powerful:

A good hunt tomorrow.

A warmer winter.

Peace instead of conflict.

Not progress as we define it today, but less suffering.

From wish to belief

Belief was born from fear, not from lies.

Primitive humans did not invent gods — they needed explanations. Thunder was not physics; it was intention. Death was not an end; it had to be a passage.

Religion began as comfort, not control.

From belief to authority

Then came the quiet shift. Someone spoke for the gods. Someone interpreted the signs. Someone decided what was sacred. Power appears the moment meaning is monopolized.

When explanation becomes exclusive, hierarchy becomes inevitable.

 

Why “white men” enter the story

From tribes to cities, from cities to kingdoms, from kingdoms to empires

Power Centralized.

A king wanted:

One law.

One authority.

One loyalty.

Many gods were inconvenient.

Power settled where:

Writing systems controlled memory.

Armies controlled bodies.

Religion justified rule.

In Europe, this hardened into:

Divine kings.

Church–state marriage.

Later: colonial “civilizing missions.”

White is not about skin alone.

It is about who controlled the narrative — and the weapons.

***

Politics: religion without gods

Politics inherited religion’s structure:

Sacred symbols (flags instead of icons).

Rituals (elections, oaths, uniforms).

Enemies defined as evil.

Promises of salvation (nation, security, greatness).

God fades and Power remains.

 

When God ruled the sky, and the king ruled by God’s shadow, the land itself needed managers.

Feudalism was born…

Feudalism was a system, not an accident. It was a political technology, a social contract written in hunger, a hierarchy disguised as stability. To silence the shouts of hungry and angry farmers, kings and churches needed rules:

The Power Pyramid:

God — invisible, unquestionable.

King — chosen, sacred.

Lords — armed managers.

Knights — violence with rules.

Peasants / serfs — life as rent.

Manouchehr Abrontan 2026

Coming Soon… PART II

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THE LOST COLORS

“In a world plagued by conflicts, warfare, and the struggle against poverty, the vibrant colors of life are being extinguished. Innocent civilians and peaceful individuals fall victim to the atrocities committed by totalitarian states and oppressive regimes. This music video clip captures the essence of these struggles, serving as a powerful reminder of the destruction caused by these forces. Through a blend of evocative visuals and compelling music, it seeks to shed light on the urgent need for freedom, justice, and the restoration of humanity’s true colors.”

A film by: Manouchehr Abrontan

Camera: Hossein Sehatlou

©ManouchehrAbrontan2023





The Little Thing – COVID-19

The Little Thing

#thelittlethinghasmanyfaces

Global Hamlet is a place where people share their stories and ideas to be connected and united with their open minds and creative ideas.

In the beginning, no filmmaker dared to make a film about Covid. This film is made online and observed people’s life in different countries. When the Corona Pandemic hit our daily lives, everyone feared. They couldn’t cope with the situation. They were isolated and thought about that Virus, the little thing has changed their lives. Some of them found another little thing to survive the unsociable life. How could an invisible “Little Thing” affect our daily lives? How fragile are we when the little things would change our non-linear habits? Did we learn anything from Corona Time to be unified?

A film by: Manouchehr Abrontan

Music: Gilles Zimmermann ©GLOBALHAMLET 2020

We will watch the answers:

1. Part



2. Part



3. Part



4. Part



5. Part



Frankfurt Book Fair 2018

This year’s The Nobel Prize in Literature has been “postponed” (two will be awarded in 2019) because of a sex abuse scandal in the august halls of the Swedish Academy, which hands out the award. But, many people don’t care about that, besides, 70th Frankfurter Buchmesse – International Frankfurt Book Fair – took place 10-14 October 2018.

Why gourmet? Because this year the Frankfurt Book Fair’s visitors attended the fair, 0.5 percent less than in 2017, a total of 285,024 (2017: 286,425). The fair should find a way to attract more visitors.

The Frankfurter Buchmesse is the international publishing industry’s biggest trade fair – with over 7,300 exhibitors from 102 countries, around 286,000 visitors, over 4,000 events and some 10,000 accredited journalists and bloggers in attendance.

In this video, Mr. Denis Scheck explained that the Bestseller books do not have the best literature qualities! Just be careful and “do not fall into the trap” when you are going to buy books.

And the most beautiful part was the guest of honor, “Georgia”!



The awards

LiBeraturpreis 2018: Nguyen Ngoc Tu

Photo:Sigoneer

The LiBeraturpreis is the only German literary prize awarded exclusively to women from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world. In 2018, the award goes to the Vietnamese writer Nguyen Ngoc Tu for The Endless Field (German edition: Endlose Felder, Mitteldeutscher Verlag, translated by Günter Giesenfeld and Marianne Ngo), a collection of concise and densely told short stories full of longing.



The winners of the Global Illustration Award have just been awarded:

THE LIST AND ILLUSTRATIONS ARE HERE



The winners in the individual categories at a glance: 

Best International Literary Adaptation 

“INTRIGO – DEATH OF AN AUTHOR”, based on the novels by Håkan Nesser, directed by Daniel Alfredson 

Best International Literary Adaptation for Children or Young Adults 

Romy’s Salon (NL), directed by Mischa Kamp 

Best Illustrated Book on Film 

“Cinemaps: An Atlas of 35 Great Movies” (Quirk Books) 

In the category “Best Illustrated Book on Film”, which was awarded together with the MGIP Motovun Group of International Publishers, this year, there were also two runners-up: “Marilyn Monroe 50 sessions” (Knesebeck Verlag) and “Frankenstein – The First Two Hundred Years” (Reel Art Press).

MANOUCHEHR ABRONTAN



Greeting!

That is life!


We encounter many ways in our daily life that intersects and we are thinking; “Which Way”!

Some ask themselves; “Which is the best way for me”?

The others believe; “God, Gods, or Goddess (s) determine my way”! Many people use and toss a coin; “Head or Tail”? There are fellows who should use maps, the real paper maps to plan their destination for daily fates, chances or fortunes. Many use a compass. And the Digital Generation uses some Apps. All of them are fine, as long as they are happy! At least, I hope they are happy and not pretending to be!

I can’t do anything about it when there are people who are satisfied with their routines, as they call it “Standard of Life”!

But I call it “Attitude of Life” and choose the way that I have never been there before, and on my way with my bike, I came across different people who were walking, jogging and biking and as usual, I greeted them! Smiling and wishing them

A Good day!

A Nice Morning!

Or just a simple “HI”! But all the reactions were not the same!

Some were very friendly and answered my greeting in a friendly way. Some of them just nodded, some smiled and then there were people who

Looked straight through me

Or

Turned their heads 

And my “Greeting” likely fell on deaf ears

Simply

Ignoring my existence!

 

I biked further and passed by someone who was jogging. I greeted him and he asked me to stop. I did it and he made a face and looked at me:

Do you know me?

No!

Why did you say hello to me?

It is my attitude!

Very strange to me! It is not my standard greeting a stranger or accept his hello!

What is wrong with that?

You are a stranger! I don’t know you! That is my point!

 

But I greet everyone when I encounter people. It doesn’t matter who they are! I do it wherever I am and whatever I do!

I don’t want to receive any “HI” from unknown people! Clear?

Sure! But I feel, we, the human beings, are like those trees! Please look around! You see all of them, their roots are connected, knotted and tangled together! A simple “Greeting” gives us the real connection! It is a powerful blessing, a positive vibration! A simple hello could lead you to the oneness and merriment!

 

WHAT are you TALKING about!?

I don’t understand what you mean!

 

I mean, nobody is a stranger! We, the human beings, are divided by borders and politics. But our spirits have no colors. Our skins are different but our hearts and bloods are all the same!

You are really a strange man!

 

He got such a long face and turned his back to me and ran. I felt upset, not because I did something wrong, NO! I just wanted to share my feelings why I greet people. I was upset because he didn’t want to “IMAGINE” what I told him!

I continued to bike further along the forest and kept my spirit bright.

I came to this place and to my surprise, I saw the forest path boards with a missing direction.

Just the left side of the direction, that blank space board! Believe me, I didn’t do any filter by any photo softwares. That means I didn’t remove the text!

Now

What to do?

Some people would complain because they can’t find “THAT” blank unwritten space direction on the map and some just ignored the existence of the direction.

What a BAD Luck!

I don’t think that it is a bad or good luck! I just follow “My Destiny”, metaphorically!

Now, here is my text!

I chose that path because I knew many people never would do it. Unknown way, would be a big risk, but I needed to be alone and think about some people who never understood my HELLO with a friendly smile. May be they interpreted it that I am a cheat, a swindler, a thief, or a stalker. Why are they not thinking that a simple greeting won’t hurt any soul? Is that really complicated to feel or understand my point of view? 

The path was like a time tunnel and as soon as I started to bike through that path, it transformed into countries, cities and places where I have been.

The both sides of the way changed into buildings and streets at different times. I could see all people whom I greeted and we became friends. Just the recent memories from Hanoi – Vietnam, make the path colorful.

I have been there for two months in 2018. Every day I walked from my hotel to the Vietnam TV station. As usual, I started greeting people, the hotel porters, male and female cleaners, the shop owners, companies, securities, resellers, peddler, street traders, vendors, etc. and they responded to my simple “HI” very friendly. Sometimes they invited me for a cup of tea or coffee. And in this way I found Harry. He was not only responded to my greeting, but also brought a plastic stool and asked me to sit while he was going to make some tea. I thanked him and promised to come back after my work.

In the evening, I got back to Harry. I asked him for his delicious Döner and while eating we talked. He was an educated and knowledgeable man and always smiled with his heart. He brought me to some local pops, restaurants and let me get to know his friends. I have learned a lot from Harry!

In two months, I have eaten by Harry. I have learned many topics from him about Vietnam and its society and everyday I got the chance to know his family and neighbors. One evening, he and his family invited me for dinner and I found nothing but hospitality among them.

I listened to them carefully. I let them bring me to their worlds. I swim and climb where they want to guide me. I never judge them by their backgrounds, birthplaces, skin colors, nationalities, religions and beliefs. Through their ways, I have learned how crucial this world is. And I feel my roots are growing deeper under the ground and tied to others roots. Therefore, I have learned many languages too

Greet people!

Wish them luck!

A nice day!

A colorful Time!

A bright night!

And show them my appreciations being with me and making my life richer. In this way I have built up my own social network! The real SOCIAL one!

In the night, when I am going to sleep, I think about all those wonderful people and my friends and how rich I am! It really feels marvelous!

I wish you also

Sleep in peace and wake up in joy!

I never say goodbye! I use to say;

See you buddies!

The fact is, I look beneath the surface to appreciate the quality of life!

Manouchehr Abrontan