The meaning of meaning II

The beginning of the Gospel of St John. 'In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat verbum' ('In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God'). Source: click here. From:

The St Petersburg Gospels (eighth century)St Petersburg, National Library of Russia, MS. Lat. F.v.I. 8 , a gospel-book written at an unidentified centre, possibly in southern England, perhaps towards the end of the eighth century.

Und doch haben sie recht, die ich schelte:

Denn dasz ein Wordt nicht einfach gelte,

Das müsste sich wohl von selbst verstehen.

Das Wort ist ein Fächer! Zwischen den Stäben

Blicken ein Paar schöne Augen hervor.

Der Fächer ist nur ein lieblicher Flor,

Er verdeckt mir zwar das Gesicht,

Aber das Mädchen verbirgt er nicht,

Weil das Schönste, was sie besitzt,

Das Auge, mir ins Auge blitzt.

And yet they are right, those whom I'm scolding:

Because a word isn't simply valid,

Which of course is clearly obvious.

The word is a fan! Between its sticks

Two beautiful eyes are looking at you.

The fan is only a lovely veil,

I admit, it covers the face,

But it doesn't hide the girl,

Because the most beautiful she possesses,

The eye, flashes into my eye.

Joh. Wolfgang von Goethe

What are you reading, my lord?

- Words, words, words.

Shakespeare

Mankind has always had problems in making a distinction between what is really “true”and what is “only a representation”. I could give numerous examples of it, but let’s restrict ourselves to law. Law pretends to find the truth in cases of crime or conflicts between individuals, and test this truth against the rules. Witnesses have to promise by oath that they will tell “the truth, only the truth and nothing but the truth”. Modern law has been heavily influenced by insights about scientific investigation developed since about 250 years, which gradually grew to the generally accepted conclusion that in science and in law only those events, phenomena, situations etc. belong to “the truth” that (a) are observable by human senses and (b) are agreed upon that they are observable by human senses, by generally accepted “common sense”, i.e. the values and norms of the culture in which the laws and investigation methods take place. Indeed, to avoid disputes and conflicts about what is “generally accepted common sense”, rules to determine what this entails have been codified in law itself, too.

Philosophy of science has invented the concept of “inter-subjectivity” to indicate that 100% “objectivity” cannot be obtained by human senses. Before these about 250 years the ruling cultures of Western civilisation have been aware of this, too, but many decisions of what was “generally accepted common sense about what is observable by human senses” were taken by political and religious power.

So, what could be read in Holy Books was readable, thus these texts were also clear and understandable by everybody who could read. Religions with one or more Holy Books were thus called “revelation religions”, because in these books God Himself is assumed to reveal what is true. In this idea the concept of “inter-subjectivity” is ignored and/or rejected. The early-Medieval Christians were debating about what had to be understood by the gospels, and what gospels could be declared “legitimate” and what gospels could not. Also, what essential dogma’s should be incorporated into the Christian religion had to be codified and made clear to people as “the prescribed Truth”. Dogma’s are elements of truth not observable by human senses, but stated, again, in multi-interpretable words. In Eastern Christianity a dogma is recognised as a mystery that cannot be further discussed or analysed, implicitly recognising its symbolic function (“symbol” interpreted as “symbolic for the Holy Truth”). In the West, however, dogma’s became starting points for extensive theologian debate. The Council of Nicea was a milestone in establishing the legislation of truth for the Christian Church. I believe that, in effect, the Roman Catholic Chuch has been officially founded in the Council of Nicea.

Between people in the West, but also within these people, conflicts arose debating the dogma’s. It is generally assumed that Reformation took place because of misconduct of the Roman Catholic elite, but I think there was more. John Calvin c.s. also applied scientific reasoning to dogma’s in his predestination doctrine, which became a dogma in itself. The dogma-debaters were all erudite scholars, but their theories had to be made clear to the then illiterate masses, who fully had to come to terms with the meaning of life, the opinion of what was true held by their local nobility, and all kinds of uncertainties which are considered “certain” by 21st-century, average-educated people. This created (and still creates) much misery suffered by “orthodox” religious people who ask themselves if they are “truly converted” or not, when they are in their hour of dying.

I hope these words of mine illustrate the confusion when it comes to determine what is “true” or not. My believe is that it is commonly agreed upon that there is a truth or truths, but that mankind doesn’t manage to capture this in language words. Why not? Just because these words are understood in different ways by people, dependent on if, and how, they are learned and understood by children and adolescents in the environment that raises and educates them (if they are educated at all). Some philosophers reason that there is no truth at all, but I think that all philosophy must be stated in words and thoughts in words, and that even truth-deniers have to admit that they exist, and that there is an earth, a moon etc. etc. that everybody can see with their senses.

Recently I read some information about “picture thinking” which I found very interesting in this context. There is a small minority of intelligent people who are not well able to arrange their thoughts in verbal concepts: they are naturally inclined to think in visual representations. Of course they experience much difficulty in school education and verbal reasoning, but they excel in finding solutions for all kinds of difficult situations that verbally thinking people have the greatest problems with. I’m sure I sometimes come across them in the Hotel Management School where I work. They are not able to write a dissertation or assignment according to the standards and reading their products one would ask how this student got admittance to the school in the first place, but when one learns how they perform in their internship job as a management trainee in a 5-star hotel, there is nothing but excellence. No business organisation is more hectic than a big luxury hotel in a metropolis city where our trainees are working as part of their study. One needs people as managers, who can oversee a situation immediately, who are well able to anticipate how situations will look like and what resources and facilities they require, and take the right decisions on the spot. Who are also able to manage, no, to master themselves and keep feeling sure and confident, also when much spending guests are treating them rudely. These people are confident when a verbally thinking individual (like me) would almost die with a dry mouth of stress. On the other hand, they feel often very stressed when they have to hold a presentation before an audience, which takes place at the school quite often and until recently I was wondering how these stress-proof youngsters could be so nervous when they are required to perform a presentation. I don’t say that all these students are picture-thinkers, but I suspect that their number is over-presented in our school, and that picture-thinking is not an either-or characteristic, but follows more or less a gradual scale.

Turning back to the truth and how we humans are dealing with it. I believe we are able, other than animals, to “see” the truth, only we are not able to capture it in language-words or pictures. Next time, before analysing the phenomenon of hospitality, and what we understand by it in its deepest sense (as promised in our posting “the meaning of meaning I”), more about the Truth as it manifests itself in poetry, symbols and human interaction. It will appear that my meaning of meaning is supported by nobody less than Norbert Elias.

paintings and photographs

Last Saturday I read in my newspaper “Leeuwarder Courant” an item about the famous portrait of Johannes Vermeer “girl with a pearl” in which this painting was compared with two photographs with models. The photographs tried to imitate the painting. I came across that before: setting up a scene, as similar as possible to the painting (light, colour, position of figures, face, etc.) and always I get convinced of the superiority of the painting above the Photo. The Leewarder Courant published two photos: one of Scarlett Johansson in the film “Girl with a pearl earring” (2003) and one photo made by a mother, of her young daughter. I couldn’t get hold of the mother’s photo yet, but what I saw was a superficial similarity with the original, which was even stronger than the similarity between the original and the photo of Scarlett Johannnson. What struck me most, however was the facial expression in the three pictures. The original shows a girl who just heard the watcher saying something, or entering the room. What she hears is just enough to raise her interest, and she turns her head to the person who interrupted whatever she was occupied with (reading, playing the harpsichord, broidery). She is not startled not really surprised, her eyes are calm, but immediately showing a willingness to deep interest in what you as the watcher, and her “disturber” has to say, even more, what kind of person you are. It is really a frozen moment in time, to which no preparation took place and raising questions about what will follow. All that embedded in a masterly arrangement of form, light and colour. An ingenious piece of art, only comparable to the Mona Lisa. As a museumcard-holder I can watch her for free when I am in The Hague and take the effort to visit the Mauritshuis.

Then the mother’s picture. This girl is a little bit younger than Vermeer’s girl, but her face expresses a total different situation. She looks at her mother, wondering if she, at last, now looks the right way, wanting that it’s all over. Her eyes show no interest in who you, as a watcher, are or what you have to say. But the physical resemblance with Vermeer’s girl is really striking. Also the light is very similar, Vermeer shows more contrast in light-dark, only her blouse’s colour is green and Vermeer’s blouse is golden and shows almost no wrinkles or plies as in the photograph.

Then the photo of Scarlett Johansson. Here the promotion of the film is more important than resemblance with the original. What you see is a lady with a very sensible mouth, ready to kiss the watcher. She doesn’t turn her head to you in a movement that is goind on or has just been completed, no, she is already in conversation with you. Even the physical resemblance with Vermeer’s girl, who is clearly a modest and well-raised young lady, isn’t there, she wouldn’t dare making the suggestion to kiss you, it’s innocence and maybe a very little bit of curiosity and expectation that she radiates. Outright assertiveness and “I am in charge of the situation” is what Scarlett wants to express.

So this was another confirmation of my opinion that trying to imitate a painting, especially of such grandeur as Vermeer’s pearl girl, will only let the original shine more by its contrast with your attempts. I think the other way around this will also be the case, especially with portraits made by an excellent portrait photographer.

I ‘ll keep trying to find a publishable version of the mother’s photo to show you.

And now... for something completely different!

Warning: partially inspired by the style of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” so if you hate this style then skip this posting).

Translating poetry, I think, is a means by which you can make the national poetry more, let’s say, international. Because there is so much nice Dutch poetry that can’t be understood by non-Dutch people and that’s kind of shame I think. So I made an anthology of three great poems that every well-educated Dutchman or –woman knows because it was on TV or they learnt it by heart for a school literature presentation. Of course, to internationalise the poems I made an attempt to translate two of them, the third one was already available in translated version on the Internet. I hope I don't violate copyrights, I mentioned the source.Well, the first one is by our great Dutch poet Cees Buddingh’. Yes, the apostrophe really belongs to his name. It’s called “The blauwbilgorgel” and Buddingh’ got inspired by by reading a British story called “The bluebillgurgle”.

De Blauwbilgorgel

Ik ben de blauwbilgorgel,
Mijn vader was een porgel,
Mijn moeder was een porulan,
Daar komen vreemde kind’ren van.
Raban! Raban! Raban!

Ik ben de blauwbilgorgel
Ik lust alleen maar korgel,
Behalve als de nachtuil krijst,
Dan eet ik riep en rimmelrijst.
Rabijst! Rabijst! Rabijst!

Ik ben de blauwbilgorgel,
Als ik niet wok of worgel,
Dan lig ik languit in de zon
En knoester met mijn knezidon.
Rabon! Rabon! Rabon!

Ik ben de blauwbilgorgel
Eens sterf ik aan de schorgel,
En schrompel als een kriks ineen
En word een blauwe kiezelsteen.
Ga heen! Ga heen! Ga heen!

In English:

I am the bluebillgurgle
My father was a purgle
My mother was a porulam,
There come weird children from.
Rabom, rabom, rabom.

I am the bluebillgurgle,
The only food I like is curgle,
Excepted when the night-owl cries,
Then I eat reep and rimmle-rice.
Rabice, rabice, rabice!

I am the bluebillgurgle,
When I don’t wock or wurgle,
I ‘m lying basking in the sun,
And cnooster with my cnezidun,
Rabun, rabun, rabun!

I am the bluebillgurgle,
Once I shall die of scurgle,
Change shrinking as a crix I shall,
Into a nice blue pebble, rounded well,
To hell, to hell, to hell!

The second poem is also very famous for its subtle presentation of sound, leaving impressions of heavenly colours and fragrances. It is sung by Sjef van Oekel, and written by Wim T. Schippers. Unfortunately I didn't manage to get the URL where the song is sung into this post-editor, but you can get it by typing "zuurkool met vette jus" into the Google-searchbar (don't forget the parentheses) and click on the site "WIM T. SCHIPPERS-PAGE". After that, click on the middle one of the 3 pictures at the bottom of the screen (after scrolling down a bit the 3 pictures will appear). Or, better: click here and choose the second video of Van Oekel

Zuurkool met vette jus
Soep vooraf, ja dat is mijn menu
Kaantjes met bruine bonen
Flink veel ei, niet van dat gewone
Blokken kaas met mayonaise
Warme friet en ook saucijzen
Sperciebonen uit het vet
Pap van brood, zo is 't maar net
Arme kip, zo van het spit
Flink veel aardappelen waar een korstje aan zit
Een lekker prakje met een kuiltje jus
Garstig spek, dat is wat ik lus
Gebakken milt versierd met een sprotje
Zure bommen uit een potje
Ossetong in hete brij
Gegarneerd met dampende prei
Zwanenhals gevuld met druiven
Paardehoef om af te kluiven
Wat dacht u van een pudding met bessesap
En als toetje garnalenpap
Slappe thee en vruchtenijsjes
Lendelappen met vele radijsjes
Gebraden haan in druipend vet
Koffie toe en dan naar bed
Hutspot met warme croquetten
En een doekje om de mond te betten
Oude kaas in vele talen
Oude vis kan veel verhalen
Rode wijn en pruimedanten
Zeer veel drank en ook fazanten
Tonnen bier en stapels brood
Harde worst vol kokosnoot
Pittig sausje van weleer
Ach, wat wil een mens nog meer
Kastanjes op de geitenbrij

Sauerkraut with fat gravy,
Soup as a starter, yes, that’s my menu,
Cracklings with brown beans,
Lots of eggs, not that common stuff,
Blocks of cheese with mayonnaise,
Hot chips and sausages, too,
Green beans from the fat,
Porridge of bread, that’s how it is!
Poor chicken, just from the barbecue,
A good many potatoes with a crust on them,
A tasty mash with a hole filled with gravy,
Rancid bacon, that’s food I like.
Baked spleen decorated with a small sprat,
Sour gherkins from a jar,
Ox’s tongue in hot pulp,
Decorated with fuming leek,
Swan’s neck stuffed with grapes,
Horse’s foot to nibble from,
What about a pudding with berry juice,
And a dessert of mashed shrimps,
Slack tea and fruit ice,
Tenderloin with many radishes,
Roasted rooster in dripping fat,
Then the coffee and to bed.
Stew with hot croquettes,
And a napkin to dab the mouth,
Old cheese in many languages,
Old fish can tell many stories,
Red wine and dried prunes,
Very many drinks and pheasants, too,
Barrels of beer and piles of bread,
Hard sausage full of coconut,
Spicy sauce of lore,
Ah, what more does one desire!
Chestnuts on the goats’ pastry

Mpffff! Especially close reading can tell you a lot about the poet’s intentions. Did you know that the poet also made a Dutch translation of the Beatles’ song “Yesterday”? That’s maybe for a future posting.

Then, as last but not least, by Paul van Ostayen:

Alpejagerslied

Voor E. du Perron

Een heer die de straat afdaalt
een heer die de straat opklimt
twee heren die dalen en klimmen
dat is de ene heer daalt
en de andere heer klimt
vlak vóór de winkel van Hinderickx en Winderickx
vlak vóór de winkel van Hinderickx en Winderickx
van deberoemde hoedemakers
treffen zij elkaar
de ene heer neemt zijn hoge hoed in de rechterhand
de andere heer neemt zijn hoge hoed in de linkerhand
dan gaan de ene en de andere heer
de rechtse en de linkse de klimmende en de dalende
de rechtse die daaltde linkse die klimt
dan gaan beide heren
elk met zijn hoge hoed zijn eigen hoge hoed zijn bloedeigen hoge hoed
elkaar voorbij
vlak vóór de deur
van de winkel
van Hinderickx en Winderickx
van de beroemde hoedemakers
dan zetten beide herende rechtse en de linkse de klimmende en de dalende
eenmaal elkaar voorbij
hun hoge hoeden weer op het hoofd
men versta mij wel
elk zet zijn eigen hoed op het eigen hoofd
dat is hun recht
dat is het recht van deze beide heren


© 1928, Paul van Ostaijen From: Verzamelde gedichtenPublisher: Bert Bakker, Amsterdam, 2005ISBN: 90 351 2820 6 Paul van Ostaijen

BERSAGLIERI SONG

for E. du Perron

A gentleman going up the street
a gentleman going down the street
two gentlemen going up and down
that is the one gentleman goes up
and the other gentleman goes down
right in front of the shop of Henryson and Wenryson
right in front of the shop of Henryson and Wenryson
the famous hatmakers
they meet each other
one gentleman takes his high hat in his right hand
the other gentleman takes his high hat in his left hand
the one gentleman and the other
the right and the left the one going up and the one going down
the left going up
the right going down
each with his high hat his own high hat his bloody own high hat
pass each other
right in front of the door
of the shop
of Henryson and Wenryson
the famous hatmakers
then the two gentleman
the right and the left the one going up and the one going down
once past each other
put their hats on their heads again
don't misunderstand me
each puts his own hat on his own head
that is their right
that is the right of these two gentlemen

© Translation: 1982, James Holmes From: The First Book of Schmoll. Selected PoemsPublisher: Bridges, Amsterdam, 1982

Well, I hope you enjoyed the anthology.

Daily life in Bagdad

In my newspaper I found an article about a young woman keeping a weblog about her daily life in Bagdad. Very, very courageous indeed because if over there (forgive me the expression) you fart the wrong direction, you are not sure of your life anymore, and on top of that, what the heck if an innocent passer-by also falls victim to the "heroic" battle of anonymous fighters for Allah?
Anyway, her weblog didn't remain unnoticed by Dutch journalists and a great deal of it is translated in Dutch and published.: "Bagdad onder vuur, dagboek van een jonge vrouw in Irak" (vertaling Thijs Bartels, ISBN 9029078332).

You can find her weblog here, I also put it in my template under "links".

in memoriam Abbé Pierre

At 22 January at the age of 93, God invited Abbé Pierre to leave this world and come to His. When I was 16 I remember a visit to his projects in Paris with our school class, at that time I didn't realise what he meant for society: we boys found Napoleon's grave and the Eiffel Tower more exciting than the places filled with second-hand materials of Abbé Pierre. Now I hope that I'll be forgiven, because now it's the other way around for me. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when he well be declared a Saint of the Church, I'm sure. You can consider him the mother Theresa of Paris. Here you find more information about him.

The meaning of meaning

My profession is lecturer at an undergraduate Hotel Management School. As such I am interested in hospitality, especially in its manifestations in social reality, how it originated, why people find it important or less important, what motivates people to be hospitable or hostile (note well the similarity of those two words, as they have the same Latin root), etc. Before I will go deeper into it in coming postings, first something about meaning and “the meaning of meaning”.

In one of my previous postings I spoke about imposing poetical or ideological, or religious, in short, meaningful and/or symbolic reality on genuine reality. I did so in an attempt to interpret the subtitle of Goethes’ book “Dichtung und Wahrheit” (“Poetry/imagination/fabrication and Truth”). Before I will make an attempt to explain something of the concept of hospitality, first a little demonstration. In the illustrations you find two figures. One looks like a household ladder used by people who want to attach a lamp bulb in the ceiling lamp, or clean the window etc. The other one looks like a boat, also provided with a lamp which seems to be loosely attached to its stem, anyway the attachment isn’t visible on the picture. I’m sure that adult people who can read and write texts in Latin characters will not think of a household ladder in the first place when seeing the first illustration. They will instantly see it as the letter A. Only when they are asked to look at the figure and answer the question: “What does it looks like further?” They may answer “a household ladder”, but the chance that nothing else comes up in their minds, is also big. In their eyes the other figure, which in fact is the Arabic letter Feh, represents nothing else than maybe a boat or simply “an Arabic character”, if they don’t master the Arabic language.

This little demonstration gives rise to some intriguing questions: what we people see, is that true, and if it’s true, is it truth itself or a representation of the truth? And representation of the truth is only possible if we have an idea of what the truth entails, otherwise it is impossible to be represented by humans, isn’t it? Because many people will take it for granted, that the first picture IS the letter A, without thinking of what it represents. A loose letter represents nothing, except in mathematics, and even there it is something abstract. We see it as an element in language construction. However, when we see the word “table” we automatically “think of” the useful and concrete object present in every living room. That’s clear. But what to think of the word “truth” or “love” or so many religious words? What to think of the words “society”, “marketing”, “entrepreneurship”, “honesty”, “consciousness”, etc.? Thousands of articles and books have been written in which the author takes for granted that the reader will attach the same meaning to what (s)he writes, as (s)he does. That’s also why in serious papers and books authors dedicate their fist paragraphs to definitions and descriptions of what they mean by their subject topics. The reader then can assess if (s)he agrees or not. When the book is a bestseller this may lead to a public debate about the “truth” brought forward in it. In societies in which the written word and rationalism doesn’t play such a big role as it does in ours, representation of what’s considered to be the truth, and the truth itself – in this stage we can use the words “truth” and “reality” as having the same meaning – are often mixed up, at least, in our eyes! In one of the articles I read about the meaning of symbols I came across the following example:
“… or the example of Victor Turner, who draws attention to a specific kind of tree used as a symbol in a number of rituals by the Ndembi tribe: it represents womanhood, fertility, the mother-child bond, the unity and perseverance of the Ndembi in general, etc. One cannot fail to compare the Ndembi ritual with the different views between Protestant and Roman Catholics about the Christian ritual of the Last Supper: in some instances the tree represents mother's milk (the latex-like juice it produces), in other instances the tree or parts of it are used as a real medicine, really contributing to mother-like characteristics of women.
(Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols: Aspects of Ndembi Ritual (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1967).

(To be continued in one of next postings)

Dagobert Duck and Africa

Recently I read a newspaper article about a book that would give the answer to the question why Africa remained a poor continent and will remain so for many decades in the future. Unfortunately (people who know me will confirm that I 'm sometimes forgetful) I don't remember the book nor the author. But the content of the book was very enlightening. The reason why Africa remained poor despite all efforts to establish industries and commercial activities, is a cultural one. For instance, if you have a small company in the Netherlands, you are not obliged to give your product or service for free to family and other community members, but in large parts of Africa you are, so almost every starting company is deemed to go bankrupt (in the theory of this book, at least). If you are gifted with capabilities to complete a university study as a second or third son in your family, and your eldest brother is not, it is not uncommon in Africa to quit the university in order not to "trespass" him. Also, people who are rich and influential in Africa are far more obliged to share their wealth and influence with family and community (mostly the village or area where they were born) than they are in Europe. If they fail to fulfil this duty, then a curse will follow them over the world wherever they might go to escape. This theory of what I call "dominance of community relations over individual choice" is illustrated in the book by numerous examples of "unfair" behaviour.
Before we have our judgment ready about this theory, let's look at an example of the way we, as rich Westerners, award initiative and "rich" behaviour.

Donald Duck's rich uncle Dagobert is on his way to his work and passes a flower girl along the pathway. The flower girl kindly asks him to buy some flowers. When I read this, I immediately thought: that scrappy Dagobert will of course find buying flowers a waste of time and money. But on the other hand, what does a flower girl in the story, so I turned the page to see the rest of it. Dagobert "awards" the commercial initiative of the young and inexperienced entrepreneur by buying all flowers she has. The girl was of course very pleasantly surprised and says: Oh sir, how can I thank you? And Dagobert replies: By hard work! You have to sign this contract (he puts a contract under her eyes, pointing a pen with the back of it in her direction), and you will get 10 cents an hour from me, at Sundays 20 cents. The girl thinks: he buys all my flowers, and gives me money for my selling work on top of it, how can I refuse? And she signs. Then Dagobert puts a sign in the bottom next to her flower stand saying: "HELP THE POOR FLOWER GIRL" and replaces the price sign. The girl sold her flowers for 50 cents a bunch, from now on it was 2 Euro a bunch.

This little Donald Duck story was of course a series of comic drawings, but now that I read the story in words, it could very well have been a modern parable from the New Testament, encouraging Jesus' disciples to think about how the Lord would NOT treat His children, or how a rich man should behave to be sure NOT to gain eternal salvation. But in fact, this kind of conduct is completely legal in our culture, and many crooks use it to get rich in a "honest" and "respected" way. Many people familiar with business management will recognize it as "franchising" (however not thinking of this conduct when they negotiate franchising contracts).

When I read this little story, I couldn't help thinking of the African theory I read a few days before. I must admit that some of the darkest prejudicial little devils had a party in my mind when I read that newspaper book review. But, because I was grown in the best liberal traditions, next door little angels bumped on the door that they had to stop the party noise: was our business-oriented culture better than theirs? We as Westerners may get upset when we hear about "their" family and community traditions, which we find totally obsolete and unfair. We call their mutual support "corruption" but we forget that they are simply obliged to it. If Europeans are corrupt, it's always mere greed and despise of legal rules that has lead to it. There are almost no career opportunities over there outside family and community support.
On the other hand, we are always pleasantly surprised by African hospitality and social conduct. It seems as if Africans know what "love their neighbour" entails, and that we forgot about it, because we think that the state and the charity organisations will take care of the poor. Or, we are all little Dagobert Ducks and kill initiative by buying it.