Michael Schindhelm

LAVAPOLIS

This video takes a look at an island, which does not (yet) exist. Lavapolis

We are the vanguard. Each vanguard has a common fate: it is either guided by a new truth or led astray by a new error. We won’t be the ones to learn if the journey will be worthwhile or not.

The island has both the world’s highest standard of living and the lowest unemployment rate. The education and health systems have a reputation for setting standards – and the ratio of foreigners (almost 80 percent) has not caused any apparent cultural tension so far.

The current constitution is based on four reliable strategic pillars: populist democracy, universal solidarity, neutrality in foreign policy, and the Autonomous Territories Cooperation

My dear mother gave birth to me in Aluva, Kerala.

They are the pioneers of a social experiment that they have selected for themselves. This is LED, the Laboratory for Experimental Dynamics. A privileged space mirroring our ideals. An interphase connecting the multitudes of urban life. Cathartic and cheerful. A contemporary ritual. The place itself may be unreachable and transient, but it provides the opportunity to detach from the apodictic social or economic reality of the present age.

It is not big money that is turning this small patch of earth into a promised land. Nevertheless, it does attract gifted and ambitious people. That’s key. People with whom you can establish something. When I say “gifted”, I don’t just mean experts and top talents and certainly not millionaires. Even a cleaning lady and a bricklayer can be gifted or ungifted.

You can’t throw your fingerprints away like a passport. So I cut my fingers myself.

The cities where we live, wherever they are, are testimonies to our naiveté and our belief in a better world. They are the laboratories of our self-imposed experiments.

I have heard of people who have rediscovered their faith in God here.

Learning from the poorest of the poor means arming ourselves for the future.

I am also a test dog. But I was the one doing the launching.

It has the potential to reflect, and be one step ahead of, the inner world of the international community and its regulations. Some say that the island is a paradise. Others say it’s a paradise of evil.Both are right and wrong. They are experimenting with measuring time.

I am now 103 years old. Some of my friends still come to play dominos. Iosif is actually two years older than me. Nothing amazes me any longer. We have simply forgotten to die.

The Internet has taught us to view positions like inside and outside as relative positions, making it possible to handle the paradox that by criticizing society we also criticize ourselves. The Internet has taught us to think inclusively and bid farewell to the exclusiveness of earlier movements. The Internet has also taught us that inclusiveness should not be confused with the notion of community. Inclusiveness is the process of including yourself, not including others. We are taking action on ourselves before we direct our attention toward society. We are taking action on ourselves and address others in the process. Our deed sets the example for the possible deeds of others. We are calling for involvement, not liberation.