VilNews - First issue

Dear officials, lovely delegates. On behalf of VilNews Media Team we would like to welcome you to the 1st National Conference of EYP Lithuania.During the next five days strangers will get to know each other better in

Vilnius and will work on serious issues on the European Union. These unique mo-ments have to be captured and session participants have to be constantly entertained. Throughout the session our team will show its presency by writing arti-cles, taking photos and create videos for you to see during the session but also for future moments when you realise how much you miss this session.

So keep your eyes open for our journalist: Zoë Brunner (CH)Alex Bratthall (SE) Kasia Faszczewska (PL)Timon Fahl (DE)Amy Campo McEvoy (ES)

Give much to the session and try to get the most out of it. Enjoy!

Peyman Khaljani (DE)Editor of the Session

Robertas Muravskij (LT)Video-Editor of the Session

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All there is to kNow About the MediA teAMby AMy CAMpo MCeVoy

“Homo homini lupos Est” The German/Persian editor of the session:

Alelekitabongaamasamasa leader.Toilet break encourager.Fire alarm setter.Cook of the session.

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Peyman

aLeX

“Chocolate is the answer.”The Spanglish tornado:

Lost in identity.Turkish lover.Chocolate addict.New girl in 14 schools.

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amy

“Stay hungry. Stay foolish” Swedish stereotype and homme fatal:

Fan of hiking.Big hands.Sky painting artist.Wanna-be Prince Charming.

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ZOË

“Wrhghcnh wrghugtng” ChewbaccaThe Swiss cat woman/lady:

Passionate for Greek food.Eye-opened sleeper.Eaves dropper on trams.Panther lover.

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TImOn

“Hakuna matata”Pumba’s German friend:

Ninja teacher.Burger King hater.Justin Bieber concert fan.Sleep talker.

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KasIa

“I can get no satisfaction” Mick JaggerRolling Stones fan, made in Poland:

Beaver player.Actress to be. Reputation for passionate singing.Woody Allen stalker.

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“I can get no satisfaction” Mick JaggerRolling Stones fan, made in Poland:

Beaver player.Actress to be. Reputation for passionate singing.Woody Allen stalker.

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poteNtiAl iNFlueNCe oF the europeAN uNioN oN syriA (sede)by Zoë bruNNer

be made fast. For the European Union this poses the question whether actions should be taken independently or one should rely on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as it had been done in the past. As on the summer of 2013, the EU has de-manded an “end to the deteriorating situ-ation in Syria and the unacceptable levels of violence”. On the events of the attack on Damascus, members of the EU have even offered help in destroying all of Syria’s chemical weapons. But considering the cur-rent decision making process, these words might simply remain promises. That course of action would only reassure the EU’s re-putation of suboptimal crisis management. Although there are voices that strongly de-mand intervention, some fear it. The NATO-bombings in 1999 left a great amount of civilians dead and many people scared. Con-cerning current affairs, the former survivors remember these bombings and worry for Damascus and its people. Western interven-tion will mean violence and could mean the death of countless residents. Due to mea-sures themselves, such as bombings, or due to the unavoidable damage they would leave behind. Facing a civil war, Syria is in a state of massive chaos making it difficult to hear voices from the Syrian population on the happenings. It seems that finding a solution for an increasingly complex problem will once again be left to the Western powers.

“I hope Syria will not suffer western interven-tion – I have lived it” (Jasmina Tesanovic)

The civil war in Syria has provoked a lot of international attention. Espe-cially on the 21st of August, when

the world got aware that chemical weapons were used during the attack near Damascus, media coverage reached a temporary peak. Only a few days before, Syria denied ha-ving any chemical weapons or the intention to use them. So while people in Syria suf-fer, global powers such as the United States of America (USA) and France are trying to find a solution. Thereby international pres-sure by world powers on the Assad regime is rising, countries are forced to weigh up the risks and the benefits of interfering in the Syrian conflict. One of these po-wers at stake is the European Union (EU).

The Cooperation Agreement of 1977 forms legal ground for relations between Syria and the EU. From then on, the EU had been looking for deeper cooperation, but had al-ways hesitated because “political circum-stances were not right at the time”, as pu-blished on the EU website . Nevertheless, Syria is among the countries which have profited from the European Neighbour-hood Policy in the past. As the Arab Spring triggered movements in several countries, one of them being Syria, political circum-stances were certainly not stabilised. The EU itself carries the unfortunate reputation of being too slow in the decision making processes, since they are to be taken in uni-son. But with Syria’s internal affairs being more heated than ever, decisions need to

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struggle For surViVAl – CAught betweeN eurosCeptiCisM ANd ForgotteN AdVANtAges

by tiMoN FAhl

Fundamentally, the European Union was a concept enormously promo-ted by Charles de Gaulle and Kon-

rad Adenauer. It was obvious: Peace in Europe can only be achieved when an al-liance was made between Germany and France. Thus the Élysée Treaty was esta-blished on January 22, 1963 for reconcilia-tion between these two countries. The first steps of European integration had already started through the foundation of the Eu-ropean Coal and Steel Community 1950. After the Second World War the EU was in its main external pattern a concept of peace-keeping, based on an integration of Germany into Western democratic prin-ciples and a modern economical system to what Parliament’s President Martin Schulz referred at the European Day for Remembrance of Victims of Nazism and Stalinism on August 23, 2013: “Crimes, wars, totalitarian regimes and barbarism stained the first part of the 20th centu-ry in Europe. EU is the revolutionary re-sponse built in the second part of the cen-tury on the ruins of death, poverty and hate.

We should never forget how painful our common history is: it is the only way to shape together a brighter future.“ In principle, since the theory of a “Uni-ted Europe” has started there was never war again in or between its member states.

However, Europe suffers from a huge es-sential problem, the financial crises. Con-sequently it is not just in Great Britain that there is a growing phenomenon, called “Eu-roscepticism”. As it is shown in the chart, within the last five years – in other words, since the economic and financial crises have started – there is an increasing mistrust vi-sible in virtually all member states towards the EU. Support for the project has also collapsed across Europe, in large part as a result of the recession and Eurozone crisis. Euroscepticism in the current understan-ding, means basically the clash between the democratic wills of citizens in northern and southern Europe, the so-called centre and periphery. Especially citizens from southern states experience the solutions as a burden . In this context a strongly increasing unem-

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ployment rate in nearly all member states is one example why the financial crisis has turned into a deepening crisis of trust.

In light of the recent troubles, European citi-zens underestimate the possibilities and op-portunities the European Union, besides the single market, is able to offer. Referring to the Eastern enlargements it is important to mention that unity and solidarity are some of the most significant aims for the EU. Thus the European regional policies and regional funds regarding infrastructure or education have been created in order to achieve equal standards and rights provided to all citizens. Consumer protection and the safety of food in the European Union are two issues that have always gone hand in hand. The Health and Consumer Protection Directorate General’s main responsibility is to provide laws and re-gulations on the safety of food and consumer rights, like the identification of the origin of feed and food ingredients and food sources. Within the last ten years the EU has created different educational programs in order to give students the possibility to experience different national cultures and broaden their personal horizon. Up to now 1.2 million students have benefited from the ERAS-

MUS Program and many more are expected to experience it in the future. This works closely with the promotion of equal oppor-tunities and the fight against discrimination. Environmental issues including initia-tives concerning protection have been underlined as some of the most cen-tral themes. For instance, the EU is lea-ding the „Kyoto“ drive to reduce the air pollution that causes global warming.These are just few examples what the EU has done for us, the European citizens.

Hence, the question that every European po-litician and every citizen has to ask himself during the next couple months is: “Do we need more or less integration?” For me per-sonally the only way to solve the problems – both economical and structural – in a long-term perspective is, in essence, a democratic federalisation, that creates social equality, political transparency and a stable market.

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CAN superMAN sAVe us this tiMe? (eMpl)by AMy CAMpo MCeVoy

Unemployment has drastic conse-quences on its victims, their fami-lies, their surroundings and even

their country. Their self-esteem decreases, they are unable to sustain themselves and form a family and many emancipated youths often need to return to their family home. This harsh reality is affecting people around us, people of our age, people who, like us, had dreamed of a better future.

Yet the European Commission and the European Council claim to have found the solution. Superman is once again acting and has plans to save us all and prevent us from becoming another vic-tim of youth unemployment in Europe. This time he is using six billion Euros. Money that has been allocated to fulfill a promise:

All young people, with being unemployed for four moths or being out of formal educa-tion, will be offered a job, an apprenticeship, educational programs or trainings. And that is the Youth Guarantee. Realistic? Those who do not believe in superheroes think it is not.

The Commission has presented this possi-ble solution, believing it can save the tra-de union. Superman is positive as always and millions of young Europeans have their hopes set on him, but this time the situation that he has to deal with is not an easy one. He does not have to fight a su-per natural force, an alien or a monster that weakens him. He is facing harsh realities, and no factors seem to be in his favour.Critics of the Youth Guarantee point to the fact that not enough fun-

5.7 million Europeans aged under 25 are unemployed and 26.4% of Lithuania´s youth is suffering from the economic recession which hit our union in 2008, finding it hard to enter the labour market. Are EU mea-sures sufficient to fight this problem or do we need more than a superhero?

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ding is being allocated for this task.

The current economic recession compli-cates this issue further, since, as Lithua-nian figures show, youth unemployment rates often increase at the same speed as employment rates decrease. Furthermore, many member states simply do not have a strategy to tackle unemployment and they cannot afford to work towards a realistic strategy either. So is Superman’s action plan finally going to solve this problem?

Although Lithuania seems to have decrea-sed its investment in the promotion of youth employment since the start of the reces-sion, Superman has proven he can handle anything. He is the superhero with the best reputation and he is calling on countries and governments to act. Neither Lithuania nor Superman could solve this crisis alo-ne. Just as the six billion euros investment, financed by the European Council and the European Commission, it is not the only element needed to stop youth unemploy-

ment. Together however, a change can be made. Superman has acted and now Mem-ber States need to take action. Lithuania has started to change and work alongside Super-man. Since 2010, the government has been making attempts to improve their educatio-nal systems. Herefore they made amend-ments to their Ministries, they have given incentives to businesses which hire unem-ployed young people and Non Governmen-tal Organisations are being strengthened.

Superman is allowing governments to act, giving them economic means. More work still needs to be done to help Su-perman fulfill his mission, but a start has been made. We need to keep on fighting.

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hAVe the tiMe oF your liFe!by kAsiA FAsZCZewskA

Having seen this name: ‘National Se-lection Conference’, you probably thought it sounds fancy, so that you

would like to participate. Maybe you just wanted to skip some days of school. Some of you may have attended EYP Days or Re-gional Sessions. What we are fighting for in here is the International Session (IS) of EYP.

You may reckon that achieving compro-mises with ten different people from your country is tough. What about working on agreement with 15 delegates from 15 Eu-ropean countries? Thinking about meeting one hundred new people, getting to know them, starting friendships puts a wide smile upon your face? Imagine meeting 300 people from more than 35 countries!

You can be offered an inimitable oppor-tunity to understand that not all Germans drink hectolitres of beer, that Polish peo-ple do not devote their whole lives to ste-aling cars, and that Spanish and Italians can work efficiently even if it is their si-esta time. The IS makes this and many other stereotypes inevitably collapse. You will finally meet people and understand that paradoxically we are all different and the same. That is the magic of EYP! The IS gathers hundreds of points of view, diverse opinions, roots, religi-ons, backgrounds. It creates amazing ba-sis for the debate both during Commit-tee Work and General Assembly. EYP will present you with topics you pro-bably had not thought about in your life.

Suddenly you realise they are highly important, interesting and fascinating. You can even get emotional even on discus-sions about the European Banking System. Furthermore, the IS is a wonderful chance to improve your English skills. You learn to use this language in two different spheres: extremely official during the work and completely unofficial during the parties. If you are not satisfied with only one ses-sion like this, no need to worry. Together with being selected for your first IS, you get the chance to participate in two more events of the same range in the next years. What you are fighting for in Vilnius is not one but three International Sessions of EYP! So do your research, do not hesitate to de-bate, meet new people, play the “Funky Chicken“, forget about the awkwardness, smile, have fun and fall in love with EYP.

Different countries, cities, people, friend-ship, love, memories, adventures are all wai-ting for you in our wonderful organisation. Welcome to the European Youth Parliament!

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europe’s First Aid kit (eCoN)by tiMoN FAhl

In many ways the possible decay of the Euro Zone goes hand in hand with the end of the European Union. It is crucial

for member states and the EU in general to make the right choices and to decide on a path that leads Europe back on a successful track.Basically, the three main operators in mo-netary policy are firstly the member states themselves, secondly the European Uni-on, as monitoring body and intervening organ, and thirdly the European Central Bank. Since the European Monetary Uni-on (EMU) has implemented the monetary policy, which is basically conducted in the ECB framework. On the basis of the fun-damental objective of price stability, the Governing Council determines what level of key interest rates (currently 0,50%) is re-quired. Through key rates the ECB tries to ensure banks’ liquidity, what in reversing circuit effects the decision on the key rates.

Many critics see two huge flaws in the con-cept of the Eurozone. Firstly the Eurozone consists of fundamentally different natures of its member states’ economies, extremely visible in the hetero-geneous employment laws and further hindrances for la-bour mobility im-plementing different cultures, languages, health care systems. The most debated point, however, is that the EU has little say in the Member States’ individual fiscal policy and hence has hardly any budget to carry out fiscal federalism and stabilisation.

Critics’ conclusion: In terms of fis-cal integration, the EU has failed. Within a multitude of potential solutions there are, in essence, two popular oppo-sing solutions, I would like to mention the-se two radical solutions. One road leads to the full break-up of the Euro, with all its economic and political repercussions. The other involves an unprecedented transfer of wealth across Europe‘s bor-ders and, in return, a corresponding sur-render of sovereignty. Separate or super-state: those seem to be the alternatives now.

Separatism or superstate seem to be the al-ternatives now. A break-up, many argue, would allow individual countries to restore control over monetary policy. A cheaper currency would help match wages with workers‘ productivity, for a while at least. Opponents of this procedure, however, say, that the consequences would be deeply shattering. The departing countries would face extensive devaluation. Devaluation in weak economies and currency appreciation in strong ones would devastate rich-country

producers. Investors would most likely sell their government bonds immediately and a shortage in li-quidity, all of which would mean very slow economic growth. The second more advantageous sce-nario is a full Fiscal

Union. A fiscal compact, including a cen-tralised Fiscal policy, a common Eurozone budget and a common European banking supervision – called European Banking

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Authority (EBA), bond to a Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) would minimise the impact of asymmetric shocks and thus guarantee a stable growth for the Eurozone. So far the theory, but in fact an economic integration has to go hand in hand with a full political integration, which means con-sequently a loss of national sovereignty: “A European fiscal union that many people seem to think is inevitable (…) implies a European government and a European Par-liament with real teeth (…) and now you’re talking about a United States of Europe,” said Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, interna-tional business editor of The Daily Tele-graph. “This is an enormous step for the historic nation-states in Europe, and the-re is no popular consent to such a move.”

Both solutions base on the premise “grow-th makes debt more manageable and banks healthier”, but which solution could work as a First Aid Kid and finally bring growth and stabilisation in Europe? Qui vivra, verra.

meet lioN kiNg krisby kAsiA FAsZCZewskA

Taken aback with being offered the op-portunity to preside the session, Krzysztof Ignaciuk has decided to face this challen-ge. He has already made a wish in front of the Vilnius Cathedral, turned around three times and shouted it out loud: Let this session be awesome! Meet the president of the first National Selection Conference of EYP Lithuania. What was your reaction when you became the president of the session?

I was totally surprised. I was supposed to vice-preside the session. A week before the event I got to know that I have to take over the president’s responsibility. I had only one week, but I made the best of it and I put a lot of effort to make this session won-derful, and well-organised event.

Do you have any tips for the delegates about surviving the session?

Even if at the beginning it may occur difficult to get along with so many new faces and to discuss sophisticated topics, you should not give up. Try the second, the third time until you succeed. EYP broaden your horizons. Trust me! If it was not true, I wouldn’t be in this organisation for seven years.

If you were to compare a role of the pre-sident to an animal which one would you chose?

Lion. The king.

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“A person owns the rights to control his or her own body.” Almost everyone would agree to said statement. Yet, the indefinable question is when it’s concerning your own or somebody else’s body. And even harder to define is when a foetus is in fact another person. Most member states have chosen to define this as the 12th week of pregnancy. Some people say it is as long as you can per-form abortion medicinally but not surgical. But legislation is changing. Ireland and Po-land have restricted it whilst Malta has cho-sen to ban it completely. Spain and Lithuania are on the move towards further legislation. The inevitable problem this creates, as any ban, is people going abroad to perform it. When people cannot ful-fil their requests at home, they go ab-road to do so. The situation that has hap-pened here is called “abortion tourism”.States with stricter rules stand help-

whAt CAN the europeAN uNioN ForCe us to do? (libe)by Alex brAtthAll

A US-American senate candidate stated in an interview that “If it‘s a legiti-mate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”. Of course, media directly proved this wrong with the fact that approximately 5% of all rapes lead to pregnancy. But is this mentality widespread in Europe as well?

less, with no legal ways of hindering it. But can a nation actually steer this? Is it morally, or even technically, possible to control this kind of travelling? With today’s lack of legislation it is not. But is the EU willing to implement a common legislation, and in that case, how would that look like? The eternal problem with common legis-lation is the principle of subsidiarity that the EU follows. It means that every de-cision should be taken at the lowest level possible. There is no doubt that legislation in any direction would lead to an outrage of numbers of member states. But with today’s absolute lack of common frame-work or guidelines, is that preferable to continuing as it is? If it is one thing that always been cherished and defended is it each nation’s sovereignty. This is where the EU has a problem. Their problem has been, and will always be, to find a balance.

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Coolture iNtegrAtioN (Cult ii)by kAsiA FAsZCZewskA

Thinking about the European integra-tion, we promptly consider econo-mic and political aspects. Especial-

ly while bearing in mind the current crisis. We happen to forget that Europe is some-thing more. Through integrating 28 coun-tries and cooperating with even more we put together hundreds of points of views, backgrounds, regional and national cul-tures, languages, religions, habits. You are definitely asking yourself if there exists a realistic possibility to integrate such di-verse spheres and unite them. Does the Eu-ropean Identity exist? Do we possess Eu-ropean cultural heritage? What has been already done? Which initiatives should be taken for Europe to truly unite in diversity?Taking into account the legislative aspect of the problem, the European Union is not in power to change national laws concerning culture. They are under the principle of subsidiarity. That is for sure a way to pro-tect national and regional heritage. Never-theless the EU support actions of cultural integration, carries and confounds different projects to foster it. This way we are not only developing European identity, but also economic growth and employment. Some-times we happen to underestimate the po-tential of Culture and Creative Industries (CCIs). Their development enhances inno-vative business and productivity, so crucial in current economic crisis. As you can see the growth in culture starts a chain reaction.

This is a very simple, yet not obvious way of cultural integration. Culture aspect is crucial for the European Cohesion Policy 2007-2013. Integration in this field is in-dispensable to achieve political and econo-mic goals of the European Union. There are hundreds of launched projects, confounded by the European Union Culture Program. Cultural bodies in Member States are gi-ven the opportunity to gain money in order to cooperate. The programme MEDIA fo-cuses on development of audiovisual sec-tor. The majority of films produced in Eu-rope as well as Film Festivals are supported financially by the European Union. Each year the city with most creative and inno-vative cultural programme is honoured by the title of ‘European Capital of Culture’. Two different buildings in every Member State can annually gain the European He-ritage Label. The EU works on artists and cultural workers mobility and promotion of our literature as well as cinematography.

These and many other initiatives are certain evidences of the role that culture plays in Europe. Through developing this sphere we are creating European identity and under-lining what we all have in common. Ne-vertheless, regions maintain their own, ir-replaceable cultures which are the parts of genuine European patchwork. Keeping it united, our goal should remain in diversi-ty. Committee on Culture and Education II- VilNews is waiting for your creative ideas !

CULTURE -- CREATIVITY -- INNOVATION -- BUSINESS -- EMPLOYMENT -- SOCIAL ACTIVITY -- INTEGRATION

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the Art oF steAliNg Art (juri)by Zoë bruNNer

Selfishly stolen artwork on the journey back to its roots. The committee on Le-gal Affairs will discuss problematic cir-cumstances concerning art and its le-gislation during their time in Vilnius.

The glass pyramid stands in front, beautiful Paris behind. Artefacts from all around the globe are com-

bined in the Louvre into one astounding collection of art and culture. But every so often, the pieces of art are not in the coun-tries they originated from. Not only the most renowned museums face this pro-blem, but the question of rightful loca-tion of art poses itself across all countries.

The reasons differ. Artworks may have been stolen in more recent wars, other robberies even date back to the age of the Roman Em-pire. But these shifts in location have shaped the history of art, further complicating the problem. Who is the rightful owner when a piece of art is not sited where its origin is? A painting’s origin can be very ambivalent. The painter could be Italian, but the pain-

ting made in France, such as it is the case with the Mona Lisa. It is said that Da Vin-ci took the famous painting along with him to Paris, working on it while travelling. French context mixed with Italian back-ground, so where does it rightfully be-long? Are finders really keepers this time?

Living in complete moral harmony would mean returning all cultural artefacts to their ‘home’. Collections like they can be found in the Louvre, however, would be filled with copies. It is a museum which might set the standards at what others aim to be: A broad collection reflecting the vast variety of art and culture throughout time. The Louvre, a place which is to equal parts a museum and an experience, with striking compila-tions combining numerous paintings from the Netherlands, France and many other places would lose much of their reputation or even value. Others, like the Vatican Mu-seums in Rome contain numerous artefacts originating from Greece, with their con-quest dating back hundreds of years. Ex-emplary for other cultural collections, it is hard to imagine that museums would give up their most precious pieces in order to re-turn them to their morally rightful owners. With prized possessions comes selfishness to a certain extent. Who would give up their favourite CD, just because it’s the only one a random stranger is missing in their colle-ction? The interplay between moral justice and selfishness leaves an issue which can-not be justly solved by one person. It calls for justification, grounded on solid reaso-ning, for a solution to be found. Difficult to say whether complete collections or ar-rays of stolen artwork make more sense.

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xeNophobiA iN the europeAN uNioN - is it beCoMiNg More sophistiCAted? (Cult i)

by Alex brAtthAll

The reports of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Deve-lopment (OSCE) display fairly well

the xenophobic situation of the EU mem-ber states. France claims to have had 2902 cases of hate crimes a number fairly close to Germany‘s 3048. Surprisingly however, that’s not where the numbers get alarming. Sweden, with a population just a ninth of Germany’s, reported 4224 xenophobia-re-lated crimes. The United Kingdom’s (UK) record on the other hand, shoots through the roof, with the shocking number of 39300. Claiming the most alarming figure would be Greece that reported to have no more than zero xeno-phobic crimes that year. How is this the most alarming fi-gure? Doesn’t that just show that Greece is a utopia for ethnic mino-rities? Abso-lutely not. It only shows that the minorities of Greece don’t dare repor-ting crimes against them or that Greece actively hides their true number from the OSCE. And which alternative would be the worst? One is just worse than the other.

These crimes are performed solely by extremists and radicals, and therefore these reports cannot be an ultimate measurement for xenophobia and racism. A fairly accu-rate indicator on the other hand could be general elections in member states, and this is where numbers begin to directly contra-dict to the numbers of xenophobia-related crimes. The UK, with its sky high record of xenophobia related crimes, only had 1.9% of votes for their nationalistic party in 2010. Macedonia, with the strongest natio-nalistic party in Europe achieving 28.9% of votes in the last election states, that they do

not compile any statistics of this type. Frightening? Without dou-bt.

But what makes xenophobia and “islamo-phobia” so frightening today is its subtleness. It spreads

through all layers of society, yet is only directly visible in the most extreme groups. The old prejudice that all racists wear boots and shave their heads is no longer accurate. They nowadays wear suits and infect society in all possible aspects. One could say that xenophobia has become, as society develops into new forms, sophisti-cated.17

poppiNg tAgsby Zoë bruNNer

It is no secret that every once in a whi-le, a new phenomenon of pop culture is brought about. Whether these pheno-

mena occur out of profit reasons or whether this is simply the way human society works is debatable. What is not debatable is that thrift shopping is such a phenomenon. But what makes it so appealing? Just like any other memorable experience, “thrifting” consists of three phases: the anticipation, the act and the aftermath. For what it is worth, three A’s are never a bad foundation.

Besides, we all know you look incredible when you wear your granddad’s clothes.It is often the better decision to plan the thrift shopping experience. Since the shops are not chain stores, there will be dif-ferences between the available locations. Every thrifted item is unique, which is a cause for annoyance and joy alike. But it is more than just the planning: joy lies in anti-cipation. No thrift shopping experience will ever be the same. You never know what you will find. It might be the one piece of fur-niture you have been looking for in endless searches on eBay, a bracelet to add to your arm candy collection or something as sim-ple as a t-shirt. Additionally, the rising po-pularity has increased the group of potentialbuyers.

With the thrift store business in full sw-ing, a new market emerges, allowing for even more and better thrift shops.

Something very striking about being in a thrift shop is the variety of people you meet. From sketchy looking elder men to sustainably aware women with their child-ren, up to your average new age hipster – everyone is there. Rummaging around in countless racks of random loot can be ex-hausting, but the diversity of life one can find in a thrift store makes every second worthwhile. Also, there is something sa-tisfying about digging into mountains of trash and finding the one golden item.

Back home, there is nothing more satis-fying than looking at the purchases once more. Buying at a thrift shop means buying something unique, an item with a story. In-dividuality is a goal we all want to achie-ve. Even if we express our individuality through a necklace from a thrift shop, it is a start. One final remark: Do not be fooled! The satisfaction of having bought an item does not last. Maybe thinking of thrift shop-ping in a slightly cheesy way will clarify it. The journey is its own reward. The expe-rience, not the bargain is what you do it for.

With their rapid rise to fame, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis have not only stormed the charts but also pushed a new free time acti-vity into the world of pop culture: It is time to get thrift shopping.

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