Laurence Northcote: "Governments have to understand, comprehend, embrace that “Demos Kratos” is the government by the people for the people!"
BPP: Who are you? And who you really are?
Laurence Northcote: Who am I? I am a woman born in France but of Swiss
nationality who lives currently in Scotland after my marriage with a
Highlander. I visited around 56
countries, lived and worked in 13 and speak 6 languages.
Who am I really? I am an exuberant,
extrovert person, curious about everything. Eclectic in my choices, I am a
person who likes to read and hear music from different genres… I am a kind of
“reporter” and I like meeting with people from different countries from whom I
have learned very much. I am also an “outsider” because I tell my truth, which
most of the times, is not the truth of most of the people, it is “me”, thinking
and acting for what I believe.
"Greece: Before the Colonels or just after"
BP BPP: If you
could say something important to others who were listening what would you tell
them?
Laurence Northcote: I would say to be tolerant, to be
eager to know what, why, when, where before judging a person or a situation.
The facts are felt or described differently depending on the conditionings of a
person. That’s why I, all the time, add on my comments “I believe, I think, I
feel”. However, when it is a fact I
mention the historical, social or cultural truisms.
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Druze festival - Tomb of Jethro - (Israel) 1973
BP BPP: What is your true dream, the one that keeps
you up at night and if one day it were to come true you would feel peace and
calmness in your heart?
Laurence Northcote: My true dream would probably be the
same as, I believe, is the dream of many, i.e., peace… a state of no war, of no
conflict around the world. I would add
that I would love to see a passport with the mention “worldwide citizen” and
countries with no frontiers!
Nessie in Yvoire - France
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Belfast under Reconstruction - Ireland
Palazzo e Giardino Giusti, Verona, Italy
BPP: How is
life currently for the people in your country and what would you wish for them
and for the planet at large?
Laurence Northcote: The life in Scotland is still under
“domination” of the United Kingdom. Westminster predominantly dictates to us
what to do! With the current cuts made
by the Tories, the most vulnerable are in danger. Also, with their way of thinking they do not
create jobs or wealth, to the contrary! A country cannot live on the interest
on the monies in bank accounts! They
have to understand that without employees or workers, at a short period of
time, a company will go bankrupt, and when companies stop to exist the
“virtuous circle” become a “vicious circle”.
I would say that a nation which does not have a Constitution and where
the government does not follow the constitution or the people’s needs and
aspirations, there is no democracy! I strongly believe that people must be free
and make their country as their own “image”! Finally, governments have to
understand, comprehend, embrace that “Demos Kratos” is the government by the
people for the people!
Trump Building - N. York, USA
BPP: If you
had a chance to be a child again would you choose the same life?
Laurence Northcote: Certainly I would choose the same
life with the only difference that I may change some details! I had wonderful
parents who were very tolerant, understanding, and eager to learn and to teach.
With them my brother and myself could ask questions and we would be sure to
receive an answer! With their logic, knowledge and open-mind we always had
something or someone new to discover!
With Granpa - at USA
With brother & mother - picnic on the desert
With family at Beverly, Usa, 1989
BP BPP: What was
the exact moment that you realized what you wanted to do with your life? How did you feel at this very moment?
Laurence Northcote: I cannot say the exact moment, but
I believe that I was around 18 years old when I knew that I wanted to know
“other places around the world”. I
believe it is due to the fact that my first move to another country occurred
when I was 6 years old. When I found out that I “must see the world” I dreamed
about it and I read a lot of books about facts, arts, customs, social and
culture of a country. For example I
prepared my travel to the United Stated by reading around 100 books… My mother,
knowing my interest, whenever I flew to another country used to give me a
Berlitz small tourist guide where I could learn the facts and some of its
vocabulary, for example, when I visited Greece, I learn how to say hello, where
is, thank you, etc.. It was the same for all the countries I visited or lived
in.
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Cape Sounion, Athens, 1982
The Jet Eau
BPP: Would you
like to tell us something we didn’t ask until now?
Laurence Northcote: I would say “why this book”? I
wanted my family to remember part of the family story. I wanted that the next
generations be more understanding towards the religions, the customs and the
mentalities. I want them to see that being a “free thinker” if you are Jewish,
Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, etc. people can live in harmony.
"Hope - An Extraordinary Life" - a book written by Laurence Northcote
- Why the title “HOPE! An Extraordinary Life”
Because it was and still is my wish
for something to happen with expectation of its fulfilment. When I acted for
Solidarity or the CSAJUS, I hoped and also was almost sure that our actions
will have the outcome that one day the USSR will have to change or break its
dictatorship over other countries. I had
an extraordinary life because, maybe due to my faculties of observing and the
facility of talking to people, I saw and did a lot!
- Do you have a preferred country?
No… I feel good (or almost) in
every country! I like many countries for
different reasons. For example, USA for its diversity, Israel for its way of
life, Italy for its art because I think of each of its cities is like a
“museum”, etc…
Laurence Northcote's drawing for BPProject
If you want to learn more about Laurence Northcote and her book "Hope - An Extraordinary Life", please visit:
http://www.facebook.com/groups/bookhope/
Photos copyright © 2012 by Laurence Marquis-Northcote. All rights reserved.
Thank you so much! Really good
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