Arquivo para a ‘Recursos comuns’ Categoria
Polycrisis and hope
05
Apr
Rumors of confrontation between Russia and NATO have worsened in the
last few hours, however, the hope for peace and the resistance of the Spirit, as portrayed by Edgar Morin, remain alive.
In addition to Morin’s polycrisis (just as poly is multiple and is also city polis, Krisis also has the meaning of decision-making power) professor Adam Tooze (Financial Times article), of history at Yale University (USA) expanded and updated: pandemics, droughts, floods, mega storms, forest fires, war in Ukraine (and now in the Gaza strip0, energy and food prices, etc.
In his reasoning, without directly pointing out the professor “discovers” the complexity and a new transdisciplinary vision of the “whole”: “A problem becomes a crisis when it challenges our ability to deal with it and, thus, threatens our identity. In a multiplicity of crises, the shocks are differentiated, but they interact in such a way that the whole is more ambiguous than the sum of its parts”, he states in the article. (in the image the painting by Tsherin Sherpa (Nepal), Lost Spirits, 2014.)
Morin said: “Linked to the domain of calculation in an increasingly technocratic world, the progress of knowledge is incapable of conceiving the complexity of reality and in particular human realities. The result is a return to dogmatism and fanaticism, and a crisis of morality while hatred and idolatries spread” (Newspaper La Repubblica, interview), however, beyond the polycrisis there are signs of hope.
While the Resistance of the Spirit invokes an understanding of the gravity and issues surrounding the current crisis, Hope (capitalized here) means this Spirit put into action and thus the achievement of a countercurrent spirituality that invokes values of change.
Those who immerse themselves in this Hope in different ways, are always willing to embrace the problems that everyone runs away from, to embrace the fragments of a polarized world, and to remember what unites as opposed to what disunites and polarizes, fortunately there are these spirits and I would call them Spirits of Resistance through Hope.
Go to the World and Bring the Good News, it cannot just be a biblical key, it is Living Hope.
Declared war and dangers
25
Mar
After Russia openly declared that it is at war with
Ukraine in a week of heavy missile attacks on Kiev, including using Polish airspace, which generated tension, Ukraine responded with another major attack on Crimea and oil refineries.
The West was on alert because the price of oil is expected to rise, and tension with NATO and Europe is already at high levels, statements by Putin and Macron with provocations from both sides, the placement of Russian troops on the Finnish border, and an Islamic State attack on a concert hall in Moscow.
From the beginning, the climate of tension has been at its highest this week of Holy Week, there will be no shortage of false prophets and hate mongers to make the situation worse, as Eduardo Galeano said about war, what the hatred of war did not do to the complete media, There have always been cold analysts who think of war as politics since Sun Tzu on the art of war, until Carl von Clausewitz was resurrected to justify the unjustifiable “art” of War.
The small autonomous territory of Transnistria (image) was shaken by the downing of a military helicopter, is within Moldova and governed by pro-Russian forces and is a cause of fear for Moldova, which is a member of NATO.
On the other dangerous front, among the many wars across the planet is the crisis in Palestine, it is another war of strong polarization, where the solution to the crisis seems distant, with increasing hatred from both sides and which could spread throughout the Middle East. .
In addition to the oil problem, the dangerous increase in maritime circulation of grains and industrialized products could generate a supply crisis and affect the problem of hunger, which is already common in many areas of the planet.
This is not an apocalyptic or prophetic vision, if it exists it is for a few and the majority are charlatans and speculators, but the civilizational crisis already has a very visible horizon.
Edgar Morin and other calm and common-sense analysts call for “resistance of the spirit”, not allowing oneself to be contaminated by this climate of hatred, violence and terror that plagues almost all four corners of the planet.
Keep your soul and heart pure and a strong spirit that faces the storms.
Truth and good works
22
Mar
There is no ontological truth where the unveiling
of being does not occur, and this depends on its deeper realization in contact with its essence and must bear fruit for life, for personal and social well-being and for those who believe for an eternity.
Sophists in ancient times created truths that could even be logical, but the objective was to gain power and benefit from those who had wealth and influence, and this has not been eliminated from everyday life until today, a large part of politics is the negotiation of public goods, fraud and for this they use non-truth, and this is not the monopoly of one group.
There is no way to maintain this logic without authoritarianism, the restriction of freedom and silencing the voices of those who suffer from greed for power and wealth, a large part of the current crisis comes from these values, even if they blame the media, they are also under control of these powers.
The media follow the ontic logic in the ontological difference, we briefly develop this issue of the way Heidegger and other followers of the different ontological currents see it, in the scope of interpretation and dialogue the logic cannot be ontic, it must follow the ontological truth that follows from fusion of horizons in the hermeneutic circle (see previous post).
Dualism and polarization follow the ontic truth, blaming the media that do nothing that they do not have under control in some way, which could even be algorithms, man himself, thus the dual ontic logic used is instrumental and in a certain way sophistical because it aims the power.
On Sunday, Holy Week begins for Christians, the ontological truth that was manifested as being in the person of Jesus had to be destroyed by the discourse of power, even the religious power of the time that could not believe that truth is the logic of Being and man, when he manifested his good works, almost always confronted power.
It is necessary to go against the current to reverse the logic of ease, of easy money through corruption, of power for power’s sake and of disservice to society.
Perspective of war and intoxication of the spirit
19
Feb
The tone and actions of a non-stop war are
expanding, there are few nations and voices that are not under what the century-old philosopher Edgar Morin calls “collective intoxication”, and calls for there to be resistance capable of reacting to all the lies spread .
The commander of NATO forces, Chris Cavoli, announced an army of 90 thousand men, and an exercise called Steadfast Defender 2024, which should take place in May, with 50 ships, from aircraft carriers to destroyers, 80 fighters, helicopters and drones participating. and more than 1,100 combat vehicles, including 133 tanks and 533 infantry vehicles.
Russia misleads and says it would not invade Latvia and Poland, it took the city of Avdviika (photo) once and for all, one of the strategic fronts and where the war is most violent, Zelensky minimizes the loss by stating that he retreated to “save lives”, however the war remains bloody.
In an interview this Sunday (18/02) Putin says that Ukraine “is a matter of life and death” for the country, the death of opponent Navalny had repercussions throughout the world and will be a watershed for those who clearly support a regime warlike and authoritarian.
In the Gaza strip, the city of Rafah with millions of Palestinian refugees remains under Israeli threat, a hospital was invaded because there was news that “hostages were there”, but they were not found, only weapons and with the invasion patients in the ICU died.
There are international calls for Israel not to put civilians at risk, the majority of whom are taking refuge in Rafah, and Egypt has built a huge wall so that they cannot flee to Egypt and this puts thousands of women, children and other civilians at risk. who are there and have nowhere to escape.
Negotiations become more difficult with each Israeli action and the involvement of Iran and other Arab countries becomes more inevitable every day, it will be on this front that a possible 3rd. war will occur, the resistance of the spirit claimed by the century-old philosopher and educator Edgar Morin must fight against fanaticism and hatred that only spread death and war.
In a previous interview published in the Italian newspaper La Reppublica, Morin had said: “all war embodies Manichaeism, unilateral propaganda, war hysteria, espionage, lies, the preparation of increasingly deadly weapons, errors and illusions, unexpected events and surprises”, it takes a resistance of the Spirit for Peace.
Hypocrisy and power
06
Feb
In the analysis of political and ideological currents,
the notion and problem of hypocrisy is neglected, so it is possible to defend democracy by defending autocratic attitudes, by combating corruption, to justify elements of active and passive corruption, in fact, the active one which is the fact of offering illegal compensation (and it is not said what is illegal) and passive is when a public official receives undue compensation (when possible) from third parties.
The term hypocrisy in ancient Greek (hypocritás) is similar to the current one, it is when a social actor intentionally acts in a simulated way, in acts or words, that hide how he thinks or how he actually acts, the rule today is to say the opposite to confuse public opinion.
As a term used by contemporary authors, I remember Machiavelli, as critics of political reason, and Foucault, who sees it as a central element of power relations, although his analysis moves to the psychological field.
Byung Chul-Han’s psychopolitics moves to the media field, the author believes that the power of digital media facilitates this type of relationship, although he does not directly call it hypocrisy, but gives an interesting recipe in his book “What is power”, “The modern loss of faith, which does not only concern God and the beyond, but reality itself, makes human life radically transitory”, so there is nothing perennial, since everything changes.
The basis of modern hypocrisy is to induce man to believe in a life of ease, what Byung Chul-Han calls an excess of positivity, pain and sacrifice have been abolished, “We forget that pain purifies. The culture of enjoyment lacks the possibility of catharsis. Thus, we suffocate it with the residues [Schlacken] of positivity, which accumulate beneath the surface of the tanning culture.”
This makes man happier, the answer is the opposite of what society promises, depression, bipolarity and boredom are contemporary diseases, “Depression is the illness of a society that suffers under an excess of positivity”.
Men and women, freed from this society of performance, exercise, and despiritualized asceticism, without suspicious and persecutory attitudes, become more affable: “Ordinary men and women, given the opportunity for a happy life, will become more gentle and less persecutory and inclined to view others with suspicion.”
It is possible to reestablish mutual trust, healthy relationships, empathy and fraternity, making society healthier and less conflictual.
Han, Byung-Chul. (2018) What is power?. NY; Wiley.
Resistance or catastrophe
30
Jan
So says the article by the century-old thinker and
educator Edgar Morin, in the article for the Italian newspaper La Reppublica, we are “heading towards probable catastrophes”.
And he asks: Is this catastrophism? This word exorcises evil and gives an illusory serenity. The polycrisis that we are experiencing across the planet is an anthropological crisis: it is the crisis of humanity that cannot become Humanity, the word polycrisis has already been used by the author in other contexts: that of thought, the ecological and social crisis, now he adds one anthropological, other authors say the age crisis of the anthropocene.
He, like other authors, pointed to this crisis, but believed that a change of direction was possible, now it seems too late, “we don’t know if the world situation is desperate or really desperate”, it doesn’t mean with or without hope, like or without despair , we have to move on to a Resistance, and now different from that of the 2nd. war in which France was occupied by the Nazis (photo), now the world is occupied by polarization and hatred.
The facts and situations drag us into an unprecedented war, “we are condemned to suffer the struggle between two imperialist giants with the possible warlike intervention of a third”, as the author says, “the first resistance is that of the spirit, which must be capable of resisting the intimidation of all the lies spread as truth and the contagion of all collective drunkenness”, calls for a spirit of sobriety and of those who believe, of faith and hope.
Today we must know how to resist hatred and contempt, “it requires the effort to understand the complexity of problems without ever giving in to a partial or unilateral vision. It requires research, verification of information and acceptance of uncertainties” wrote Morin.
This “resistance also implies the coordination of associations that are dedicated to solidarity and the rejection of hate. Resistance would thus prepare young generations to think and act through the forces of union, fraternity, life and love.”
It’s not about finding justice in some kind of hate, but hating the hate itself, it’s not about cheering for this or that side of the war, but making war on war itself.
The resistance that Morin calls for must involve all people of good will and solidarity among those who truly know the consequences of such a war, beyond speech.
Ukraine without progress, Hamas in trouble and Guyana
11
Dec
Winter is just beginning and Ukraine lives in
constant bombings made by drones in Kiev, on the front few advances the so-called counteroffensive did not happen due to Russia’s strategy of installing mines on the combat front, Ukraine’s only advance was crossing the Dnipro river In the North, little or nothing is done in the field of negotiations.
With the dominance of Russia and the decline in aid to Ukraine, not only in Western countries, but also in the USA, where promises of support are blocked in congress, the number of nationalist governments is growing and that plan to maintain national reserves than support an external war, Finland and Sweden, which fear a Russian attack, reinforce their arsenal, and in Finland’s case the border was closed.
With an attack in the middle of the war, Hamas saw Israel withdraw from the truce negotiations and the war resumed, there is no prospect of peace and the Arab countries tried to approve a UN resolution of truce, but the United States, Israel’s ally, vetoed it. .
Hamas continues to suffer heavy losses with Israel present massively in the north of the Gaza strip (photo), certainly the leaders must be out of the country, but its military structure in Gaza is being destroyed, even the complex of tunnels built that gave Hamas security and mobility, some made under hospitals that they used as human shields.
The danger that Hamas did not count on was the strategic and military support from the USA, but the opposition from Iran and some Arab countries, where there are groups similar to Hamas, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, in recent years, is increasingly strong. Now Hassan Fadlallah, the group’s political leader, said that Israel’s air strikes are a new escalation of war against the group.
There are more than 70 small conflicts across the globe, they are not forgotten here, we talk about coups and violence in Sub-Saharan Africa, in the east there is always tension between China and Taiwan, but in the escalation of a third war Venezuela’s willingness to invade comes into play. the Essequibo region, today belonging to Guyana, which is rich in oil.
Brazil has already sent troops to the border, at the moment it is just about preserving the national territory, however Lula oscillates between support and criticism of Maduro who approved a popular consultation on the subject, the United States sent planes to the region in a military exercise air force in support of Guyana.
The good news is that there is a round of dialogue scheduled for next Thursday (14/12) between Guyana and Venezuela, but for Guyana there is no question of giving up part of its territory, the Essequibo region represents more than 70% of the territory and is rich in oil.
The water problem
22
Nov
One of the serious differences between developed
and developing countries is the serious global crisis in water resources, which has a direct correlation with social inequalities.
In regions where water shortages are at critical levels, such as some Arab countries and even Latin America and mainly on the African continent, where the average water consumption per person is nineteen cubic meters/day, or fifteen liters/person may seem exaggerated, but baths and washing utensils and clothes should be considered.
Just for comparison purposes, in New York there is a consumption of clean and drinkable fresh water of two thousand liters/day per person, of course this is an exaggeration, clothes and utensils are washed with drinking water.
According to Unicef, less than half of the world’s population has access to drinking water, irrigation accounts for 73% of water consumption and 21% goes to industry, only 6% is for domestic consumption while one billion and 200 million people ( 35% of the world’s population) do not have access to treated water.
One billion and 800 million people do not have adequate basic sanitation services and thus the realization that ten million people die as a result of intestinal diseases transmitted by water, a basic resource for life, water is neglected.
Giving drink to those who are thirsty is not a catchphrase, it is a vital necessity
Concrete actions against poverty
21
Nov
At first glance, the solutions may seem simplistic:
injecting capital and distributing goods to the poor, but in the medium- and long-term concrete measures and public policies are needed.
The human resources necessary to produce, combat and help in extreme cases of poverty are necessary and this means production, as if there were very advanced equipment, but without people who know how to operate it, advanced in this case is distribution.
We need to improve human resources, or rather our humanity around serious social security problems, given the state of misery at quite high values for a world that may have problems with shortages of food, sugar for example due to warming and grains due to wars.]
The numbers are high, in Brazil data published in the press state 32 million people, in Argentina in crisis the newspapers claim 40% of the population, and injecting resources is little if there are no medium and long-term projects that are sustainable.
In the past, reconstruction plans for post-war Europe required an injection of capital, as the available labor force was adequate. This was the period in which the World Bank was created, whose name was the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (BIRF) , the result was achieved, but it is necessary to know that Europe exploited the colonies, in fact this was a hidden conflict.
The funding resources in the so-called “third world” through the IDB (Inter-American Development Bank) have not achieved great results and every now and then there are countries in crisis, with high inflation and loss of resources in the productive sectors.
Poverty has increased and continues to increase, for two reasons: growth in poorer regions is greater than in rich countries, without a policy of full employment and greater income distribution, and the lack of ability to adjust to new conditions of technological change widen the gap between poor and rich countries.
Therefore, concrete public policies are necessary to reduce poverty and train human resources and establish policies to combat poverty on a global scale, if there is so much money for weapons (see the prices of planes, ships and ammunition for wars), why wouldn’t there be for the fight against poverty?
This problem is what worsens political polarization, a lack of plans to combat poverty in the short and medium term.
True commitment to the common good
06
Oct
Bad managers and dictators also promise to
work for the excluded and the common good, what happens is that their true personal interests remain hidden.
No one openly says they are going to do evil, except declared psychopaths who are already at a level of mental illness that can no longer disguise their desires.
Political and social analyzes hide interests of violence, hatred and war against opponents, there is no shortage of justifications, but any initiative of exclusion is already an indication that no common good will be well managed by these managers.
They begin with small actions that initially confuse people with good faith and who actually want the common good for all, a peaceful and balanced life for everyone, but little by little the true personal desires for personal possession of goods are revealed.
Corruption also starts like this, small unrestrained thefts lead to large ones when there is no impunity, parents who correct and educate without children know this, it is necessary to always be attentive to actions and what each small gesture leads to, educators also know this.
As a biblical reading says, an owner of a vineyard rented it and traveled, after a certain time he ordered the employees to collect the rent (Mt 21:33) they beat him and sent him back, he sent others and they also caught him and returned with nothing and finally sent his son, so the tenants thought let’s kill him and keep the vineyard, and Jesus remembers himself at the end of the parable: the stone that the masons rejected became the cornerstone.
This is how good is established, with those that the evil people rejected, oppressed and after much suffering it is possible to establish peace and the common good.
Resilience and the development of good is greater than great evil, although avoiding them also means avoiding injustice, social imbalances and mainly innocent deaths.
