Arquivo para a ‘Recursos comuns’ Categoria
The zeal of the house consumes me
18
Nov
Any parent, boss or zealous administrator must take care of his
“home”, we can also think of the entire planet as our common home, thus not only the economy, cultures but also the environment.
This zeal should consume all of us, taking care only of personal interests is not just selfishness, it is also a form of ignorance, because personal interests depend on common ones, what do we do if there is a lack of rain and therefore a lack of water, what do we do if the environment does not help the plantations and the cost of food in a deteriorated environment, everything is a common interest influencing the individual.
It is not true that only some are responsible and others are not, so conferences like the COP27 that takes place in Egypt should be of interest to everyone, but here we want to remember a mystical body referred to in chapter 2 of the Gospel of John, where it reads (Jn 2,17): “his disciples remembered that it was written: “The zeal for your house will consume me” referring to the attitude of Jesus when he saw that the religion of his time had become a trade (similar to the present day) and Psalm 69, where verse 10 recalls this passage.
Chapter 2 of John recalls the wedding at Cana, a supernatural event, and Jesus’ fury upon seeing corruption around the temples, a natural event, so the zeal is supernatural and human at the same time.
More serious than this the problem of war, we remember in the previous post the passage in which Jesus cries when entering Jerusalem and seeing how far it is from a meeting of peoples and nations and prophesies that it would be totally divided and in permanent war, see the accuracy of this vision 2,000 years ago.
But the prophecy for our days is in the books of Revelation, although this is synonymous with catastrophes and the end of the world, the passages refer to both past and future times, the death of Jesus and his resurrection is an apocalyptic event because the great passion paschal updated the passage of the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land, and anticipates the passage of humanity to a future full and fruitful life, all this before the end of time, which we do not know when it will come.
In the Easter event, when seeing Jesus on the cross suffering and watching his impotence, they mocked saying “it is not the Christ, save yourself” (Lk 23,39), the divine permission of such atrocious suffering may seem inexplicable, however, this it is the meaning of the “passage” from one state to another, in any natural or supernatural event, this occurs from a “rupture” of a change of context and some strong and catastrophic-looking event happens, so the current times are distressing , but also full of hope.
Although these are troubled times, God is not indifferent to history, and certainly this “passage” will also have his presence and interference.
Ostentation and poverty
28
Oct
It is necessary to produce in order to distribute wealth, the
enterprise, its opportunity and logistics are factors that require investments and capacity for this, in a word: it requires vocation.
What produces poverty and misery is the inability to distribute the wealth and benefits of an intelligent process of production and a social organization of the state, boasting and appropriating social and public goods, in both fields.
Countries that do not produce wealth only organize misery, they cannot distribute what they did not produce and did not deliver into capable and responsible hands for building the wealth of a people.
The idea that wealth was a product linked only to certain nations, coming from Adam Smith’s liberal model, evolves into the idea of exchanging goods and wealth between nations, including the help of poorer nations, unfortunately also evolves into colonialist ideas.
In the sphere of wealth and personal goods, even Adam Smith warned of moral goods, those that make a society balanced and healthy, not outside the construction of relief and aid for the development of the poorest and the social peripheries and nations, there are nations on the edge of poverty, and in general some ostentation exploited them.
It is possible that those who produce and govern think beyond their own personal goods, if they are not profligate and ostentatious they will certainly understand that they have more than what they need for their own survival and investment in the development of social wealth, however as individuals they need to go beyond selfishness and personal ostentation.
Ostentation is not exclusive to a certain social stratum, those who have access to wealth coming from the periphery can also evolve into this pattern of power through money and appearance.
The Biblical passage that Jesus announces to Zacchaeus, who was short and to see Jesus climbed a tree, an important metaphor, when understanding and changing his values and Jesus realized that all the people did not understand that approach of Jesus (Lk 19,7-8 )“:
“Seeing this, they all began to murmur, saying, ‘He has gone to stay in a sinner’s house!’ Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord: “Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone, I will pay back four times as much”, but this remains difficult for the religious to interpret, who continue to murmur.
It is not the production and possession of wealth that produces injustice, but its maldistribution.
The gap between rich and poor
23
Sep
The most varied studies, we commented on some in this week’s
posts, point to a practically stable separation between rich and poor when not growing in some countries, this model can never guarantee sustainable social human development, wars and pandemics increase this gap even more.
The most serious problem that is extreme poverty, we have already analyzed and published in February this year an analysis of global poverty, and also, in another post, the social problem after covid 19.
The sustainability of human economic and social development depends not only on increasing wealth and social production, it is necessary to find a balance where both social mobility of classes and ethnic mobility provide sustainability and overcome inequalities.
The problem of sustainability is not secondary, many models distribute wealth but impoverish the country as a whole, this is because the investment aspects and safer strategies of economic models are only thought of around income distribution, the opposite where there is only an increase without distribution is less sustainable.
For this model, the biblical parable of Lazarus and the Rich man, the poor man who lived on the margins and when the rich see himself condemned, here the parable is valid both personally and socially, asks that he be allowed to warn his relatives of this risk, but says the biblical prophets already said and you didn’t listen, how many people and political actions have already denounced the serious social gap.
For those who don’t know, the biblical parable says (Lk 16:19-24): “At that time, Jesus said to the Pharisees: 19 “There was a rich man, who dressed in fine and elegant clothes and held splendid parties every day. A poor man named Lazarus, full of wounds, was on the ground, at the rich man’s door. He wanted to satisfy his hunger with the leftovers that fell from the rich man’s table. And besides, the dogs came to lick their wounds. When the poor man died, the angels took him to Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In the region of the dead, in the midst of torments, the rich man lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side. Then he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me! Tell Lazarus to wet the tip of his finger to cool my tongue, because I suffer a lot in these flames”.
The rich man also asked to warn the living relatives, and he was reminded that they had (and have) the prophets.
Democracy and the poor
21
Sep
The serious democratic crisis that affects almost all Western and
some Eastern countries has a clear and decisive aspect: the forgetfulness of the most unprotected sections of the population.
Governments were not able to effectively solve the problem of income distribution and where hopes were greater, economic errors and misguided allies among the powerful contributed to a greater distrust of the population.
Politics is driven by money, even spending limits find ways to be circumvented and for this, allies are needed among the rich, most of the time the most dishonest and according to corruption and the use of public money, one enters in a vicious circle.
With the wider dissemination in social media (“networks”), ideologically directed information does not work and amidst fake news, there are those news that everyone knows: the allies among the powerful that feed corruption and misuse of public resources.
The gigantism of the state helps this, it controls capital flows, of course when well managed and when it doesn’t, it throws nations into pits of misery and lack of investment, many countries are on this path.
What is left for politics is not to do well-crafted social justice, without demagoguery and with sustainable long-term planning, on a social populism that the people themselves distrust, and often leads to the option of authoritarian governments and even worse, or else leads to social populism: it promises what it doesn’t deliver.
It is necessary to reflect for a conscious vote, without a fair and balanced society, a sustainable and healthy democracy is not possible, we are taken to dangerous extremes and an uncertain future.
It is necessary to rethink the democratic society in social parameters sustainable.
Be fair in the little things
16
Sep
Money is in history and in life just a symbol of exchanges and
goods that must circulate socially so that everyone has a dignified and fair life, dealing with it is something that should be treated with the same respect that people socially deserve.
A fair person is also fair in small things, social injustice does not start with big robberies, they are an indication that those people do or will one day do greater social injustices.
The public sphere is corrupted when those who determine social justice: rulers, judges and legislators have lost the notion and values that small thefts and injustices can lead to big ones and make the whole society corrupt, then everyone will say this is normal.
When these values start to become dubious, it means that morally society as a whole is shrouded in corruption, immorality and a great lack of ethics, everything that is public begins to fall apart and there appear profiteers and opportunists who will make use of public corruption.
The biblical reading (Lk 16,1-13) which speaks of a manager who, seeing that he was going to be fired, starts to negotiate with the debtors of a rich man, and calls the debtors and begins to reduce the debts, so it is not a smart but dishonest administrator.
The parable seems strange if it has not been read to the end, because when he begins to relieve his debts to save himself, he reveals his true character, which was to squander the master’s goods, says the reading in verses Lk 16, 10-11: “Whoever is not faithful in small things will not be faithful in great things either, and if you are not faithful in the use of unjust money, who will entrust you with true good?”.
The true good is nothing other than a full life, not only eternal life for those who believe, but also an earthly life, difficult perhaps, but serene for those who have not included in their daily life, in the “little things”, deviation, the theft and corruption of other people’s things or public goods.
Small vices lead to big ones, and they cannot lead to a full life, but increasingly troubled, more greed and lack of control of consumption and of life itself, it is the bad administrator who squandered the rich man’s goods, that is, we throw the real riches of life outside because of greed and consumerism.
Doctors are for the sick
12
Sep
Number of cases and studies of studies falling for a perception
that the pandemic would have come to an end, it is from a certain number of studies as in cases, but as much as studies of studies scientists continue to advance in future treatments
Diseases were little known and medicine at the time was too expensive to have no purchasing power, even the fact that a paralytic was placed in the presence of Jesus descending through the ceiling, has a mistaken interpretation, they would not let him pass.
It is a fact that we already have chairs and seats in the queues for elders, pregnant women and the sick, but there is still a mentality of the community of the pure, the saints or the perfect, after all, efficiency cannot come from those who are not physically prepared for it.
This was how the pandemic was dealt with, many said that the sick isolate themselves and society will continue its rhythm, but what we saw was society as a whole losing its rhythm, and the result of this pressure gradually turned into many psychic diseases. , even for those who made them.
Treating and working with imperfection, illness and purity is only to promote the social integration of people, the idea of being a “model” for others is a Kantian idea of ethics, which can lead to an ethics and a partial view of sociability and what is imperfect.
In terms of religious culture, it leads to isolation, the formation of a bubble in which values are reaffirmed, but many are excluded and are not invited to participate and live with differences, this is one of the main religious paradigms that Jesus broke in his time.
Talking to women, leaving space for children, healing lepers and cripples broke the Pharisaic concept of what was considered “unclean”, went against sinners and the sick.
It is true that the blind cannot guide the blind, but doctors are for the sick, says the biblical passage (Lk 15:1-3): “At that time, publicans and sinners came to Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees, however, and the teachers of the Law criticized Jesus. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” , then Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and then the prodigal son.
The Pharisaic mentality not only does not cure the sick, it becomes a social disease itself.
Doctors are for the sick
09
Sep
The society of the beginnings of Christianity, not only religious
Pharisaism but also the whole culture was that society was for the healthy, the Greek saying “healthy mind in healthy body” is a way of expressing this, the sick should live on the margins society, often outside the city walls.
Diseases were little known and medicine at the time was too expensive to have no purchasing power, even the fact that a paralytic was placed in the presence of Jesus descending through the ceiling, has a mistaken interpretation, they would not let him pass.
It is a fact that we already have chairs and seats in the queues for elders, pregnant women and the sick, but there is still a mentality of the community of the pure, the saints or the perfect, after all, efficiency cannot come from those who are not physically prepared for it.
This was how the pandemic was dealt with, many said that the sick isolate themselves and society will continue its rhythm, but what we saw was society as a whole losing its rhythm, and the result of this pressure gradually turned into many psychic diseases. , even for those who made them.
Treating and working with imperfection, illness and purity is only to promote the social integration of people, the idea of being a “model” for others is a Kantian idea of ethics, which can lead to an ethics and a partial view of sociability and what is imperfect.
In terms of religious culture, it leads to isolation, the formation of a bubble in which values are reaffirmed, but many are excluded and are not invited to participate and live with differences, this is one of the main religious paradigms that Jesus broke in his time.
Talking to women, leaving space for children, healing lepers and cripples broke the Pharisaic concept of what was considered “unclean”, went against sinners and the sick.
It is true that the blind cannot guide the blind, but doctors are for the sick, says the biblical passage (Lk 15:1-3): “At that time, publicans and sinners came to Jesus to listen to him. The Pharisees, however, and the teachers of the Law criticized Jesus. “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” , then Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and then the prodigal son.
The Pharisaic mentality not only does not cure the sick, it becomes a social disease itself.
The resilient pandemic and the possible future
05
Sep
The Covid 19 pandemic continues in declines followed by
stability, as in Brazil in the last week, around 120 deaths and 10,000 known cases of virus infection.
Last week we highlighted the alert of several scientists that the next pandemic could be that of fungi, one of the biggest reports on this subject, which collects data, cases and several researchers in many countries, was published on August 6 by National Geographic.
It begins with a case of a 48-year-old smoker who went to Johns Hopkins Medicine hospital in Maryland (USA) where infectious disease specialist Shmauel Shoham, while investigating a possibility of cancer, detected a common Aspergillus fungus in the infection.
Then he cites India, where at a certain moment of Covid 19 a large number of invasive and quite deadly fungal infections, with a black mold caused a violent wave of deaths, which was reported worldwide, there is also the case of Candida auris, infection virulent fungus that transmits through the blood and came out of nowhere, as are fungi that depend on other organisms and infections for food.
According to the magazine of the five million species of existing fungi, only 120 thousand are known and studied, and of these only a few hundred can harm human beings.
With fungicides used in extensive agriculture, mortality rates from invasive fungal infections are estimated to grow by up to 50%, which translates, according to the magazine, to up to 1.6 million deaths and $7.2 million of medical costs per year, and given the challenge of accurate diagnoses is certainly an underestimated number.
Experts caution is the ability of fungi to evolve into microbes with increasing selective pressures that force them to adapt and a growing population of susceptible humans.
The fungi primarily attack agricultural production, but the liberal use of the medicinal equivalent for humans also poses unintended threats, warn experts in the report.
The report ends by stating that the threat of fungal pathogens has historically been underestimated and calls for greater study and preventive control in the area.
Reference:
Humans are not prepared for a pandemic caused by fungal infections (nationalgeographic.com)
Libraries and Wars
31
Aug
In the 1950s, shortly after the Second World War, the Brazilian
documentation magazine translated and published an article by Carl Hastings Milan on the Wars and the loss of documents and libraries.
He had been director of the Birmingham Public Library, where he opened the first branch of services for African American authors and readers, the article is available online and shows a face of the war for libraries in reference to the previous post we made on this blog.
The transcriptions into Portuguese were made by Sylvio do Valle Amaral and the original article follows the war in September 1944, published in The Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science in Philadelphia.
The article begins by indicating the interruption and discontinuity of journals and publications during wartime, in addition to the material loss and lack of exchange of many documents.
The author emphasizes this loss where: “London publishers and booksellers lost millions of volumes in 1940-41. Several famous British scholarly libraries, and dozens of public ones, were damaged or destroyed. Several European countries, Russia, China, in addition to the Philippines, have suffered or are now experiencing a similar fate, but the saddest is yet to come” (MILAN, 1950, p. 50).
In advance many works were taken or hidden from German libraries, but the destruction and looting represent a cultural attack according to the “infamous” author who was credited to Hitler, it is important to look at this for history so that it does not repeat itself now.
Among the author’s denunciations is that also in the defeat: “Newspapers recently reported the burning of books in Naples, before the withdrawal of the Nazi army” (idem, p. 50), and thus a part of history is erased, regardless of of what those documents represent, they are an important cultural testimony of a time, which, because it is outdated, is subject to criticism, but there is no right to erase it, they are cultural documents.
It reestablishes the role of libraries, now also in crisis due to a distorted view of digital technology that we also post here, but the author says for that time: “Basic to the reestablishment of intellectual activity throughout the universe, is the reorganization of libraries” and ignoring this is a crime against the cultural preservation and memory of the people.
After emphasizing cooperation and support for libraries in Latin America and elsewhere, countries discuss the training of librarians:
“Despite the common recognition, in the United States and abroad, of the imperfections of our methods in preparing young men and women for library work, a surprisingly large number of students from abroad come to this country at normal times to obtain what schools of this specialty can offer” (MILAN, 1950, p. 53)
Milan, C. H. As bibliotecas, os intelectuais e a Guerra, trad. Sylvio do Valle Amaral. Rio de Janeiro: REVISTA DO SERVIÇO PUBLICO, AGOSTO DE 1950 (original in 1944).
Residual Covid and absence of protocols
15
Aug
Covid remains low but stable with a moving average of deaths
above 200, and registering in the last few days close to 300 daily deaths, the number of cases is slowly decreasing, around the 30 thousand known cases daily.
The protocols continue to treat it as a common disease, with very little care, in some environments, with most environments, even poorly ventilated, poorly supervised.
Reports and protocols are published only as a bureaucratic duty, in practice they are rarely observed, it is at the personal discretion or of some zealous sanitary or administrative official.
The World Average of cases was last week at 899,983 out of 770,230, showing that also worldwide there is a certain “stability”, but considering the low numbers is ignoring the possibility of new cases and variants appearing.
The number of cases and deaths worldwide, can be observed as a weaker fifth wave and with a tendency to fall, but looking at the moving average numbers of deaths around 200 thousand is worrying and should still be under strong protocol care.
The WHO emergency committee for the Pandemic has been issuing notes since the beginning of July maintaining the state of Public Health Emergency of Internal Interest, noting the growth of infection rates in some countries and warning for the maintenance of vaccination. .
In a July note, the Committee expressed: “concern about sharp reductions in testing, resulting in reduced surveillance coverage and quality, in addition to fewer genomic sequences being submitted to open access platforms. This impedes assessments of current and emerging variants of the virus and is translating into less ability to interpret trends in transmission and to adjust public health measures.”
Local governments however do not seem to be alert to the level that the WHO asks.
