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Perpetual Peace concept
Perpetual Peace was Kant’s political proposal, in a way it is expressed in the liberal view of thought about peace, with some nuances in countries from the Soviet period, but as a rule, the normal there is the Roman vision of the pax romana that was the submission of enemies.
As we saw in the previous post, for Kant, smart as snakes and false as doves, Machiavelli, in a very different way in his “Prince”, also spoke of dividing and ruling, a principle that is analyzed by Kant ( Divide et impera, p. 39), in this case it stops as a false freedom of opposing ideas when the supreme chief “disunites them and isolates them from the people”.
The work To perpetual peace was written by the German philosopher Immanuel Kant, in 1795. The uniqueness of Kant’s contribution lies in his faith in a perpetual peace that is built because reason has more strength than power, “… reason, from the seat of the highest moral legislative power, condemns war as a juridical way and, on the other hand, makes the state of peace an immediate duty, which, however, cannot be established or guaranteed without a pact between peoples: – there must therefore be a federation of a special type, which can be called the federation of peace (foedus pacificum), which would be distinguished from the peace pact (pactum pacis), since the latter would try to end a war …” (KANT, 2008, p. 17-18).
But when would it then be fair to make war? What would be the limit of reason? Kant speaks first of revolt within a nation subjected to a tyrant: “Is revolt the legitimate means for a people to reject the oppressive power of the so-called tyrant [non titulo, sed exercitio talis (‘tyrant in the exercise of power, not in your denomination’)]? The rights of the people are forfeited and no injustice is done to them (the tyrant) through dethronement; in this respect there is no doubt. However, it is most unjust on the part of subjects to claim their right in this way, and they cannot complain of injustice if they are defeated in this struggle and then have to endure the most severe punishments” (Kant, 2008, p. 47).
As we saw in the previous post, for Kant, smart as snakes and false as doves, Machiavelli, in a very different way in his “Prince”, also spoke of dividing and ruling, a principle that is analyzed by Kant (. Divide et impera, p. 39, in this case it stops as a false freedom of opposing ideas when the supreme chief “disunites them and isolates them from the people”.
There are interesting points in his proposal divided into articles: a republican civil constitution (today there are peoples with other forms of government and which are not always tyrannies), a “federation of free nations” as the principle of hospitality (the problem of migrants today) and then he makes a series of “supplements” to perpetual peace, but basically it’s a defense of reason.
It also touches on the interesting point, as we have already said with regard to world wars, that peace must not be based on possibilities that can open new future wars.
Today, it is necessary to analyze the light of the original culture of the peoples, not only indigenous and various pre or post-enlightenment nations (where a certain form of reason prevails, remember the Greek State and Roman law), and also the economic, war and now also cyber.
Perpetual peace isn´t or any other form of lasting peace must look to a more humane and fraternal civilization, without which any argument for war is possible.
KANT, I. A paz perpétua. Trad. Artur Mourão. Portugal: Universidade da Beira Interior Covilhã, 2008
Twitter, Cyberculture and Perpetual Peace
The purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk for $ 44 billion, the Space X and Tesla billionaire, makes social media increasingly tied to the political field and shakes the empire of traditional media.
One of Musk’s basic ideas is to make the network less controlled (the moderator function) and with more text possibility, at launch in 2006 it was 140, in 2017 it was expanded to 280 and will probably add larger texts, Musk is the owner of the tool Revue.
NetFlix lost 200,000 subscribers (a little for 100 million subscribers, but a trend), CNN faces serious problems with an editorial discourse (7 out of 10 viewers) tries to change the focus, it is the mainstream media suffering from the advancement of new media , and everything indicates that the war in the military and ideological field will move to the cybernetic field, the drones practically retire the idea of using tanks and drones airplanes and flight autonomy, making war unequal in strength and war material more equal .
But the release of arbitrage on Twitter worries, although the open source algorithm proposal is interesting, but the big question is Musk’s ideas about war?
Of course, all this is reprehensible due to the number of civilian victims they cause, the human tragedies that develop there, also among soldiers who are on a battlefield where many would not want to be.
Kant’s Perpetual Peace proposed a precept of reason over power, but a strange saying appears in the middle of its text (we will analyze the text in the next post), which is prudent as serpents and gentle as doves, in the text Biblical (Mt 10:16) it is also possible to translate “simple as doves, but the Kantian interpretation is divergent:
“…Be wise as a serpent”; morality adds (as a limiting condition): “and without falsehood like doves” (Kant, 2008, p.34), and Kant himself points out that “the two things cannot coexist in a precept” an evident contradiction, Perpetual Peace It’s more complex, of course.
This is the problem with the new media, it is necessary to use the resource that is often used in politics of a certain “falsehood”, or dubiousness, whether to mislead opponents or to deceive the people.
There is no way to establish peace if there is no respect for conflicting cultures and values, of course within reasonable humanitarian limits, the first is life itself put in check in war and the second is enabling the survival and self-determination of peoples to decide their destiny.
Kant, I. (2008) A Paz Perpetua (Perpetual Peace). trans. Arthur Mourao. Portugal: University of Beira Interior Covilhã.
The war, Brazil and Finland
As the war escalates in Eastern Europe, Russian objectives become clear, greater control over the sources of energy and material available for war, this includes the Azovstal Steel Mill, where there are civilians and the battle has intensified.
There is the alleged deception of saying that the east would make an overland corridor to the Crimea annexed in the 2014 war, but this was never a problem for Russia because of its air fleet, and it has another exclave which is Kaliningrad, and it is also That’s why Ukraine started bombing Russian oil depots.
Vargas’ dictatorial Brazilian government even flirted with Nazism, but in July 1939, on a US visit to the Chief of Staff of the Brazilian Army, General Góes Monteiro, the US government promised to cooperate with Brazil’s military and economic re-equipment. in the construction of Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (the former CSN).
At the time, Brazil was given a credit of 17 million dollars with Eximbark, and an American base was installed in Rio Grande do Norte, strategic for military flights to Europe.
Before this period, Finland also had heavy industries that could help in the war, Sweden also had and provided material for both Germany and the allies, but in 1939 Stalin, then president of the Soviet Union, decides to invade Finland.
Finland’s parliament is deciding now to join NATO, and Russia threatens retaliation, last week Maria Zarakhova, spokeswoman for Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “We have given our warnings, both publicly and through bilateral channels. ; they (both countries) know that, so there are no surprises. They have been informed about everything, about what (an eventual NATO membership) will entail”.
This causes a new escalation in the war and also involves Sweden that wants to join NATO.
The clash between Russians and Finland, which began on November 30, 1939, called the Winter War (photo), although with an army and smaller power, the Finns resisted the war and maintained the morale of the troop, the pact had just been made. the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact (ministers of Russia and Germany, respectively), where Finland would remain neutral, but would lose part of its territory, a good part of its industrial park and pledged to maintain neutrality in the war, but Russia broke with the Germany and invaded Finland.
The peace treaty was signed on March 12, 1940, ceding 10% of Finnish territory to Russia and 20% of its industrial capacity to the Soviet Union.
More military might and war industries mean that there is no end to the war, greater NATO involvement means that global escalation is approaching, but hope for peace remains through increasingly difficult agreements.
Covid Resilient and health policy
The reason why the falling Covid is so resilient in the country has two explanations: the medical one, as the number of deaths falls slowly while the number of infections has a slower decline since the predominant variant is less lethal (see the graph in Brazil) and the other is a sanitary policy, since sanitary protocols are no longer used, except in rare environments.
It is not just about the economic fact, since all economic sectors have returned to activity and a global crisis is looming on the horizon due to a war that is escalating and is already affecting the food and fuel sector, with a very bleak future scenario.
However, there are activities that could be very well controlled, public parties (or private parties that have become an alternative), rules of operation in school environments and diverse cultural spaces (including religious ones) and the maintenance of masks since everyone has one.
The governors of the northeast (Brazilian) are already talking about the use of masks, but the real concern is with the drop in health investment levels and we may have other cases soon, such as the traditional viral waves at the beginning of winter and dengue.
A seminar with several international health authorities was held last Wednesday (2/23) with the theme “Global Health Agenda: Perspectives for 2022”, mediated by Fiocrus senior researcher Luiz Augusto Galvão.
All participants somehow expressed concern about safe health policies that guarantee control of the Pandemic, which is attenuated, but without guarantees of its end, Brazilian researcher Mariângela Batista Galvão Simão highlighted that a scenario of eradication of Covid is possible:
“That’s because today we have tools and know-how that we didn’t have before, but it won’t happen if we’re complacent,” he declared.
Reason, Belief and War 2
The relationship of science and belief in Bourdieu’s lesson: “The paradoxical enterprise that consists in using a position of authority to speak with authority, to teach a lesson, but a lesson of freedom … would be simply inconsequential, or even self-destructive , if the very ambition to make a science of belief did not presuppose belief in science” (Bourdieu, 1994, p. 62), can be better expressed by the principle of transdisciplinarity.
Establishes the Arrábida Transdisciplinarity Charter in one of its principles: “Considering that the contemporary rupture between an increasingly cumulative knowledge and an increasingly impoverished inner being leads to the rise of a new obscurantism, whose consequences, at the individual and social level, are incalculable”. (Freitas, Morin and Barsarab, 1994)
The idea of science based on calculus (including economics) or the physics that makes it possible to advance in the mystery of the infinite universe, with wormholes, black holes and dark matter, cannot do without the mystery that is beyond what man has already conquered.
On the political side, the belief in the modern state that would replace God and could establish perpetual peace (Kant’s philosophical project) as well as science as the summit of “reason” has already shown its limits, as has the fundamentalist faith, which already was with the Pharisees in the time of life, land of Jesus, has limits of ignoring science, even wanting a science of belief, the paradox presented by Bourdieu.
Neither Kant’s perpetual peace nor advanced scientific studies made it possible to avoid war and the world is once again on the verge of a new humanitarian catastrophe, and it is also worth noting that religious fundamentalism cannot abolish it like the “Decalogue of Assisi for Peace” signed in Assisi on March 4, 2002, although they still defend it today.
The Pharisees wanted Jesus to be involved in the war against Rome, which will take place in the 70s of the Christian d.C., with the destruction of Jerusalem and its Holy Temple as predicted in the prophecies, not because Jesus wanted it, but because of the war that men wished.
After the Jewish Passover, and the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus which was our Passover, Jesus appears to the disciples and the apostle who did not believe Thomas was with them, the first greeting of Jesus is: “Peace be with you” (Mt 20, 21), breathes the Holy Spirit on them and told Thomas that he wanted material proofs of his resurrection: “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Reach out your hand and place it in my side. And do not disbelieve, but be faithful” (Mt 20,27) and happy will say those who believe without having seen.
Kant, I. (2008) Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Project. trans. Arthur Mourao. Ed. University of Beira Interior. Portugal: Covilhã.
Freitas, L., Nicolescu, B. and Morin, E. (1994)Letter of Transdisciplinarity. Convent of Arrábida.
Reason, Belief and War
The evidence of two world wars, where rationality was challenged by the barbarities of the concentration camps, the atrocities committed, and the Hiroshima bomb is also included, give evidence that it is necessary to examine in depth what built what was called the reason passing through Kant’s critique of pure reason and the critique of practical reason.
At the opening of the book “Disenchantment of the World”, Pierre Bourdieu introduces his analysis of economic and temporal structures as follows: “Those who pose the ritual question of cultural obstacles to economic development are exclusively (i.e., abstractly) interested in “rationalization”. “of conducts, economics and describe as resistances, attributable only to cultural heritage (or, worse still, to one or another of its aspects, Islam for example), all omissions towards the abstract model of “rationality” such as defines economic theory.” (Bourdieu, 1979, pp. 11).
The recent history of our civilizational process develops the physical (and therefore only material) aspect and mathematical calculation, in particular the rationalizations of economic structures, when quoting Max Weber, the author explains: “the very character of the capitalist epoch [writes Max Weber] and – one at the root of the other – the importance of the theory of marginal utility (as well as of the whole theory of value) for the understanding of this epoch consists in that. just as the economic history of countless epochs in the past) has rightly been called “the history of the non-economic”. In the present conditions of life, the approximation of this theory and life was, is, and asks to judge, it will be bigger and bigger and will have to determine the destiny of more and more ample strata of humanity.” (Bourdieu, 1979, pp. 17).
His analysis is too extensive and almost complete (I will explain later) to be summarized here, but the aspect that interests us of the “non-economic” cultural cosmovision, which is that of belief and can be explained in a sentence of his about how he sees the relationship of science and belief: “The paradoxical enterprise that consists in using a position of authority to speak with authority, to teach a lesson, but a lesson in freedom … would be simply inconsequential, or even self-destructive, if ambition itself of making a science of belief did not presuppose belief in science” (Bourdieu, (1994, p. 62), which means that it is necessary to combine reason and belief.
The current war involves these economic (and ideological beliefs, which include religious beliefs), and it is thus neither a practical nor a theoretical reason, peace is possible if we limit beliefs to the common principle of defending peace for the civilizing process (already that the concept of progress is also a belief in a certain sense of “economic history”).
Bourdieu, P. (1979) O desencantamento do mundo: as estruturas econômicas e estruturas temporais. Trad. Silvia Mazza. Brazil, São Paulo: Editora perspectiva.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1994). Lições de aula. (Lessons from the class). Brazil_ São Paulo: Ática, 1994.
Crab Footsteps and War
Umberto Eco’s book: “A Passo de Caraguejo: Hot Wars and Media Populism” (first Portuguese edition of 2012) is from more than a decade ago, but very current, Eco died on February 19, 2016, but if he were alive he would have had a lot to say. because his vision is prophetic.
He spoke of the global regression, this is the step of the crab, the resurgence of creationism, the iPod radio (now in disuse), he saw the rebirth of nations not as an affirmative period of cultural identities, but “after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the political geography of Europe and Asia changed radically, making it clear that we were moving backwards. Atlas editors saw forces … to draw inspiration from the old pre-1914 models, like their Serbia, their Montenegro, their Baltics States and so on” (Eco, 2022).
He also saw the rebirth of creationism and so many other absurd worldviews in a process of going backwards like “the steps of the crab”, and when we least expect the war and the new models of expansionism and colonization, and he already warned of media populism, today more evident.
However, in a deeper vision, Max Weber already pointed at the beginning of the last century “the disenchantment of the world”, forced to an excessively rational vision, where he saw the social model: “not what weighs on individuals, but what is transmitted between them”. ”, so what seems outside the objective world, the world of ideas is the one that is transmitted among men.
Pierre Bourdieu returns to “disenchantment” (Bourdieu, 1979) to analyze the assumptions of the Enlightenment and of Kant as a starting point for these ideas, the idea that is in scientific knowledge, consolidated by the French Revolution and its models of state that combined with the technique, would provide a drastic change in human lifestyle, bringing lasting peace.
However, in addition to the ignored colonial wars, two world wars were also triggered, and the bad agreements at the end of each one of them led to others, which delineates now is a repetition of errors, where the reason of each state wants to prevail over the other. , and soulless (and disenchanted) rationalism shows us a world of horror, hatred and intolerance.
Bourdieu warned that the mechanism of direct democracy should not become an element of symbolic oppression, and that most of the words we have for the social are between euphemism and insult, it is like wanting to perpetuate the current state of segregation and oppression.
Bourdieu, P. (1979). O desencantamento do mundo: as estruturas econômicas e estruturas temporais. Trad. Silvia Mazza, Brazil, São Paulo: Editora perspectiva.
Eco, U. (2022) O passo do caranguejo: guerras quentes e populismo midiático. Trad. Sérgio Mauro. Brazil, São Paulo: Record.
Weber, M. (2004) A ética protestante e o “espírito” do capitalismo. Trad. José Marcos M. de Macedo. Brazil, São Paulo: Companhia das Letras.
Covid: end of the state of emergency in Brazil
The state of Emergency in Public Health of National Importance (ESPIN) in Brazil was decreed by the then Minister of Health Henrique Mandetta, in February 2020, this weekend Minister Marcelo Queiroga declared the end of the Public Emergency, ESPIN started a cycle that allowed special funds for the purchase of supplies and vaccines to combat the pandemic.
The first official case was registered on February 26, 2020, making it more than 2 years ago, from then on it was a set of uncertain steps, opening and closing of establishments, bans on public gatherings, including cultural and religious events.
There is no declaration of a pandemic, nor an express release of safety protocols, as always the criteria are vague, such as the use of masks for example, which would be recommended.
The average number of deaths in the country is now around 100, having registered a very low number at the weekend, around 30 (the bodies that publish the numbers varied), but it must be remembered that the functioning of the secretariats of health on weekends is deficient.
It is difficult to predict the future of the disease with scientific data, experts warn, in general they draw two scenarios, one more optimistic that predicts the extinction of the virus and its variants, and another that predicts living with Covid-19 for a long time, which is considered more realistic, albeit at lower levels, and only in this case could it be considered endemic.
What is expected is serious monitoring and effective control of the circulation of the virus in the country.
Horrors of war succeed each other
A country already enormously devastated, which suffered bombings in hospital buildings, schools and even hospices, still lives with narratives saying that the objective was not to take power in Kiev, although the number of military casualties on both sides is enormous, it is to frighten this kind of vision of war, which in itself is unjustifiable and inhumane.
An even bigger battle is brewing in Mariupol, where civilians were trapped without being able to receive humanitarian aid, and even Red Cross convoys were prevented from moving forward, the few who live and resist in the region are without strength, without food and trapped (there is now suspicion of chemical warfare).
The aim is to say that something has been won, and being situated to the east, the port city of Mariupol can represent a trophy of consolation for those who the aim of war is conquest and power, thus the whole eastern region from the Donbass to the Crimea that already is Russian territory, would be taken.
But what military analysts fear is that this encouraged the Russian government to move forward, and countries like Sweden, Finland, Romania and Moldova are on standby, it would be an escalation that would make clear the expansionist objective with many similarities to World War II.
There is an economic side, without a doubt, and at this point the Russian currency, the ruble, did not fall as sanctions expected, while the dollar is falling, there is a desire on both sides for a new world order, and this requires a deeper analysis, economists and strategists.
The increasing escalation of arms creates and accelerates global polarization, with numerous local influences, France is again polarized between the extreme right of Marine Le Penn and the center left of Emmanuel Macron, and this will surely spread across the planet.
So there is no peace if you don’t cultivate peace, if you don’t work and ask for it, in the middle of Holy Week in which the Passion of Christ is lived, the passion of human civilization seems more evident than ever, a food crisis in sight , a growing radicalization and polarization, far from peace.
It is difficult to ask for common sense, to ask for fewer weapons and more dialogue, to look at the nuclear danger that now sends a shiver down our spines, unfortunately not for everyone.
Yes, a deeper analysis of the war is needed, but as Hannah Arendt stated, totalitarianism about choices made outside the historical context, that is, without any common sense.
For those who believe in something, it remains to ask that it be possible to “take this cup away” and that would be divine.
Innocent lives matter too
The war of all horrors and inhumanities has its cruelest face in the death of innocents, for this reason the death of civilians is condemned, although war itself must be condemned, there is no just war, the only just opposition to war is peace.
As much as this is a fact, it is important to think about the death of the innocent, where there is always a certain dose of intentionality, to foresee possible developments and alert to more horrors, when it comes to totalitarianisms (see the previous post) there is always a horizon gloomy and worrisome.
For this reason, the death of innocent people must be investigated and punished, it is a totalitarian, absurd act.
If we think about the war in Vietnam, where the Napalm firebombs were used (photo), where something close to 1 million people died (there are estimates that speak of up to 3 million people), and also 300 thousand Combojans and more than 20 thousand Laotians, then in the West too, it counts the lives of innocents.
Also the war in Iraq, the crisis in the Middle East and the African wars must be seen.
The death and bombing of hospitals, maternity hospitals and even asylums in Ukraine, it is clear that these data must be proven, they indicate the cruelty of this current war, and this is important not only for a trial in war courts, but for thinking about the possible ramifications.
In a climate of the end of the pandemic, a probable food shortage, the imbalance of military forces with technologies and the use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons is very worrying.
However, this is also observed in the micro-cosmos, in social and individual actions, the absence of feeling and compassion for the helpless, the lack of true humanism and the neglect of life, because the pandemic is not over and various types of denialism are growing.
A sincere look at a humanity that suffers and sees itself threatened by an even harder future is the obligation of every sincere humanism, and a special look towards the innocent is more necessary.
Without a great humanity that looks to the Other who suffers, we will not have a promising future.