Arquivo para September, 2022
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.
Money, morals and ethics
15
Sep
As we established in the previous post, whatever the form of 
exchanges, in our current context bank cards, although bitcoin digital money has appeared in this scenario, which is controversial, at the basis of every relationship is the exchange of goods in markets.
So it is not money, but markets that can be corrupted by the practices of setting prices for products, and this is what can be ethical and moral or not, including practices that lead to corruption, favoring exchanges and market positions with some illegal rewards that are paid to people in decision-making positions.
Thus, markets are not limited to distributing goods, they also express and promote certain attitudes in relation to exchanged products: favoring reading in children, auctioning vacancies in educational institutions that are key to high positions and even hiring foreign mercenaries in wars.
Also the payment of professionals for fair values and consistent with the minimum standard of living and what is already a practically global issue: the levels of social security that guarantee everyone a minimum level of income for a healthy and dignified life.
As for moral values, countless examples can also be given, perhaps the clearest is a friend for whom you pay is not the same as a friend for whom you have a free friendship.
The relations of friendship and respect that we maintain towards all other people, whether in our circle or not, whether our political, religious or ethnic preference or not, signify a higher moral value than those values, that money “pays for”. and for which one has “respect”.
Byung Chul Han explains that where respect is gone, the public sphere goes into decline, and this is the root of the deep civilizational crisis they are experiencing, the social, economic and political effects are just a consequence, when laws must prevent disrespect is sign of decadence and serious crisis in the public sphere.
What is money
14
Sep
Until arriving at the form we know today, money went through
several changes, at the beginning, historians say that around the 7th century BC. coins in gold and silver appeared, which had an equivalent value to the goods that were purchased, thus avoiding the difficult direct exchange of goods, a rudimentary economy called barter.
In the Medical Age, the custom of keeping coins with goldsmiths arose and, as a guarantee, a receipt was given, this is the origin of “paper money” or paper money as we know it today, to avoid counterfeiting the type of paper and printing. It got more sophisticated.
Gold keepers are the origin of modern banks, so they had the “ballast”, the gold equivalent of the value of the commodity, and indebted people could deliver their goods in jewelry, other and silver for pledge, a kind of guarantee they would pay. debt in the future.
The equivalent in commodities was called ballast, and the value that each commodity had depends on its price. Initially, trades were carried out in ports or in places where commodity buyers went to trade, the modern form is the stock exchanges.
With the banks having the real values in gold and silver, they could offer credit to buyers and investors both to produce goods and to pay debts or make some type of investment in markets that they believe to be promising, with the electronic and digital universe credit cards emerged, modern version of borrowers’ letters of credit in banks.
The financial market has become more sophisticated and today it is itself a type of “commodity”, stronger nations start to have a stronger “currency”, in practice however this does not have an equivalent or an exactly corresponding value in goods and this leads to a financialization from the market.
Currency itself, or its equivalent, takes on a value that is often artificial and this comes into play in trade wars around the world, so, for example, Russia wants to receive for the sale of its gas and oil the equivalent in rubles (Russian currency) and not in dollars or euros (US and European currencies, respectively) and this is commoditization.
It would be a return to the initial values of barter equivalents, a reorganization of the entire world economy into equivalent commodity values, and this would remain free trade.
The freedom of the market against the market
13
Sep
One of the main drivers of the current crisis whose war is a consequence
rather than a cause is the so-called market crisis, several products face barriers of price control attempts against the high demand of commodities: gas, oil, iron and even silicon ( not the sand of course, but the manufactured producers).
So while the European Union discusses controlling the price of gas, it tries to increase the stock due to the war in Ukraine, since Russia is the main supplier, which is contradictory because more is bought to keep the stock with the winter in sight. (November), the cost must increase and so it is not possible to control prices.
Also the total shutdown of the largest nuclear plant in Europe, the Zaporizhzhia, which is being shut down, could further exacerbate the energy crisis, Russia continues to point out the dangers of weapons and bombings from Kiev to the region, which could lead to catastrophic consequences,
China’s crisis with Taiwan also hides a market crisis, on the one hand the power of the rebel island in the production of silicon chips, and on the other an internal crisis aggravated by the bankruptcy of Evergrande, the country’s largest construction company, which was private and now it will be nationalized in an attempt to contain the crisis.
Thus communist China also knows the perverse effect of the market.
The Chinese real estate giant failed to deliver the debt restructuring plan as promised until July 31 and since then the Chinese government, in addition to discovering the evils of capitalism, also resorts to nationalization to avoid a more serious failure, those of the banks that financed the default.
The company stopped paying the bonds in dollars in December last year, according to estimates released by CNN, the amounts will reach 300 billion dollars in liabilities, which generates a wave of lack of credit in companies that operate in the Chinese real estate market.
The sector is responsible for almost ¼ of the Chinese GDP, and the activity that most contributed to the recent growth of the economy there, is now facing a strong slowdown that also worries the western market, which has made many new investments in this market.
Dependence on Russian gas (graphic) can seriously affect the world economy, for example, even the UK being independent is already affected.
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 Einstein Ring and the Spheres
08
Sep
It was the philosopher Sloterdijk who was the first to create the
relationship between man and his spheres, from the maternal womb to the planet, he is largely right, also in criticizing cynical reason, the one that justifies spherical reality is largely correct, it is a metaphor, but very good.
Let us think of the fetus, which remains within the sphere of the uterus until it leaves and looks at its ex-sphere, the mother, will still feel her dependence for a long time, it happens that this sociological, anthropological, semiotic reality has its own topological properties that are hidden in the cynical reason.
One of them is to understand that there is an immunological relationship whose primary purpose is to protect, nourish, train and immunize homo from an unknown sapiens exterior, like the baby who at birth depends on the mother, he needs her immunological protection.
The search for other spaces, inhabiting the moon (the new mission finds it difficult) and mars (astronauts think it would be horrible to live there) does not resolve the planetary spherical relationship, in crisis, it is necessary to open up to the other and leave of the hut, some psychologists speculate about the hut syndrome, which the pandemic has accelerated, not wanting to leave a sheltered, spherical environment.
The super telescope James Webb photographs Einstein’s ring in a place far away and physically unreachable by man (the image), at least under current technological conditions, and the physicist’s prediction was “photographed” (actually the instruments are of frequencies and not of “photos”) with formidable precision, one can extend Sloterdijk’s metaphor.
Gerald’s 1916 theory of Gravity revolutionized physics by creating a physics that claimed that gravity is a curvature of the space-time continuum caused by the mass of objects, almost two massive objects were perfectly aligned with the Earth this space-time would deflect the photons forming rings around the alignment of these two objects.
An English physicist named Sir Oliver Lodge suggested that this phenomenon of a massive gravitational field would not only deflect light from an object behind it, but also magnify it forming a gravitational lens, and the recent James Webb photo confirms this phenomenon.
What is the metaphor, massive immunological spheres, cultures, religions or ideologies whose purpose is to protect themselves when close (or on a collision course which makes the metaphor more complicated) not only form a strong gravitational field that draws bodies around, they do not they only distort space-time, but they are also lenses that, if carefully observed, allow us to see what is behind.
So it is time to look beyond the differences, the imperfections of the spherological models and enable a gravitational attraction that helps to better understand the civilizing process.
The idolatry of perfection
07
Sep
Myths and idols were created precisely to divert the understanding
of human nature, they change according to the contexts and the evolution of languages, but they have always been present in the history of humanity and thus they themselves must have human considerations.
Nietzsche warned us about the risks of living fed by idols (or ideas, which for him were synonymous), showed that by dominating our mind and conditioning our thinking, feeling and acting in the world, we become strict with our life and that of others, claimed to be a monstrous force, as a myth it can be said that its maximum expression is Narcissus (image) and this led to sameness, the lack of originality and diversity, the demand for the same.
In the name of some idealism, and in modernity it itself became a philosophy after Kant, people are capable of hurting and reaching the other who is outside their model, and even not allowing to build in life what they allowed themselves to be conquered by Is it over there.
The model of efficiency, productivity and social rigor is also a model of perfection.
This happens because the idealist model formulates that there is an ideal model to follow and reality is always imperfect and thus they prefer to follow the perfection of ideas and reach the absurdity of submitting others to their model of perfection, they believe that there is a top to be hit.
So it is not possible to formulate a human model to be followed, of course it is possible if we understand human imperfection as part of a process of hominization and civilization in which all other humans must have the same possibility of living and sharing the common environment.
Edgar Morin called this “planetary citizenship”, many political and religious models speak of solidarity, of rejection of hatred, but it is necessary to observe if they do not build something that excludes.
Today is the day of the Brazilian nation, so diverse and rich in races and ethnicities, any model that does not support the other is the type of idolatry of perfection that must be rejected, does not lead to solidarity.
Spinozian Ethics, a strong counterpoint to idealist ethics, formulated that reality is always equal to perfection, because perfection only makes sense when it is reality not something imagined or thought, so perfection is reality to the same extent that reality is perfect.
Without love and respect for the Other, for diversity and tolerance, every ideal model is imperfect.
Energy crisis and tension in the east
06
Sep
Moscow’s retaliation to the sanctions imposed after the invasion
of Ukraine, begin to have an impact on the European economy and in the United Kingdom caused the resignation of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, although the problem is wider than inflation, which in 2023 could go even above 20. %, the main impulse is the rise of natural gas throughout Europe, Russia blames Germany for the crisis.
European Union countries are looking to stock up on natural gas for the coming winter period.
Prime Minister Liz (Elizabeth) Truss was sworn in, in an internal election of the Conservative party against former Treasury Minister Rishi Sunak, she is known for being a chameleon, adopting speech according to the context, in fact similar to many leaders today.
It was against, for example, Brexit and after it was adopted it became in favor.
The people of Taiwan watching the Ukrainian war always quoted in local news, are aware of a possible war with China, and prepare for possible crises with exercises, first aid training and logistics to avoid bombings.
Last week a drone was shot down traveling in Taiwanese territory, according to news from Deustche Welle, reproduced on the G1 portal, since March an NGO called the Forward Alliance, in addition to offering civil defense training, seeks to improve national resilience.
According to Enoch Wu, founder of the Forward Alliance: “The objective is to keep communities functioning, and the trainings help prepare citizens against natural or man-made crises”, but the backdrop is a possible war with China.
Tensions rise between China and the US due to the announcement of the sale of 1.3 billion dollars of weapons to Taiwan, China promises to respond to what it considers “destruction of peace”.
It may be a deception, but the main trainings that the Taiwanese prime minister participates in are on the island of Penghu (Fishers), it is small and although it has a defense structure, it is isolated and far from Formosa Island, which is in fact the territory of Taiwan.
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)
