In 1902, the Rationalist Press Association published their “New Catechism: Baptism in the Twentieth Century” in London, which was dubbed the name of peace, freedom and progress; the godfathers of the twentieth century declared that this newborn child will bring the world to life. Liberation from poverty and wars of superstitious materialism.
Many years have passed, and this century is coming to an end. What kind of world does it leave us? The world has lost its soul, it has become a world of dispelled conscience, a world of superstitious machines worshiping weapons, an upside-down world, running from the left to the right, with the belly button on the back, and the head falling to the foot.
Throughout the twentieth century, belief in the power of science and technology has been fueling expectations for progress. At the midway of this century, some international organizations began to promote the development of underdeveloped countries and regions, distributing milk powder to infants in these places, spraying pesticides on the farmland-people later learned that milk powder that replaced breast milk would only make Babies from poor families die faster, and pesticides allow cancer to spread. A few years later, at the end of the century, it’s the same story: Technologists concocted prescriptions for underdeveloped diseases in the name of science. These prescriptions are often more harmful than diseases. They are imposed on people, based on the loss of human dignity and nature. At the cost of its demise.
This is an era in which the original unwavering belief is in crisis. This kind of crisis is sad, but it may also be beneficial. Some people originally believed in the country, and the country claimed to be owned by all, but in fact it was owned by only a few people. In the end, it was no longer owned by anyone. These people encountered a crisis; some people originally believed that armed struggle was a miraculous prescription. These people Encountered a crisis; there are some people who originally believed in the road of elections, and the original hot rhetoric of political parties turned into dull and boring speeches-the political party vowed to fight the system at first, and finally became the administrator of the system-these people Encountered a crisis. Many people ask for forgiveness and forgive them for believing that man can conquer the sky; many people zealously sweep their footprints, hurriedly jumping from hope to the ground, as if hope is a tired horse.
The end of the century, the end of the millennium: is it also the end of the world? How much unpoisoned air is there for us to breathe? How much land is still undestroyed, and how much clear water is not dead? How many souls are not sick? In Hebrew, the word “sick” means “no plan”. Among the many epidemics in this era, this is the most serious disease. However, I don’t know who wrote on a wall in Bogotá, in Spanish, to say that we have hope, we always say: We coat hope. What a beautiful expression, what a beautiful challenge: Put on a coat for her to prevent her from dying in the severe cold in this harsh age. According to a questionnaire survey conducted in 17 Latin American countries not long ago, three-quarters of the people said they were stuck or getting worse. Should we accept misfortune as we accept winter or death? Now, it is time for us Latinos to ask ourselves if we should continue to endure this kind of life with our heads down and continue to imitate the North poorly. Is it just a mirror that mass-produces prototypes of various freaks? Become the loser of a long-distance race where only a few people can reach the end? Let crime turn into a massacre, and let the hysteria in the city escalate to the madness of the whole people? We have nothing else to say, is there no other way to live?
Fortunately, it is almost impossible to hear that history is correct. Today, we clearly know that history will make mistakes, go the wrong way, sleep, and get lost. History is created by us, and it looks a lot like us. But it, like us, is unpredictable. Human history is similar to football: the best part is its ability to create surprises. A short guy can sometimes make wonderful moves, dribbling the ball over the seemingly invincible big tall guy, rewriting the almost destined ending and making all predictions invalid.
No matter how bad the reality is, new fabrics are being born on the fabric of reality. They are made up of many people threaded needles and made of various colors. Alternative social movements speak through political parties and trade unions—they can also speak through political parties and trade unions, but they are not limited to this. This process is not spectacular, it is mainly carried out locally, but in all parts of the world, a thousand and one new forces are emerging. They germinate and grow from the bottom up from the inside to the outside. They keep silent, and work hand in hand with the rebuilt democracy that is nourished by the participation of the whole people, and are gradually restoring the persecuted traditions: tolerance, mutual help and interaction with nature. One of the spokespersons of these organizations, Manfred Maxnef, likened these forces to a large group of mosquitoes, and they launched a fierce attack on the system that refused to embrace and would only lift the elbow and hurt people:
”A group of mosquitoes is more than a rhinoceros. Great. They are buzzing and growing.”
In Latin America, this is a species that is expanding: landless, no houses, no workers, no? Calamus? Organizations formed by calamari; groups fighting for human rights; mothers’ white turbans, grandmothers fighting against the impunity of power; a movement to unite community residents; a civic front fighting for affordable food and sanitation; People who fight against racial discrimination and sexism, machismo, and child labor exploitation; ecologists; pacifists; promoters of national health and education for all; people who release collective creativity and save collective memories; people who practice organic Agricultural cooperatives; community radio and community television stations and many other people’s voices. They are not spare wheels of political parties, nor any church under the jurisdiction of the Vatican. These active forces of civil society are often pursued and attacked by power, and sometimes even shot. Some group members were shot several times and fell on the road. Let the gods and demons send them into the kingdom of heaven together: only the fruiting tree will be added to the body by the rocks.
With very few exceptions, such as the Zapatistas and the Brazilian Landless in Chiapas, Mexico, these movements do not make headlines of public attention, not because they are unworthy. For example, one of these mass organizations has only appeared in recent years and is unknown outside of its home country, but it has provided an example that the presidents of Latin America should emulate. In Mexico, debtors united to form an organization called “Plow Ring” to jointly resist the exploitation of bank loan sharks. The emergence of this organization is entirely spontaneous. In the beginning, there were only a few people. There are few people, but infectious. Now they are a large group of people. It would be great if our presidents could learn from this experience. Our countries can also come together like these Mexicans and unite as a front in the face of financial dictatorship, so that it no longer has to negotiate with each country individually and defeat them individually. However, whenever these presidents get together, their ears are occupied by the same sound source. They always revolve around the president of the United States. The United States is their homeland, and the president of the United States always stands in the center of the family photo.
In many parts of Latin America, in the face of the numbing gas emitted by fear, people are uniting and learning not to shrink. As the old Antonio said: “The fear a person has in his heart is how small he is; how strong a person chooses is the opponent.” These small people are making their own voices. . To exercise leadership, there is no other way but to lead while listening to the will of the people. To give another example from Mexico, Deputy Commander Marcos speaks on behalf of all people in the lower classes: people living in underdeveloped areas, people who can’t eat enough, people who are treated unfairly, people who speak unheard. people. The residents of the Chiapas Indian community discuss matters and make decisions together, and he is their mouthpiece. Can people without sound make a sound? They, those who are forced to be silent, are the ones who have the most voices. Whether they speak or are silent, they are always talking.
Official history is a dismembered memory, a long ritual of self-praising by those in power in the world. The official history searchlight focused on the summit, and the mountain below it was submerged in darkness. Those who will never be seen are at most only part of the historical stage set, like a temporary group performance on a Hollywood studio. But it is them, those who are denied to be deceived, who are the actors of real history. They are the protagonists in the hidden places of historical reality, and they can realize another possible beautiful reality. The Americas are blinded by elitism, racism, machismo, and militarism, and they still don’t know anything about the infinite excitement they contain. For the South, this is unequivocal: Latin America has the richest human and plant diversity on earth. Its fertility and its prospects are here. As the anthropologist Rudolf Stavenhagen said: “Cultural diversity is to humans as biodiversity is to the world’s genetic treasure.” In order to transform these energies into miracles of people and land, the first thing to do is, It is not to confuse identity with archeology, and not to confuse nature with landscape. Identity is not to sit still in a museum, and ecology cannot be reduced to horticulture.
Five hundred years ago, people and land in the Americas joined the world market in the nature of things. Only a few conquerors, conquered conquerors, are aware of the diversity of the Americas, and they live in and live by it. However, conquering is ultimately a blind and blind folly, as is true for all imperial invasions. Indians and nature were merely regarded as objects or obstacles for development by the conquerors. In the name of the only true God, the only language, and the only truth, cultural diversity has been degraded as ignorance, persecuted as heresy, and nature is treated as a ferocious beast to be tamed and forced to be converted into money. The interaction between the Indians and the land is the core of all American cultures. The punishment for this idolatry sin is flogging, hanging, and even fire.
It is no longer popular to talk about nature, but nature’s executioners now prefer nature. Regardless of the former or the latter, nature is always something outside of us, no matter the past or the present: civilization confuses clocks with time, and confuses nature with postcards. But the vitality of the world will never stand still, it laughs at all classifications and definitions, and transcends any explanation. Nature realizes itself in motion, and we, the children of nature, are the same. We are both ourselves and our actions, and we act to transform ourselves. As Paul Freire, an educator who has persisted in learning throughout his life, said: “We are walking beings.”
Truth is not in the port but on the journey. The search for truth is the highest truth. Are we destined to sin? We all know clearly that our group of human insects like to devour their kind and destroy the earth, but we also know that if our Paleolithic ancestors could not adapt to the nature of which they were a part, if they did not know how to share their collection And hunting gains, today, we are not here. No matter where, no matter what the environment, no matter when, people can survive. Everyone contains many possible people, and the power system will not be eternal, even though it invites the worst people to perform on stage every day. Fan, while preventing other people from growing up, forbid them to show up. Although we have too many shortcomings, we still have nothing incurable; it is the adventure of changing the world and transforming ourselves, letting our lives—this moment in the history of the universe, the short-lived heat in this ice layer—have things Value for money.
Insanity rights
millennium is being born. Don’t take this too seriously: In any case, the year 2001 for Christians is 1422 for Muslims, 5114 for Mayans, and 5762 for Jews. The new millennium was born on January 1, thanks to the rise of a group of elders in the Roman Empire. One day, they decided to break the tradition of celebrating the arrival of the new year at the beginning of spring. The chronology of the Christian era came from another whim: One day, the Pope of Rome decided to set a date for the birth of Jesus, although no one knew when he was born.
Time laughed at the boundaries we created for it. We have compiled the story of time, thinking that time obeys us; however, the whole world welcomes and fears the boundary of time.
Flying appointment
This millennium has come, and that millennium has passed. The turn of the millennium has always provided excellent opportunities for speechists with inflated speeches to make generous speeches for the future of mankind. The speakers who appeared when God was angry also took this opportunity to announce the arrival of the doomsday, while time remained silent and continued on its eternal and mysterious path.
The truth has been spoken, and no one opposes: on such a date, no matter how capricious it is to be ruled, everyone can’t help but ask themselves, what will happen in the future? No matter how everyone predicts the future, we can be sure of one thing: in the 21st century, if we are still here, we will all be the people of the last century, and worse, we will all be the people of the last millennium. people.
Although we cannot predict the future era, we at least have the right to imagine, and we can look forward to the future we want. The United Nations issued announcements in 1948 and 1976 respectively, listing a long list of human rights, but most humans only have the right to see, hear, and silence. What if we try to practice the dream right that has never been proposed? Let’s be insane for a while, how about? Let us look beyond the despicable and dirty, and imagine another possible world: the
air is clean, no longer polluted by toxins from human fear and human passion;
on the street, cars are crushed by dogs;
people are no longer driven by cars, No longer programmed by computers, no longer bought by supermarkets, no longer watched by TV;
TV is no longer the most important member of the family, and enjoys the same treatment as irons or washing machines;
no one can live for work, everyone works for life ; It
is a crime of stupidity committed for the possession and consumption of life. This crime is included in the criminal law. Life is for living, just like a bird does not know that he is singing when he is singing, and a child does not know that he is playing when he is playing;
any In a country, boys who want to fight war go to jail;
economists no longer call the level of consumption a standard of living, and no longer call the quantity of things the quality of life;
chefs no longer believe that lobsters like to live in a hot pot;
Historians no longer believe that the country is willing to be invaded;
politicians no longer believe that the poor love to treat promises as food;
solemnity no longer regards oneself as a virtue, and no one will take a person who can’t play a joke seriously;
death and money Without their magic power, a rascal will not become a respected gentleman because of death or money;
if a person does what he thinks is right and not what is best for him, he will not be regarded as a hero or a fool; the
world is no longer with the poor. Only fighting poverty, the military industry has to declare bankruptcy;
food is no longer a commodity, communication is no longer a business, because eating and communication are human rights;
no one dies from hunger, because no one dies from indigestion ;
Children on the street are no longer treated as garbage, because there are no more children on the street;
The children of the rich are no longer regarded as money, because there are no children of the rich;
education is no longer the privilege of those who can afford to buy it; the
police are no longer a nightmare for those who cannot afford to buy it. ;
Justice and freedom, the conjoined sisters who were sentenced to live separately, are connected back to back again;
a dark-skinned woman becomes the president of Brazil, another dark-skinned woman becomes the president of the United States, an Indian woman becomes the leader of Guatemala, and the other An Indian woman leads Peru;
in Argentina, those on the Plaza de Mayo have become role models for healthy minds, because they refuse to forget in the age of compulsory forgetting; the
Motherly Mother Church will correct the writing errors on the stone tablets of Messer, and the sixth commandment requires Rejoice for your body; the
church will also issue another commandment, which the Lord has forgotten for a long time: “You must love nature, because you are a part of nature”;
the desert on the earth and the desert of the soul are restored For the lush forest; the
desperate will be expected, and the lost will be found, because they are the people who have waited too long to be desperate, searched for too long and even lost;
no matter where they are born, no matter when they live, The boundary between map and time is irrelevant. As long as there is the desire to pursue justice and the desire to pursue beauty, everyone is our compatriots and our contemporaries;
perfection is still a boring privilege exclusive to the gods; this is terrible. In the world, we will treat each night as the last night, and each day as the first day.
Guest Editor: Zhao Fang Editor: Tian Jing
landless
Sebastiao Salgado photographed them with a camera, Hickory Bouah Turk sing for them, Jorge Saramago them written In the book: Five million landless peasant families wander in the vast wilderness of Brazil, “wandering between dreams and despair.”
Many of them joined the landless movement. In a tent set up temporarily from the side of the highway, crowds of people like tides emerged. They walked silently in the dark, towards the deserted manor. They smashed the padlock, opened the fence gate, and rushed into the manor. Sometimes, they are greeted by bullets shot by gunmen or soldiers. Only these people are working on these uncultivated land.
The landless movement is guilty: they not only disrespect the property ownership of those lazy people, but also despise the responsibility of the state-landless people grow food on the land they have conquered, and the World Bank’s order is that southern countries must not produce rations on their own. Obediently beg for food in the international market.
Zapatistas
mist is masked cap rainforest. In this way she can hide her rounded up child. They came out of the mist and went back to the mist: the Chiapas Indians wore gorgeous clothes, walked without touching their feet, kept silent or talked in silence. These princes who have been punished for hard labor have never existed in history, and will never be seen again in the future. They were driven away from the land, from history, and found shelter in the fog and mystery. They came out of the mist with their faces covered, to smash the mask that humiliated their rights.
Warning
ruling authorities warned people, a handful of young people being idle wandering evade arrest, they were carrying a dangerous virus that can infect called “disobedient” disease.
For public health, fortunately, it is not difficult to identify these people. They always like to think loudly, have colorful dreams, and violate the principle of group submission. These principles are the essence of democratic living together. One of their characteristics is that they do not have a proof of inevitable aging. Although this certificate can be obtained for free at any street corner in the city or any village in the country, it is the result of the “healthy mind, aging mind” campaign that our country has successfully carried out for many years. need.
The supreme government reiterated the principle of governance and ignored the provocations of this small group of troublemakers, once again showing that their decision to care about the development of young people will not waver. Young people are the country’s main export product and the basis for our international trade balance.
Kinship
all sprout, grow, mature, tired, dead and risen, it is our family.
Every child has many fathers, mothers, uncles, aunts, brothers, sisters, grandfathers, and grandmothers. Grandfather and grandmother are the dead and the mountains. We are the children of the land and the sun, watered by female and male rains. All seeds, corn, rivers, and foxes that can predict the weather are all our relatives. Stones are relatives of snakes and lizards. Corn and kidney beans are brothers, they can grow with you and me without hindering each other. The potato is both the daughter of the potato planter and the mother of the potato planter, because the creator is also the created.
Everything is sacred, including ourselves. Sometimes we are the gods, and sometimes the gods are just mortals.
That’s what the Indians of the Andes said, and they understand these things.
Music
he was playing the harp magician. In the Columbia Plains, no party can leave him. In order for the party to be a veritable party, Mesé Figueretto must be on the stage, dance his fingers, fill the air with joy, and make people dance more cheerfully.
One night, on a forgotten mountain road, he was attacked by a group of thieves. At that time, Messer Figuegredo was rushing to a wedding, riding a mule by himself, and another mule with a harp. The thieves rushed to him and knocked him to the ground, and then he was fattened.
The next day, someone found him. He was lying in the middle of the road, covered in blood, half dead. He spoke with the least amount of strength left:
”They took the mules away.” Then he
said:
“They took the harp along.”
Then he sighed and smiled:
”It’s okay, they Did not take the music away.”
Ask a question
In the twelfth century, Idrisi, the queen geographer of the Kingdom of Sicily, drew a map of the world. This was the world as understood by Europe at that time, with the south at the top and the north at the bottom. This was the common practice of cartographers in that era. Eight centuries later, the Uruguayan painter Joaquin Torres García painted a map of South America, with the south on top. “Our north is the south,” he said. “Our boat going to the north is not called northward, but northward.”
If the world is now turned upside down, should we turn it over? Let it stand up straight?
