November 04, 2004

Intervowen




Soulgroup

"Ecstasy does not repeat its symbols; there are some who have seen God in a splendor, there are those who have perceived it in a sword or in the circles of a rose. I saw a high Wheel, that was not in front of my eyes, neither behind, nor beside, but everywhere at one time. That Wheel was made of water, but of fire as well, and it was (even though its border was visible) infinite. Interwoven, it was formed by all the things that will be, are and have been, and I was one of the fibers of the total weft and Pedro de Alvarado -who caused me pain-, was another one. There they were the causes and the effects and I only had to look at that Wheel to understand it all, endlessly."
-Jorge Luis Borges [+]



The image above was given to me by Epp (i take it as a true gift =) and I am SO thankful for that. I wanted to share it here -and I am sure that she will agree and be happy- because of its strong meaning. Images have that magic of making us realize and adopt instantly certain concepts that may take long time to explain in words.

In these times I believe that we all have to have this image in our minds present. Today we -people of the world- cannot give our backs to the US people, neither judge them, nor close our eyes with indifference.

We have to understand that we are all part of the same game. And that beyond apparences we all belong to the same Team. And we all want to win for the greater good.

May you think that it is useless because the United States always shows apathy to other people´s of the world needs. First: I don´t think so, they are not conclusive any of all the evidences you could show me. Second: if this is actually the case (US don´t care about anything but themselves), shall we be examples and builders of another way of communicating with this fellow nation.

Epp pointed out at Orkut (and I beg you that you post you comment here) brilliantly and wisely what she perceives is the reason why the United States citizens voted the way they did. Based upon her accurate words, US people are afraid. They are in panic. They are acting in fear. And that is not good. Beyond their president, we, also citizens of another countries, should open a bridge to the american brothers.

And I am saying this when America Latina, my country included of course, will belong to the ALCA agreement to be sealed the next year. We will become (definitely) a modern fashion colony of the US. This is terrible. But it is also terrible all the things we south americans did and didn´t do that lead us here. Since the Monroe Doctrine "America for the Americans" in the 1900´s.

This is the concept of interconnectedness. Cause and Effect. Let us all understand and assume our responsibility not only of our own acts but of the results of the acts of the whole. We are one.

VERY Welcome are your comments, please. Tks.

ps: interesting reading -post and comms-(tks Steve): Lead21 Blog: The moral argument of free trade

November 02, 2004

Freedom to vote or not to vote

orkut - eclectic´s community - "Freedom" discussion

A long discussion on the definition and meaning of freedom introduced and followed enthusiastically by a new member, Waleed, =) has been putting most of the active members to think and make a contribution about any of the aspects that a question about "freedom" can evoke. One of these subjects brought up to the table was the limits on freedom of speech which led us to freedom to voting, the right all citizens have.

Since this is a subject of deep implications and right now because of US presidential elections is a global theme for commenting and discussing I thought of bring it here, to the blogosphere and make the discussion a public one.

I will start quoting my last comment there:

"Since we are all citizens of our countries.

Since countries are built upon their citizens,

Since citizens have a lot of rights and obligations but had never been trained, neither tested on how to manage those tools consciously and thinking about the greater good for the community...

Since the administration of a country does not rely on the politicians charisma to convince the masses but on their skill and ability as technicians (as lawyers, engineers, staticians, mathematicians, social scientists, etc...)

Since the country´s development, future, representation in front of the other countries, defense, improvement, etc, depends on these administration people for at least 4 years...

Isn´t it crazy that someone who does not read and write can tell who could be appropriate to drive the course of its community? (analphabetism is just the first example that came to my mind)

Isn´t it crazy that the same system that with equanimity with all its citizens the right to vote at the same time it gives them the right not to vote!? I mean: Or we all vote or we all don´t vote, but what is the half-way?

Since we are citizens, again, and haven´t been trained on how to chose good leaders and administrator... and anyway we all vote as we "knew", based on bias, based on feelings, based on tarot, based on faces, TV, etc...

Shouldn´t be a good idea that each voter before making it´s vote should have to pass a 5 minutes test? With little but important questions. A test like this, short and concise:

"Dear citizen, before making your vote we need to know if you match a minimum criteria of knowledge and consciousness about this important act of yours which consequences will impact our whole community life for the next period of years. Please answer the following questions:

1- What is our current president and vice names and which political side they represent.

2- Which is the name of the chief of the parliament, what is his political view and what is the importance of its position in the political system.

3- Name and definition of our political system.

4- Whose political wing / party has more chairs in the parliament at this moment.

5- The two candidates with more changes to win the election are?

6- Which is the professional background of these two candidates (ie. lawyer, doctor, engineer, etc)

7- What are you basing your vote on:
* trust
* candidate´s past performance in other charges
* candidate´s way of winning TV debates
* political party
* other:

8- Which has been the tendency of our economy in the past years:
*recession
*grown
*standstill

9- which are our country´s priorities in terms of Internal and External policies and affairs?

10- Are your conscious that your vote will influence of our country´s destiny and your life for the next years?

Thank you."

And depending on preformatted answers it can be validated or rejected in less than a minute."

I would really like to hear your opinions here on this matter. Adieu.