Categoria: Economia

We live in an ecocidal world

Leonardo Boff6 Comentários

On September 27th the Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change, IPCC, consisting of a few hundred scientists, gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, to evaluate the level of global warming, and they shared with us some worrisome data: «the concentrations of carbon dioxide, (CO2), methane, (CH4), and nitrous oxide, (N2O), primarily responsible for global warming, now considerably surpass the highest concentrations registered in ice nuclei during the last 800,000 years». It is 95% certain that human activity has contributed to this warming. Between 1951 and 2010, the temperature rose between 0.5°C and 1.3°C, and in some places it has already risen by 2°C. The predictions for Brazil are not good: starting in 2050, we could have a permanent summer: all year round.

This temperature could have devastating effects on many eco systems, and on children and the elderly. The IPCC scientists issued a passionate call to the people, to initiate immediate action on a global level, in terms of production and consumption, that might reverse this process and reduce its harmful effects. As Swiss Thomas Stocker, one of the coordinators of the final report said: «The most important question is not where are we now, but where we will be in 10, 15 or 30 years. And that depends on what we do today».

It appears that little or nothing is being done in a measurable and global form. The economic interests in unlimited accumulation, at the expense of depleting the natural goods and services, trump any concern for the future of life and the integrity of the Earth.

After reading the 31 pages of that report, one is left with the fundamental perception that we live in a world order that is systematically destroying the capacity of the planet to sustain life. We relate with nature and with the Earth as a whole in an ecocidal and geocidal manner. If we continue in this direction, we will surely meet an ecosocial tragedy.

The purpose of numerous groups, movements and activists is centered on identifying new forms of living, so that we may guarantee life in her great diversity and live in harmony with the Earth, the community of life, and the cosmos.

In a book that required more than 10 years of intensive research, Canadian Marcos Hathaway, an educator, expert in modern cosmology, and myself, tried to present a careful reflection that would include contributions of both East and West, seeking a direction viable for all. The book is: “The Tao of Liberation: Exploring the Ecology of Transformation”  (Voces 2012). Fritjof Capra wrote a fine prologue, and the Northamerican scientific community has welcomed the English edition: in 2010, the Nautilus Institute awarded us the gold medal for Science and Cosmology.

Our research starts with the following observation: there is an acute pathology inherent in the system that presently dominates and exploits the world: poverty, social inequality, exhaustion of Earth’s resources, and a strong disequilibrium of the life-system. The same forces and ideologies that exploit and exclude the poor are also devastating the entire community of life, and undermining the ecological bases that sustain planet Earth.

To overcome this tragic situation we are called upon, in a very real manner, to re-invent ourselves as a species. To that end we need wisdom, to lead us to a profound personal liberation/transformation, from masters of all things, to brothers and sisters of everything. That transformation also implies a collective liberation/reinvention through a different ecological format, that stimulates us to respect and to live according to the rhythms of nature. We must know what to take from her for our collective survival, and how to learn from her, because she is systemically structured in networks of intro-retro-relations that assure cooperation and solidarity of all with all, and that provide sustainability for life in all its forms, especially human life. Without our cooperation/solidarity with nature and other human beings, we will not find an efficacious solution.

Without a spiritual revolution (not necessarily religious) that involves a different way of thinking (a new vision) and a new heart (a new sensibility), we will search in vain for purely scientific and technical solutions. These are indispensable, but they must be integrated within a different framework of principles and values that are the basis for a new paradigm of civilization.

All this lies within the potentialities of the cosmogenic process, and also within human possibilities. It is important to believe in such realities. Without human faith and hope, we cannot build an arc that will save us a

Free translation from the Spanish sent by
Melina Alfaro, volar@fibertel.com.ar,
done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.

Duas forças em tensão: a auto-afirmação e a integração

Leonardo Boff19 Comentários

Biologicamente nós humanos, somos seres carentes (Mangelwesen). Não somos dotados de nenhum órgão especializado que nos garanta a sobrevivência ou nos defenda de riscos, como ocorre com os animais. Alguns biólogos chegam a dizer que somos “um animal doente”, um “faux pas”, (um passo em falso), uma “passagem” (Übergang) para outra coisa, por isso nunca fixado, inteiros mas  incompletos.

 

 Tal verificação nos obriga a continuamente a garantir a nossa vida, mediante o trabalho e a inteligente intervenção na natureza. Deste esforço, nasce a cultura que organiza de forma mais estável as condições  infra-estruturais e também humano-espirituais para vivermos humanamente em sociedade.

 

Acresce ainda outro dado, presente também em todos os seres do universo, mas que no nível humano ganha especial relevância. Vigoram duas forças: a primeira é  auto-afirmação, a segunda, a integração. Elas atuam sempre em conjunto num equilíbrio difícil e sempre dinâmico.

 

Pela força da auto-afirmação cada ser se centra em si mesmo e seu instinto é conservar-se, defendendo-se contra todo tipo de ameaça contra sua integridade e a sua vida. Ninguém aceita morrer. Quer viver, evoluir e se expandir. Essa força explica a persistência e a subsistência do indivíduo.

 

Precisamos neste ponto superar totalmente o darwinismo social segundo o qual somente os mais fortes e adaptáveis triunfam e permanecem. Essa é uma meia verdade que está na contramão do processo evolucionário. Este não privilegia os mais fortes e adaptáveis. Se assim fora, os dinossauros estariam ainda entre nós. O sentido da evolução é permitir que todos os seres, também os mais vulneráveis, expressem virtualidades latentes dentro da evolução. Esse é  o valor da interdependência de todos com todos e da solidariedade cósmica. Todos, fracos e fortes, se entreajudam para coexistir e coevoluir.

 

Pela segunda força, a da da integração, o indivíduo se descobre envolto numa rede de relações, sem as quais,  sozinho como indivíduo, não viveria nem sobreviveria. Existe o individuo mas ele vem de uma família, se insere num grupo de trabalho, mora numa cidade e habita um país com um tipo de organização social. Ele está ligado a toda esta cadeia de relações. Assim todos os seres são interconectados e vivem uns pelos outros, com os outros e para os outros. O indivíduo se integra, pois, por natureza, num todo maior. Mesmo que o indivíduo morra, o todo garante que a espécie continue permitindo que outros representantes venham a nos suceder.

 

Sabedoria humana é reconhecer o fato de que chega certo momento na vida no qual  a pessoa deve se despedir para deixar o lugar, até fisicamente,  a outros que virão.

 

O universo, os reinos, os gêneros e as espécies e também os indivíduos humanos se equilibram entre estas duas forças: a da auto-afirmação do indivíduo e a da integração num todo maior. Mas esse processo não é linear e sereno. Ele é tenso e dinâmico. O equilíbrio das forças nunca é um dado, mas um feito a ser alcançado a todo o momento.

 

É aqui que entra o cuidado responsável. Se não cuidarmos ou pode prevalecer a auto-afirmação do indivíduo à custa de uma insuficiente integração e então predomina a violência e a autoimposição ou, ao contrário, pode triunfar a integração a preço do enfraquecimento e até anulação do indivíduo e então ganha a partida o coletivismo e o achatamento das individualidades. O cuidado aqui se traduz na justa medida e na autocontenção para não privilegiar nenhuma destas forças.

 

Efetivamente, na história social humana, surgiram sistemas que ora privilegiam o eu, o individuo, seu desempenho, sua capacidade de competição e a propriedade privada como é o caso da ordem capitalista ou ora  prevalece o nós,  o coletivo, a cooperação e a propriedade social como é o caso do socialismo real que foi ensaiado na União Soviética e ainda persiste, em parte, na China.

 

A exacerbação de uma destas forças em detrimento da outra, leva a desequilíbrios, conflitos, guerras e tragédias sociais e ambientais. Com referência ao meio ambiente tanto o capitalismo quanto o socialismo foram depredadores e pioraram as condições de vida da maioria das populações. Em ambos os sistemas o cuidado responsável desapareceu para dar lugar à vontade de poder, ao enfrentamento entre ambos e até a brutalidade nas relações mundias visando a corrida armamentista e a dominação do curso do mundo.

 

Qual é o desafio que se dirige ao ser humano? É o cuidado reponsável de buscar o equilíbrio construído conscientemente e fazer desta busca um propósito, uma atitude de base e até um projeto político. Portador de consciência e de liberdade, o ser humano possui esta missão que o distingue dos demais seres. Só ele pode ser um ser ético, um ser que cuida de si e que se responsabiliza pela comunidade de vida. Ele pode ser hostil à vida, colocar-se, como indivíduo dominador, sobre as coisas. Mas pode ser também o anjo bom que se sente integrado na comunidade de vida, junto com as coisas. Depende de seu empenho manter o equilíbrio entre a auto-afirmação e a integração num todo e não permitir que forças dilaceradoras dirijam a história.

 

Por ser ético, coloca-se ao lado daqueles que tem dificuldades em se auto-afirmar e assim sobreviver e impedir uma integração que destrói as individualidades em nome de um coletivo  amorfo. Eis uma síntese sempre a ser construida.

 

Leonardo Boff escreveu: O despertar da águia: o sim-bólico e o dia-bólico na construção do real, Vozes 2010.

 

Pope Francis and the shedding of pagan papal customs

Leonardo Boff8 Comentários

The innovations in the customs and speeches of Pope Francis have led to an acute crisis in the conservative groups that strictly followed the directives of the two previous Popes. They find it especially intolerable that the Pope received in private audience one of the pioneers of the “condemned ” Theology of Liberation, Peruvian Gustavo Gutierrez. They are stunned by the Pope’s sincerity in recognizing the Church’s errors, and his own, and in denouncing the careerism of many prelates, calling “leprosy”  the courtesan and flattering spirit of many in power, who are known as “vaticancentrists”. What really scandalizes them is the inversion he makes, by putting in first place love, mercy, tenderness, dialogue with modernity and tolerance towards people, including the divorced and the homo-affective, and only in last place, ecclesiastic doctrines and discipline.

The voices are already being heard of the most radical,  who, referencing Pope Francis, offer petitions, “for the good of the Church” (evidently, their Church), such as: “Lord, illuminate or eliminate him”. Eliminating problematic popes is not a rarity in the long history of the papacy. There was a time, between the years 900 and 1000, in the so-called «pornocratic era» of the papacy, when virtually all the popes were either poisoned or assassinated.

The most frequent criticisms that circulate in the social media of these historically antiquated and backward groups, go along the line of accusing Pope Francis of undermining the sacred nature of the figure of the papacy, trivializing and secularizing it.  In reality, they ignore history and are hostage to a secular tradition that has little to do with the historical Jesus and life style of the Apostles. But it has lots to do with the gradual adoption of pagan and worldly customs by the Church, in the style of the pagan Roman emperors and Renaissance princes.

The door to this process was already opened in the times of Constantine (274-337), who recognized Christianity, and Theodosius (379-395) who made it the sole official religion of the Empire. The decline of the Roman Empire created the conditions for the bishops, especially the Bishop of Rome, to assume the functions of command and order. This was clear with Pope Leo I, the Great, (440-461), who was proclaimed Mayor of Rome in order to confront the invasion of the Huns. Leo was the first to use the term Pope, which previously had been reserved for the Roman emperors. It acquired greater strength with Pope Gregory Magnus (540-604), also proclaimed Mayor of Rome, and later culminated with Gregory VII (1021-1085) who assumed for himself absolute power in the religious and secular fields: perhaps the greatest revolution in the field of ecclesiology.

The present imperial, princely and courtesan customs of the hierarchy, the cardinals and the popes, date back in particular to Pope Sylvester (334-335). In his time the falsehood, the so-called, “Donation of Constantine”,  was created, with the objective of strengthening papal power. According to that “Donation”, emperor Constantine had given the Pope the city of Rome and the Occidental part of the Empire. Included in that “Donation”, unmasked as false by Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (1400-1460), was the use of imperial emblems and clothing (purple), the title of Pope, the gold crosier, the cape, covered with ermine and trimmed with silk, on his shoulders, the formation of the court and the palatial residences.

This is the origin of the present princely and courtesan customs of the Roman Curia, of the hierarchy of the Church and the cardinals, especially of the Pope. Its source is the style of the pagan Roman emperors and the sumptuousness of the renaissance princes. There has been, then, a process of the Church as a hierarchical institution, adopting pagan and worldly customs.

Those who want to return to the ritual traditions that surround the figure of the Pope are not even conscious of this historically closed and conditioned process. They insist on something that does not comport with the evangelical values, and praxis, of Jesus.

What is Pope Francis doing? He is restoring to the papacy and the entire hierarchy their true style, linked to the Tradition of Jesus and the Apostles.  In fact, he is returning to the most ancient tradition, eliminating the pagan customs of the papacy, within the spirit of the Gospel, that were lived so emblematically by his mentor and inspiration, Saint Francis of Assisi.

The authentic tradition is on the side of Pope Francis. The tradicionalist are only that, tradicionalist and not traditionals. They are closer to the palace of Herod and Caesar Augustus, than to the grotto of Bethlehem and the house of the artisan from Nazareth. In contrast to them is the praxis of Jesus and His sayings about having nothing, about simplicity and humility, and power as service, rather than as exercised by the pagan princes and lords who subjugate and dominate: “it should not be that way among you, that the oldest be like the youngest and the one who gives commands be like the servant” (Luke 22,26). Pope Francis speaks from this original and oldest, tradition, the Tradition of Jesus and the Apostles. This destabilizes the conservatives, who have been left without arguments

Free translation from the Spanish sent by
Melina Alfaro, alfaro_melina@yahoo.com.ar,
done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.

Die Welt, in der wir leben, führt zum Ökozid

Leonardo Boff2 Comentários

 

Am 27 September trafen sich Hunderte von Wissenschaftlern in Stockholm zum Weltklimarat (IPCC: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), um das Ausmaß der globalen Erwärmung abzuschätzen. Sie veröffentlichten folgende beunruhigende Ergebnisse: „Die Konzentration von Kohlendioxid (CO2), Methan (CH4) und von Distickstoffmonoxid (N2O ), die Hauptverursacher der globalen Erwärmung, überschreiten inzwischen erheblich die bisherigen Höchstmesswerte, die in den Eisbohrkernen aus den vergangenen 800 000 Jahren gewonnen wurden.“ Mit einer Wahrscheinlichkeit von 95 % hat der Mensch zu dieser Erwärmung beigetragen. Zwischen 1951 und 2010 stieg die Temperatur um 0,5°C bis 1,3°C an, an manchen Orten sogar um 2°C. Die Vorhersagen für Brasilien sind nicht ermutigend: ab 2050 wird es dort das ganze Jahr über Sommer sein.

 

Diese Temperatur könnte für zahlreiche Ökosysteme sowie für Kinder und alte Menschen schwerwiegende Konsequenzen haben. Die Wissenschaftler des Weltklimarats hielten ein leidenschaftliches Plädoyer für sofortige weltweite Veränderungen im Bereich der Produktion und des Konsums, sodass dieser Prozess gestoppt und seine negativen Auswirkungen reduziert werden können. Einer der Koordinatoren des Abschlussberichts, der Schweizer Thomas Stocker, sagte dazu: „Die wichtigste Frage lautet nicht, wo wir heute stehen, sondern wo wir in 10, 15 oder 30 Jahren sein werden. Und dies hängt davon ab, was wir heute tun.“

 

Offensichtlich wurde sehr wenig oder nichts in einer ausgleichenden und globalen Weise unternommen. Die wirtschaftlichen Interessen zur unbegrenzten Anhäufung, die zur Erschöpfung der natürlichen Güter und Dienstleistungen führen und ihnen Schaden zufügen, haben Vorrang vor der Sorge über die Zukunft des Lebens und das Wohl der Erde.

 

Liest man die 31 Seiten lange Zusammenfassung, gelangt man zur Einschätzung, dass wir in einer Welt leben, die systematisch die Fähigkeit unseres Planeten, das Leben aufrecht zu erhalten, zerstört. Die Art unserer Beziehung zur Natur und zur Erde als Ganzer führt zum Tod der Umwelt und des Planeten. Verfolgen wir weiterhin diese Richtung, so wird es sicher zu einer ökologischen und sozialen Tragödie kommen.

 

Zahlreiche Gruppen, Bewegungen und ihre Mitglieder haben es sich zum Ziel gesetzt, neue Lebensweisen zu entdecken, sodass das Leben in seiner großen Vielfalt erhalten werden kann und dass wir in Harmonie mit der Erde leben können sowie mit der ganzen Lebensgemeinschaft und dem Kosmos.

 

In über 10jähriger intensiver Forschungsarbeit haben der Pädagoge und Experte in moderner Kosmologie, der Kanadier Mark Hathaway, und ich eine vertiefte Reflexion angestellt, die Beiträge von Ost und West beinhaltet, um zu skizzieren, wie eine mögliche Richtung für uns alle aussehen könnte. Der Titel des Buchs lautet: „Das Tao der Befreiung: Erforschung der Ökologie der Transformation“ (The Tao of Liberation: Exploring the Ecology of Transformation, 2009 Orbis Books). Fritjof Capra hat dazu ein schönes Vorwort verfasst, und die englische Ausgabe des Buchs wurde von der nordamerikanischen wissenschaftlichen Community  wohlwollend aufgenommen. Daher hat das Institut Nautilus uns im Jahr 2010 die Goldmedaille für Wissenschaft und Kosmologie verliehen.

 

Unsere Forschungsarbeit setzte bei folgender Beobachtung an: Es gibt eine akute Pathologie, die dem zurzeit vorherrschenden System inhärent ist, welches die Welt ausbeutet: die Armut, die soziale Ungleichheit, die Verarmung der Erde und das starke Ungleichgewicht des Lebenssystems. Dieselben Kräfte und Ideologien, die die Armen ausbeuten und ausschließen, sind auch für das Ensemble der Lebensgemeinschaft erdrückend und untergraben die ökologische Grundlage, die den Planeten stützt.

 

Um dieser tragischen Situation zu entrinnen, sind wir aufgerufen, uns auf sehr realistische Art und Weise als Spezies neu zu erfinden. Dazu brauchen wir die Weisheit, die uns zu einer tiefen persönlichen Befreiung/Transformation leitet, um nicht mehr Herren über die Dinge, sondern um Brüder und Schwestern der Dinge zu werden. Diese Transformation impliziert ebenfalls eine kollektive Befreiung/Neuerfindung mittels einer anderen ökologischen Sichtweise. Diese kann uns überzeugen, den Rhythmus der Natur zu respektieren und ihm gemäß zu leben. Wir müssen wissen, was wir für unser gemeinsames Überleben von der Natur benötigen und von ihr lernen, denn sie ist auf systemische Art und Weise in Netzen von Beziehungen in Wechselwirkung strukturiert, die die Kooperation und die Solidarität aller mit allen aufrecht erhalten und dem Leben in all seinen Formen, insbesondere dem menschlichen Leben, Nachhaltigkeit verleihen. Ohne diese Kooperation/Solidarität mit der Natur und untereinander werden wir keinen geeigneten Ausweg finden.

 

Ohne eine spirituelle Revolution (die nicht notwendigerweise eine religiöse sein muss), die einen anderen Geist impliziert (eine neue Sichtweise) und ein neues Herz (neue Sensibilität) wird unsere Suche nach rein wissenschaftlichen und technischen Lösungen vergeblich sein. Diese sind unabdingbar, müssen aber in einen anderen Rahmen von Prinzipien und Werten integriert werden, welche die Grundlage eines neuen Zivilisationsparadigma sind.

 

All dies findet sich in den potentiellen Möglichkeiten des kosmogenischen Prozesses sowie in den Möglichkeiten, die den Menschen zur Verfügung stehen. Es ist wichtig, an diese Realitäten zu glauben. Ohne den Glauben und die menschliche Hoffnung wird es uns nicht gelingen, eine Rettungsarche für alle zu bauen.

 

siehe auch: Leonardo Boff/Mark Hathaway „The Tao of Liberation, Exploring the Ecology of Transformation“, 2009 Orbis Books

übersetzt von Bettina Gold-Hartnack