Categoria: Idiomas

We hold all the memories of the universe

Leonardo Boff3 Comentários

The human being is the last important being we know about to enter the evolutionary process. In addition to matter and energy, information also exists, which is stored in all beings as memory, and in us throughout the phases of the cosmogenic process.

In our memory lie the last traces of the big bang that gave birth to our cosmos. The archives of our memory hold the vibrations of the energy from the unimaginable explosions of the great red stars, whence arose the supernovas and conglomerates of galaxies, each with its thousands of millions of stars, planets and asteroids. There is also the resonance of the heat generated as the galaxies devoured one another, from the original fire of the stars and the planets that surround them, from the incandescence of the Earth, from the boiling of the liquids that fell on our planet for the 100 million years until it cooled (Hadean Era), from the exuberance of the ancestral jungles, reminiscent of the voracity of the dinosaurs that reigned for 135 million years, from the aggressiveness of our ancestors in their urge to survive, from their enthusiasm for the fire that illuminates and cooks, from the joy created by the first symbol and the first spoken word, remembrances of the softness of the light breezes, the diaphanous mornings, the precipice of the snow covered mountains, and, finally, from memories of the interdependence linking all beings, creating the community of the living, from the encounters with the other, the capacity for tenderness, surrender and love and, finally, from the ecstasy of the discovery of the mystery of the world that is called by a thousand different names, and that we call God. All that is buried in the corners of our psyche and in the genetic code of each cell of our body, because we are as old as the universe.

We do not live in the universe or our Earth as erratic beings. We come from the common uterus whence come all things, from the Background Energy or Nourishing Abyss of all beings, from the primordial hadron, from the top-quark, one of the more ancient tiny bricks of the cosmic building, up to modern computers. And we are sons and daughters of the Earth. More still, we are that part of the Earth who walks and dances, that trembles with emotion, and thinks, that likes and loves, that becomes ecstatic and venerates the Mystery. All these things were in the universe, condensed into our solar system, and only thereafter did they emerge concretely in our Earth. Because everything was virtual there, now it can be here in our lives.

The cosmic principle, that is, the directing energies that command, filled with purpose, all the processes of evolution, obey the following logic, so well expounded by Edgard Morin: order, disorder, interaction, new order, new disorder, new interaction, and thus it proceeds always. With that logic more complexities and differentiations are always created; and to the same degree are created interiority and subjectivity, until its lucid and conscious expression, that is, the human mind. And simultaneously and also to the same degree the capacity for reciprocity of all with all, in all moments and in all situations, is being created. Differenciation/interiority/communion: the cosmic trinity that presides over the organism that is the universe.

Everything is happening through process and evolution, subjected to a dynamic non-equilibrium (chaos) that always seeks a new equilibrium through adaptations and inter-dependencies.

Human existence is not outside this dynamic. It has within itself these cosmic constants of chaos and cosmos, of non-equilibrium in search of a new equilibrium. While we are alive we are always entangled in this condition. The closer we are to total equilibrium, the closer we are to death. Death is the fixation of the equilibrium and of the cosmogenic process. Or else it is the passage to a level that demands a different kind of access and knowledge.

How does this structure concretely manifest itself in us? First, in daily life. Each of us lives a life that begins each day with personal cleanliness, how we live, what we eat, our jobs, family relationships, friends, and loves. Daily life is prosaic and often full of disenchantment. Most human lives are restricted to the daily routine, with the anonymity that implies. It is part of the universal order that emerges from the lives of the people.

But we humans are also inhabited by imagination. Imagination breaks down the barriers of daily life and searches for the new. Imagination is, above all, fertile; it is the realm of the poetic, of the probabilities infinite in themselves (of a quantic nature). We imagine a new life, a new home, a new job, new pleasures, new relationships, new loves. Imagination produces the existential crises and chaos in the order of daily life.

Everyone has the wisdom to augment the daily life with the imaginary, the prosaic with the poetic, and to rework the disorder and order. Devoting oneself only to the imaginary, would be to take a trip, flying through the clouds, forgetting the Earth; and possibly winding up in a psychiatric clinic. One could also deny the seductive strength of the imaginary, consecrate daily life and bury oneself alive inside it, thus appearing sluggish, not very interesting and frustrated. This interrupts the logic of the universal movement.

However, when someone undertakes daily life, and enlivens it with injections of creativity, then a rare energy is radiated, that is perceived by those who live with that person

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

Socialism is not in limbo

Leonardo Boff6 Comentários

Our generation has seen two seemingly indestructible walls fall: the Berlin Wall, in 1989, and Wall Street, in 2008. The kind of socialism then in existence, marked by statism, authoritarianism and the violation of human rights, collapsed with the Berlin Wall. With the collapse of Wall Street, neo-liberalism was de-legitimized as a political ideology, as was capitalism as a mode of production, with its arrogance, unlimited accumulation (“greed is good”), at the expense of the devastation of nature and of the exploitation of persons.

Previously presented as two visions of the future and two forms of inhabiting the planet, they are incapable now of giving us hope of reorganizing a planet-wide coexistence, where everything has a place, and which assures the natural bases that sustain life, which now is in an advanced state of decline.

In this context ideas are reappearing that were previously defeated, but that now could have a chance of being realized (Boaventura de Souza Santos), such as communal democracy, and the “good living” of the Andean people, or original socialism, conceived of as an advanced form of democracy.

I reject capitalism as it currently exists (the market society), because is so nefarious that if it continues its devastating logic it could destroy human life on the planet. It works now only for a small minority: 737 economic-financial groups control 80% of the transnational corporations and, within them, 147 groups control 40% of world economy (according to the data of the famed Swiss Technological Institute), or the 85 wealthiest people, who accumulate the equivalent of what is earned by 3.057 million poor people of the world, (2014 Intermon Oxfam Report). Such perversity can offer nothing for humanity except growing impoverishment, chronic hunger, dreadful suffering, premature death and, in the end, the armagedon of the human species.

Socialism, adopted in Brazil by several political parties, particularly the Brazilian Socialist Party – Partido Socialista Brasileiro (PSB), of the well remembered Eduardo Campos, presents some opportunities. We know that it was born among Christian activists, critics of the excesses of savage capitalism, such as Saint-Simon, Proudon and Fourier, who were inspired by Gospel values and what was called «The Great Experience», the 150 years of the Guaranies’ Christian Communist Republic (1610-1768). The economy was collectivist, first for present and future needs, and the rest for commerce.

Clovis Lugon (1907-1991), a Swiss Jesuit, passionately described the experiment in his famous book: “The Guarani Republic: the Jesuits in Power” (“La república guaraní: los jesuitas en el poder”, Paz e Terra 1968). A solicitor of the republic, Brazilian Luiz Francisco Fernandez de Souza (*1962) wrote a thousand page book: “Socialism: a Christian Utopia”. He personally lives the ideals he preaches: he made a vow of poverty, dresses simply, and goes to work in an old Volkswagen beetle.

The founders of socialism (Marx tried to give them a scientific character, as opposed to those he called utopics) never understood socialism simply as the opposite of capitalism, but as the realization of the ideals proclaimed by the bourgeois revolution: liberty, the dignity of the citizen, the right to free development and participation in the construction of the collective and democratic life. Antonio Gramsci and Rosa Luxemburg saw socialism as the full realization of democracy.

Marx’s basic question (abstracting the questionable theoretical-ideological construction he created around it) was: why can’t bourgeois society realize the ideals it proclaims for everyone? It produces the opposite of what it seeks. Political economy should satisfy human needs (food, clothing, life, learning, communication, etc.), but in reality, it attends to the needs of the market, in large part artificially induced, and its objective is to increase profits.

To Marx the failure to achieve the ideals of the bourgeois revolution was not due to the ill will of individuals or social groups. It was the inevitable consequence of the capitalist mode of production, which is based on private appropriation of the means of production (capital, land, technology, etc.) and the subordination of work to the interests of capital. That logic divides society into classes, with antagonistic interests, which has repercussions in everything: in politics, the law, education, etc.

In the capitalist order, people tend, whether they like it or not, to become inhumane and structurally «egotistical», because they feel compelled to care first for their own interests, and only thereafter for the collective interest.

What solution did Marx and his followers contemplate? Let’s change the means of production. Instead of private property, let’s introduce social property. But, be careful, Marx warns, changing the means of production is still not the solution. It does not guarantee a new society, but only offers the possibility of development of people, who no longer would be means and objects, but ends and solidarian subjects in the construction of a world with a true human face. Even with these conditions, the people must want to live in accordance with the new relationships. Otherwise, the new society will not happen. Marx says still more: «history does nothing; it is the concrete and living human being who does everything …; history is nothing but the activity of humans in search of their own objectives.».

My evaluation is: we are headed for a socio-ecological crisis of such magnitude that, either we adopt socialism with a humanistic mode, or we will not have the means to survive.

Challenges of the Great Transformation (III)

Leonardo Boff1 comentário

To set in motion a different kind of Great Transformation, one that gives us back a society with a market, and eliminates the destructive market society, we have to make some decisions that cannot be postponed. Most of them are already in process, but need to be reinforced. We need to move:

– from the empire paradigm, in place for many centuries, to the Community of the Earth paradigm;

– from an industrialist society, that is predatory of natural resources and undermines social relations, to a society that sustains all life;

– from considering the Earth as a means of production to understanding her as a living being, called Gaia, Pachamama or Mother Earth;

– from the technozoic era, that has devastated a great part of the biosphere, to the ecozoic era, in which all knowledge and activities are ecologically friendly, and together cooperate to safeguard life on the planet;

– from the logic of competition, that is ruled by the win-lose paradigm, and pits people against each other, to the cooperative logic of win-win, that unifies and fortifies solidarity among all;

– from material capital, that is always limited and exhaustible, to the unlimited spiritual and human capital comprised of love, solidarity, respect, compassion and fraternizing with all beings in the living community;

– from an anthropocentric society, set apart from nature, to a biocentric society, that senses itself as part of nature and seeks to adjust its behavior to the logic of the cosmic process, characterized by synergy, by total interdependence, and by cooperation.

If the Great Transformation of the market society is dangerous, the Great Transformation of the conscience is much more promising. It is the triumph of the collection of visions, values and principles that encompasses more people and better designs a future with hope for all. This is certainly the Great Transformation of minds and hearts to which the Earthcharter refers. Let’s hope it is consolidated and gains ever more awareness, and alternative practices, until it achieves hegemony over our history.

There is a document quoted previously for its inspiring value and creation of hope: the Earthcharter, the result of a vast consultation among the most varied sectors of the Earth’s societies, from autochthonous peoples and religious and spiritual traditions to notable research centers. It was especially animated by Mikhail Gorbachev, Steven Rockefeller, Ruud Lubbers, former Prime Minister of Holland, Maurice Strong, UN Under Secretary, and Miriam Vilela, a Brazilian who coordinated the work from the start and maintains El Centro, in Costa Rica. I, myself, was part of the group and cooperated in the writing of the final document and disseminate it as much as possible.

After 8 years of intense work and frequent gatherings in every continent, a document emerged, small but dense, that incorporates the best of the new vision born from the Earth and life sciences, especially of contemporaneous cosmology. Principles are laid out there and values are elaborated from the perspective of a holistic vision of ecology that can effectively illuminate a promising path for the present and future humanity. Approved in 2001, it was officially adopted in 2003 by UNESCO as one of the most inspiring educational materials in the early years of this new millennium.

The Itaipu-Binational hydroelectric plant, the largest of its kind in the world, took seriously the proposals of the Earthcharter, and its two directors, Jorge Samek and Nelton Friedrich, were able to involve 29 municipalities bordering the large lake where about one million persons live, and to actually carry out a Great Transformation. There sustainability is effectively applied, and caring and collective responsibility are practiced in every municipality and every area, showing that even within the old order the new can be born, because these people are already experiencing that which they want for others.

If we concretize the Earth’s dream, she will not be condemned to be as she is now, a valley of tears and a Way of the Cross of suffering for the majority of people and living beings. The Earth can be transformed into a mountain of blessings, of hope for our suffering existence, and into a small prelude to the transfiguration of Tabor.

For this to happen it is not enough to dream, there must be action.

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

Challenges of the Great Transformation (II)

Leonardo Boff1 comentário

In the previous article we analyzed the challenges brought us by the transformation of the market economy to a market society, with its accompanying twin injustices: social and ecological. We will expand now on its impact on the ecological field, considered in its broader environmental, social, mental and physical meaning.

We observe a singular fact: to the degree that the damage to nature grows, affecting ever more societies and the quality of life, there simultaneously grows an awareness that 90% of these injuries are attributable to the irresponsible and irrational activity of human beings, more specifically, of the elite economic, political, cultural and media forces that have organized themselves into great multilateral corporations and have taken unto themselves the destiny of the world. It is urgent that we do something to interrupt their path to the precipice. As the Earthcharter warns: «either we create a global alliance to care for the Earth and for one another, or we could be enabling the destruction of our species and the diversity of life» (Introduction).

The ecological question, especially after the 1972 Report of the Club of Rome, titled The Limits of Growth, has become a central theme of politics, and of the concerns of the world scientific community and the groups that are more aware of and concerned with our common future.

The focus of the question moved from sustainable growth/development (impossible in the free market economy), to the sustainability of all life. First we must guarantee the sustainability of planet Earth, of her eco-systems, and the natural conditions that make possible the continuity of life. Only when these conditions are guaranteed is it possible to talk of sustainable societies and sustainable development, or of any other activity that may be subsumed by this characterization.

The vision of the astronauts reinforced this new consciousness. From their spacecrafts or the Moon, they realized that the Earth and humanity form a single entity. They are neither separate nor parallel realities. Humanity is an expression of the Earth, of that aspect that is conscious, intelligent, and responsible for conserving the conditions that continuously produce and reproduce life. In the name of this awareness and urgency arose the responsibility principle (Hans Jonas), the caring principle, (Boff and others), the sustainability principle, (Brundtland Report), the principle of interdependence-cooperation (Heisenberg/Wilson/Swimme), the prevention/precaution principle, (1992 Charter of Rio de Janeiro of the UNO), the compassion principle, (Schopenhauer/Dalai Lama), and the Earth principle (Lovelock and Evo Morales).

The ecological reflection has turned out to be very complex. It cannot be reduced merely to the preservation of the environment. The entire world-system is at risk. Thus an environmental ecology has arisen, whose main goal is the quality of life; a social ecology that searches for a sustainable form of living (production, distribution, consumerism and the treatment of waste); a mental ecology that proposes to criticize prejudices and world visions that are hostile to life, and to formulate a new design for civilization, based on principles and values, for a new way of inhabiting the Common House; and finally, an integral ecology that understands that the Earth is part of an evolving universe, and that we must live in harmony with the Whole; unitary, complex and filled with purpose.

Thus a theoretical framework has been created, one capable of guiding thought and practices friendly to life. It became evident that, more than a technique for handling scarce goods and services, ecology is an art, a new form of relating with nature and the Earth, and the discovery of the mission of the human being in the cosmological process and in the collection of beings: to care for and to preserve.

Throughout the world there have appeared movements, institutions, organisms, NGOs, centers of investigation, each with its singular focus: some are concerned with the forests, others with the oceans, with the preservation of bio-diversity, endangered species, the hugely diverse ecosystems, the water, the soil, or of the seeds and organic production. Of all these movements, Greenpeace deserves mention, for its persistence and the courage to confront, with all the risks, those who threaten life and the equilibrium of Mother Earth.

The UN itself has created a series of institutions whose objectives include monitoring the situation of the Earth. The principal ones are the United Nations Environment Program, UNEP, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, FAO, the World Health Organization, WHO, the Convention on Bio-Diversity, CBD, and especially the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPPC, among others.

This Great Transformation of consciousness has embarked on a complicated journey, one that is necessary to create a new paradigm, capable of transforming the eventual ecological-social tragedy into a crisis of passage that will enable a qualitative leap towards a higher level of a friendly, harmonious, and cooperative relationship between the Earth and humanity. If we do not undertake this task, the common future will be threatened.

Free translation from the Spanish by
Servicios Koinonia, http://www.servicioskoinonia.org.
Done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.
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