Categoria: Idiomas

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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Challenges of the Great Transformation (I)

Leonardo Boff2 Comentários

The Great Transformation consists of the transition from a market economy to a market society. Or, in other words, from a society with a market to a society consisting solely of the market. Markets have always existed in the history of humanity, but never has there existed a market society, that is, a society that makes the economy the sole axis structuring all social life, subordinating politics to it, and annulling ethics. Everything is for sale, even that which is sacred.

It is not about just any type of market. It is a market ruled by competition rather than by cooperation. What counts is the individual or corporative economic benefit, and not the common good of society as a whole. Benefits are generally achieved at the expense of the devastation of nature and the perverse fostering of social inequalities. In this sense, Thomas Piketty’s thesis in Capital in the XXI Century is irrefutable.

The market must be free, consequently it rejects controls and sees as its great obstacle the State, whose mission, we know, is to order society and the field of economics with laws and norms, and to coordinate the search for the common good. The Great Transformation postulates a minimalist State, practically limited to questions involving infrastructure, and the treasury, kept as low as possible, and to security. Everything else must be sought through the market, by paying for it.

The urge to turn everything into merchandise has penetrated all sectors of society: health, education and sports, the world of arts and entertainment, and even important religious sectors and the Churches. Religions and Churches adopt the logic of the market, the creation of an enormous mass of consumers of symbolic goods. These Churches are poor in spirit, but rich in the means of making money. It is not rare for a temple and a shopping mall to exist side by side in the same commercial complex. It always is about the same: obtaining income, either through material goods, or “spiritual” goods.

The Hungarian-North American economic historian, Karl Polanyi (1886-1964), studied this devastating process in detail. Polanyi coined the expression The Great Transformation, the title of one of his books, written in 1944, before the end of World War II. In its time the book did not garner much attention. Now, when his theses are ever more confirmed, the book has been converted into a must read for all those who want to understand what is happening in the field of economics, which resonates in all sectors of human activity, including religious activity. It is believed that Pope Francis has been inspired in Polanyi to criticize the present marketing of everything, even of human beings and their organs.

This way of organizing society around the economic interests of the market has divided humanity from top to bottom: an enormous gap has been created between the few rich and the many poor. A terrifying social injustice has been created, with multitudes of discarded human beings, deemed non-economic entities, burned oil, people who no longer interest the market because they produce very little and consume almost nothing.

Simultaneously, The Great Transformation of the market society has created a wicked ecological injustice. In their urge to accumulate, nature’s goods and resources have been exploited in an extremely predatory way, devastating whole eco-systems, contaminating the soil, water, air and food, with no ethical, social or sanitary considerations.

A project of this nature, of unlimited accumulation, cannot be supported by a limited, small, old and sick planet. And a systemic problem has arisen, one which economists who subscribe to this type of economics rarely consider: the physical-chemical-ecological limits of planet Earth have already been reached. This fact makes the system’s continued growth difficult, if not impossible, since it requires an Earth full of «resources» (goods and services or «generous gifts» in the language of the Indigenous people).

If we continue on this path, we could experience, as we are already experiencing, violent reactions from the Earth. As a self-regulating, living Entity, the Earth reacts to actions affecting her ability to maintain her equilibrium through extreme events; earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and a total lack of weather regulation.

That Transformation, by its own internal logic, is turning out to be biocide, ecocide and geocide. It is systematically destroying the bases that sustain life. Life is in danger, and whether from the existing armaments of mass destruction or from the ecological chaos, the human species could disappear from the face of the Earth. That could be the consequence of our irresponsibility and our total lack of caring for all that lives and exists.

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

Soccer players need mysticism as well as psychology

Leonardo Boff1 comentário

A constructive idea of the CBF and the technical group of the Brazilian soccer team was to invite Regina Brandão, a psychologist specializing in the field, to accompany the players to their games. Psychological accompaniment had already existed for several years with the German soccer team. The purpose is clear: to create an atmosphere of inner serenity, to celebrate victories in a controlled way and to create the conditions for sound resilience in defeat, that is, to know how to turn around, learn from the mistakes and improve performance.

But I think that is still not enough. Psychology can be enriched by mysticism. Please do not tell me that I am introducing religion into soccer. Before anything, we must demystify mysticism. Mysticism has many meanings, two of the principal ones being the sociological and the spiritual, but not confessional, meanings.

I will give two examples that will clarify it better than words: on May 17 and 18, 1993, Fray Betto and I organized an open reflection on mysticism and spirituality. It was during the week, morning and afternoon. More than 500 workers came, most of them from metallurgy. They wanted to know what the devil was that about mysticism and spirituality. We had two opening lectures and the rest was very interesting debates. It was all recorded and published in the book, Mysticism and Spirituality, (Vozes 2014), that already has gone through many editions.

Another example: every large gathering of the Landless Movement, in which hundreds of people participate, starts with a «mystic». What do they do? They act on problems experienced by the participants, create meaningful symbols, sing songs, listen to testimonies of struggle and life. God is not always discussed. What comes up is the meaning of life, a reinforcing of the will to carry on with the projects, to resist, to denounce and create new things. The final effect is a general enthusiasm, lightness of spirit, and harmony among all. Through these «celebrations» the most profound dimension of the human being is touched, that is where our finest dreams, our utopias, our determination for a better life, reside. That is the sociological meaning of mysticism, that is found in the famous talk Max Weber gave the students of Munich in 1919 about Politics as Vocation. To Weber, a politics worthy of the name (not living off politics, but living for politics), implies mysticism, otherwise it is trapped in the mud of individual and corporate interests. Mysticism, to Max Weber, is the collection of profound convictions, the grandiose visions and strong passions that mobilize people and movements, inspiring practices able to confront difficulty and hold on to hope when facing failure.

That type of mysticism can and should be lived by soccer players, particularly by those of the Word Cup teams, so that they may see that it is not only about psychology with its motivations. It is about values, good dreams, enthusiasm. The question is how to get there.

This is where the second meaning of mysticism, the spiritual meaning, comes into play. But a clarification is necessary: we have an external side, our body with which we enter in contact with the others, with nature and with the universe. Soccer trains every possible capability of the body to create the athlete, the star player. But that is not enough. We have our inner selves, that is, the psyche, inhabited by passions, loves, hatreds, profound archetypes, the dimension of light and shadows. Everyone’s task is to domesticate the demons, and activate the good angels in such a way that we may be at peace with ourselves, and not a victim of our impulses.

But we also have the profound, that is our spiritual side. In our profundity we find the inevitable questions that accompany us throughout life: Who am I? What am I doing in this world? What can I look for beyond this life? What is the meaning of playing in the World Cup? All things are interdependent, and help each other to exist. There has to be something that links and re-links them all. We also have a profound self, with the suggestions and projects that mobilize us.

Enthusiasm arises there. Enthusiasm in Greek means «to have a god inside»: the Energy that is bigger than us, that takes us and leads us through life. Without enthusiasm we approach the world of death. Modern science of the brain identified what scientists have called the God point, or the spiritual intelligence, in the brain. Always when we deal with the fundamental questions of life, or seek a more global vision, when the powerful and loving Energy that sustains all is asked for, there is a greater than normal acceleration of that neuronal zone. We are endowed with an inner organ by which we capture that which we call Tao, Shiva, Olorum, Allah, Jehovah, God. What is important is not the name, but the experience of a Totality within ourselves. To activate the «God point» makes us more sensitive to others, more careful, friendly, understanding, and courageous.

I think it would be good for a player, before training, to retire to a corner, concentrate and listen to that profound self where are born the good ideas, good feelings, and where «entusiasm» is strengthened. There are people such as Fray Betto, Marcelo Barros and others who could do that job magnificently. They would put the players in tune with the «God point» and do away with the magic of «Tois».

Free translation from the Spanish by
Servicios Koinonia, http://www.servicioskoinonia.org.

L

Humor as an expression of psychic and spiritual health

Leonardo BoffDeixe um comentário

All higher living beings possess an accentuated sense of play. We see it by observing our cats and dogs. But humor is proper only to human beings. Humor was never considered a «serious» theme in theological reflection, even though it is known that is found in all the saints and mystics, who are the only truly serious Christians. Humor had better luck in philosophy and psychoanalysis.

Humor is not synonymous with jokes, because there can be a joke without humor and humor without a joke. A joke cannot be repeated; if repeated, it looses its grace. A tale filled with humor always preserves its grace, and we like to hear it again and again.

Humor can only be understood from the depth of the human being. Its characteristic is to be an infinite project, the carrier of inexhaustible desires, utopias, dreams and fantasies. This existential fact causes there always to be an imbalance between desire and reality, between that which is dreamed of and that which is made real. No institution, religion, state or law can completely contain the human being, even though there exists just such a type of order meant to contain humans. But the human surpasses these determinants. Hence the importance of embracing the forbidden to experience liberty, and for there to be new things. And this occurs in art, literature and also in religion.

When we notice this difference between the law and reality — as for example, in the Catholic moral law prohibiting the use of condoms in these times when AIDS abounds — the sense of humor comes into play. It is laughable, because it makes little sense, and is like whistling in the wind, because no one either listens or pays attention, so that it only can provoke humor. Those people live on the moon, not on the Earth.

In humor is found a feeling of relief from the weight of these limitations, and the pleasure of seeing them in a relative sense, without the importance they give to themselves. For a moment, the person feels free from the debilitating super egos, from the impositions the situation demands, and feels a sense of freedom, as a means of defining his time, of giving meaning to what the human being is doing, and of building something new. Behind humor exists the creativity proper to human beings. Regardless of the natural and social limitations that may exist, there is always space to create something new. If it were not so, there would be no geniuses in science, in art or in thought. At first, they are considered «crazy», eccentrics, abnormal. Much later, a second look discovers the genius of a van Gogh, the fantastic creativity of Bach, almost unnoticed in their time. It is said of Jesus that his friends came to take him away, because they said, “He is crazy” (Mk 3,21). The same was said of Saint Francis of Assisi: he is «pazzus», crazy, something he accepted as an expression of God’s will. And he was a saint, filled with humor and joy, to the point that he was called «the always happy brother».

In more pedestrian terms: humor is sign that it is impossible to define the human being within an established framework. Within his more profound and true self is a creator and a free being.

This is why the human being can smile and look with humor at the systems that try to imprison him within established categories. And the ridicule with which we observe serious gentlemen (for example, professors, judges, school principals and even monsignors) who try, solemnly and with airs of a superior authority that is almost divine, to make others blind and submissive, or to obey their orders like sheep. That also causes humor.

The philosopher Th. Lersch, (Philosophie des Humors, Múnich 1953, 26), got it right, when he wrote: «The secret essence of humor resides in the strength of the religious attitude, because humor sees the human and divine things in their insufficiency before God». From the seriousness of God, the human smiles at human gravity, with its pretensions of being absolutely serious and truthful. They are nothing before God. And there also exists a whole theological tradition that comes to us from the Fathers of the Orthodox Church, that speaks of Deus Ludens (playful God), because God created the world as a game for His own entertainment. And God did so wisely, joining humor with gravity.

Those who live centered in God have methods of cultivating humor. They make the earthy seriousness relative, even their own defects, and they are beings free from worries. Saint Thomas More, condemned to the guillotine, cultivated humor to the end: he asked the executioners to severe his neck, but not to touch his long white beard. Saint Lawrence smiled with humor at the executioners who broiled him on the grill, and invited them to turn him over, because one side was already well cooked; and Saint Ignatius of Antioch, the old bishop of the first Church, pleaded with the lions to come devour him so that he might go quickly to eternal happiness.

To preserve this serenity, to live in a state of humor and understand it from the point of view of human defects, is a grace for which we all must search, and ask for from God.
Free translation from the Spanish by
Servicios Koinonia, http://www.servicioskoinonia.org.
Done at REFUGIO DEL RIO GRANDE, Texas, EE.UU.