EINSTEIN IS DEAD, RESPONSIBLE DEMOCRACY
Every dictatorship generates a tri-generational progressive intellectuality of the opposite sign – if Franco had been a left-wing dictator, nowadays Wyoming, Almodóvar, Javier Marías, Willy Toledo, Iñaki Gabilondo, Joaquín Sabina etc. would be asking us to vote for the right wing, as proven by the inconsistency of any ideology (in Russia, Cuba, China, North Korea and Venezuela, progressivism is anticommunist). But inconsistency is not synonymous with innocuousness, because a child’s brain can be too easily influenced and the consequences may be devastating: the recently-arrived-on-the-scene Pablo Iglesias (36 years old, atheist, childless, living alone), an only child, was christened Pablo in honour of the founder of PSOE, initiated in the violent ultra-left wing by his parents Pablo Iglesias was still a child when his father – an ex-member of FRAP – left home, and at only 13 years of age, Pablo searching for the warmth of a home ended up finding it with the youth of the “Partido Comunista” (Communist Party). It would have been enough for Franco to have been a left-wing dictator for the probable President of the Government in Spain in November 2015 to be called John Paul Iglesias in honour of the Pope that favoured the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Besides the inconsistency of ideologies and how easy it is to influence children, the example of Pablo Iglesias shows the importance of having a family, which is the cell of society. It is logical for local opinion leaders to err in their diagnosis, but when illustrious minds on an international level such as Chomsky, Bauman, Paul Krugman or Stephen Hawking don’t get it right either then we have a problem. If Cristiano or Messi miss an open goal it is usually because the ball went askew. Our playing field is the scientific paradigm and if it is not in good condition the ball usually goes askew. All great scientific discoveries provoke a domino effect in the rest of the scientific disciplines, the pieces keep falling upon the appearance of artistic vanguards and the subsequent arrival of new tools in society, tools that modify the habits of its individuals establishing new forms of relationship between them that translate into new economic models that generate new tensions and issues, issues that politics – the last domino piece – attempt to minimise, always unsuccessfully as society is a developing child that begins to need a bigger size the moment it puts on its new shoes. But when scientific progress is not accompanied by moral progress society collapses, politics becomes another victim incapable of minimising issues (nobody can make a shoe for that kid!) and the individual goes into shock: "Over lunch a department representative does not have the salad on the menu because "it´s all chemicals, those tomatoes have no taste", the representative orders risotto because "the hake is frozen" and she leaves her colleagues before dessert because she has an appointment at the fertility clinic to get frozen embryos implanted as during her youth, in order to enjoy herself to the utmost, and later to feel fulfilled going to those work lunches as department representative, she decided to postpone becoming a mother by using chemical contraceptives. If this woman’s child is born and like the tomatoes or the hake on the menu doesn’t smell of anything or taste of anything she will probably go to a psychoanalyst who because he will never explain that life is like a blanket that is too short – will make her alienation chronic, with the end result that sooner or later, in one way or another, the insipidness and unsmelliness of the department representative’s child will end up being the responsibility of whoever is the President of the Government. If she didn’t vote for him, she might bring criminal charges against him.” Einstein’s restyling of Newton’s work, beautiful and complex like the great works of art, dazzled a scientific community that without looking at the consequences launched like an avalanche into solving the questions it brought up, especially those that were easier to develop and gave more spectacular results. Society bought
millions of preferential rights to Easy Life every day, but few read the small print, the acceptance of each benefit involved the acceptance of five inconveniences that came with it. The result was that today the scientific community spends more time baling out water than hoisting sails. That scientific community, from so much raising the telescope to travel to the cosmos and lowering the microscope to go back to the atom got used to seeing man through a lens, here made bigger here made smaller, never now at his real size, and it never looked him in the eye again. And blinded by never-ending calculations and impossible equations it forgot the simple rule that to go forward we need to take two steps because if we take only one we stay in the same place. It forgot that Humanity is a giant that walks and that its two legs are called Science and Morality, that only Science had moved its leg forward, that the other was needed in order to advance. In the midst of creative euphoria, with Einstein sticking his tongue out at the world from Hollywood, that scientific community detracted from Relativity confusing it with Relativism, and between the noise and the tinsel nobody heard the song of a traveller in a Spain that had no roads at that time, there are not many truths, there is only one truth, what there are are lots of lies. A surrogate science was practised that a century later has left us, like supermarket juices, with more deficiencies than vitamins. A surrogate science that signed its death sentence by contradicting the basic principle of all science stating that Fate exists (so that nobody would pay any attention to God they ended up putting him to work as a croupier). Messi and Cristiano are stilling missing goals, the grass is unworkable, impossible to touch, until a new scientific paradigm allows us to go back to playing on the ground and enjoying the match it is practical to have an ordered defence and keep kicking the ball hard anywhere just in case the whistle sounds and we get a goal on the rebound. Three hard kicks: 1- We’ll never be free. Freedom is acting the same when you are alone as when you are in company, but company conditions our actions and given that our instinct to perpetuate the species obliges us to seek it out... This is the origin of all social conflict, and there is no solution to it. 2- Society is not the sum but the product of its individuals, an average individual is worth 1, if we add 0.3+1+3 we have three individuals with a value of 4.3, but if we multiply the real value of these individuals will be 0.9. Repeating that society was the sum of its individuals until the cows came home the egalitarian regimes falsified the accounts for our most important asset: people – this was the real bubble. Promoting maximum development of each individual prevents the product tending to zero. 3- In today’s democracy two friends on unemployment benefit, with no intention of looking for work until it runs out and who have no thoughts of having children have 2 votes. A mother on her own, without a job or unemployment benefit, with four underage children has 1 vote. Two friends with no responsibilities decide the future of five people (four minors). This democracy promotes wild capitalism because it does not give a voice to all people, only to those who generate wealth (over-18s). Changing 1 man, 1 vote for 1 life, 1 vote the mother would vote for her children and her electoral balance would be brought up from 2-1 to 2-5. This is the best way to bring down Capitalism, it’s called Responsible Democracy.
TO PABLO "TICK-TOCK" AND THE CUCKOO GANG Dear Pablo Iglesias, Thanks to you and your colleagues, the serious politicians of this country have got their act together and are going to put an end to corruption. Thanks to you and your colleagues, the disgruntled voters and the Indignados (outraged) people who gathered in Puerta del Sol have gained a voice, and a vote. But you and your colleagues have failed to understand that all Spaniards, whether they are monarchists or republicans, pro-Franco or Stalinists, right-wing or left-wing, are at the top or the bottom, part of the political caste or outsiders, want politicians who love Spain, not mercenaries. You and your political colleagues were only after the money, because if you truly loved Spain you would always have been involved in politics here (like Tsipras in Greece; please don’t compare yourselves with him). You smelled money in countries where drug trafficking, the murder of homosexuals and the abuse of women have brought certain leaders under suspicion, and you had no qualms about rubbing shoulders with them, embracing them, laughing, celebrating and going out to dinner with them or staying on their estates. Now certain aspects of your professional lives are starting to come out that you are not willing to explain; but this is just the beginning. And what if one day, when democracy reaches Venezuela, Iran, etc., their current dictatorships are shown to have been involved in shady dealings and your names are mentioned? These affairs, Mr. Iglesias, must not taint PODEMOS. At PODEMOS we want a Spain with leaders who give answers when they are asked questions; leaders who, whatever their ideology, have proved their love for Spain, have fought for it and have not sold their soul to the devil for money. With you, Mr. Iglesias, PODEMOS will never have the moral authority to bring an end to the "political caste" of the likes of Rajoy, Susana Díaz, Pedro Sánchez, Albert Rivera, Alberto Garzón, etc. With you, Mr. Iglesias, ETA prisoners are asking people to vote for PODEMOS; with you, Mr. Iglesias, Bildu and Sortu voters are transferring their allegiance to PODEMOS. PODEMOS does not want those votes, because we have been victims of their terrorist attacks too. Mr. Iglesias, Spain thanks you for the services rendered. Please step down from the PODEMOS leadership and have a child; perhaps then you will never again justify bombs in schools. Mr. Iglesias, Spain thanks you for the services rendered. But PODEMOS no longer needs you. (P.S.: your “tick-tock” from the other day may well seem funny and memorable to you, but I think it came from your violent subconscious. Your menacing tick-tock reminded me of car bombs and the dismembered bodies of children. Mr. Iglesias, in Spain we have already had a war that killed our parents, and an ETA that killed our children. We do not want any more deaths, nor will we justify them. We will vote for PODEMOS when you and your colleagues are out). Signed N.E.I. 02/02/15
"2019: if it’s smart, Spain will be pro-Franco" Rajoy will win in November with an absolute majority. He will place Spain among the richest countries in the world and will win again in 2019. And if he passes on the baton as Aznar did, through him we might perhaps have a female President; a hope for feminists. The PP will be in power until 2023 and Spain must take advantage of this in order to dispel the myth that it is a left-wing country, because the figures suggest the opposite. After the death of Franco, Spaniards continued to vote for the right for 7 years until 1982. We then had 8 years of Aznar and 4 years of Rajoy, making a total of 19 years. González and Zapatero have 21 years between them. 2 more years for the left over 40 years of democracy does not seem like much bearing in mind that the jihadist attacks of 11 March 2004 took 4 years off the PP; years which logically went to the PSOE. Were it not for the 2004 attacks on Atocha, today’s figures would probably show a 6 year advantage for the right: 23 for the PP and 17 for the PSOE. Why does the right not once and for all accept that it is the heir of the Franco years, and take pride in it? Minister Wert (whose only crime is not apologising for being cleverer than his rivals) knows that Russia wished to invade Spain in 1934 so that it could use us as an Atlantic base from which to take the Gulag to America; something which, thanks to Franco, it did not manage to do until 1959 when it gained a foothold in Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Minister Wert knows that the so-called "civil war" was a war between Franco and Stalin, a war between Spain and Russia, a war which Franco fought and won in order to prevent an invasion and maintain our national sovereignty; a war which was unfortunately fought in our territory, and in which all the victims were Spanish. Minister Wert knows that Franco’s refusal to cooperate with Hitler was crucial to the Allied victory in the Second World War Minister Wert knows that Franco loved the "Moors" like brothers, and also knows that at the same time he saved thousands of Jews from the National-Socialist concentration camps. Minister Wert knows – because he is the Minister of Culture - that the TV series "Isabel" has been a ratings success, and knows that the public "loves" Isabel for what she did. However, Wert also knows that Isabel had many critics in her day. Minister Wert knows that one day, when the pain has eased, a similar series will be made about Franco, that it will be liked by the public and be a ratings success, and that the public will "love" Franco, just as today they "love" Isabel, when they find out what he did for Spain. If Minister Wert decides to continue in politics – and let’s hope he does - as well as preparing a TV series on Franco (when the Spanish public TV network (TVE) has enough money again, of course), he could also think about how to introduce the true figure of Franco into school history classes. He might also, at least in the official dictionaries, consider how to make "Stalinist" the antonym of "pro-Franco" instead of "Republican" (because as Minister Wert knows, Franco was loyal to the Republic and admired by its leaders). But all this in good time, sometime around 2019, if Spain is smart. And we have a female President. Signed J.M.B. 07.02.15
CORRUPTION BEGINS AT HOME "The evil of the human soul; in the cradle and the bed"
A man who lies to the woman he sleeps with every day is capable of lying to anyone. A child who pilfers two cents off his mother every time she sends him out to buy bread will one day, when he has to handle more money, be capable of pilfering larger amounts. You rarely come across a corrupt politician or businessman without a history of pilfering or adultery. Adultery is not a question of outdated morals, even though anything goes when it comes to sex, "so long as they don’t do it in the street and frighten the horses". Sleeping with someone else without your partner knowing is wrong however you look at it. What do a "corrupt politician of the political caste" and an "outraged politician who incites violence" usually have in common? Why is it that, in order to achieve power, an "outraged politician" has no qualms about encouraging street violence or justifying terrorist attacks at the entrance to a cinema or the gates of a school? Because he does not have children, nor is he considering having any or forming a family that he would be afraid of losing. What do a "corrupt politician of the political caste" and an "outraged politician who incites violence" usually have in common? A chaotic family life. The attitudes of the "corrupt politician of the political caste" and the "politician who justifies terrorism" disrupt the smooth functioning of a society and both should be considered "antisystem". But what if the "system" has changed? Just as Nature chose the hexagon for the optimum development of a beehive (no other geometric shape would cover a surface area so efficiently through duplication), it also chose the "family" as the optimum model for the smooth functioning of human societies. If a beehive cell had a triangular, pentagonal or octagonal shape, the surrounding cells would have to restructure themselves in order to rectify the error; as if they copied themselves wrongly the hive would completely change its appearance and consequently the way it worked. Society has changed because the traditional family has changed; our cells have been "dehexagonalised", as it were. PODEMOS voters may be right-wing, left-wing or centre but almost all of them, like most of its leaders, have dysfunctional families. This is the interpretation we must make in order to understand the broad cross-section of its electorate. PODEMOS is just a swell and will disappear when the economy takes off, but the underlying current of unrest and outrage is "existential" and will not go away even if we get unemployment down to 6%. Our hive already has too many "non-hexagonal" cells and we are likely to witness a change in its appearance and the way it functions. Deciding whether society caused this change in the individual or if it was the other way round is like trying to establish whether the chicken or the egg came first. My impression is that the technological advances of the last two centuries have catalysed the genetic drift of our species. Perhaps soon the concepts of left/right, progressive/conservative, those at the top vs. those at the bottom, etc. will no longer be used by politicians to draw up their election manifestos, and their agendas will be set by the interests of both stable and unstable families. Perhaps we will soon be saying goodbye to the hive that gave birth to us. But there will always be hexagonal cells, and between them they will form small hives which will carry on providing the most delicious and nutritious honey. BEATRIZ AZNAR 25.02.15
WE DON’T NEED LAND 22/01/13
WE DON’T NEED LAND
-Take, my love, my hand -I can get up alone (I called you while I was falling) Rachel Finn
Losing a loved one unexpectedly is the hardest thing for the soul to bear – it’s such a blow that it doesn’t even hurt. It’s a blow that amputates people for the rest of their lives. From people that have recently been through war, from their faces, from their silence – even from the way they express their joys and sorrows, the strength of these blows can be felt. War is the worst misfortune for society, but contrary to violence – inseparable from the existence of matter, war is a creation of man; it is perishable like all his creations and, therefore, avoidable. I think that two or three countries will make an agreement soon and there will be peace in the world – it will be a transitional peace, heading towards another period of wars or towards a different humanity. Whether these two or three countries in whose hands it is to stop the wars make a decision sooner or later may depend largely on the attitude adopted by the activists and voluntary workers in the world – an ever-more influential and numerous group. *(1) These citizens will have to invest their thinking, which is logical but inefficient because it is disperse, and try to eliminate the effect so that the causes can disappear. If they prevent war
(the effect), there will be equality of men and women, all the world’s children will go to school, everyone will have access to medical aid, and dignity in the workplace, forests and oceans will be saved ...and there will be an end to hunger (causes). Close your associations, NGOs... abandon your individual causes and focus on a common goal: an end to war... In the short term, the effects will be negative but each group will only achieve its individual goal if it firsts agrees to give it up for a common one. We have to end war – the horror, the suffering of each member of a victim’s family – whichever side they are on – is the same. But while we are discussing ways to reach peace agreements, deaths are continuing; progress on paper won’t give life back to those who have died on the way, and our existence and that of our loved ones is still in danger. Even knowing that the others might be right too, we have to accept that fate dealt us this goalpost and we have to defend it. Those who have promised to delete it from the face of the Earth should know that, even if they keep their word today, in many centuries’ time, when nations have different names and other borders, and speak different languages, Israel will still be - even if it is not. Israel has never needed to exist to be because it was before it had a State. Israel has not been since 1948 nor is it thanks to Hitler, Israel already was before them. And before Theodor Herzl and before the Holy Inquisition. Before Moses, and long before the first kings of Egypt, Israel already was. Israel doesn’t need a territory because it was Israel before it had one – it can afford to lose it again; nor does it need life to stay alive, because Israel is an attitude that lives in the memory of people. Let us fight for our lands with our lives, although we may lose both, but let us not lose ourselves in the memory of those who will come after us, because then Israel will finally have stopped being. We are due to what we were and it doesn’t matter if we stop existing because we will keep being. Israel doesn’t need to exist to be present – it is what it is because of what it was, and
even if it stops existing, it will keep being. Israel is spirit, even if it loses all its lands, even if they raze everything to the ground between Jordan and the Mediterranean... while there is still just one Jew, Israel will exist. And if those who want to delete it from the face of the Earth manage to eliminate all the Jews in the world, then Israel will definitely never disappear. Israel is Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and Nazareth, and all its cities and towns, but each of them individually and Israel itself are today because Masada once existed. Nothing stronger or longer-lasting remains of our loved ones than the memory that they leave us – let us also leave a memory and Israel, even if it is not, will live forever.
"C: You were lucky! F: Luck, luck. C: Did you think about what you were going to say? F: Oh, no! I thought I was going to die like a man. I’d already lived through the Barcelona bombing, and I know that you should never say anything. You have to put up with it and die. Because what if you survive and you remember you were a shit? These things happen" *(2)
Spain, 02 January 2013 *(3) Sarah Sofía Sánchez Piaf
*(1) The financial prosperity of many countries from 1950 onwards created a Welfare State, the most obvious social consequence of which is the large-scale breakdown of the traditional family. Every day more and more members of these broken families dedicate their free-time and even their lives to noble causes which mitigate the feeling that they have been uprooted. *(2) " La libertad tiene un precio. Conversaciones César Vidal y Federico Jiménez Losantos" (2012 PLAZA JANES-RANDOM HOUSE MONDADORI, SA) *(3) Filming started on “1980” documentary by director, Iñaki Arteta.
AND WHAT IF THE PROBLEM IS
ONE MAN, ONE VOTE? 2012 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION SPECIAL
FROM THE EDITOR There was a resurgence in the publishing of pamphlets in Europe in 2011 due to the commercial success of “The Outraged”, a manifesto containing inflammatory socioeconomic proposals for dealing with the so-called Milky Crash* The pro-anarchic approach of Stéphane Hessel’s text gave rise to the publishing of hundreds of booklets, covering a wide range of political beliefs, before the November 20th (20-N) presidential elections in Spain that same year. None of them, even remotely, enjoyed the same success as the original. One of those texts was “Don’t Let It Get To You” – now available to readers in the United States thanks to the interest shown in it by Montana-ABC Inc. We decided to publish it in October and sincerely believe that we were not mistaken in our decision; only 12 months have passed since then yet “Don’t Let It Get To You” is one of few out of the many titles that we had the pleasure of reading, whose message is still valid. We hope it will remain so for many years. Spain, September eleventh 2012 One hundredth anniversary of the birth of Teodoro Palacios Cueto.
To Queen Leonor of Spain. *Economic recession originating at the end of the 19th century, incubating during the 20th, and becoming public in 2007 due to the collapse of some of the big Investment Banking companies. It is still weighing down the economies of most of the industrial countries in the world today – 5 years later.
USA PUBLISHER IT’S DEMOCRACY, IDIOTS! Last year, I read a slogan from the Wall Street “Outraged” which I found interesting: “WE’RE THE BEST-TRAINED GENERATION”. The system is certainly not working when so many youths with university studies are out of work or working under uncertain circumstances. Perhaps it means that “advantages for everyone” turn into none for anyone; a few generations ago, going to university was a luxury that could only be afforded by a few; now all young people have studied, hold a Masters, speak languages, have a good command of new technology... Information is power but what happens when we all have all the information? Internet, WikiLeaks...it seems that the moment of change is here: information is within everyone’s reach, knowledge (power) is in the hands of the citizens. How should we now manage this knowledge? How can we avoid confusion? How can we explain to one of Obama’s voters that calling one of Romney’s followers a fascist or Nazi is a contradiction? How should we explain that fascism is Italian National Socialism, and was created by Mussolini? Or that a Nazi is a member of Hitler’s German National Socialist Party? How should we explain to that citizen that World War II began when two socialists – Hitler and Stalin – agreed to invade Poland and divide it between themselves?
And how can we explain that, in spite of all that, socialism was a beautiful idea ("beauty flows from the impossibility of it” Ura Perelman, Essays from home) with Christian roots? How can we avoid confusion? How can we avoid being manipulated? Politicians are usually counseled by the most qualified specialists of each nation but they find themselves having to lie to us because they need our votes. Nonetheless, Romney and Obama don’t need our votes... What if they joined teams to work together for our country? We could consider that maybe the system is outdated, rethink democracy so that it can evolve, eliminate the one man, one vote idea – this might be a way to allow us, the people, to keep the power...until we need to re-think it all again. "Real revolutions are not those which change the world but those that make it possible for the world to continue on just as it was on the first day; nothing new has ever remained – everything has come and gone, but our instincts, our beliefs, our traditions... the games we always play - they will outlive us. Who invented the ball?" (Ura Perelman, Essays from home). P.S. Rein, 2012 Montana-ABC, Inc.
EXPLANATORY NOTES FOR UNITED STATES READERS FRANCO. Francisco Franco Bahamonde (1892-1975). Member of the Spanish military, whose army successfully put an end to five centuries of civil war in Spain. GONZALEZ. Felipe Gonzalez Marquez. Last Prime Minister (1982-1996) during “The Transition”. Felipe Gonzalez is, without doubt, one of the great statesmen of Spanish history. *"The Transition" was the period of 21 years from the death of Franco up to the acceptance of Spain as a modern country in international mentality. For those 21 years, “Spain’s Five Men” worked side by side, leaving their ideological differences aside, with the sole aim of consolidating democracy in the country once and for all. HRH King Juan Carlos I and Manuel Fraga Iribarne (1922-2012) in the interim; and Adolfo Suarez, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo (1926-2008) and Felipe Gonzalez taking consecutive charge as Prime Minister. AZNAR. Jose Maria Alfredo Aznar Lopez. The first Prime Minister of Spain (1996-2004) after “The Transition”. The economic policies implemented during his mandates showed the most positive results since the colonization of America. ZAPATERO. Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. Prime Minister of Spain (2004-2011). He was probably stopped from carrying out his ambitious Social Reform project by the economic recession.
RAJOY. Mariano Rajoy Brey. Current Prime Minister of Spain (2011- ). According to the opinion polls, he was the favorite to win in 2004 but the predicted outcome changed due to the 11-M bombings (which are still a controversial subject as responsibility for the attacks has not been fully clarified) just three days before the elections, and Zapatero became Prime Minister instead. Rajoy has been Prime Minister with absolute majority since 20-N, 2011. RUBALCABA. Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba. Current Leader of the Opposition. He lost the elections to Rajoy in 2011. He gave great service to Spain under Zapatero’s and Gonzalez’s governments. One of the best-qualified politicians on the current European circuit. ESPERANZA AGUIRRE. Esperanza Aguirre y Gil de Biedma. Current President of the Community of Madrid (2003- ). A minister in Aznar’s government. She was the first and, so far, only woman to be Head of the Senate. She was the first regional congresswoman to be elected in Spanish history. MERKEL. Angela Dorothea Merkel. Current German Chancellor (2005- ). SARKOZY. Nicolas Paul Stephane Sarkozy de NagyBocsa. French Prime Minister (2007-2012). In May 2012, he lost the elections to Hollande.
BOTIN. Emilio Botin-Sanz de Sautuola Garcia de los Rios. President of the Banco Santander. REAL MADRID FC. Spanish soccer club – no. 1 in the European ranking. 9 Champions League Cups. BARCELONA FC. Spanish soccer club – no. 6 in the European ranking. 4 Champions League Cups. AT. MADRID SAD. Spanish soccer club. In 1975, they became the 2nd Spanish team to win the Intercontinental Cup. MOURINHO. Jose Mario dos Santos Mourinho Felix (Portugal). Current Real Madrid FC trainer. The best soccer trainer of the 21st century to date. GUTI. Jose Maria Gutierrez Hernandez. Former Spanish player for Real Madrid FC. One of the most highly-skilled players of all times as regards technique. His attitude and insolence on the playing-field earned him a bad name with many fans. KUN AGUERO. Sergio Leonel Aguero del Castillo (Argentina). Former player for Atletico de Madrid, currently playing for Manchester City. His wife, GIANNINA, is the daughter of former player, Diego Armando Maradona.
Campers in Sol. “Outraged� citizens demonstrating for their demands and about their grievances in the public area of the Puerta del Sol (Madrid). BORGES. Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges (18991986). Argentine writer. LA CAIXA. One of the three largest Spanish banks.
PROLOGUE: I was a mammal... ...there was grandeur in the arts and sciences but trout got the power again a few cycles after all that i arrived the coliseum was full of eager trout be strong Father said to me you will get your position back but if not die in the act as he said goodbye he gave me some olives the trout heard my exposition they cheered silently and condemned me by vote several trout managed to overpower me but i was able to hide the olives they moved me my window looked out over the unit for businessmen and sportsmen a contact gave me information for the escape i succeeded i walked the countryside the third night i smelt the sweat but i couldn’t get in fertile it was inaccessible and i left the place with the hidden olives after several interminable cycles i reached the Mother Valley in a few lines the reader begins to feel he can begin the story again reading it again and again adding bits but without changing the beginning or the end the result is what the reader can become and when what he adds to the text prevents any turning back from discovering the ending it will be time for his biggest discovery he will know if it is this is a mammal detection test in Mother Valley there are many birds singing harmonies and the sky...the watchers cannot come near the Valley in order not to interrupt the milk production there is no turning back i leave you this olive i said to a receiver i have to reach the other destinations you will get a signal and it will be your moment at your next exhibition the trout will cheer when they go to overcome you and take you out of the coliseum
you should look at the upper vomitorium of the north stand a trout with glassy eyes run towards her if you keep to a straight line they will not be able to stop you reach her put this olive into her mouth all the eyes in the coliseum will turn glassy then the milking machines will be taken down and fertile they will be free and they will come here by then Mother Valley will be ready remember straight line they will not be able to stop you go back now reader to the beginning read to here again or if you prefer you can continue to the end twice on the third reading you can add subplots do not change the beginning or the end and when you cannot sleep and you face the impossibility of turning back from discovering the ending stare at your right nipple until you blink six times in other words until the sixth blink then the Great Mothers warm armpit will begin to produce hair hair a lot of hair and it will raise her arm up until she cannot put it down due to the amount of healthy hair accumulated go back now reader to the first line and begin to read until you get your olive but do it now do not read to the end if you have read this far and you do not remember what was in the sky of the Valley go back to the beginning if you remember go on to the end and when you get here again in the next reading repeat the process and go back or continue depending on whether you remember if the doorbell rings do not open it keep reading time and time again the olive will arrive as you sleep when you awake you will see it beside you on your pillow or perhaps at the foot of the bed lost between the sheets your olive has to be there if you do not begin to read again thank you forget it all after each reading forget it all before beginning to read again now the reader can continue reading or give up and
go back to the beginning these lines don’t add up perhaps if you need them you are not a mammal there was grandeur in the arts and sciences but trout regained the power it will all collapse again when joint responsibility was requested from the elected along with their electors a few cycles later again trout regained control of the situation and then there was total confinement of entrepreneurs and sportsmen imprisoned in production units for beautiful ideas fertile women deported to centres where they extracted their milk which was sent to the head trout to feed their young but one discovery changed everything it was not the milk it was the sweat then the smuggled goods gave hope to the imprisoned mammals thank you...Thank you. Thank you... (Anonymous)
Don't let it get to you! Sarah SofĂa SĂĄnchez Piaf Prologue by Albert Einstein Epilogue Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
20-N ELECTIONS SPECIAL A plea on behalf of all of those who, whatever happens, without blaming anyone else for their misfortunes, will keep getting up early and fighting for those close to them for the rest of their lives.
www.noseindignen.com
NOW THERE ARE 47,000,000 OF US
Sarah Sofía Sánchez Piaf Don't let it get to you!
www.noseindignen.com
Sarah Sofía Sánchez Piaf Don't let it get to you!
A plea on behalf of all of those who, whatever happens, without blaming anyone else for their misfortunes… will keep getting up early and fighting for those close to them for the rest of their lives.
Prologue by Albert Einstein
Epilogue Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
www.noseindignen.com
No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented,, without the express written permission of the publisher. Any infraction of the rights mentioned here may be considered an offense against intellectual property (Art. 270 and following of Spanish Penal Law). ISBN: www.noseindignen.com Intro photo (todocolección.net, ref 20611168) Albert Einstein texts (The World As I See It, Albert Einstein - Open Road Integrated Media) Alberto Fernández interview (Spanish press: El País-20.07.11) Isidro Fainé (Spanish press: Actualidad Económica, Dec 2010)
... it has a clear spring, the girl that drinks from it will be married within the year
PROLOGUE Letter from Einstein to Freud
Dear Professor Freud, It is admirable the way the longing to perceive the truth has overcome every other desire in you. You have shown with irresistible clearness how inseparably the combative and destructive instincts are bound up with the amative and vital ones in the human psyche. At the same time a deep yearning for that great consummation, the internal and external liberation of mankind from war, shines out from the ruthless logic of your expositions. This has been the declared aim of all those who have been honored as moral and spiritual leaders beyond the limits of their own time and country without exception, from Jesus Christ to Goethe and Kant. Is it not significant that such men have been universally accepted as leaders, in spite of the fact that their efforts to mould the course of human affairs were attended with but small success? I am convinced that the great men - those whose achievements, even though in a restricted sphere, set them above their fellows - are animated to an overwhelming extent by the same ideals. But they have little influence on
the course of political events. It almost looks as if this domain, on which the fate of nations depends, had inevitably to be given over to violence and irresponsibility. Political leaders or governments owe their position partly to force and partly to popular election. They cannot be regarded as representatives of the best elements, morally and intellectually, in their respective nations. The intellectual elite have no direct influence on the history of nations in these days; their lack of cohesion prevents them from taking a direct part in the solution of contemporary problems. Don't you think that a change might be brought about in this respect by a free association of people whose work and achievements up to date constitute a guarantee of their ability and purity of aim? This international association... If an intellectual association of standing, such as I have described, could be formed, it would no doubt have to try to mobilize the religious organizations for the fight against war. Finally, I believe that an association formed of persons such as I have described, each highly esteemed in his own line, would be just the thing to give valuable moral support to those elements in the League of Nations which are really working for the great object for which that institution exists. I had rather put these proposals to you than to anyone else in the world, because you are least of all men the dupe of your desires and because your critical judgment is supported by a most earnest sense of responsibility. Signed: Albert Einstein When Einstein wrote this letter, the world was already a mess and the politicians were to blame. However, neither Zapatero nor Rajoy had been born yet. Neither had Obama nor Merkel nor Sarkoszy, nor Rubal - not even Esperanza Aguirre. Nor Emilio Botin nor Mourinho nor Bin Laden.
Benedict XVI was only 4 or 5 years old. Today's problems existed 10,000 years ago and they will exist in 10,000 years' time, and no matter who is in government, there will always be wars, and rich and poor, and clever people and stupid people, and the beautiful ones and the ugly ones. Politicians must be asked to fight against injustice, but we cannot demand that they eradicate it, in the same way that we cannot demand that biologists find a potion for eternal youth. Perhaps some of those camping in the Plaza del Sol (15-M, 20-N) will soon make a living as politicians and, from their seats in Congress, will have the chance to put their petitions into practice. Years after his noble and wellintended letter to Freud, Einstein also had a chance. But the grass looks greener on the other side and, when faced with a real, particular problem, the acclaimed scientist acted just as any of the politicians he had previously criticized would have acted, as any of the outraged in the Plaza del Sol who come to rule our destinies in Parliament will act, and if the case arose, how any of us would act standing in the arena with the bull before us, whatever degree of idealism we pertain to: “My participation in the production of the atom bomb consisted in a single act: I signed a letter to President Roosevelt. This letter stressed the necessity of large scale experimentation to ascertain the possibility of producing an atom bomb. I was well aware of the dreadful danger for all mankind, if these experiments would succeed. But the probability that the Germans might work on that very problem with good chance of success prompted me to take that step. I did not see any other way out, although I always was a convinced pacifist. To kill in war time, it seems to me, is in no ways better than common murder. Signed: Albert Einstein�
Early to rise or not to rise early, that is the question Early one morning, a father and his son were walking towards the field they were working in, when the son saw a bulging wallet on the ground. "Look, Dad," he said, as he counted the money, "the early bird gets the worm!" "The one who was even earlier lost it," replied the father
This book is dedicated to all those who, whatever happens, without blaming anyone else for their misfortunes, even though getting up early is no guarantee that they'll save their wallets, will keep getting up early and fighting for those close to them for the rest of their lives.
DON'T LET IT GET TO YOU!
Fight against outrage: option A At 19 and with â‚Ź200 in his pocket, Alberto FernĂĄndez (1992, Cullera, Valencia, Spain) decided that it was time to travel the country. "We weren't very well off," he tells us. "My brother told me that he was leaving home, my mother had gone to live in Galicia with her boyfriend and my father wasn't around." He got on a train with that intention of traveling around Spain although, he remembers, his plans changed not long after sitting down in his compartment. He didn't know then that his urban climbing skills would turn him into one of the main characters of one of the most symbolic moments of the 15-M movement. An amateur photographer captured the scene. Alberto, pure balance, climbs the wall of a building in the Town Hall square in Valencia. Hundreds of the outraged cheer him on; they take photos; one gives him a sign and Alberto covers the name of the square with it. The new sign, that of the outraged, which Alberto waves before the lowered gaze of the office-clerk in the window, says: Fifteenth of May Square. That was it: the 15-M movement was established two days before the May regional and city elections. "The sign thing is nonsense really," explained Alberto a
month and a half later. "I wasn't the only one who put one up." With his tousled hair and timid gestures, Alberto makes light of all that. He only hopes that the protest continues - that people don't get fed up of taking to the streets. "That's the main problem," he reflects. What he is sure of, and it's something that he shares his father's views on, is that "if the parties get involved, then it's all done for." He talks freely about politics, about educational reforms and about certain disbelief surrounding 15-M from those who have criticized the lack of definition of the outraged or the camp outs in city squares. "I'm fed up of both parties," he declares with reference to PP (Partido Popular - Popular Party) and PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Espaùol Spanish Socialist Working Party). "They only know how to say their names. You ask them anything and they talk about the party - no personal opinion." "It scares me to think that we're not getting anywhere." "There are lots of people who give opinions and criticize but who don’t do anything about it. It's to do with education... there should be more time for subjects like Philosophy or Civics at school." The trip around Spain was cut short due to pure curiosity. When he got on the train, Alberto met a guy who knew some other guys who were managing a small farm in the Alcoy Mountains and he just had to go and take a look. "I had a great time," he remembers. "There was a washingmachine that was powered by cycling and a bread-oven that ran on energy from solar plates. I walked the animals, heated water in a big pot..." Alberto remembers spending the last days there before going down to the protests in Valencia. "My brother told me about the demonstrations and I went down without a second thought." After that, it's all history: the sign, the interviews, the human chains at the Town Hall, the assemblies, the unions, the consensuses, the eternal discussions... Alberto moved away from 15-M bit by bit.
"It all got a bit weird." Now he spends his time playing Jugger, a German sport: "It's played on a 7-a-side soccer field," he explains. "The aim of your fighters is to protect your runners so they can score. There are six referees and two periods with 100 intervals each," he concludes. He loves being ahead, doing what no one else is doing yet, challenges, working for what he wants all the time decisively. When he was small, he started an association in his town that organized "historical" talks, he went to high school to try and graduate, but he didn't manage it. He read Kant and Huxley. Furthermore, if his Jugger allows it, he'll visit England with his dad who's a lorry-driver and has recently returned to the town. If he can, he'll look for J.R.R Tolkien's grave and try to track down the group Radiohead.
Fight against outrage: Option B
“...when you see your ship go sailing, when you feel your heart is breaking, hold on tight to your dream� (Hold on Tight, Electric Light Orchestra, Lynne)
- Rachel Finn (1971-1999) was abandoned by her husband shortly after she was diagnosed with cancer. Her unfinished autobiography, Back to Virgin, begins: "I was born to walk barefoot and I'm going to leave this place; tomorrow a new brush. And toothpaste. No, tomorrow it's closed: on Monday. Toothpaste and brush from the pharmacy. And underwear, just for me. And for him when he arrives he has to arrive. A man who can only be with me: a man like me..." - Betty Ann Walters (1955), uneducated, married with two children, worked as a waitress in Massachusetts when her brother, after several errors in a crime investigation, was given a life sentence. Faced with the impossibility of reopening the case due to lack of money for lawyers, he tried to commit suicide. Betty asked him to trust in her, that no matter how long it took, she would get her law degree
and would get him a new trial. 18 years later, the case was reopened. Betty Anne Walters was on the bench as her brother's lawyer. - He earned his first paycheck as an apprentice in a bicycle shop; he taught his parents how to read and write. As a youth, he studied at night so that he could go to work during the day. With time and steadfast determination, he managed to graduate from high school, go to college, and become a doctor of Economic Science. Later, he spent time at Barcelona High School, Navarra University, Harvard University... Even today, it's still easy to find that boy from Manresa in his office on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. He is 69, his name is Isidro FainÊ and he has been president of the La Caixa bank since 2007. - Edith Piaf (1915-1963), brought up in a whorehouse in Paris, an adolescent alcoholic, conquered the main auditoriums in the world years later: "I regret nothing, not the good done to me, nor the bad! I don't care about it/ No, I don't regret it at all, it's paid for, swept away, forgotten/ I don't give a damn about the past!" (Non, je ne regrette rien). -Marie Curie, Beethoven, etc, etc, etc‌
An outraged person is always outraged
In their particular careers, Isidro Fainé, Edith Piaf, Rachel Finn, Marie Curie, Beethoven didn't get off to a very good start. If they hadn't made it, they all would have had excuses, but with prolonged effort and personal sacrifice, they turned adversity into fortune. Betty Anne Waters could have made up some signs, put up a tent in front of the Courts and waited for her brother's case to be reopened. With the help of the media, television, social networks, etc, she might just have managed it. But the life of the most important person to her since childhood was at stake, and she wasn't going to leave it up to the system. She would be her own system. She had to get herself ready: study, keep working, look after her children... Stretch herself to the limit. Other people don't work like that. Last July 28th 2011, a huge sign crossed the southern end of the Vicente Calderon Stadium (home to Atlético de Madrid soccer team); it said: "Agüero and Gianinna, Argentina's most expensive bitches" (Gianinna is Agüero's wife). The Athletic extremists, outraged because their idol of previous years had signed with another team, sang: "Die Agüero" throughout the match. But the red and white supporters were already outraged before Agüero left - the previous season they were singing "Guti - gay!" The one before that there was another song, and the one before, and the one before...
Would this outrage disappear if Atl茅tico de Madrid won more titles? No. Very similar songs to those being sung at the Calder贸n can be heard at the stadium that is home to Real Madrid - who are considered the best soccer team in the world. Barcelona has won many titles over the past few years but these songs are also heard at their stadium. Even a team that won all the titles every year would suffer the rage of some fans. An outraged person is always outraged. The other morning, a couple of newly-weds was having breakfast in front of me: she had a calm, constant smile she looked like an angel. He had a serious air. I thought that they both loved each other although she was happy and he wasn't. She was happy with life; she saw things positively; she would be happy in any situation. He, on the other hand, seemed annoyed; his character will stop him from ever being completely happy. His outrage came from within. The reason for the camping in Sol square is not unemployment or the lack of housing, or the cases of political corruption, or the injustice of the electoral system for smaller parties... The real underlying reason for this camping is the need of the campers themselves to camp: the vital need to meet, to share, to feel that they are forming part of something. That is why, when the economy begins to work again, when the votes of the smaller parties have the same value as those of the bigger ones... they will still be camping, either because of nuclear energy, or the famine in some country, the war in another one, global warming... If platonic love peeped into each tent in Sol square and suggested: "let's go and live together forever", the square would be empty in nearly no time. The main reason for outrage is a need of love. Or, if he had been happy at home, would A.F. have taken the train which led him to hang the May Fifteenth sign in the Town Hall square in Valencia?
"First Function, then Form" (“First Function, then Form�, 3F's rule, Frank Lloyd Wright)
Returning offenses 7 times over and favors 7 times over, there'd be no wars. Nobody would begin an attack knowing the scale of the response, and doing good would be rewarded with interest. A simple and effective method, although primitive. But society has lost perspective - it happens every now and then, and it might be good to go back to our origins, to the myth, to learn the essence of things - because only by knowing something is it possible to improve it. To break the rules, as Picasso said, you must first know them. Back to our origins, as we were saying. When man was naked and lived in caves, he sought to understand things through observation and intuition, more or less the same as now, but without telescopes. That prehistoric seed of curiosity is the source of the great tree of science that we have today, the newest leaves of which are our latest steps in progress. It turns out that everything works more or less as those men imagined it did: the myths that they used to explain how things worked turned out to be correct.
However, technological progress hasn't yet made tools to show whether those myths were correct or not in their explanation of other questions: we still don't know how the world was made - the Big Bang theory is simply a translation from the biblical Genesis to mathematical language. Neither do we know if there is anything after death, etc. In my opinion, if those myths got it right as regards empirical matters, they could also have been pretty close to the mark in their explanation of these questions. Myths are closer to reality than science because science has grown from them; they were the first explanation, the closest part of the tree to the ground, to the roots, to the truth. Myth is the base state of science, its true being. So the source and end of everything, the final truth of things, can only be understood through them (it is a fact that in all these centuries of technological progress, there has been no material progress at all: we know the same about the origin of the world as we did 20,000 years ago). But I'm wandering off the subject. We were talking of going back to our origins, of living simply, not so elaborately. We were talking of forgetting "mousse of shredded beef" and going back to a plain steak. Or to a couple of fried eggs. Many people find it easier to love humanity as a whole than their own neighbor; however, the neighbor is nearer: it would be cheaper and easier to love him. As humanity is made up of all the neighbors in the world, if each of us worried only about loving our own neighbor, humanity´s problems would be solved. This would be the solution...if it wasn't for the fact that it's impossible to love your neighbor (at least certain neighbors). But even if it can't be put into practice, it's good to know the theory. Following a code of conduct, a group of ideas, makes life more comfortable. The easier the code, the better. In the western world, thousands of codes regulate our relationships: constitutions, treaties, rules, declarations of rights, of independence... - they all come from the Jewish
people's Ten Commandments. 1. I am the LORD thy God. Thou shall have no strange gods before Me. 2. Thou shall not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain. 3. Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day 4. Honor your father and your mother 5. Thou shall not kill 6. Thou shall not commit adultery 7. Thou shall not steal 8. Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor 9. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife 10. Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's goods These Ten Commandments can be summarized in two: 1. I am the LORD thy God. Thou shall have no strange gods before Me, 2. And thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. Agnostic? Another religion? OK, let's stick with "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself". Simple, comfortable, easy to live with: like loving your neighbor would be. Search for truth in all things - let's understand that miracle diets don't exist and that the only food that doesn't fatten is the food that stays on your plate. Let's study to learn and we'll learn that, according to statistics, if you have four and I have none: then we have two each. But let us be clear that if it all falls apart, the statistics aren't going to lodge the two that statistically correspond to us into our bank accounts. Let's look inwards, let's imagine, let's understand that we can live and create without is or wiis (i-, wii); Einstein only needed a pencil and paper to develop the Theory of Relativity. Let's work to get out of this recession - let's work. And let's work some more. When Newton was asked how he
discovered the Law of Gravity, he answered: "Just thinking about it." Let's be good, without going overboard: it's enough if we always act as if our parents were watching us. And it doesn't matter if God exists: we need to act as if he does; everything will go better. But let's not forget to always search for truth: it will make it easier to find solutions.
Don't worry too much about clothes/your task is as a sculptor, not a tailor/don't forget that an idea/ is never more beautiful than when bare.
In a democracy, there is no right or left
"... our Republic was the most advanced in all Europe; Spain would be one of the top countries in the world today. Franco set our country back 40 years..." "... if the Republicans had won, Spain would have become a satellite for the Communist Block and, nowadays, our citizens would wander around Europe begging for work..." "... and we want to know where our dead are: they deserve a dignified burial..." "... if you were given a million Euro per capita, you would give up looking for graves..." "... construction company bubble - Aznar caused the recession by backing construction..." "... Aznar inherited a country in ruins from Gonzålez and he delivered the richest and healthiest Spain ever to Zapatero..." Talk, talk, talk... Discussions, in every country, for every reason. Currently, genetic manipulation generates controversy. In some specialized clinics, modifications are carried out to help children to be born free of certain illnesses. It´s possible that, within a few generations, the rich will be so genetically different from the poor that they won´t be able to have children together naturally. Two distinct species will have been created. But this began long before the discovery of DNA. Thousands of years ago, a child ate two apples from different trees: one was better than the other so he decided to only plant those seeds, and by
selecting what he planted, he condemned the other species to extinction, and began to put the biodiversity of the planet at risk. Fruit tree grafting, combining breeds to create ever more vicious dogs, faster horses, buying and selling of studs for exorbitant prices... When should we stop all of this to avoid our current situation? Where's the limit? Up to what week can we interrupt a pregnancy if the child isn't going to be born all right? What degree of disability is required to determine that the child isn't going to be all right? If an accident during childbirth provokes this same degree of disability, could we still end the child's life if we haven't yet cut the umbilical cord? And if it was only cut a moment or two ago? Drugs? Their legalization would put an end to mafias and death due to adulteration. However, there are those who preach that, within a few years, a country like Spain would have 8 or 10 million heroin addicts incapable of going to work in the mornings. We need some limits. "Yes" to marijuana, coke and ecstasy but "no" to heroin? Taxes: Shall we put them up for everyone or only the selfemployed? For the self-employed who earn more than 3 or only those who earn more than 4? At our limits, the question is where to establish the limit? Seeing as society is constantly changing, the limit will has to change frequently too; the political group who best establishes the new limit is the one who wins the elections of the moment. A politician doesn't mind moving the goalposts a little to the right or a little to the left, as long as those who benefit from this movement are half of the electorate - plus one. Pure selfish interest. But thanks to this interest in pleasing the majority, society improves. Because when a politician goes by black and white, he/she is making a big mistake. In a democracy, politicians depend on citizens in order to continue in their positions,, so (selfish interest) they forget about lefts and rights and try to rule in a way that at least half plus one (everyone if
possible) have work and live happily. All politicians want the best for the majority.
Next 20-N
We've gone too far - it isn't the first time and it won't be the last. Now a little step backwards, and then we can move forwards again - life moves in short bursts. When one generation works less than the one before, it usually happens; they gave it all to us, we didn't need to do anything and we relaxed. Need is the mother of progress. Buying with money that we didn't yet have, going out to dinner with money that we didn't yet have, traveling with money that we didn't yet have... but the glass broke: Milky Crash!! In any case, we'll get out of this one. Sooner or later. Voting or not voting. To those who vote next 20-N, I hope you get it right. To those who don't vote, I wish you a fabulous autumn Sunday. To those who camp: 1) Always talk, even in private, as if you were being listened to by the greatest specialist in the world on the matters you are discussing. 2) Think of Moses and Spartacus also as 15-M-ers. Take what’s best from them. 3) You can't always consult the people. A car can't have two wheels. 4) We are not "all the same". We do all deserve the same respect. 5) You do not have "the right to be what you want", you have the right to try to be. There might be others who are better than you at what you want to be. 6) If we destroy what there is, we'll go back to the caves and begin again...to end up here again. Everything that happens is necessary. 7) Think about the people who work where you are
camping. They could be your parents getting up early to work when you were a child to make sure you didn’t want for anything. 8) "When single, a woman should use her charm to find a husband; when married, to keep him; and as a widow, so as not to displease." "Borges shaved and put on a tie every morning out of respect for others." Keep the area clean even it's only out of respect for those who pass through it. 9) If the police try to remove you, you might insult them, spit at them, urinate on their boots... They will respond with hoses, batons... I know that you have nothing against the particular police-officer in front of you, that you are doing it because it needs to be done so that everything can change, that the police officer is a necessary victim... But know that while you are insulting him/her, at all times be aware that if, in the future, Spain were to go to war and the enemy country's troops were to take your loved ones... don't forget that these "necessary victims" are the only ones who, selflessly, without knowing you at all, without asking you any questions, will sacrifice their lives to save yours and those of those dear to you. 10) Keep fighting for what you believe in: "a war ends when someone wins". But, above all, be practical: “primum vivere deinde philosophari” ("first one must live, then one may philosophize"). And lastly and most importantly: Keep your dignity! "I'll do anything you ask me to and nothing you order me to".
Spain, 8 September 2011 Sarah Sofía Sánchez Piaf
"I am my train" (Rachel Finn, 1971-1999) The train I missed is heading into the distance, the train I missed is heading into the distance, the train I missed is heading into the distance.
Everything seems to be coming to an end, nothing in my hands at all.
The train I missed is heading into the distance, the train I would miss again is heading into the distance, the train I let go is heading into the distance.
Nothing in my hands at all and everything seems to be coming to an end... And everything seems to be coming to an end but it's only just beginning, because I'm going to win, to win. Because I'm going to win.
And if another train comes by, I'll miss it again.
Because I am my train, because I am my train.
And I'll win even if I don't get far and I travel in old shoes. Because I am my train, because I am my train.
Because even if they don't take me very far, my dear old shoes are worth more than all the trains in the world.
Because even if they don't take me very far, my dear old shoes are worth more than all the trains in the world.
Because today my mirror told me that my dear old shoes are worth more than all the trains in the world.
Because today I sang to my mirror that my dear old shoes are the train that will make me win.. traveling to the end of the world... fighting to the end of the world... dreaming to the end of the world... Because even if they don't take me very far they will always be, in the end, my very dear old shoes.
EPILOGUE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS (1948)
Preamble Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world; Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people; Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law; Whereas it is essential to promote the development of friendly relations between nations; Whereas the peoples of the United Nations have in the Charter reaffirmed their faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person and in the equal rights of men and women and have determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom; Whereas Member States have pledged themselves to achieve, in co-operation with the United Nations, the promotion of universal respect for and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and Whereas a common understanding of these rights and freedoms is of the greatest importance for the full realization of this pledge; now, therefore, THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY proclaims THIS UNIVERSAL
DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations, to the end that every individual and every organ of society, keeping this Declaration constantly in mind, shall strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction. Article 1. All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood. Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. Article 3. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. Article 4. No one shall be held in slavery or servitude; slavery and the slave trade shall be prohibited in all their forms. Article 5. No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
Article 6. Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law. Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. Article 8. Everyone has the right to an effective remedy by the competent national tribunals for acts violating the fundamental rights granted him by the constitution or by law. Article 9. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile. Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. Article 11. 1. Everyone charged with a penal offense has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defense. 2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offense on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offense, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offense was committed. Article 12. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the
law against such interference or attacks. Article 13. 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. 2. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Article 14. 1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. 2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 15. 1. Everyone has the right to a nationality. 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality. Article 16. 1. Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. 2. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. 3. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. Article 17. 1. Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. 2. No one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his property. Article 18. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest
his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance. Article 19. Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. Article 20. 1 Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. 2. No one may be compelled to belong to an association. Article 21. 1. Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. 2. Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country. 3. The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures. Article 22. Everyone, as a member of society, has the right to social security and is entitled to realization, through national effort and international co-operation and in accordance with the organization and resources of each State, of the economic, social and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and the free development of his personality. Article 23. 1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favorable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. 2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has
the right to equal pay for equal work. 3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. 4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Article 24. Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay. Article 25. 1. Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. 2. Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. Article 26. 1. Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. 2. Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.
3. Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. Article 27. 1. Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits. 2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary or artistic production of which he is the author. Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. Article 29. 1. Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. 2. In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. 3. These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. Switzerland, 10 December, 1948
Next 20-N We've gone too far - it isn't the first time and it won't be the last. Now a little step backwards, and then we can move forwards again - life moves in short bursts. When one generation works less than the one before, it usually happens; they gave it all to us, we didn't need to do anything and we relaxed. Need is the mother of progress. Buying with money that we didn't yet have, going out to dinner with money that we didn't yet have, traveling with money that we didn't yet have... but the glass broke: Milky Crash!! In any case, we'll get out of this one. Sooner or later. Voting or not voting. To those who vote next 20N, I hope you get it right. To those who don't vote, I wish you a fabulous autumn Sunday. To those who camp: 1) Always talk, even in private, as if you were being listened to by the greatest specialist in the world on the matters you are discussing. 2) Think of Moses and Spartacus also as 15-M-ers. Take what’s best from them. 3) You can't always consult the people. A car can't have two wheels. 4) We are not "all the same". We do all deserve the same respect. 5) You do not have "the right to be what you want", you have the right to try to be. There might be others who are better than you at what you want to be. 6) If we destroy what there is, we'll go back to the caves and begin again...to end up here again. Everything that happens is necessary. 7) Think about the people who work where you are camping. They could be your parents getting up early to work when you were a child to make sure you didn’t want for anything. 8) "When single, a woman should use her charm to find a husband; when married, to keep him; and as a widow, so as not to displease." "Borges shaved and put on a tie every morning out of respect for others." Keep the area clean even it's only out of respect for those who pass through it. 9) If the police try to remove you, you might insult them, spit at them, urinate on their boots... They will respond with hoses, batons... I know that you have nothing against the particular police-officer in front of you, that you are doing it because it needs to be done so that everything can change, that the police officer is a necessary victim... But know that while you are insulting him/her, at all times be aware that if, in the future, Spain were to go to war and the enemy country's troops were to take your loved ones... don't forget that these "necessary victims" are the only ones who, selflessly, without knowing you at all, without asking you any questions, will sacrifice their lives to save yours and those of those dear to you. 10) Keep fighting for what you believe in: "a war ends when someone wins". But, above all, be practical: “primum vivere deinde philosophari” ("first one must live, then one may philosophize"). And lastly and most importantly: Keep your dignity! "I'll do anything you ask me to and nothing you order me to.”
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