Quien no tenga enemigos ....

I once spend an entire evening staring at an aluminium foiled and ducktaped package at the centre of a coffee table, wondering to open it or not.  The wrapping had been handed over to me earlier that day along with visa papers kindly inserted and not stamped into my passport for passage into Cuba.

This was on the occasion of flights scheduled to New York and Miami and this time I really felt to fulfil an old desire to extend to Cuba before capitalism would enter this island of funky formed Georgism and change all the tangible and intangible effects along with it.

Perhaps I should add this was about midst September in the year 2001, shortly after the terrorist attacks on the US.

No one is indifferent to Fidel Castro.  People either hate or love him.  No one can deny he took his 24/7 job very seriously and has managed to stick to his principles over time, generating followers in all walks of life. We will not be seeing large numbers of young and educated people genuinely crying their tears out over the death of a political leader in the future.

I have to admit I find it difficult to isolate or even highlight Fidel Castro's acts of dictatorship away from the so many extremist political leaders we have seen coming and going in most countries in the Americas, many of which went for an international price much less than Fidel Castro did, which possibly says something about their convictions, if any, for the people they tried to rule.

Think of Haiti, Panama, Grenada, Nicaragua, as a matter of fact to keep this simple, just think of Costa Rica as the only country in and around the Caribbean basin which did not significantly clash internally without ignoring good and bad neighbour policies.

Maybe too much credit (and debit) is attributed to Castro.  After all he was but one of several followers over history wherein Simón Bolivar and José Marti spearheaded contemporary history with the instruments available to them:

Fidel Castro just happened to step in when  most of the former colonising nations were busy with cleaning up a world war II mess leaving only two apparent world powers to align with and only one of them invented public television broadcasting, also a powerful tool, to this day.

I suppose we will find out soon enough how much of a true hurdle Fidel Castro was in life towards bilateral or multilateral relationships which would entitle Cubans their place at a round table of prosperity, just like almost everybody else.  After all we do presently live in a time where true leaders should be able to appreciate the mere agent role they occupy between peoples and in that respect no one lives on any island anymore.

If you are wondering what was in the package, just a pair of used tennis shoes, a hairbrush and two bars of soap.  In exchange for handing this to a perfect stranger somewhere near a phone booth in Havana, I received a big thankful hug.

Start spreading the news .....

If you woke up at around GMT+0 to start your day, were you also stroke by a sudden need to check if there is any other public vote projected in the next 6-12 months in a country or some other sovereign entity which just may have an impact beyond its borders?

Brexit was exciting.  The US elections, presidential and otherwise, were shocking.  The two events in sequence are earthmoving.

From a foreigners perspective it's not no so much about what or whom a national and uncertain population democratically chose for over a foreseeable timeline, but rather how much off "we all" were in all our positivism, polls and predictions.  And this in a world which supposedly is more on top of individual intent than it has ever been, wherein we would think the US population to be the most interconnected and analitically monitored in a relatively genuine and transparent manner.

So here they go again, the politic, historic, economic and demographic analysts revisiting formulas, statistics and other big data, attempting to get into the minds of poor, rich, (un-)educated, obese, drugged or healthy (un-)employed, religious or atheist, (fe-)male blacks, hispanics, whites ..... to just maybe find that people have more in common if they would only halt in persisting on traditional profiling.

And that common good is very likely to be found in levels of frustration, not so much towards immigration, terrorism or world economics but towards the political establishment.

The people that chanted the loudest in the last few days to call upon a vote for Secretary Clinton, along with politically coloured correspondents and community leaders with organised communication channels, are generally people that depend on acts of government the least.

DJ Trump, on the other hand, has been choosing to play the tune of the forgotten man and elections results indicate that those men and women had their hope to be remembered, re-freshed and re-instated with promises to re-build and re-new America.

Mr Trump, over-focussed on the domestic dream, never intended to be amongst pioneers to change present day world politics, but he has now already been caught in the act.  Stubborn established politicians anywhere, democratically appointed or not, will inevitably be taken lessons from how a masses can surprisingly move a nations destiny.

Let's face it, the majority of people are concerned most of their time with what happens in their home, streets, schools and industries and that places them in a sphere of indifference to what happens (to other people) in another city or country (unless their acquaintances are deployed there in a military uniform).

Personally I do not embrace life this way, but that's because I generally do not need to and am fortunate enough to be able to spend my share of time, thought and money towards whom I sense tends to be too forgotten.  Not out of pity but in the hope those people may one day also find themselves willing and able to look beyond their immediate and legitimate self-interests.

I do not blame governments for their ignorance but do get upset with the time and money hard learning politicians over spend on over complicating issues that just should not appear on any political agenda in the first place.

Domestically I will give Mr Trump the benefit of the doubt to move policy making back to the basics it never should have departed from allowing private enterprise and endeavours to get back into the drivers seat.

Internationally ... oh well, each time Mr Trump turns his back to ascertain domestic interests, at least all those ethical, moral and visionary political leaders around the world will have an opportunity to observe some nice piece of ass whenever they eagerly meet the Trump family.

The return of les bons sauvages

So, that was it ...  21 days of samba driven poli-pan-hellenic top notch sports with a peek of Japanese joy in the end.  I cannot think of any reasonable period of time wherein so many individuals from such a large range of countries and cultures come together for the same purpose.

And what country, what city, what population serves better than the Cariocas to vividly turn the Olympic Games into a rhythmatic marathon of celebration, wherein athletes are naturally placed in the spotlight with Brazilian self-awareness all around, far away from turbulent domestic or not less shaking international politics.

Press from almost anywhere was eager to pinpoint delays, disorganisation, pick up on demonstrating torch carriers, volunteers not returning the next day of work or Brazilian boo'ing in support of their national athletes, but that all turned to be just a very small drop in an ocean of sports competition at its finest.

Whomever approaches Rio today by air or water from the east can probably grasp what would have attracted sailors travelling from Spain, France, England, The Netherlands, even Germany and of course Portugal in what we in the west refer to as a period of discoveries and colonisation.

It is said that many of the 16th and 17th philosophers/writers who pushed a concept of liberté, igalité and fraternité as one of common sense against too much concentration of political powers, were themselves inspired by the behaviour of indians from north to south America, including Brazil's Tupinamba.

The idea and intent of the "bon sauvage" from the Americas was to serve as a reminding example for self-proclaimed developed civilisations in Machiavelian Europe that man is born good but that indeed society or civilisation corrupts them.  Montesquieu, way ahead of time in L'esprit de lois, which so heavily influenced many countries' modern day constitutions, touches upon the inevitable connection between man and nature and the threats of climate change.

It was almost as if the opening ceremony in Rio too sought to remind the world that the industrialisation, a portrait of which so wonderfully kicked off at the London 2012 games, wasn't all good and that maybe man and nature should step back in.

I see purpose in connecting the Olympiads with world issues that have no link with sports.  Bringing in the the torne USA flag from NYC's twin towers during the 2002 winter games was a bad idea, but I thought it was a brilliant to have athletes place 207 different species of national seeds to create a forest.

Now that athletes have returned to their (home) countries there is, again, an opportunity for authorities and societies to decide what emphasis to place on the relevance of sports and in particular those which enjoy a true Olympic status, to pedestal all athletes, including those that finished only a few seconds or centimetres after medal winners and the abilities and attitudes they practice in between Olympic venues.

After all .....

Capito ?

On my way to the French west coast with my children this past July, we chose to stay overnight in Euskadi.  There's something fascinating about having driven quite a few kilometres through relatively plain and summer dry Castilla y León and approach the green hills and mountains which kind of hide the Basque Country, a region which kept Spain in the global top 5 of countries exposed to terrorism but that ended (only ... already ...) 10 years ago.

Our motives to seek overnight harbour in Euskadi go back 500 years however and were purely driven by peace of mind and knowledge.

After 5 years of attending a Jesuit College I guess it was time for my kids to vividly see, smell and feel the environment wherein a young Inigo Lopez grew up to become a knight to then seek a life dedicated to the work of Christianity which eventually made him San Ignacio de Loyola.

I certainly not expect my children to pursue a life of either armed knighthood nor incardination but will require a sense of origin and principle and a continuous search for knowledge at the service of a common good, something which will probably be of more relevance in their lifetimes than that of their father.

Like the most famous living Jesuit said not so long ago (and not for the first time) ... "the world is at war".   I must admit that my admiration for the Vatican has risen tremandously since Jorge Mario Bergoglio became Papa Francesco and it's been both refreshing and necessary to have a real bridge builder as Sommo Pontefice.

He was very clear in his statements towards the press and insisted that the war we are living is not a war between religions, since all religions seek peace.  That was a necessary diplomatic statement from after all who is also head of the Vatican as well as securing message towards the tens of thousands of clergy priests the Vatican indirectly employs and whom had lost a colleague brutally murdered by two stateless youngsters in Normandy.  As a political leader it does mean the Pope is getting involved and I am certain that there is a lot more meaning in all the actions rather than words he is launching.

But ....... if there is one aspect which characterises and distinguishes Islamic movements from present day Christian or simply the non-religious life which is pursued by a growing majority, it is the relevance and role the religion has in the overall day-to-day routines of its followers.

In most of the western countries which have had a hand in religious warfare, religion is not a daily concern and for the present generations the crusades or wars with Moors and Ottomans are just a more or less boring compulsory chapters in school education never to be revisited again when true life commences, just as much as a separation of church and state has relevance only if questions pop up on a school exam.

It is very worrisome that young people today whom may very well sit in the same class room, are being so distinctly raised at home to pursue different paths by principles approval or disapproval that have a time difference of hundreds of years in between.  So unfortunately the solution does vest in religion, but ..... being principally thought at schools by teachers and not by theologists and if we are in a hurry, a little room for adult education never harmed anyone.  Capito ?

Brrrrrr ......

....... a cold shower, a sudden winter's breeze or maybe  the sense of a striking and enlightning ray of sun came over the European population this past early Friday summer morning as news head lines revealed something we had not expected when we laid down in our beds the short night before.

The thousands of formal and spontaneous reactions that have popped up since from less or more informed and /or involved people show all the more that in 2016 a large and in fact a majority part of an elecotrate are happy to choose insecurity over the foreseeable maintenance of what has been in place.

Anything from the split of the United Kingdom or even a return of war-like scenarios to quickly copying the Amazon. co.uk wish list into the shopping bag or a return of French as more popular language, the common denominator in first hand thoughts does seem to be a "what's in it for me ...".

I like taking a cold shower every now and then.  I suppose it keeps me alert (besides that it is said to be good for the skin).   I am not looking forward to another series of urgent EU meetings of heads of state occupying media stream time but I have inherited a love/hate relationship with politicians and so I will be attentive anyway to the continuous avoiding and inclonclusive press releases in the days ahead.

At times like this I can vividly see my father who had this way of placing his hand on his back pocket to check if his wallet was still there, while watching an enormous amount of public office servants travelling in between EU capitals on the expense of millions of taxpayers.

I think he would be satisfied with the service the UK electorate has rendered to all of the EU, and so am I. Whether any individual feels to agree or not with the UK abandoning the EU, those political leaders that remain in place are absolutely forced to re-think what they have (not) been doing.

Leadership comes with the burden (and benefits) of responsibility.  In 2016 this must imply that any leader, from a simple household parent leading his family to a politician that top lifted her or his career all into a perfect democratic environment keep a constant connection with what happens amongst the electorate that they directly or indirectly represents in or outside the borders of their jurisdiction.  In 2016 no one can claim that they did not know what was really going on.

Whenever the instrument of a referendum, like any questionnaire that any organisation, such as a country, can choose to put forward generally shows that the leaders of such an organisation have distanced themselves too much of the ordinary lives they claim to be concerned with.

Anything a population can then do to remind politicians of the task they have at hand, I can only perceive as a good thing.

Living poets society

Bowie ... Prince .... musicians, artists, like all of us end up as "food for worms", to use but one line out of Dead poets society, the late 80's motion picture interpretation of what what was (not) being taught at an English boarding school in the 60's.

Everybody dies at some point, and whereas less or more tragic circumstances including a too early age will have their impact on how someone is remembered in the days thereafter, only a rare few will have the timeliness of their words and acts remain in living memory and eventually in history.

Politicians are remembered for their momentum in speeches, scientists for their life long researched inventions but what makes true musical artists different is that they do what they do not in search of memory lane but just as an explosive result of skilled expression, wherein fame becomes a kind of a catch 22 by-product.

For as long as we - mere mortals - mirror ourselves in what have become to be referred to as civilizations we have composed and listened to songs and it's striking that the earliest of compositions (Seikilos Epitaph from 200 BC) already dictated we should seek to shine in a too short a life.

Humans apparently need to group trends into decades in order to contextualize the rise and fall of how we dress and what we listen to which somehow says something about where we thought we were going to at the time.

Music has evolved tremendously and along with it the e-enablement of talent and/or perceived popularity. I therefore welcome the reflection world wide media bring these days on the lives of artists that made their mark over various decades with a high degree of immunity towards silly snowballing trends like the cold-war, the millenium-bug, facebook and the present value crises.

At some point I will force my post-generation Z children to listen to one or the other Prince song or allow them to touch one of the many vinyl records dad spend his pocket money on and use the pretext to introduce a carpe diem concept for them to remember to think freely in world that is slowly maturing into admitting it is without a set direction ... and that's okay.

Let's go crazy, shall we ?  The world is in need for living poets.

Midnight express

There's something macabre about the figure of six billion €uro which Turkey tabled this past Monday evening Brussels time.  That should be about 1 €uro for each world inhabitant who is presently at a place they would call home in a relative peaceful surrounding. 

But I guess it would be naïf to think of the refugee / migrant crises as a globally relevant issue in today's world, rather unlike we are taught in history books when Indo-Iranian civilisation first settled its marks pretty much up to where tens of thousands of people from the same geographic origin now have stranded in front of razor blade barbed wire.

I am somewhat shocked but certainly not surprised Turkey is grasping momentum to introduce a new currency denominated in number of individuals on the run into its diplomatically negotiable role in Europe or alongside the EU, which is wandering on for nearly 60 years. 

I am highly concerned and equally unsurprised with the stage the joint heads of state of one of the world's most developed regions are aiming to set, seeking to settle a nearly one off payment to outsource and offshore an issue they do not know what to with, under the control of a sovereign country they never really wanted to have anything to do with.

The sluggishness and indecision that become apparent at the very EU political top, each time there is serious trouble is desolating and the sudden call for action is an insulting paradox for any person on any side of a border.  A range of countries' political leaders obviously all with their own individual agendas they carefully try to balance with the pressure of electorates' desires.  € 6 billion over a 3 year time span, collected out of EU citizen's pockets to pay off a lack of vision and ability amongst a small group of individuals that were elected on grounds promising the contrary. 

€ 6 billion is about what the Red Cross, UNICEF and Médecins sans Frontières manage in a single year from private funds alone.  It would have suited political leaders well to not only admit their inability in between the lines but also at the bottom line and actively put forward and support private organizations which would do a much more efficient and humane job in the field while construing a vision for what is unfortunately not going to disappear in the next decade.

I would also think that those organisations would do a much better job in collecting funds directly from citizens who are either in favour of hosting or stopping migrants, if only governments would incentivise them to do so a bit better.