In the flow of history

A friend posted something on Facebook a few hours ago that expressed something very similar to my own existential feelings on our perception of the flow of history, a perception that is heightened on days such as today. Here is my translation, with his revision and permission (the title above is mine):

"A glance at today’s newspapers recalls the times when, at school, we were asked to bring old newspapers, with History written on their pages. Among the news that became history, there was other news that, seen from that present time, was so innocuous as to appear ridiculous. And, so I thought, how could anyone be interested in such issues when there were so many matters of greater importance for people to be worried about and interested in? Those were, after all, historic times that people were living in…
Today, I understand it much better. One only has to read today’s newspapers. Whether on the European Parliamentary and Ukrainian presidential elections, the Brussels shooting with possible anti-semitic undertones, the abstention rates, the 10^th Champions League victory by Real Madrid, the Thai junta’s arrests of academics and closure of the senate, the shenanigans of banks or the dozens of examples of how austerity is affecting not only services, but the whole glue of our society, and in this case the lives of firemen who do not have adequate protection equipment to fight fires. What will happen to Palito?* What will become of Boko Haram in twenty years? What will become of Benfica a year from now? What will become of the young girls pushed into child prostitution when the World Cup in Brazil is over, and the tourists and construction workers disappear? What will become of Brazil? Why is there no room for manoeuvre in the budget for anything except for espionage and warfare?

Why do today’s newspapers recall so much yesteryear’s newspapers? Why do we remain neck-deep in propaganda? Why are we not aware of the mistakes we keep on repeating?"

Alexandre de Sousa Carvalho

*translation note: a convicted murderer on the run in Portugal

Let us linger no more

A few weeks ago, in the morning, between sleeping and waking, the word ‘Lingering’ lingered for a few moments before my eyes, flashing pale blue as if written in neon. Whether it was the last flicker of a dream or an isolated image, I cannot tell. And as I lingered in slumber, my mind reached out, as minds do in such moments, for the meaning it had tried to form. On waking a few moments later, the first images that passed through my mind were the soft rustling of leaves on treetops in the Spring breeze; then, of the way the slow timing of nature is captured in art and film and, finally, it dawned on me that to linger, in general, was in the current Zeitgeist.

An inescapable feeling gripped me that we have, as a species, if not lost, then at least misplaced the thrust and desire for progress, for betterment as a species and civilization. Human civilization seems to no longer be optimistically designing the road it wants to travel, unsure of how to apply technological progress to social change, and bewildered by the environmental constraints on growth. Those who think of this at all usually fall back on tired world-views charged with nostalgic clichés and identities: on the selfish borders of the nation, the petty victim-blaming of neo-liberalism, or the failed ideals of revolution. Others, uninspired by mankind, fall back on the unquestioned authority of religious text to guide their lives. It is a dull species that faces its future thus.

Today, however, I woke up with a spark of hope. I know there is another way. There is something, however little, that I can do today. I can walk up to a ballot box and choose to choose. It is my vote, and with it, it is my responsibility. And it does not end today – it is my responsibility, as a European, to continue to fight for a better future every day. To get involved, to question what must be questioned, to argue and to listen, to continuously participate in a society that must will itself to do better and to be better, if it does not wish to in the long run either wither away or implode. 

3 razões para votar LIVRE e eleger Rui Tavares

1. A democratização do sistema partidário português (democracia participativa, deliberativa, e aberta, com primárias abertas para escolha de candidatos) e, mas genericamente, do sistema político português e do sistema político europeu
2. Uma ideia positiva para a construção Europeia, uma ideia optimista e integradora, que não segue o consenso austeritário, e que não abdica dos valores de esquerda, de democracia, de liberdade, e de solidariedade; uma ideia que acredita na sua realização à escala europeia; e um candidato que formula de forma muito clara essa ideia (Rui Tavares, no livro A ironia do projeto europeu).
3. Um olhar virado não para as batalhas e aspirações do passado, mas sim para os desafios do presente e do futuro (políticos, tecnológicos, económicos, ambientais, societais), um olhar realista e racional, mas não fatalista. Um olhar simultaneamente científico e criativo, virado para a construção democrática de uma sociedade melhor.
E estas três razões são, no fundo, uma só: a política é um processo aberto aos cidadãos, que responsabiliza os cidadãos pelo seu futuro num mundo cada vez mais integrado à escala global, onde nós como protagonistas já não poderemos ser apenas portugueses, franceses, alemães, etc, mas de europeus.