Sunday, December 30, 2007

Thousand Island
Kafka in the Castle, K is being charge, just for being himself, there is not need for any explanation, since the charge, become a existential question. The romantic moment in Germany was about the existential question, in return to the right to exist as individual, the individual needed to accepted the collective identity, there was not room for K, Slavic, Czech or Jews.
The concequence is intolerance to the right to decent. The collective identity was base on the ideal of agriculture society. But the power was not in a commune or village or a city, the power was a paternalistic structure, where the lord defined the values for the collective identity, there is not accident the Europe Aristocrats families come from the House of Hannover or more exact Celle a small city about 15 Km of Hannover. Where a minor French Aristocrat Sophie Dorothea descents are the major aristocrats of Europe. Where the Sun king had the absolute power.
The idea of absolute power in US was extended to a small class, defined by a privilege education, where privilege is access to the information of what is power, connections, money and image of all of them define the power elite, where in Europe immediate Family, tribe is the main drive, where in the US race is the case for example in the Southern States after even civil war was lost, the power over dark skin slaves was by the white skin, through separate but equals, but some are more equals then others, and the equal was the same skin, of course up to and after WWII, antisemitism was and still a factor, but was defined through the cultured, since intolerance was towards individuals, who will not accepted the collective believes and values. The Calvinist believe God give a wealth, so is a responsibility to control the wealth, the morality is not how to obtain wealth, but how to manage. The wealth in US or European nations had not issued with ethics of exploitation, since God defined power.
In the border between US and Canada the St Lawrence river has a thousand island, each one independent, but the ecosystem intertwined, the question how to balance the middle ground, where the individualism of US or collectivism of Europe, or tribal political power of Africa, the Middle East or East itself, or the cast system of India.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Education is Power
Since, the time we have recorded events we have describe these events in two level, the personal our immediate family, relationships in this context and authority. Knowledge is to transmitted a behavior, and the power define the norms as Henry V play the King of England define costume. In the Greek Tradition the pedagogue was a slave with the job to protect suitors of boy, since in Greek Culture relationship between the same sex was accepted, the pedagogue represented the father authority, the Sunday schools control by the religious authority defined the norm, eventually the cathedral schools were transform into power centers of the secular power in University of Bologna and Theology of University of Paris in Medieval Europe.
In Bologna, the house of the students were supported by the nobility of their land, since they will be Nobility, Bureaucracy and the power which define Behavior. Knowledge become defined as power itself, in some traditions the higher the educational title is a license to practice a behavior and authority is given to practice behavior by state.

Monday, October 29, 2007

The Question of Power
To talk about tolerance, there is a need to talk about more basic behavior of power. The assumption that power is method, but reality is a social, biological interaction. From the social stand the conflict between individual and collective behavior. Individually power is to pas to a next generation, the conflict arise since sometimes is not just individual but the collective. The idea of individual sacrifice for the common good, is not a exception, but more regular event, but depends in the common value and the situation where the challenge happen.
Second level is the immediate, the family. Because the behavior is about the next generation, female was reduce to subservient, and method to achieve the status is about information control, access to the information was reduce to power.
For a period of 4,000 years there where periods the subjugation was broken. But Christianity is an institution inherent a empire, and the need for status control was manifested not just a political power, but knowledge the fact was the transform Roman Empire into a Christian Empire and close of the Academy and Lyceum in Athens, set precedent to control.
Islam with their own version of Empire and control challenge Christian power structure, because the failure of Latin Kingdom Christianity turn into self into corruption, the reformation was revolution and also reactionary reaction to power. Where the reactionary aspect of the revolution was to a more patriarchal dominance.
But, because Islam challenge the creditability of Christian power is minimize and to explain the failure open themselves to the pagan Knowledge of Socrates and Aristotle. The industrial revolution braked the power of the small communities and the cities created the anonymous individuals. The power of patriarchal force through Napoleon was transform the citizen and the new structure was the state. But the individual structure existed because the control of female through sex, the pill open the power, now we are in cross roads, how to created a relationship between equals, where individual and collective need to come to terms.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Fall
The fall is period when push before the winter slowdown everything, for Western Societies is period of reflection, just take a moment feel the wind getting cooler and change colors, in the north, and reflect the long year to come.

Monday, September 03, 2007

Freud and Today
Whether you admire Freud or not, the slow process of question orthodoxy of the social system in Europe for 2,000 Christianity as force which dominate the political landscape, social and economics. Galileo was a son of the Roman Catholic church and needed their approval, even accepted the seclusion impose by the Pope. Only by the time Darwin, Europe was transform from rural society were major land owners, by conquest as the case William the Conqueror making claim land of the Anglo-Saxons by force and eventually through this force claims private propertied was expand and extended dominance. In other lands of Europe, the claim was done by the Feudal order impose by the pyramid expose by the Catholic Church, where there order start with the power of the Church given by God and Nobility overlord, whether elected or by family and validated by Church saying he god has defined the power of the lord. Not to the time of the reformation of Henry VII, England secular power by the King become the only power or in Germany where the reform movement was Romantic, to the ideal of an individual religion. But the order of power was not alter, Luther despite the peasant revolt, because alter the sense of order, Luther had since the time of being a monk.
The industrial revolution alter the rural power to concentrate more power to the cities, in so many ways, some German cities had chapters of independence or recognition by the lords, by accepted some authority by the lords and many cities pay the lords for the rights.
With the power of the state being secularize there was some independence, and Napoleon Europe's was base in the citizen obligation to the state, not lord or God. Darwin with the laws of evolution when to fundamental questions to give alternative to creation independent of God and Mendel himself a member of the cloat with Genetics with the work define alternative history to the one given by any religion. So far in Mendel time Nature was descriptive before any Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Mendel work using probability give a theoretic foundation to descriptive study of Nature.
But Freud brought the question not just to Nature observations, but brought to the human experience, whether was due to reproduction or more complex, where Biochemistry of Humans, had made a more complex understanding. Freud obsession with Moses in the question about God and for Moses if existed was figure of history and the rest was mythology, created from the psychological need of sexuality of slaves being abuse by a master. For Freud Moses was a empirical question.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

The Failure of Western Education
Newsweek magazine had depth major propaganda of the irrational exuberant, where proclaim the greatness of the American University and how the Europe had fail with their educational system. And the China or India had long ways to go.
The question of triumphalism in any propaganda and the end result of American education, we need to see long of the educational system. The higher education has his roots in Socrates Academia and Aristotle's Lyceum, but before the Greeks taken any appropriation of higher knowledge (i.e. here means in the context of information), Herodotus in Histories mention his time in Egypt where the priest class keeper of the knowledge or Babylon or Persian had the priest class which in the west we use the 60 system to keep time.
India the concept of zero eventually introduce by Islam through Spain become part of the west and measure inventions from paper, magnetic compass to the beginning of chemistry had roots in Tao traditions of China.
When Christian Byzantium close doors to high learn of the Greeks Schools, themselves had produce the lessons to arrogance of Power overreaching themselves, where Athens describe by Thucydides when Athens taken itself in Syracuse, there power faulted in the name of imperial democracy of Athens and there failure of the understanding there own knowledge left Athens by itself and collapse of their own power.
Alexander, teacher Aristotle could not convey behind what his own limitation, knowledge is collective information in the particular time, with his death Alexander empire was broke down left only history to be the judge and Rome to be the imperial force.
Not to the time creation of the University of Paris for Theology and Bologna for Secular law, the reappearance of the Institutions of High Learning was due the fact population in the cities which had not existed since Rome time needed a Bureaucracies and out necessity the Sunday Schools where Church train the elite to maintain the structure describe by Augustine in the City of God, the university took place.
Cities needed well train Bureaucracy to deal with the complexity of the city. With the reformation the City of God do not exist anymore and well train city Bureaucracy become a priority. The discipline needed and by centralize control fit well with Authorities, but the centralization recreated the experience ones in Toledo Spain were Islam with Christianity and Judaism transfer their own knowledge and experiences. The significance of the system did not take place to industrial revolution, but Newton and Leibniz, where a result of the structure in Europe, even they where influence by the concentration of knowledge in one place, the collective knowledge of the time from all over the world plus the need of more knowledge create in the universities found the position they find themselves.
The Jesuits brought the knowledge to west from the east and the own experience Renaissance, but the cog who made revolution, was not just Newton or Leibniz, to the time knowledge was collective information of the west (Greeks and Rome) and Eats ( India and China), but the industrial revolution, England discover the artificial color, but because the raw materials use for the color was obtain in India, the empire did not need knowledge, were Germany had not the raw materials force the revolution for Organic Chemistry on the other had Germany reaction was extreme desire to recapture what was lost in the Medieval Order in the city God, given place to the Romantic movement, Hegel or Marx want this order, where is Rational God of Marx or Rational Christian God of Hegel, but abstraction was part of the Romantic Germany. England utilitarian took hold with the Scientific Method. Darwin was not accident was Utilitarian England base on observation and Mendel being influence by the abstraction of Romantic movement open studies to genetic.
The Physics revolution of the 19 century and 20 century took root in Europe, Lord Kelvin and Thompson Atoms models product of the British utilitarian Science, where Quantum and Relativity was continental Europe. Albert University took Place in Zürich escaping rigidity of Germany educational system, and Albert mathematical help was not just Germany, but Differential Geometry work in Italy. One reason the Europe despite the Nationalism and some case exceptionalism the Europe nationalism felt, there was opening across national boundaries.
But, the failure of the University Education in Europe was itself the superiority and exceptionalism created the nationalism, not since Medieval time, the idea of order by race or class, had not taken place.
Napoleon create the secular state and individual loyalty to the secular system. Napoleon open the doors to Jewish is citizens, were the loyalty was not more to Religion, but to the secular state. The ugly side create by the City of God took a new face in secular state, but exceptionalism from religion took place with Turkey genocide the Armenians and the high learned institutions Europe because their own inertia exceptionalism like in case Heidegger, where race was the consequence of of Romantic Germany, and the two wars Germany created from the exceptionalism, and failure of the rigid German system, the opening needed to question was suppressed in name of the City of God.
The exodus of Europe elite to escape racial war, benefit US, but US has there own tradition, the Universities born like the rest of Medieval European university to train Preachers, Harvard, Yale or Princeton, with exception of King College to train the Bureaucracy of colony or Philadelphia after American Revolution where Franklin Utilitarian view take root. From the knowledge innovation, Europe still had access to tradition, but America had Pragmatical approach as a Child of the British Utilitarian Pierce and Dewey. The intellectual tradition took place with the Education of Henry Adams, always looking into Europe.
The PhD. tradition many American when the German Universities where the Marriages between the Industry with High learning training create specialize knowledge American when to German System for the training. The University of Maryland created the research university of Germany in American soil, there was some native sciences being create Gibbs in Thermodynamics, but the Physics and Chemistry and eventually the Genetics revolution in Europe, but the WWII benefit with the influx Jews and many misfits leaving in the educational system, since openings is base to exchange of ideas, despite intellectual rigidity of the Romantic Ideology from the Left or Right.
In some sense the Soviet Union also benefit, more after the WWII. But failure of power has been overreaching, the entering of US into WWI by Wilson the President and come from being the president of Princeton University continue a tradition in the American System, the failure to deal with the slave question given inheritance conflict to the Civil War (the civil war was not by slaves, but the power of the central government to change versus the states want to maintain a elite, in this case the power of slave owners), and when opportunity after the civil war to resolve the the race /slave conflict was not took place, the segregation's laws took place, but after WWII the conflict took place not just in question imperial power in Vietnam and segregation with the Civil Rights.
Wilson, by entering WWI give validity to right of British Empire and Germany payments create room for the Racial Philosophy Of WWII. FDR lack of dealing the segregation question, closing the doors to Jews, with exception of the starts of educational elite and supporting the Saudi Family regarding the Oil Fields later on a price. The holocaust was know, but the prevail anti-Semitic behavior which existed to late 60's where Jews could be faculties in Ivy schools, but a quota for students. The Soviets pushing from east, where the camps where locate expose genocide, the guild help to create the State of Israel from the the American Side.
The blindness of Higher education, extending in the Bureaucracy of Government where many of educate ended to full fill function. why the educational system was created to full fill bureaucracy. The political class had the foreign policy Sandino in Nicaragua and the America support Somoza eventually create conflict in the 1970's and 1980's. In the1950's Guatemala and Iran overthrow of left Government bringing the Shah in the 1980's created Theocratic State of Iran.
In 1960's was not just Vietnam, but helping the Saudi family to hold there own land, eventually mistake by Reagan with Afghanistan Mujaheddin and eventually open radicalization of the Middle East, the failure was Casey the CIA director the time compare the Mujaheddin as US Southern Christian Church. In America the Protestant and Catholic has taken a ugly side of dehumanizing anyone who is not Christian with moral values, they themselves, whether is homosexuality or abortion (but they themselves find braking there own morality).
The failure of the higher educational system, because over specialization is ignorance not other languages besides English or cultural knowledge besides their own, so now in Iraq we have six only people speaking Arabic in the US Embassy in conflict dealing with the roots of civilization, which none is trained to deal because there is not exposure.

Friday, August 10, 2007

The Achilles Question
A tradition of the 19 century Talmudic Schools was the introduction of ethics. How this tradition appeared to the fact Eastern Europe many Jews from the Pale started to follow the Hasidim moment. The movement took root since the persecution through Medieval Europe and especial the Crusade of 12 century push the Jews out Western Europe towards frontier, by invitation of the King of Krakow become an escaped of the persecution in Germany and France. But life was not better, after Katharina of Great inherent the pale no Jewish were allot in Moscow.
The Baal Shem Tov, being controversial by open the Mystical Judaism to everyone, since the story Mystical Judaism had produce two heresies in Judaism: Sabbatai Zevi and Frankists. The hope for him was to explain the hard life is for Jewish to know were especial by the creator and that though is a reason form himself to endure the hardships.
Where the Lithuanian Jewish tradition base in the analytical tradition of Talmud and the changes brought by Napoleon of the secular state where, the citizen is priory to family or religion, the new loyalty is to the state and the state will have obligations to the citizen. The revolution open for the first time Jewish are equal and opportunities. The individual has a right with the state and the idea the individual was the center, not emotional connection to past. The Orthodox Community to hold the next generation use ethics to bring some responsibility.
Ethics is about knowing the consequences and not knowing all the consequence. The failure of not knowing and knowing is the fact we have not control. The elites to maintain power they need certainty and the certainty is reinforce by the world around them. The failure of Athens to invade Syracuse, was the fact were ignorant of Syracuse and they faille to accept they were ignorant. The ignorance is the Achilles of each elite and each Generation. We have forgot our own Achilles.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Social Contact
Kafka, The Castle is not just about Prussia Bureaucracy, but individual isolation, in the Metamorphosis, the sense of the individual just a cog in the machine, superficial and worst with out meaning. Ulysses, Leopold Bloom is a projection of Joyce himself, the ultimo outsider, Joyce never return to Ireland, and he wrote about a small community in the period 1900's the Irish population was declining.
The conflict always relates to the fact a small community will like to preserve his identity and majority demand assimilation. Our parents want permanent membership in our families and we as individuals want separate identity. The evolution human species from small groups in the savanna of North Africa (Ethiopia) and reality of today we are in fourth corners of the Earth. We all share the same genetic lineage of the small groups from the savanna of North Africa (Ethiopia), and still the our self inflict genocide in name of God, religion and Politics.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Rationality
Empirical reason is under doubt and question. Doubt should be skeptic and base for empirical question. The skeptic is base an empirical question and continuous modification according empirical experience. Humanity has become aware of her self by the world become connected. The consequence of the awareness is to come to terms with consequences. Faith is many time mention arise out need of thrust to previous experiences, but because the awareness take some time, the previous experiences are small as the world open.
Because, we tend to trust our previous experience we are having are hard time to adapt and change to a new experience, that is our assault to rationality, our fear to the new experiences, which alter our reality. But despite of our fear does not stop our empirical reality, in some ways manyconflict, whether are political. religion, global, but in our individual experience we are trying to resolve the conflict.

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Reality
What is reality? Long time ago I was in a discussion about reality in the middle of discussion some one through a glass cup. The issue was since the glass was broken, the event implied reality is base into some physical experience. But, the question if there is an individual reality? We perceiving with our biological experience, but not everyone have the same experience as example color blind can't have directly experience with red or green color, but an inference can be create, since the color blind have direct experience with others colors, but what about the blind since child hood or deft, what is they reality and experience.
The Biological machine equipped us with reference point, even some sensor is not working according to general experience, but when we move from the individual reality to the collective experience, then human behavior, define by common experience and the social behavior immediate experience our family in many ways they give the initial bias, then the emotional values we acquire through family and society, define the social realities, this type reality is subjective.
A solution to the conflict arise from different social realities, the tolerance call by Montaigne, Spinoza and Arendt.
They ask social values will be in private, even some of these socials values consider themselves superior, for tolerance is to ask equality in public arena.
After all, the most basic values religions, with out list all the failures and destruction, they have inflicted. They are two realities the individualgoverning by Nature and second the social value driven.

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Time
Human evolution is full of crises, since the time we have a historical memory, the human experience can be reduce a series of conflicts. We need to ask ourselves, if all this was or is necessary, after all the consequence so far is Genocide towards of each other and how we have got towards this point. The art express in Ice Age, about human experience, but with time the creation of God and State, become justification for a few to be owners, through God and State.
Despite of revolutions and changes where the power of the few and religion, we still dealing fundamentally with the same issue. The power of the few and religion.
Sciences have give us an opportunity for humans to be skeptics, but the threat to question, as result today religious leaders question Evolution. The religious appealing to the validity of their reasoning from ideal of Platonism and deduction of from first principles drawing from Aristotle's.
Science value is from Empirical reasoning, meaning expert or amateurs can validate the work of the assumptions. Many critics of Evolution question the observations or descriptive sciences. Despite Darwin was careful and the mechanism of evolution, genetics even with Mendel work critics will still question Evolution, but what have change is Molecular Evolution, DNA, now the Molecular Evolution has connect the Human History to Earth. Many still question of aspect of Evolution are missing link, but now with the Molecular the connections show with out particular specie to be missing link.
The power of Molecular Evolution is drawing from Empirical reasoning, where experiment can be reproduce, and there is not question of believe.
Power of the God and State is base idea there is a set human nature, in the case of God and State is order of the God. What Sciences show is there is not absolute and experiments and new refine experiments give new inside, but the inside are not absolute, justdepend and experiment knowledge of the time, but does not mean the knowledge has not validity just a limitation, and the technology we have produce has been produce with this limitations.
But always the validity is the Empirical reason, the experiment and able to reproduce the experiment.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

A Question of Evolution
They are times and they are times. Now, we are in the time, where religion authoritarian believes are taken hold to replace a political social conflict.
The history of Art had a evolution and full circle. Early humanity paint had to do with the immediate experience, like the case of the Altamira Caves in Spain, later on to evolve only as a sacred experience. The art about the Gods appropriate by Christianity (other Believes) took into a new form, where the Socrates Republic with Augustine City of God transform the Power of Roman Emperor into Power of right to govern derive from God.
Not just reformation, but Art change prospect, where the Gods return to human form slowly return to human sizes.
With that perspective other human challenge, in the immediate was political.
Copernicus and Galileo and eventually Kepler challenge in Authoritarian power of the Church into human experience.
The Baroque and the Renaissance, began the humanization. Spinoza try to connect the emotional aspect of believe to rational experience of the every day, with time the Scientific Method come the golden rule, to empirical experience.
Darwin natural selection base on observation, and Darwin theory (Law) validation through empirical description, many Darwin following or Neo-Darwin for many them, the sufficient power of empirical description.
Critics like the Biochemist Michael J. Behe, who testify in favour "Intelligent Design", criticize the Darwin, because the disconnect of missing likings to have continue history.
Behe misunderstanding of evolution is, the mechanism for the selection is the DNA. The blue print had challenge everything, not only we are human sizes, but
humans in the natural word.
DNA is not just we are 3% different Chimps, or 2% Bonobo or our close relative to organs is the pig. But humans have the same blue print.
The good news is we had assumed the DNA history can be trace to one million, but with work done Mary Schweitzer, a paleontologist at North Carolina State University and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, which show the connection of T-Rex with the birds, the significant we are connected the DNA of species who had verify time line in Millions with a today specie.
Where today many religious figures are challenging evolution, but DNA is not just a history, but impact our every day, since direction medicine affected our very day is molecular medicine which bases on DNA.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Faust
In the renaissance a period of an awake and changes, the period produce an amount of unusual man's and many with unusual life, one of them was Montaigne. From his early days his father a soldier by profession and he had humanistic prospect, whether, condescending or not, his early childhood days were spent under a peasant family. Montaigne mother descending of Spanish Jews, but she like rest of her family where bring as Protestant and his father was Catholic. The times were the Conflict of Catholic King Henry III and the protestant Henry Navarre.
Montaigne was unusual, because he was being influence by his humanistic upbringing, where he had a disdain for violence or religious bigotry. He did believe in God, but never speculate about in part he challenge and question the dogma of the absolute, Montaigne inherent a cultural relativism, in essay “The Apology for Raymond Sebond”, question the trust of reason in part, emotions and believes are rationalize and our reason is not superior to animals, since reason is instrument to legitimize, bias come from our emotions and he being training in Jurisprudence he question the use and validity of confession under torture.
The Legend of Faust whether is base Dr Johann Georg Faust from Württemberg (a Doctor in Divinity and later on dedicated his life to Alchemy) or Italian version, even a French version Goethe Faust where first section was a life of lust and Second part where reason and emotions with constriction given a chance Faust to end heaven and regain his soul from Mephistopheles.
In pursuit of his passions and insecurities sold the soul. The dogma is the rationality of the bias, and desires. The dogma will exclude and kill, Germany before WWII, sell their soul to a dream of the right to power base on race. Race was the rationality of the dogma is Faust for lust of destructives relationships, Germany soul was sold for greed and power, in the end the price was to high, the country was destroy.
Religion, ideology is not least of a dogma in the pursuit of power Montaigne point out, the over reach by the desire and limit of power itself, will be the demise.

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Spinoza

Some years, ago one of my teachers of Religion, told what is important, what person believe not where the individual come from. For many years I wonder about the question and I realize, the opposite, the place, give the meaning and influence our prospected of what type of ideal we taken upon.
Education is not about mastering or just remembering some set of assumptions or believes or being right a particular time, but education is about judgment causes and consequence, a professional will gives advice not only from previous knowledge, but from the experience.
Experience is how knowledge as created, in our experience we introduce set of bias, in two levels, conscious and subconscious. Our conscious come from experiences and the subconscious from the bias we inherent from our environment, our society, family, friends and our education whish draw upon these sets of experiences.
The historical Spinoza was a unique and precarious situation, where he was not just outsider of his own community, but his environment. Spinoza excommunicated from his community, was just about his theistic ideas, but with Spain reconquest from Islam the Iberia Peninsula was closing and open an Era.
Medieval Europe where Socrates-Republic and Augustine City of God were glorify with the order of feudal structure, where the Philosopher King-was the King and Lords the second levels, where the head draw his legitimize. The innovation of the feudal systems, parallel to secular structure was the power of the Church, and the problem to this despotic ideal were the Jews, since the could not fit into the structure. When the Christians had Toledo in the 13 century part of their claim, force conversion of the Jews, families where divided and because or they just believe kept their faith, a consequences the Bishop suggestion was to genocide the Jews, his suggestion was previous to Luther suggested, but the Bishop had draw from experience the Christianity had dealing with Heretics and outsiders.
Spain transferee his experience in 1441 with the expulsion of the Jews and in 1442 into the Americas, Spain domination disseminate the native population of the Americas. Spain behavior was not unique, just happen to be the first one, but a close look Portugal colonies in Africa haven to deal with the attitude, it was not just hostility of Superior culture since the Greeks legitimize in the wars against the Persian in the end result Athenian Empire collapse.
The delineation between end Medieval Europe and Renaissances, more then anyone Galileo by using an instrument to question the order of things. Spinoza tragedy in letter of January 28 1665 where Spinoza answer to his Critique William de Blyenbergh who consider Spinoza theistic views is close to Atheism by deny the absolute control God. Spinoza question the assumptions of the first principles, where Spinoza challenge the absolute literal authority of the Bible versus the why Spinoza call the “Natural Light of the Intellect.”
The idea of God Logos was seeing in Maimonides, the Arabs Rationalist and of course Aristotle. Spinoza took from the revival of Logic. Spinoza answer dealt with two different reactions of the Jews dealing with tragedy of the Jewish communities in Spain, one approach mantel of Mystic and second rationalist, which Spinoza took upon. For Spinoza a mathematical Proof, like Socrates was truth is God himself.
Spinoza personal experience being outsider is manifested in Political Treatise where his call for tolerance in Democracy in the section question, if women had the right in a Democracy, and question the Authority of the Aristocrats. Spinoza wanted equality in the Power of the sexes, even bringing the power of the Amazons, but his ambiguity was limited by the time, since by them his life was ask and by them Spinoza did not belong to any group. Spinoza becoming Europe nightmare of the perpetual outsider from the tradition of the despotic structure, which Europe has been built upon, Spinoza philosophical questioning, was a respond of Europe perpetual outsider.

Friday, February 09, 2007

A desire for Tolerance

The Jewish question in Europe is about tolerance and relates to the question what means to be an individual. Augustine in the City of God wanted to create a cosmic order, the sentiment was found in Plato Republic sense of order. If, individual do not fit or submitted to collective view, for what ever reason the Jews in Christian Europe or Islam, the code set a code to put outsider, since continues decent collapse to killing the disorder, manifested in Pogroms, persecutions in both religions, but is not unique to any particular religion. In many cases is projected to ideology, politics, social behavior and sciences. The Crusade and eventually the holocaust is collapse to eliminated differences to the internal collective social cohesion.
Montaigne and Spinoza, both are products of the two expulsions of the Jews from Spain, the first one by the Muslins in the 12 Century and the second in 1492 by Christian Spain, being different and outsider had a price, Erasmus seeing the bloody conflict between Protestant and Catholic papist also proclaim the need of tolerance.
The roots of conflict have many aspects like economics the case of the Balkans, where the city being the commerce centers after the conquest by the Turks, most of the cities inhabitants convert to Islam and the peasants continue with the Christian tradition. When the traditional economic model base on land lost his economic value a conflict between the city and town come to clash not only in process of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire, but during WWII, in Croatia leader, lead by a priest Genocide not only Jews but Slavs.
Religion has been use as weapon, since religion force appeal to certainty and authority given of certainty. The power of religion appeal to the emotions and these emotions can turn into uncontrolled forces, but power of Authority combine with emotions Ethical compass is lost.
Experiments done 60’s where regular individuals put with opportunity to harm another (in this case electric shocks), where ever there background, the long the victim was not aware of the attacker the participates, and the most for tell experiment was prisoners and wards, where sadistic and cruel behavior was the norm, if there was not control.
To be Ethical or do the right thing as more the convictions, in WWII many who safe Jews where not juts for self interest, since being found, was shoot on the spot in the better cases to work camps, in most recent time in Ruanda, where the elite where Catholic perpetrate the Genocide, this is not the first time during 1933 to 1942, when SS in Nazi Germany open the doors to others, 60 % SS officers, where Lawyers and Catholics.
Being Ethical (Individual Choice), Moral (Social Expectation) does not mean to do what is right thing. To do the right thing first you need to see the other is not the other, meaning there is not second class of heaven for the other: who does not belong to the particular club or society. The other is defined by the group or a leader who define the rules.
Tolerance is build in the equality, where everyone is not above or below, is not about who owns or define rule, because equality mean acceptance of difference, but not jus difference, but equality, what Spinoza and Montaigne ask and demand is equality of difference, where God, Gods, Race, Gender or Sexual orientation, economics, age is not the issue. The issue of equality is about being able to acceptance the different and work in the difference.

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Germany Dream
Sometimes, history repeat himself, what is happening to Islam in Europe, is not just about the Islam in Europe today, but the same can be said about Roman in Hungary or Rumania, where to being outsider in Europe is not accepted.
Of course things are complicated with religion, not since the 10 century and the Turkey exposing the society to secular ideas in the 19 and 20 century have open Islam into the conflicts with himself.
The internal problem with Islamic countries and Islam with the west is the effect a paternalistic society in conflict with demystification of the power. Where the religion and social values are set into human level, given by religion believe of uniqueness come to end, to the fact nature (Biology) is the same of bipedal homodie species (Humans).
The same effect the reformation had in Europe. The conflict of religion in Europe was not just between Christians group, after all early Christians heresy are Sabellianism (Believe in son, holy spirit and God are modes of the same person), Docetism (Believe Christ is not real, just a reflection of spiritual), Monophytism (Jesus is part to the Logos as human), Adoptionism (God adopted Jesus in conception), Nestorianism (Jesus had two natures man and God. The both nature were separated when Jesus was on Earth), Appolliariasim (Jesus was not real man or he was not totally divine), Arianism (Jesus was create by God for the purpose of being Sacrifice for men salvation), Socianism (Believe Jesus was special person), Donatism (the heresy was social life in this case extreme asceticism), Pelagianism (Believe the original sin was not transmitted by Adam and Eve and the need of Baptism was not needed), Gnosticism (Believe the Jesus just a spiritual being, never human, influence by Platonism) , Manicheanism ( The mix of Christianity with neo-Platonism), Bogomils (Believe Jesus was adopted by God, but not part of the Trinity) and Cathars (They believe Gods of Hebrew story was Satan and that was material world. God of Jesus was good God and spiritual only).
In the same time Christianity was not only group with internal conflict for social cohesion, Islam had share of heresy like Shia (the heresy believe the Mohammed’s son law’s family has the only legitimatize to be leader of Religion, since Islam is political, social behavior and religion). The Sunni believe in elected leaders, but from this conflict a group heresy is found with Sufism which emphasizes prayer and transcendent rituals influence by Christians Gnostics. In the seven and eight Century with expose to Aristotle and Plato, Mu’tazilim attempted to integrated Islam with Greek tradition, they define speech is a about context use for argument. The Orthodoxy was against of introduction of religion debate, because will bring doubt and question legitimize believe.
Wahhabism demands a literal interpretation of the Koran. A pacifist strand appears with Ismailism of spring of Shias, in the same group Nizaris (Assassins) were an extreme violent group, and they use this violence to protect the interest of the descendents of Mohammed. Twelve’s believed that Mohammed had 12 legitimate successors until the last two are hidden by God and will return to make claim is leader of Islam. Mahdi (Twelve) believes spread to the Sunni and tends to be apocalyptic, even does not mean the will come from the family line of Mohammed, but he will be the legitimate leader of Islam.
Judaism also had series of heresy Priest believe they had legitimize since they where care takers of Temple. Rabbinical tradition believe in the tradition interpretation of the law on oral tradition, Essen was an asceticism and there was nationalism group who precipitate a conflict with Romans, of course the Samaritan was consider heresy. From the priest class a heresy sprung in Egypt and Syria in Middle times, where the Bible was took literal, on the other hand, from Rabbinical tradition of mystics two messiahs groups happen after expulsion of Jews from Spain in 12 Century by Islam and 14 Century by Christianity, where mystical traditions developed from early traditions around the second temple. In both cases the Shabtai heresy ended when he convert to Islam and subsequently execute for heresy against Islam, the Shabtai heresy was base on the Rabbinical mystical traditions, and for some Zionism is type of heresy after all God is the only one can give what can take away, the land.
What all the religion had in common is a need to build a social cohesion and anything outside of the Social standard is consider a heresy, in most case where treated with harshness.
The fact the religion has predispose elements of the harshness, consequences, when Jews appear in Germany, we know Jews moving from Constantinople north, and through Hungary and Prague. Since Imperial Rome forbidden Jewish in the land for taken a nationalistic stand, later on restrictions were transform by Christian Rome, because the Jews become a challenge to the validity of Christianity or later to Islam. The restriction to own slaves and eventually land limited the Jews to any leaving connected directly to land, only eventually to become between, meaning peddlers, professions whish not depended on the Guilds retractions, like Medical Doctors, lending money the bankers of the time.
In Germany the settle in Worms, Mainz, Spear and Rotenberg, in France when from Troyes to Dijon, but because wine production was consider land ownership, many communities were involved in Wine make, eventually also restricted, in Worms the community was involved in onion selling, but hostility between Christian and Jews in beginning had to do with fact Christianity saw the Jew a heresy when Crusade was call the first heretics who were not Christians on the mist was not Islam, but the Jewish. The community was expulse and genocide in the Rhine, forcing them to move east, the Pale and Poland.
The Anti-Semitism was eventually secularized and National Socialism in Germany born out secularized Anti-Semitism. The support in early elections in 1930’s come from small shop keepers and artisan feeling treated by introduction of industrial techniques to department stores and of course the Jews saw to be the ones, since they did not belong to the social cohesion. They saw the interest of Germany was their interest and the outsider who had leave amount them for almost a thousand years, are the one’s who destabilize the order, by WWII Jews in Germany where about 5% and today are 0.5%.
Islam had a more homogenous and conflict with secularization is happen now, because secularization and Humanism has stimulated Science and technology. Where the Challenge goes to religion, Men as being reduced and the Authority of Religion is Challenge by demystification of Men. Since Islam had not come to grips justification of his political power a conflict has developed, and in Europe the outsider of the Secular and Humanist tradition as Islam or Gypsies, since they alter the social cohesion has created a conflict where room for tolerance is minimal, since both the group cohesion is more important then individual choice.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Fourth Sins

Of course we can’t blame the sin of the fathers to the sons but Santayana said if we do not learn from our history we are to commit the same errors again. I strong believe we are all the same and our Eden is in Africa-Ethiopia. Our DNA does not difference between race, religion or even DNA differences from the sexes is just biology for continuation of the human species, but nothing behind that. But because the significance we need to demystify what make us secure. Each society built the own mythology to some ways to create an exceptionalism experience to create identity.
We create a mythology base in our own historical perspective and for a society to advance their perspective. Like any mythology have many complications where facts, reality are mix to advance specific view, in the case of US we have fourth myths which developed the fantasy of US.
I. The Island: The events of 1776 where about power or more specific the leadership power about the creation of a continental nation. Kevin Carson in his book “studies in Mutualist Political Economy”, he describes the loss of land in the time of William conquest of England, where the natives in the British Island happen even the ones had titles began to pay tax and their land which the own to the new lords and common land was lost. The consequence the colonization of the Americas by English was done though a mix of private and crown. Where the French and Spanish colonization was done almost by the crowns. The British introduced land ownership given by the crown. The definition given by the British Crown created an initial conflict with the first nation definition of ownership in most of the cases ownership is temporal and where European tradition property was permanent and can be transfer. The story of the British colonization was base on individual who took this path he had obligation to pay by given seven years to the right of passage and return he will get a title land in most case, since the lord in England already had made claim. The right to land was enough to take a risk in the new colony, of course the first nations lost just not only by decease, but the lost of land was lost to the colony. The consequence of this type of colonization was the every new colonizer had land and he will spend time developing there own land, so he was not a hand for hire. The crops which need intensive manual work like tobacco and rice made need to introduction of slave as free labor. During the seven years war between French and British control of the North America colony, the British to obtain first nation support promise not expansion past Fort Duquesne or Pittsburgh today, in return the first nation will confront the French. Since the French had their own support in the first nations and French colonization intermarriage with natives was never like British where was at minimum, since the British wanted the land and French more towards the exploitation of the land. In the time Tomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin demanded the right of continental nation and from the beginning the colonies wanted European influence out in part to the right to define access to the land. The revolt against the taxes impose by British crown due to the fact the crown was broke and logic of the crown since the French Indians war was to maintain the power of English settlers, they should pay for the war. The British settlers felt, they have pay with blond and moreover the British crown limited the land expansion a full scale revolt. The US colonies twice try to force the expulsion British in upper Canada first in 1776’s war of independence, the colonist got up to Montreal and they try to convince French Quebec to help the expulsion of the British since French Colonies had grievances, but British wanted maintain power, they found away to accommodate, but the French where nor favor of the melted pot concept, at least with British they had chance to maintain the French identity. After expulsion of the French from Quebec and French settlers from Nova Scotia, the British to maintain power they changes many of their policies to be able like give freedom to slaves, since the South colonies the agriculture economy use crops intensive manual work base on slave. In 1776’s war the colonies not just Montreal is a target but also Quebec City and the military expedition had all maps the lost supplies in their way to Quebec. In any case the American Colonies did not get help from the French colony of Quebec because they will not be able to maintain their identity we will talk is a fourth sin they lost of any previous life in some ways reinforce the sense of isolation found in a island. The second try to capture Upper Canada was in 1812 war. The Governor of Indiana territory enter Canada from Fort Detroit, but not just the Canadian British stop, but in the mist of then in Brampton, some of first nations (the Mohicans one of the seven nations of to day New York), they took side with British in 1776 stop the US of America. With the Purchase of Louisiana Territory by Thomas Jefferson and later on, the expulsion of first nation’s from all the territories and later on Alaska from the Russia. Spain and eventually Mexico the continental nation was achieve, only Russia which span to 12 time zones there is continental nation. After civil war of US in 1863, the secretary of war said the will of God was US to have Canada. The Canadians when to motherland and Queen Victoria gave the right of confederation. The consequences the US is a isolate nation to rest of world, two major Oceans and the fact Canada is British colony due share some cultural similarities, but Canada is more close to the British Crown and Canada has developed multi-culture society as respond of being part of British Empire. Canada is inhabited along border and population is dense, like Europe, where US population still is dispersed. The southern border after Texas independence of Mexico, the speaking Spanish had limited influence up to know, where for political and economic reasons there is a big migration. The Island mentality created an isolation where people are accustoming to personal space and collective need is take by individualism needs. They idea of collective need is left to the rough individualist.
II. Slaves: As mention in the previous section the unlimited access to land limited the hands to work the land and price of working hand was too expensive for the average and even the no so average land holder. The investors who brought the colonist in some instance they when back to the promise and a trail of broken promises. The use of slaves is not new in Human history, Rome; Athens was built on the economy of slaves. Religions where are Christians, Judaism and Islam are been tolerant of slaves, including polytheistic religion. The innovation of Slave trade in North America colonies race. Maryland in 1639 introduce a law where a Black Slaves converted to Christianity does not give freedom and later on Virginia and other colonies not slave son will be born to be free. Later on Virginia laws in 1705 guaranty a permanent slave status to all generations, because color of the skin will guaranty. The ambivalence and the contradiction was in Thomas Jefferson, where he had children of her slave in the same time propose to send African Americas to what is today Liberia. But the ambivalence of Jefferson was not alone, despite Christian movements in many instances where the spear head to stop not just slave trade, but to stop the practice on the other hand the slave owners use religion, the course of Noah to his son to justify the slave trade. The revival from 1857-1860 in US, which originated in England, as respond to Darwin and the pragmatism from his evolution theory. In US one effect was abolitionism movement, where the Quaker began movement to stop slave ownership and member who resisted where expel. In many case the slave revolt against the oppression and the brutality of the system. Respond to brutality was the rail road underground, which help families escape north and to Canada, where are free. The southern states use the federal government to implement the run away slaves laws. The prelude to fact in the constitution the slave owners there vote had a value 3/5 for every slave owned. The was a equilibrium between the North and South, but with new territories the question of free and slave owners become a political issue, since the south fear will lost political power if the territory will be free and contentious become when territories were divide. The civil war began dealing with that issue of emancipation 1863, three years after the civil war began, had to do to brake south. The south was depending totally on slave labor. The north benefits of the capital of south, but was in the cycle of capital movement. The Few years ago, place like Brown University the benefactor which University has name, his fortune was made on slave trade. New York City on the eve of Civil war wanted to subside of the Union, since the financial capital was from the Southern plantation. Aetna insurance will lend money using slaves as collateral and if the barrow will default the slaves were sold to market to recoup the funds. The south sold the commodities, tobacco and rice to Europe. The profit when to the north to Philadelphia, New York, Connecticut and Rode Island, to the ship yards to produce ship to transport product to Europe and in early times to get captive slaves. The slave trade had willing partners not just Portuguese, Spanish, French, Deutsch or English, but Muslins and Africans who where in case capture village to be sold. The Capital flow from south when financial institutions which invested in Railways and factories, steel, the economy was intertwine with slave trade. The origins of the civil war never had a conviction of equality after the reconstruction 1877 and south with introduction of Cotton and need cheap labor when back to slaves, but south deny not freedom since 1865 the thirteen Amendment to the constitution prohibit slaves, but Southern states pass laws to legally discriminate Jim Crow Laws, the law define concept separate and equal and in same instance deny access to Blacks to public education, public transportation and the legality was uphold by US supreme court, the legality ended in 1965 with the Civil Rights Act, but economic ramification of the 500 years of slave trade in US, the country has not come to terms.
III. God and Religion: Religion in US had special mythology, since the myth tells pilgrims come to colonies to escape the oppression of English Anglican church. The story is complicate in Massachusetts the Puritans for period of eleven years will not celebrate Christmas since was consider pagan or the famous trial in Salem. Religious intolerances was not just Boston, in New Amsterdam the Dutch Authority had issues when Portuguese Jews where amount them. The strand tradition of protestant in the colonies was base on individualist and materialistic Calvinist. The religious awaking moments in US where are in South on the North appeal deal with an emotional comfort due to the spread and isolation. The second reason is emotional comfort, due to the mobility the sense collective does not exist. To day is the case where mega churches with 5,000 people feel a sense of community. Religion is the only social connection.
IV. The Melting Pot: The idea, if you leave your parents identity and embrace the individualism of US, in return will give you access to dream, the protestant dream, where today Catholics, Jews and Muslins are protestant. The dream is material wealth, house, car and access education to the generations to come, to achieve that dream. Working class after WWII, white US had access to education thought GI Bill or house, note the African Americans veterans of the war were deny. Of course US with a population of 300 Million and expected 100 Million in the next 40 years new elite are being created. The US had elites, but elites in US had no been permanent from land owners, industrialist and now a managerial class, because the expansion and development of country opportunities were created. But all that was possible since development was in local level, since the age of exploration, the world has been interconnected in ways the time walls needed to created isolated communities do not exits any more. Individual nation changes are no more possible consequences from social behavior and consumption has global implication, from environment to social and political.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Cooperative Evolution
Michael Tomaselo article question why we have more white area then colour in the eye. Tomaselo points out the question should be, since they are 220 species of primates why humans are the only ones where the orientation of the eye can tell what humans are seeing, where for primates you can not follow the orientation of what they are seeing.
Tomaselo reason of this development due to social behaviour. Humans need the eyes to know intention, but but the evolution between the white and colour can be called that evolution cooperation.
Tomaselo inside impacts relationships from sport or poker, where a player try to hide the white part of the eye to hide his intentions.
Peter Kropoptkin in Mutual Aid give another line of thinking where cooperation is not just individual social interaction, but is specie interaction and some case the interaction with environment is necessary, like bees will need interaction with environment since pollen in such small they are need of more them and because the process collecting pollen is a group active. They are also symbiotic relationships which can be categorize as evolution of cooperation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/13/opinion/13tomasello.html

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Dreams
Sometimes we remember dreams. I personally I had few times I can remember my dreams. In my case if something which question my own experience I do remember. I had a recent dreamt where I dream where I had dialogue about the existence of God, my dilemma in the dream Darwin evolution from observation deduce natural selection. Even the detail how the natural selection mechanism occurred was discovered by Mendel. In the 20 Century the DNA work done by Watson, Crick and Rosalind Franklin, set foundation of Molecular biology, which show relation to the world around us, and the man made on the image of God vanished the image we share the same make organic material as the rest of the living things on this planet.
But whatever my dream have some validity or not my question why we are living in such world where religious fundamentalist has such impact as the Social movements of the 19 century and 20 century, whether Richard Dawkins reductions view God and Religion as a social behavior or not. I’m skeptical, to some of his reductions explanation, but his explanation about religion and how fits in the biology.
Dawkins explanation how religion evolved: For survival a younger will have an affinity to trust the experience of his elders since his elders had gone through the experience. For example if a little kid will like to put his finger socket his parents will say no, he may will have disgruntle acceptance, but in the end he will and eventually and he will understand the consequence of such action.
From that a thrust to advice and consent to that authority religion is born and does not depend whether the believed is monotheistic or polytheistic the appeal to the trust. When we reach the time where mortality we dealing with anxiety like death we will look into the certainty from that trust and the trust is base on authority we look upon the authority given by religion. Authority of power is built on the same experience thrust. Since the failure Socialism Utopias, which by them self are secular religion. Many Libertarians on the left where critical of this Utopias because they are base on a paternalistic advice they had in the roots authoritarian elements, eventually they are nightmares, the Soviet union of Stalin 20 Million death or Christian Socialisms (National Socialist Party of Germany which by the end of the war were not just 6 Million Jews, but Europe and the world the death on the Millions).
The original criticisms of inequality made by the Utopians has not change, because ins some way all the political systems are Authoritarians, of course some are more the others from beanie democratic system, to dictatorship of one individual or class, the consequence always will be same some one will be left behind and elite with all the privileges.
So today the new Utopias are base in religion, some are more political from Universal to nationalism in these categories we find: Islam, Judaism, some Christians revivals movements like Christian Protestant Fundamentalism or Catholic feudalism or from orient Burma even is not call is Buddhist dictatorship or India.
Some religions are more political like Islam or Judaism, which is not just about believe but away of life where social behavior need to be control, hence laws, hence political. But like previous Utopias the Authority the issue will be: they always suck the life of the society we just need to look into Iran, Saudi or any other religious Utopias. Eventually a rebellion, but the issue has been which values of Authority, the contraction we are made of the same biological material.

Append: Dawkins argument has some similarities mention in God and State by Bakunin. Where Bakunin question was direct about Authority is historical independent of the biological origins.

Friday, January 05, 2007

Why we need solidarity

In our working life, we switch jobs at least three times, not less then a period of ten years. What all that means? We can speak about gaining or losing jobs is an academic description or the experiences families being dislocated from every day security. But economy is not just a description of supply or demand-graph numbers, but it is a reflection of values or believes. The economy is a relationship of this value, so the question why to created solidarity we need to know where we come from.
We are in some way product of the biases from our families and the society. To grow is to put in context this bias, economics are the relationship of exchanges of that bias. So what are our biases? The biases are the history, the myths and believe in the societies we are part. America is based in a selective historical amnesia, hence a peculiar amnesia.
In Washington DC Holocaust memorial at the exit after the flags of the units which liberated the concentration camps, on that exit wall, there is a letter from the Jewish community pleading to the War Department to destroy Auschwitz as concentration camp; they ask at least the rail road used to bring the victims to the killing camp. The respond by the War Department was that the Bombers could not cover the distance. In the same time the bomber hit targets six miles away in butane factories. By the end of the WWII only 100,000 Jews where are allowed to enter absorptions camp in Oswego up state New York. During the period the Soviet Union on their way to Berlin found the camps and confirmed the early pleas in 1943 by the American Jews at that time. In more personal level before the war about 900 German Jews requested refuge status to United States in the late 30’s, but the ship was denied to enter the port of New York. The refuges try to enter port in Havana Cuba, but the American state department pressured the Cuban Government to deny port. The refuges had return to Hamburg Germany; of these refuges only 40 survived the camps.
To understand these types of actions, we need to examine the question in two folds. How the USA culture had accepted the extermination and how the values of the immigrants from Europe impacted the decision.
To answer the first question we need to recognize that a huge part of the economic wealth of USA was based on cheap labor: slaves. Owning slaves is not a new issue on western culture. Rome was built with slaves, the Athenian 127 ships were build from slaves working in silver mines. The significance of having social prosperity by slave work can be seen when the council of Nicea around 325 AD prohibited the Jews to own slaves. Prohibiting the Jews to own slaves was due to the fact: the Jewish law says slaves will be converted to Judaism.
The economic impact was that, the non Jew had not cheap labor eventually the Jews were marked out from owning land. The power of owning the land was wealth. The difference in America slave can be traced to the history of Venture Smith who at the age of thirty six bought his freedom and own property. Venture Smith on early time had rebelled against his master and he did the unthinkable, he contacted a Connecticut justice of the peace and accused his holder of abusing him. The justices expressed regret about the abuse, but he told him could not do anything since he was not a man, but just property. After Venture Smith bough his freedom the Virginia Commonwealth passed a law: if you born a slave there was not a possibility to buy freedom and moreover the slave offspring was bound to the slave stigma for the generations to come.
The founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington and others had at least ambivalences towards the slave trade. Slave in America was about dark skin created the base of the following years to reinforce the narrative of the South as race based society. During the revolutionary war in 1776’s the British used color card to create uprising in the southern colonies. The race issue took almost one hundred years from the revolutionary war to create a crisis, but the crisis was not about the humanity of the slaves, but had to do more with the structure of the new nation. This ambivalence of humanity of slaves was carried during the reconstruction period, and culminated 1900’s by accepting the idea separation between the races. And race insensitive is rooting on the America culture despite the civil right of 1963.
The race insensitivity is due to the fact to a selective historical amnesia is embedded in culture and how this amnesia affects the relationships economics, we need to consider our second question what are the values of America Society.
To own property in the west gives access to participate in a common destiny. Since property gives a sense of control in some kind of destinies, the owner has privilege. The owner can participate in this destiny. The idea of property was originated in the in following traditions: In Athens the citizen male could own property and this ownership entitle the right to participate in a destiny: We call that participation democracy. But the idea of exclusion was created by us versus them; the Greek versus the Barbarian, despite the existing internal conflict between the Greeks, when Persia invaded Greece, the idea of us versus them create the power to stand against Persia; the idea of separation was intuitional.
Rome political participation was built on aristocracy, females could hold property, but when Augustus limited that ownership, many of the Aristocratic females choose to become courtesans to be able to maintain property. Never the less one of most significant influence is Christianity, not only Christianity define what is female, slave and the outsider.
In 1816 a toddler name Lazzaro was brought to the House of Catechumens, after a prolonged fight between the family of the toddler and the Church. The toddler care taker had converted the toddler in secret and the Roman Catholic Church made a claim to the toddler. The significances are the struggle between Christianity and Judaism.
Christianity and Islam have a basic conflict with Judaism based on the delusion of God: ‘God choose me and gave an inherited and that inherence gives me certain rights.’ The tool of these rights is property.
Napoleon challenges the power of the Roman Catholic Church by giving citizen rights to the Jews, hence property. Three years before Luther dead he wrote attack against the Jews, where he called for Genocide, but he was not the first one. The Bishop of Seville 14 years before the expulsion of the Jews in 1493 from Spain expressed the same sentiment, since the Jewish refuse to accept their version of God.
Islamic response towards the Jews and Christians is to create a new class of second class citizen, where they can follow their tradition, but have not access to power. Islam limited the professions and access to the state bureaucracy if you do not belong to the right religion. Still licenses professions like doctors hand access due to the skill.
Judaism rejected Mohammad and by taking sides with his enemies, Mohammad decapitated 900 of them, but realizing the geographical distribution of Jews, made impossible to kill all of them and Christian were under the protection of the Christian nations. Islam responds was to create a second class citizen for them.
The relationship between the three religions has been at least less then cordial. Islam conquest driving religion and the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople fuel an animosity between the West and Islam. As respond towards Islam conquest Urban IV ask the Christianity the conquest of the holy land. The early behaviors of the crusades in Acre, the Christian Armies took all the males, the Jew, Muslin and Orthodox Christian impales all of them. This behavior set the tone for the next centuries. Sultan Baibars al-Bundukdari in 1268 conquest Jaffa, and returned the same favor to the Christians by massacring the population as an act of justice or revenge.
The industrial revolution changes the definition of property. Property is individual own, not the land, but individual itself. Physical skill or the profession is the new definition of property. The value goes according to need. Still the value is regional meaning if cheaper someone else the job is gone. In that sense we do not control the marker. The decision of the value is defined not by practioner, but by the one who control the capital. The group who control the capital decided the value. The new definition of capital is own by the individual, but the individual does not define the value. Previous times the land belong to the lords and they define the value following the same tradition the 19 century the industrialist were new lords. In the late 20 century the physical skill become less, but the services and the professional skill is the property, the wealth is more fluid. The wealth is now in control of entities defined in a moral value ‘what is the best for me.’ The consequences are a disconnected in the society. The disconnected translated the sense of family and the codependence to religion. The religion experience gives the individual a psychology anchor to himself independent of the community, since the puritan tradition is relationship to God without middle men. To resolve the conflict we can look into our question:
Why we need solidarity? How is solidarity help all of us survive in our historical context, our economics defined from our tradition define ownership our values had a conflict when the new comers define ownership. Because the first nation definition of what is property different from the Western tradition, they define property is by the use not ownership.
Solidarity is not an institution works under the social and economic values of their society. Solidarity does not control the market, but solidarity is define by the individual as a force more them selves.
A company is either public or private tries to maximize the value for the share holders or the private ownership; moreover its considered values are defined in the context of the society.
If our objective is to changes the attitude of what property is, we need to change the values of property. Property is defined by social hierarchy and that alone defines its standing in that society (legality).
A decision made based on a consensus, means that everyone who is participating comes to an agreement or have a stake in the direction for a common goal, a base to create solidarity. To achieve that goal, we need to focus not on single individual interest but on the group, who will share the benefits and the responsibilities—that is solidarity.
The benefit is the goal, and the goal is defined by the value of the consensus, without denying the context where we are, how we behave and in what we believe. Solidarity comes out from the experience of being isolated in our society. A vast majority of technology today is the product of support by the government. The goal of the government is to produce an economic benefit based on social values defined by the government. What are the values dependent on the social definition.
Economics have profound impact, from quality life to social structure. In creating a sense of solidarity we challenge these values by defined the out put. We need to challenge by creating solidarity independent of social values. Question and challenge the values by creating alternatives, when everyone sees there is possibility to changes.
The dream conveys by our society is that anyone can have the pursuit of happiness, which means to hold property. But some issues had not been resolved, the cost of health care, cost of education and the security. Our choice is by taken a path where solidarity as alternative to just a supply or demand graph.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Well, another moment of misery:
http://pittsburgh.indymedia.org/news/2006/12/26352.php

Monday, January 01, 2007

Prague and Eastern Europe Goulash
The Prague a few years ago is the Prague who was wakening from long sleep. The city was wakening from the decaying of the Soviet influence. The Dictatorship of technocrats, originated in working class, Prague try to forget the past, but the Velvet Revolution created a myth from the past.
Prague is time a stuck and Prague did not want to remember, how Tomáš Masaryk the last president of the Czechoslovakia republic stand for independences. The fact was the Czech becoming the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia under NAZI. The Slovaks under guides of Monsignor Josef Tiso, a Roman Catholic Priest whish regime deport Jews, Roma to the death camps.
In the same token Czech and Slovaks assassinated the Reichsprotector Heydrich in 1942, the brutality of the NAZI regime was without mercy the village of Licide all the males and children were send to the death camps a total of 340 souls, and the reason because the place was hostile to the NAZI regime.
Today the traveler of the new Prague will start in the narrow streets of the Josephus the old Jewish section of the city, the narrow streets can revive the Prague of Kafka become a manifestation of deep root of a conflict, but we can’t speak of a future without a past.
The city of Rabbi Low (Maharal of Prague) and the Golem, tell story of Jesuits and thirty year war, the burning of rebels, the invasion of Protestant Sweden and pillage of the Baroque Gardens. Prague being the center of the conflict between Lutheran Prussia and Catholic Austro-Hungary Empire was reduced to the status of a Provincial city.
In the mist of the power play, city takes live. Jews become inhabitants in the 10 Century and Grantee Status by the Germans and Later Prussia, but that did not stop the expulsion twice, taking nothing with them. And out this Label and Chaos the Legend Born Joseph the Golem to Protect the Jews from Pogroms and from the start the Jews leave in separate quarters and later codify.
Not just in Prague in every small town in Czech Republic had a castle when the order of the expulsion did not applied just to Prague but to all the towns in Bohemia, but in many towns the expulsion of the Jews will bring hardships the refuse and the many castle protected the town and there was not army to go after every castle. The expulsion was in part, because the Jews took site with the Protestant German and took the German culture as their own.
Since the Catholics under Austria took Prague, the persecution was a fact. Austria using the fact the Czech, Slavs and Jews leave in their own island and castles use divide and conquer. In the mist of the pain the Slav despotism of govern, the absolute rulers to the family and there was a case where a Jewish father kill his son is consequence of violence, they had to leave with every day is Jews.
The violence suffer by every minority and his community culminated by killing their own outsider-his son who when to Jesuits for conversion but his own rebellion can not submitted to another despotic ruler the Roman Catholic Church.
Kafka relationship with his father was not just an exception, but rule. Prague was the rebellion son under a despotic world of Prussia-Austria Hungary, German NAZI and Soviet-Slavic despotism. The Slovaks departed form the Czech, but humanist side of the Czech still in the roots of Prague, they rebellion of 68’s Prague spring still alive and justices for everyone may still have a chance.
Fast forward the Czech trauma dealing of the long sleep to the shock therapy of Argentina applied to Czech Republic, where pensioners are getting 7,000 Crowns a moth and pensioners chasing tourist to offer themselves to be guide tourist to survive. A dark side of these therapy is people displayed by the economic creating un-necessary hardships, since all the safety net does not existing any more, following third world pattern, groups from the small towns and villages moving to the city to find work, in many case even work is found the pay is limited or little.
The Novo Rich in the New Czech Republic and the outside world closed the eyes and destitute and homeless take their sorrow in the Alcohol. Around the central train station, any one can find rows of destitute, homeless and the rest Prague just sleep to economic in justice.
When Czech will be part of the Euro zone; then what? Another sleep or another revolution like there was in Spain 1936 a revolution between the wealthy and the poor. In the Anglo-Saxon model is O.k. to have 41% of the population without any healthcare despite the nation pay a high premium of the western world close to $ 7,000 USD or work in Wal-Mart, where the average salary is $ 7, 50 in hour, and you have the privilege work for free after your regular 8 hour work for them with out compensation just to have the privilege of having a Job.
A new velvet revolution awaits Czech Republic like the last hundred years, because when they had chance to let castle crumble, they start building new ones all over Eastern Europe as the goulash of different groups forming given a unique flavor. But in the Anglo-Saxon model there is one flavor. One day perhaps the Goulash will be ready where the Czech, German, Jew and Slav finally can give their unique flavor by accepted each other.