The thrill of poverty

For everybody but the poor, that is. Lively discussion of global slumming going on right now on the list of Latin American historians. Here's an example from Buenos Aires. I guess there's nothing new about the phenomenon. It was called "slumming" when the New York downtowners would go up to Harlem in the 1920s. And I imagine that well-to-do Romans, looking for a frisson, must have done the same thing back in the days of the Republic. Still, it's always interesting when somebody from the slums is slick and quick enough to take advantage of the bourgeois' curiosity to make a buck.

Geoff Fox

What we're up to

My friend and colleague Mark Engler (see his website Democracy Uprising for links to his many articles) just asked where we were these days. Here's the story:

We just got back to New York last week. We plan to remain here until May, when we need to be back to Carboneras, where Susana & I are building our future castle in Spain. Then back to the US in July, Argentina in August and Caracas & Mexico in September, Spain again in October & November. Kind of hectic. The trips to South America & Mexico are for our book. I actually managed to complete a chapter while we were in Spain -- well, nearly complete it; I couldn't very well do final revisions until I got home and could make print-outs. Now that chapter, "The Sacred Urbanism of the Maya," is done, and I'm on to working on the built environment in the pre-Hispanic Andes.

Now it turns out we will have to schedule another trip, to Berlin. Susana's work on memorials (Susana Torre, "Constructing Memorials" in Enwezor, Okwui et al. eds. Experiments with Truth: Transitional Justice and the Processes of Truth and Reconciliation, Documenta 11, Platform 2, Hatje Cantz 2002, pp. 343-360; see also her Architectural League presentation regarding the NYC 9/11 memorial) has attracted serious attention. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had her people call her when she was in New York last fall; she had read the essay, and wanted to meet with her regarding the memorial to the disappeared they're planning for the old ESMA torture center. And yesterday some folks in Berlin called to invite her to a conference, comparing the "memorial" issue in Germany & Argentina.

Meanwhile, we've got ourselves pretty nicely integrated into Carboneras & environs. We've got as many friends there now as we do here, and (after some effort) I've got better at approximating the local way of speaking (though, if I'm not careful, people still take me for Argentinean). To keep in touch with those folks, I just inaugurated a Spanish-language blog, Lecturas y Lectores, but I don't think anybody has discovered it yet (they're not big Internet users).

I'm not even trying to do journalism these days. It's just LAU (Latin American Architecture and Urbanism, the book we're doing for Norton), completing the revision of my novel in odd moments (e.g., between LAU chapters), and advancing the Spanish project, which is a whole new adventure, in land development. Four houses and four apartments (3 substantial and one tiny, for temporary guests), right "front line" on the sea.

Testing

I'm trying to get used to this new template. Let me see if the "comments" function is enabled, as it's supposed to be.

King Juan Carlos I in NY and Spain

We just came back from the King Juan Carlos I Center at NYU, where the overflow crowd in the little auditorium kept us from seeing the documentary, El Milagro de Candeal, directed by Fernando Trueba, about Bebo Valdés's journey to Salvador de Bahía (Brazil) to be reunited with his African roots. It's funny. Just a couple of days ago we got back from Spain, where we saw the real King Juan Carlos I on TV almost every night, along with Queen Sofia (they were on state visit to Morocco) and their tall son Felipe, Prince of Asturias. So we're back home, listening to our CD of Bebo and Cigala; that'll have to do.

The other thing they've got going at the Juan Carlos Center is a big photo display celebrating Pamplona and Hemingway, with lots of quotes from The Sun Also Rises. That guy could really write action scenes.

All writ out

I was planning to write something intelligent in my blog today but, sorry, I'm all writ out. I've been writing all day, fixing the chapter I'm calling "The Sacred Urbanism of the Maya," and I think I may finally have got it right. I'll give it a rest and read it the day after tomorrow; I hope it'll still make sense.

The only other things to report: last night, with our good friends Michael & Marta A., we saw "The Controversy of Valladolid," Jean-Claude Carrière's play at the Public Theater. Big disappointment. It's as exasperatingly dull as Charles Isherwood says it is in today's NYT. No matter. It was good to get together with M & M, whose daughter Nurit has us all both worried and proud -- she's reporting for the Washington Post from Afghanistan.

Also, on Saturday Susana & I took our last chance to see "The Gates" in Central Park. Fantastic! Made me think of Mongol-Turkic mounted hordes arrayed with their banners (this has something to do with my writing a novel about Mongol-Turkic hordes). And imagining myself as a Turkish mounted archer, I persuaded Susana to join me on the prancing, ferocious steeds of the Central Park carousel. I must have had a good time, because some women who had been watching us said I looked like a delighted twelve year old. Gee. Well, it did feel good.

Guillermo Cabrera Infante

...just died in London. I got a big kick out of Tres Tristes Tigres, which I read a couple of years after it came out (which was 1967, as I recall). I was in Spain when he died; the Spanish newspaper El País went nuts over the event, with pages and pages of encomiums by friends and admirers. He was a complicated, tormented man, tormented mainly by having left Cuba and burned his bridges in a fit of pique over offended dignity. He never forgave Cuba, or himself. The odd thing is that he chose to live in England, rather than in any of the many Spanish-speaking countries where people could read him. Maybe it was a way of conserving the idiosyncracy of his prerevolutionary Cuban slang, without contaminating it by other forms of Spanish. Aside from "Tigres," which has some serious themes among the hilarious nonsense, his work is interesting mainly as linguistic curiosity & verbal playfulness. I should reread "Tigres"; if I do, I'll put a note up on my new Spanish-language weblog, Lecturas y Lectores.

My vote for the European Constitution

I’m departing from my usual schedule of posting only on Wednesdays, because tomorrow is a VERY BIG DAY, the referendum in Spain, the first in Europe, on the “Tratado por el que se establece una CONSTITUCIÓN para EUROPA.” Yesterday, after weeks of seeing articles and TV debates pro and con, I finally sat down to read it (El País had delivered it free with a weekend issue back in January). I’m not a Spanish citizen or even a European, so my vote won’t count, so I can only cast a virtual vote “Sí”. And I do it enthusiastically. This Constitution/Treaty (it’s really both things at once) is a marvelous advance for one very large, important part of the world.

It’s got problems, sure. I agree with the left (in Spain, Gaspar Llamazares of Izquierda Unida is the most outspoken opponent) that the Constitution is far too deferential to the United States, especially in defense, where it abjures an independent military force but repeatedly mentions obligations to NATO, and in trade. (This deference is mostly because of pressure from Tony Blair, acting as a conduit for pressure from Washington; Chirac and Schroeder were pushing for much more independence). And too many of the decisions, including amendments to the Constitution itself, have to be unanimous, meaning that any country – including weaker ones most vulnerable to U.S. economic and other pressure – has a veto. Thus, with this Constitution, Europe does not empower itself against U.S. military adventurism, and that’s a pity – we Americans are just going to have to do it ourselves.

Still, the great thing about this Constitution is that it binds all its member states to legal principles that have been pretty shaky in some of them. These include equal rights for ethnic minorities (maybe the Gypsies and others will finally get a fair shake) and women, free primary and secondary education for all children, etc. Another important right (far in advance of current U.S. practice) is that to organize trade unions and other associations to defend the interests of any group. The Constitution creates a kind of European citizenship, whereby nationals of any member state will enjoy all the privileges of citizens – including voting, once they meet residency requirements – in any other member state. Also, it forbids torture and abolishes the death penalty for the entire continent. And it gives all citizens of all states rights to elect members of the European parliament directly (in addition to the representation they have through their nationally elected officials) and to present petitions for laws to enact the principles announced in the “Values” and “Objectives” of the Constitution listed at the beginning.

So, with all its weaknesses, and the inevitability of conflicts in interpretation and the complexity of its mechanisms, this is a great step forward toward global democracy. Spain could have approved the Constitution in Parliament, like most of the European states – since both major parties, PSOE (socialists) and PP (conservatives) favor it, it would have passed by 80% majority. However, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the President of the Government, wanted the widest possible debate and backing for this big step toward European integration. It is a lengthy and complicated document, and many potential voters have avoided studying it or have rejected it because of some some comment they have heard. However, the alternative to this Constitution is not a stronger one, but no European constitution at all – and that would be a much greater pity. I believe Spanish voters will approve it tomorrow; I hope a large enough proportion of them turn out (whichever way they vote) to justify Zapatero’s faith in the people’s capacity for reflection and decision.

P.S.: On Wednesday, Susana & I will be flying back from Almería to New York, via London, so there will be no blog posting until later. Ciao.

When trends collide

The world has never held still, but now it seems that the conditions for human life are changing faster than at any time since the thawing of the last Ice Age. Some of the trends are appalling – if things go on the way they have been, this planet will become uninhabitable or at least extremely uncomfortable in less than a century, and since another trend is the increase in life-spans, a lot of us may be around to suffer it. But simultaneously, many other things are also changing the way we live, processes in areas as different as ecology, demography, economy, communications and politics. If we can take intelligent advantage of the moments and points where these vectors intersect, our species may be able to muddle through this tough period with some of our civilization more or less intact.

Climate & ecology

Deteriorating rapidly, as today’s start of the Kyoto accords reminds us. Worst hit will be those areas that are poorest already: increasing desertification in Africa and Asia, flooding of deltas and low-lying islands, diminished crops, etc.

Demography

The “120-Year Olds Club” just met in Havana. By 2050, some demographers predict, there will be more elderly in the world than youth under 15. Meanwhile, there will also be a lot more people of every age, especially in the poorer countries where birth rates are highest. This is mostly because the poor have less control over their lives (including reproduction) and because they often see their offspring as the only kind of wealth available to them. The lop-sided demographic growth is bound to drive ever heavier migration from the poorer to the richer countries. But the increasing proportion of older people, with longer memories and greater caution, could be a force for environmental care.

Economy

We’re running out of petroleum and water (among other resources), which drives up the price of everything, increases competition, and contributes to the widening income gaps, exacerbating the unequal demographic growth and mobility.

Communications

We’re all getting more and more connected, with information from everywhere available faster anywhere. Thus more of us are aware of climate and other environmental changes and everybody is aware of income disparities, and it is becoming much easier to influence (whether to inform, mobilize, or bamboozle) great masses of people quickly.

Politics

“Democracy” is becoming more popular, at least as a slogan, even among its traditional enemies. The same political-military establishment that overthrew democratically elected governments in Iran (1953), Guatemala (1954) and Chile (1973), and which supported numerous other dictatorships against democratic opponents, is now promising (or threatening) to install “democracy” all over the globe. Why? Because with the huge numbers of relatively poor people who are all interconnected and capable of mobilizing terrorist cells or mass demonstrations, some local support is essential for the industrial giants to maintain control. The old tactics of “Shock and awe” just aren’t enough.

The meeting points of these trends is where we can maneuver, to push for an ever broader, ever truer democracy, taking advantage of the propaganda of the imperial democrats in Washington and challenging them to make it real, and also using to the fullest the new communications possibilities to mobilize the people most affected to take action around economic and environmental issues. It’s happening already, and we need to be aware that it is happening and how it is happening. Greater democratic control is not just a good idea philosophically or morally; it is the only strategy possible for saving the planet.

Una plumita verde, o el erotismo inocente

Entre las hojas de la libretilla que llevo a todas partes, como un fotógrafo su cámara, encuentro una plumita verde y suavecita del desfile el domingo pasado del Carnaval de Águilas, pequeña ciudad en la costa de Murcia. Las primeras de las más de 50 peñas que pasearon el largo de la avenida principal hacia la playa, eran de bailarinas emplumadas que, con sus rumbas y sambas perfectamente coreografiadas, provocaban un gran deseo de desplumarlas – que no pude, pero si conservo una plumita soltada por el ala o posiblemente la cola de alguna de esas apetecibles aves. Después pasaron otras peñas de niñas de 5 o 6 años, también adornadas de plumas y telitas brillantes, imitando los gestos eróticos de sus mayores, después señoras mayores disfrazadas de colegialas imitando la inocencia de las niñitas, y otras muchas payasadas. Unos señoritos con sombreros planos y chalecos negros galoparon con grandes faldas en forma de caballos – y cuando se desvestían de sus caballos, revelaban medias de red y tacos altos de mujer, y se acercaban a las señoras espectadoras para sentarse en sus faldas con gestos obscenos; otra peña de maricas – auténticos o disfrazados como tal, con pantalones, chaquetas y bufandas de color rosa, cantando “Marica yo, marica tú, maricas tooo-dooos!” En otra, muy divertida, bailaban unos hombrecillos pequeñísimos pero con cabezas y sombreros enormes; en realidad, personas de tamaño normal con el cinturón de los pantalones al nivel de las rodillas, la cara pintada en la barriga, y los hombros y brazos escondidos dentro del sombrero. Pero muy favorito – después de las deliciosas bailarinas que quería desemplumar -- fue toda una peña de señores grandes, de caras y panzas como para ser ediles del concejo municipal o gerentes de empresa, disfrazados con pintura, falditas y sombrillas como Mary Poppins. Qué bueno tener un día para hacer el ridículo. Supongo que en Águilas, como en otras partes, el resto del año tienen que ser mucho más serios.

Lectores y lecturas

El diario El País está distribuyendo ls "Clásicos de la literatura española" a solamente un euro por libro cuando se compra con el diario los lunes, martes y miércoles. Usted seguramente fue obligado a leerlos en colegio, pero para mí -- que estudié en los EE.UU., donde eran totalmente desconocidos -- son novedades. El primero de la serie era ésta que resumo a continuación:

Rojas, Fernando de (2004). La Celestina (Tragicomedia de Calisto y Melibea). Madrid, Diario El País. Primera edición: Burgos, 1499.
Calisto, para seducir a Melibea, contrata a la vieja alcahueta Celestina, que complica a los criados de Calisto para sacarle la mayor cantidad de plata posible para la empresa. Al final todos mueren por codiciosos o imbéciles: los criados matan a Celestina con tanto escándalo que se matan saltando de una ventana para huir de la policía, y el gentío los remata cortándoles las cabezas; Calisto se cae de cabeza desde una escalera a salir del huerto de Melibea, y ésta -- ante la muerte de su amante y el inminente descubrimiento de su deshonra por sus padres -- se tira de una torre. Es una farsa en 21 actos de puro diálogo, lleno de chistes a costa de la credulidad de los amos y las burradas de sus sirvientes. Al final del Acto Tercero, Celestina conjura al diablo, "triste Plutón", para ayudarla a seducir para Calisto a Melibea, amenazándolo (al diablo) así: "Si no haces con presto movimiento, tendrasme por capital enemiga; heriré con luz tus cárceles tristes y escuras; acusaré cruelmente tus continuas mentiras; apremiaré con mis ásperas palabras tu horrible nombre. Y otra y otra vez te conjuro. Y así, confiando en mi mucho poder, me parto para allá con mi hilado, donde creo te llevo ya envuelto." Fue impreso primero en Burgos en 1499; gran ejercicio en leer el castellano del s. XV.

Democracy: Spain & Iraq

Like most of my reading friends, I am continually astonished that an artist as brilliant and sensitive as Mario Vargas Llosa can co-habit the same brain as the idiotic and tone-deaf political pundit who writes the usually absurd but articulate pronouncements every Sunday in the Opinión page of El País. I admire the fiction –especially Vargas Llosa’s ability to project himself into imagined lives very different from his own and capture their rhythms of speech and thought – and have posted a few of my notes on it here. But now, as the latest example in the series of foolish statements, he had this to say Sunday about the elections in Iraq: That the unexpectedly big turnout in spite of all the threats proves that Bush was right to invade and Zapatero wrong to pull out Spain’s troops.

By now we are sadly accustomed to MV LL’s heavy sarcasm when he chastises his former friends on the left, still catty so many years after the breakup of his romance with Marxism. Yet he still wants to present himself as a freethinker of liberal and democratic views, and imagines that those who applaud him are also liberal, democratic and freethinking. You’d think his credulity would have snapped when he was invited to be a mouthpiece for the neo-Falangism of José María Aznar, but no, he happily accepted the offered award and lent (and sullied) his literary prestige by speaking for Aznar’s think-tank, whose name I don’t recall but could be Center for Anti-Democratic Thought.

Back to Iraq: What the big turnout in horrible conditions shows is that Iraqis are desperate to do something, anything, to regain some control of their destiny. The determination of so many to vote was indeed impressive.

But that in no way justifies Bush’s infliction of “shock and awe” (Donald Rumsfeld’s phrase for Blitzkrieg) and U.S. military occupation. “Democracy” was not the U.S.’s announced aim at all, but now – since direct military rule has failed so miserably to pacify the country and remake it in an American image – some degree of self-government for Iraqis may seem like the best available option. Especially with a constitution written so as to guarantee continued exploitive rights for U.S. corporations.

Vargas Llosa asks if, now that the elections are over, “may a suspicion arise in the mind of the Spanish Government that, perhaps, it was premature to withdraw its troops from Iraq as precipitously as it did?” and so on.

I doubt it. The leaders of the current Spanish Government seem to have a very clear understanding of their democratic obligations and to have very great respect for the established rules of civilization. Unprovoked invasion is always against those rules, and is probably the worst way imaginable to bring about a transition toward democracy. Spain has long experience in just such a transition from a lawless, anti-democratic regime, which is one of the main reasons Spain’s electorate was overwhelmingly opposed to their country’s participation in the occupation of Iraq. The withdrawal of troops was a central campaign promise of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. To the surprise of some, he fulfilled it. It was the democratic thing to do.

Don Monkerud's serious side

You probably know his as satirist, but here is Don with some very sober reflections on the 20th century's largest-scale crime: On Eichman. My own thought (a small one for such a big issue) is that the only thing unique and "Never again!" about the Nazi slaughter of Jews, Gypsies and others was the scale and efficiency. That type of crime has been recurrent ever since Samson tried to wipe out the Philistines, and continues in too many parts of the world.