Coolest kid on the blog.

Reading, reading, reading … it’s about time I read a feel-good novel … Norwegian, perhaps … But alas, at the moment in a stack down there on my floor, Chomsky, Klein, Johnson and Galeano are glaring up at me, a menacing four to be reckoned with (particularly since I have to bring them along in my backback if I don’t finish them within a few weeks). Here’s Galeano again, from Upside Down:

So The Deaf Will Hear

The number of malnourished children in the world is growing. Twelve million children under the age of five die every year from diarrhea, anemia, and other illnesses caused by hunger. A 1998 UNICEF report, full of such statistics, suggests that the struggle against child hunger and death “become the world’s highest priority.” To make it that, the report turns to the only argument that seems to work today: “The lack of vitamins and minerals in the diet costs some countries the equivalent of more than 5% of their gross national product in lives lost, disability, and lower productivity.”

A sensible argument.

I went to this street corner to snap a pic of a mural on Avenida Corrientes, only to find that it had been pasted over with election posters. The mural depicted what has become an icon of the fight for justice from the disappearences in Argentina, the outlined drawing of faceless Jorge Julio López. López was ‘disappeared’ by the dictatorship during the National Reorganization Process in 1976 but returned in 1979. In 2006 hours before he was going to witness against his torturers, López was disappeared for the second time. Here there was a big mural. Now it’s gone.

Evo Morales in coca leaves. The guy’s definitely growing on me. Or what’s the expression..

Redirect your gaze at this article on Z net: The United States: Orchestrating a Civic Coup in Bolivia

Photo: REUTERS/David Mercado/files

I watched the talk My Stroke of Insight by brain researcher Jill Bolte Taylor on TED and it is just an amazing presentation. In a “research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for” Jill experienced a “massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions — motion, speech, self-awareness –- shut down one by one.” An inspiring talk about the brain, left and right hemisphere functions, and the transcendent, nirvana-like state she reached during her stroke – and a vision of a peaceful world if we begin to understand and utilize the possibilities of our brain. If nothing else it’s one hell of a stage performance.

I just post the link to the talk here, as the TED website gives more options for viewing/downloading.

A plaque on the sidewalk of busy Avenida Corrientes, Buenos Aires in memory of a person disappeared on that spot in 1978, during the so-called ‘dirty war’ – the state-sponsored violence against Argentinas civilian population between 1976 and 1983. The military government of Jorge Rafael Videla referred to its systematized persecution as the “National Reorganization Process”.

Apart from the wording there’s no relation, but today I also came by the Instituto Argentino de Normalisación, which made me think about the current plans for normalisation of the free town Christiania in Copenhagen (basically streamlining and commercializing cultural heritage), which I also read news about today. In the streets of Buenos Aires, public manifestations, protests and pickets are commonplace – I passed by two just today. The country has seen its share of social upheavals, and rallying on the streets are a part of every day life. In Denmark, this traditionally peaceful social democratic model society that I grew out of, there has also been an increase of public protests in recent years, most notably against what could maybe be summarized as the Neoliberal Normalisation Process; cultural streamlining, increased surveillance, limitations in freedom of speech etc. One thing I have come to realize here in Argentina is how close my home country, an otherwise well-functioning democracy, has come to resemble a repressive police state. Given the fact that it is one of the safest places to live in the world, the extremity of repression measured out against public protest is striking. The only times the police has thought it necessary to deploy their  anti-terror team has been in non-violent youth rallies, and tear gas has been steadily becoming the first response to a crowd exercising free speech – recently seen on October 25th this year in a direct action protest against inhuman immigration policy and the conditions for immigrant asylum seekers. On this occation the police also employed horses and dogs on a crowd of non-violent demonstrators of all ages.

For anyone in the Danish politically and culturally progressive milieu, youth and anti-globalisation movement, or indeed any politically conscious person in Denmark, this is no news. But looking back from this Latin American context, on my home society -traditionally a pioneer and in recent years a selfproclaimed model country for democracy and freedom of expression- the amount of repression on the practionioners of its core values is so completely out of proportions. While certain new political changes internationally inspire me to hope for a brighter future, a look at my own backyard makes me fear for the worse. We’ve got to look ourselves in the mirror … and clean up our own backyard. Hrmpf!

Wrap up from Marko:

It’s old fashioned to be greedy

It’s old fashioned to be egocentric

It’s old fashioned to be a protectionist

We is the new me

I love the look on the kid’s face!
Not a word about the other guy.

Photo: Emmanuel Dunand/AFP/Getty Images) #

Update! A word on the other guy – but not by me. Judith Butler:

Uncritical Exuberance? Judith Butler’s take on Obama

(…) We cannot underestimate the force of dis-identification in this election, a sense of revulsion that George W. has “represented” the United States to the rest of the world, a sense of shame about our practices of torture and illegal detention, a sense of disgust that we have waged war on false grounds and propagated racist views of Islam, a sense of alarm and horror that the extremes of economic deregulation have led to a global economic crisis.  Is it despite his race, or because of his race, that Obama finally emerged as a preferred representative of the nation?  Fulfilling that representative-function, he is at once black and not-black (some say “not black enough” and others say “too black”), and, as a result, he can appeal to voters who not only have no way of resolving their ambivalence on this issue, but do not want one.  The public figure who allows the populace to sustain and mask its ambivalence nevertheless appears as a figure of “unity”: this is surely an ideological function. Such moments are intensely imaginary, but not for that reason without their political force. (…)

If the election of Obama signals a willingness on the part of the majority of voters to be “represented” by this man, then it follows that who “we” are is constituted anew.

I just came across this website, osocio.org, ’social advertising and non-profit campaigns.’ The photo is from a post on Blog Action Day (October 15). I’ve just begun checking out the site, but it seems really worthwhile and worth sharing. Yay!

When I started this blog it was with the intention to remove myself somewhat out of the picture and not write about my personal life. I wanted to work with the blog and writing as a medium for processing what I’ve learned about politics and social conditions of the place I am, to understand better through writing to some idea of a public, however exclusive and elusive that may be. I especially wanted to get better at analysing the stuff; not just begin to realize some of the causes and effects of globalization and international relations, but to be able to pass on that knowledge and apply it elsewhere. So my excuse for not writing has been an itching feeling of being slightly too dumb for my mission. Anyway I’ll try do do better, and in time, there’ll me more pictures, too, to brighten up the view (I didn’t bring my digital camera on this little field trip, unfortunately). I’ve spent a good part of my previous months reevaluating my position in relation to the art world, and taking a critical look on the way my education (in art school) has shaped my way of thinking and acting. And I’ve thought a good deal about the future further away than just in front of my nose.

Since I left my home in Denmark I’ve been confronted with a social reality which I sought and hoped to be able to incorporate into my artistic practice. In order to do this, I tried to emerge myself completely into understanding the culture, history, politics and contemporary life of where I was. To begin with that was Guatemala, later Buenos Aires, Argentina, and although I’ve met a bunch of local artists and activists I’ve had very little contact with the contemporary art world (not to say, you know: as little as possible).

Well, it’s safe to say I’ve been having new perspectives on a bunch of stuff, not least about talking about politics from within a contemporary art context. I’m very critical (if not articulate) about how contemporary art continues to circulate; not least how politically engaging artwork is almost always self-deceiving in its ability to counter- and interact effectively with politics. I felt like I was trying to talk about politics, while I was really producing entertainment for the culturally educated. Some years ago I decided that my motivation to work with art was a motivation to work with politics, but the actual work I was doing was getting further and further away from this. My choice to go to Latin America and spend a year here was conscious about that, but I sure wasn’t prepared for the ride! So right now I’m trying to figure out my direction and what consequences to take.

… to be continued.

Actually, just a side note before that.

So just a few words on the election (you know, THE election). I was very excited when I searched out an internet café two days ago to get the news, and admit that I felt not only a big wave of relief, but yes – a big hope for the future. Some of my friends in radical circles in the U.S. (Jen Angel, for one, like here) have been warning me about Obamanian rapture obscuring the real politics and challenges at hand, as have various other commentaries I’ve read. Indeed they are right, and indeed, from most European points of view, Obama is far more conservative than radical. In a znet commentary, Cynthia Peters arguments that popular movements are were we ought to be putting our hopes and efforts, because not only are there still plenty of cracks in the edifice for Obama’s policies, but there’ll be further pressure from corporate power and financial organizations to push through their policies in Obama’s presidency. The democratic base for change lies in continued pressure from beneath towards the site of power to push through the will and policies of the people.

That said I for one find me inspired to hope for a better future with this presidency. At least the election have shown us that the U.S. is capable of change, after all.

I remember seeing Howard Zinn speak to an audience in Cambridge some months before the Iraq war started. An audience member asked, “What do we do if Bush invades Iraq?”

“That’s not the question to ask,” Zinn pointed out. “The question to ask is: what are we going to do to make sure he doesn’t invade Iraq?” ¹

Oh, and on that note, here’s a link to a video about the military industrial complex: Why We Fight, Eugene Jarecki, dir., on YouTube. I haven’t seen the film itself, but would like to. I did read a book by Chalmers Johnson, featured here in the clip, called Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, and he’s got his numbers right. The documentary is about the United States’ relationship with war as business, the development of the military-industrial complex in the United States and, following 9/11, the privatization of war.

But let’s talk about something else…

¹ Cynthia Peters

For those few people who are reading this blog, my apologies for not writing for a while. I’ve been mainly reading a lot and doing a lot of pondering, and then recently I’ve been travelling in the north.

In the capital, when not trying to simply survive on a bike in downtown traffic, I’ve been trying to gather my thoughts on why I’m here, and where that indeed is. I’ve been evaluating my purpose for being in Argentina, and on a broader scale, in Latin America. The past two weeks I’ve been on the road with my backpack, it’s been just what I needed to free up some brain space. I’ve travelled to the northern Túcuman, Salta and Jujuy provinces, kind of on a whim, and ended up in the most beautiful landscapes and small villages. I’ve mostly managed to avoid tourist areas (although I have to admit I purchased a llama sweater, a trendy indigenous shoulder bag, and a wollen hat), staying in small villages with no or few other travellers. As a result my Spanish has improved a lot and I’ve had great little conversations with locals, and though my vocabulary still sucks, my grammar serves me well (I’m even throwing in a bit of subjunctive and grammatical future along the way) and I’ve had few communication problems. Here in the north people are also a great deal more down to earth. They’re generally also very religious, roman catholicism is a big thing here, and without giving myself away as a non-believer I’ve slided in and out of religious events. One memorable one was waking up to the chanting of a local pilgrimage – which may or may not have coincided with the Día de los Muertos celebrations elsewhere – in San Carlos, one of the oldest colonial towns in Argentina. While I certainly stood a bit out from the crowd being the only blond (white, pale etc…) person in the crowd, people didn’t seem mind much my tagging along. It is posible that my sleepy, curious look was mistaken for devotion.. The crowd must’ve counted half the town, and followed a rose-covered statue of the local saint (I’m sorry I didn’t catch his name), carried on the four strongest backs among the villagers, and a blaring brass loudspeaker barrow blessing the procession, the town, the lady madonna, and a lot more. I’m not strong in religion, another thing I want to work on, but I’m definitely charmed by the religious pictorial overload of porcelain icons, rosaries, plastic madonnas and jesuses that come out in the dead of night on a night as this one. It was a strange, beautiful night.

The heavy old camera I brought has proven to have a defect light meter, so I haven’t been able to do the work I wanted to here, but on the positive side it may have brought me a bit closer to the people that I’ve been just me.

I’m about to change subject a bit, so I’ll move the next bit to a new post above.

I’m reading the book Upside Down by Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano, one of Latin America’s most eloquent voices and fiercest denouncers of the effects of globalisation and the free market on social injustice and poverty in the world. His style of writing is kind of like having a boxing glove covered in something sweet and pretty pounded into your head and you’re beggin’ for more, and you can put your finger on just about anywhere in Upside Down, and there’ll be some amazing quote about the state of the world. I thought I’d highlight this one.

From Eduardo Galeano: Upside Down. A Primer for the Looking-Glass World:

The upside-down world rewards in reverse: it scorns honesty, punishes work, prizes lack of scruples, and feeds cannibalism. Its professors slander nature: injustice, they say, is a law of nature. Milton Friedman teaches us about the “natural rate of unemployment.” Studying Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray, we learn that blacks remain on the lowest rungs of the social ladder by “natural” law. From John D. Rockefeller’s lectures, we know his success was due to the fact that “nature” rewards the fittest and punishes the useless: more than a century later, the owners of the world continue to believe Charles Darwin wrote his books in their honor.