Arquivo para a ‘Economia’ Categoria
Plurality, polyphony and tonality
08
May
Although Byung Chul Han in his reading
of Heidegger and his affective tonality, describes plural democracy only in passing, when commenting on “polyphony” that Derrida opposing “totality does not exclude tonality. The juxtaposition of notes would be equivalent to the monotony of a disturbed heart, which would certainly be distinct from the atonal heart” (Han, 2023, pg. 16).
To better develop the question of the state and its plurality, Heidegger approaches the “art of living… limited where the world begins to be populated with the hearts of others, where we no longer find ourselves in proximity to the aesthetic” (page 17 ).
It will explore Hegel’s conflict of hearts that he intended to resolve dialectically and does not appear in Heidegger (pg. 18), his “poetics” is not identified “with the politics of the heart” (idem).
After the failure of the subject of Faustian pleasure (Hegel quotes Goethe’s Faust), Hegel, when opposing the particular with the universal, does not find himself again in the “universal order”, this immediate opening of the heart to the universal, the universalization of the heart makes self-consciousness “go crazy” and cause a head-on collision between the universal and the particular that splits consciousness (pg. 18).
Generating this “singularity of consciousness, which wants to be immediately universal” results in schizophrenia (pgs. 18-19), is a fundamental excerpt from Byung-Chul Han capable of explaining even the great wars and the global war moment.
She shows what happens to hearts with the “pulse of the heart” towards the universal, which turns into “the fury of a wild presumption”, postulates “the madness of the world order” (pg. 19), the effective heart is repressive , is effective by repressing other hearts.
The circumcision of the heart of the particular by the “spirit” (claimed by Hegel), suppresses the particular in favor of the universal, “knowing the law of the heart as the law of all hearts, and the consciousness of the Self as the recognized universal order” (Han quoting Hegel, pg.20).
Heidegger opposes the law of the house (oikos), of the domestic fire beyond the dialectical economy, it “must not step on the stage of speeches” (Han, pg. 21), this “dispute without war” (in Hegel’s view) does not bears no family resemblance to the conflict of speeches (pg. 21).
“Hegel’s heart, which in the third part of the Encyclopedia becomes the seat of sensations, lacks all objectivity and universality” (Han, pg. 22), in it Hegel’s “blind heart only knows how to express something “singularized, contingent, unilaterally subjective” … “it is a merely subjective reaction to external sensation” (pg. 22), and Han gives the antidote, calling it a gift.
The Being with a gift is the “singular par excellence, which, in its singularity, is solely the uniquely unifying one, before all number”, the impossibility of number nullifies the economy of exchange (pg. 25).
What must be taken back must be given as a gift, it is necessary to keep this gift away from the economy of exchange, to release it from the economic circle of exchange”, this is the principle of affect.
Heidegger, M. (2023) Coração de Heidegger: sobre o conceito de tonalidade afetiva em Martin Heidegger (Heidegger’s heart: on the concept of affective tonality in Martin Heidegger). Transl.Rafael Rodrigues Garcia, Milton Camargo Mota. Brazil, Petrópolis: Vozes.
Natural tragedy in southern Brazil
06
May
We follow, generally on Mondays, the
serious civilizational crisis that is nothing more than a mitigated war between the great powers, always with a risk of becoming a total war, three great empires are there in conflict: the American, the Chinese and the Russian.
However, the natural tragedy with intense rains in southern Brazil gives us a solid warning.
The data as of yesterday afternoon (05/05) are sad and alarming: 334 municipalities affected, 16,609 people in shelters, almost 90,000 homeless, 780,725 people affected, 155 injured, 103 missing and 75 confirmed deaths (6 more investigated if under the action of rain), in addition, in 839 thousand properties there is no water and 421 thousand homes are without electricity, there are 113 roadblocks.
Businesspeople, several humanitarian organizations, and most media outlets are campaigning for funds and relief for that population, also the governor, mayors and politicians from the federal government are committed to mobilizing funds for relief, there were those who compared this emergency aid as typical of a war.
Social and sporting events were postponed, although there were million-dollar shows in the country where they didn’t even have the sensitivity to refer to the natural disaster (I won’t publicize it), but the Brazilian people are supportive, they are moved, they cry along with the gauchos and they mobilizes.
There is still rain these days and the rivers continue to rise, the tragedy could be even greater, and then the reconstruction process will not be simple, we have a chance to be more united and supportive and not live in an eternal polarization of hatred and misunderstanding.
Fortunately, the country’s bodies are supportive and I hope they remain, it would also be good to perhaps get a note from sectors of the judiciary, for example, the OAB or state courts.
Awakening the spirit of solidarity at this time can represent a good awareness of our debts to society and to the people who are always in difficulties. Those who live close to the humble population perceive a serious moment.
All humanitarian support to the people of Rio Grande do Sul, they will be comforted if they feel all our support.
The world-man and the provincial
03
May
It is possible for someone to have a feeling capable
of embracing humanity in its differences and contradictions, if they are capable of embracing the illnesses and wounds of others.
He who is capable of understanding the world as a whole, understanding the complexity of different cultures, feelings and cultural systems, is capable of embracing and sympathizing with the pains of humanity, this is a man-of-the-world.
The provincial is not able to see beyond his village, one can even praise the spirit of apparent peace and delight of those who live in a small world, or in a bubble, but it is from there that the worst prejudices, the worst xenophobia and the inability to see beyond.
If Honoré de Balzac said: in the provinces we live in public, now in the global village we all live in public, each citizen carries a camera that can record everything.
To be a sign of hope in the world, in an increasingly conflictive time, it is necessary to go beyond our own concepts (which are pre-concepts) and understand that the logic of social life has been changing since we started living in a global village, culture enters through TV, radio and social media, and there is no going back, they are here to stay.
The sins and misunderstandings that they gave rise to are not new, they have just become more visible now and we are faced with a society that has difficulty seeing others with respect and understanding.
Those who want freedom are quick to limit it, those who proclaim love do not want the same love outside their bubbles, we do not resolve our difficulties and wounds and at the same time we increase the climate of misunderstanding in humanity.
The great contemporary empires work culturally on these difficulties, hatred of those who are different, intolerance to the culture of others, and thus we feed in microcosm the policy of a growing warmongering that threatens to take over all of humanity.
It has never been so urgent to love one another, there are even those who proclaim it, but for their small village or their provincial bubble.
The great empires in antiquity
30
Apr
There is always a historical and a biblical
narrative, the dates coincide, but the battles do not.
One of the great empires of antiquity was Assyria, from the 7th century BC (approximately 721 BC until the 630th century BC. the beginning of its fall, they dominated a large part of Arabia, conquering the Babylonian lands, which dominated the Hebrew people and the Chaldeans, Egypt, the Medes and Elamites.
The biblical narrative focuses mainly on the period of Sargon and Sennacherib (745-661 BC) and it is from this time that the prophet Isaiah narrates the words of Sennacherib to Hezekiah: “this is what you will say to Hezekiah: Thus speaks the great king, the king from Assyria where so much Confidence comes from, the king mocks him for the alliance he had with Egypt and will also conquer that people.
In Isaiah 37, there is the following narrative about the years of suffering, followed by victory, “this year they eat stubble; next year, what is born alone; But in the third year I will plant and you will reap; you will plant vineyards and eat their fruit” and then further on he narrates a battle in which “the angel of the Lord appeared in the Assyrian camp and struck down eighty-five thousand men”, even today a very high number.
What is certain is that in the year 630 BC the Assyrians retreat from Egypt and then from Babylon, which will also dominate the Hebrew lands in Isaiah 39, initially the king of Babylon, Merodach-Baladan, sends messages and gifts to King Hezekiah, who was ill. , but then the prophet Isaiah warns King Hezekiah: “Listen to the word of the Lord of hosts! The time is approaching when everything that is in your palace, everything that your fathers have accumulated until this day, will be taken to Babylon”, and so it happened during the 50 years of the Babylonian exile.]
Who freed the Jews. It was King Darius, who ruled the Persian Empire and who was an enemy of Babylon, through the prophet Daniel, whom he venerated for his prophecies, granted the Jewish people to rebuild their temple and return to their land.
The Persian empire lasted until 330 BC and is well known in official historiography because of the “medical” wars between the Greeks and the Persians, but see that historically the Medes were a people to the east of Assyria, while the Greeks to the west and already on the European continent, it turns out that they were simultaneous in the period from 500 to 448 BC for more than 50 years.
Between wars and challenges, oracles and prophets helped the people to walk through these periods.
The possible historical lesson is that great empires fell due to their pride and oppression, the spiritual lesson is do not let your heart be intimidated, evil dies by its own evil.
The big and the small
29
Apr
In politics, philosophy and even religion the idea
of Great is always seen as power.
It may seem strange to use the term Great de Sloterdijk when referring to major political, economic and imperialist theories, but it is more appropriate for what he intended to talk about in his book “If Europe Awakens”, little read even in Europe, despite him being recognized as one of the greatest living thinkers.
I would say that being a thinker is already great, using his own term for philosophy, since as he states: “it is not a time for thinking”, we have to choose between dictators and narratives, instead it take the thread of history for a balanced civilization and happy.
Even in the religious world this is confused, Jesus did not proclaim or insist on any political current of his time, despite having the rebellious group on his side, Simon, the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot were zealots, a group that was rebellious to the Roman Empire.
Great empires succumbed and disappeared, one that is forgotten and little analyzed by historians are the Mongols, from the 13th and 19th centuries (see the globe above) being one of the largest in size and today reduced to a small country divided and dominated by China.
Europe has not woken up, Makron said in a dramatic tone last week at the Sorbonne: “Our Europe, today, is mortal. She can die, and that depends solely on our choices!”, the speech is right, but the intention is wrong, because shortly afterwards he talks about nuclear weapons.
The Great in spirituality, in times of despiritualized religions, are narratives around religiosity that talk little or nothing about this Great “megalopath”, as Sloterdijk calls him, but rather about the capacity for solidarity, of true love put into practice, of welcome and seek out the little ones and sufferers who live on the margins of inhumane society.
Francis of Assisi, was the son of Peter Bernardone, a rich and prosperous merchant whose son rejected him, Catherine of Siena was illiterate and her followers wrote wise and holy works for her, she had an influence on the return of Pope Gregory XI from Avignon to Rome, being ambassador of Florence, a city at war with the pope and which she pacified.
The West was experiencing a great schism, and she went with the Pope to Rome, sending numerous letters to princes and cardinals, to promote obedience to Pope Urban VI.
The West was experiencing a great schism, and she went with the Pope to Rome, sending numerous letters to princes and cardinals, to promote obedience to Pope Urban VI (successor).
Small men and small kingdoms made history, see ancient Greece, the Gauls during the Roman Empire, the Great, almost always imperial, warmongering and blind despite a temporary brutal imposition, always succumbed to the legitimate desires of peoples and nations.
Sloterdijk, Peter (2002). Se a Europa despertar. Trad. José Oscar de Almeida Marques. Brazil, São Paulo: Estação Liberdade (in portuguese).
The strength of weak ties
18
Apr
The theory of networks, not in the focus of
social media, but of the ties between actors has some curious properties and two are very special: the six degrees of separation and the strength of weak ties (Weak ties) that seem strange to those who are unaware the theory.
The six degrees of separation indicate that seen as networks, the relationships between social actors are, in reality, more connected than one imagines, and this is not just in the world of social media (which is incorrectly put equivalent with social networks).
A classic experiment, called the Milgram experiment due to the work of psychologist Stanley Milgram, who sent letters to certain distant people, and identified ties of personal knowledge existing between any two people, and discovered an average distance of 5.5 people to letters reach their destination.
The experiment had flaws, such as letters that were not sent forward and ended up in an intermediary and the lack of knowledge of the objective of certain people in the experiment, for example, not understanding that the letter should go as close to the final destination.
The weak ties experiment carried out by Mark Granovetter (1973) takes into account the weakest and most distant contacts in social networks, and can, in certain contexts, mean that the ties between two people who have similar interests are strong, even if they pass by some intermediary C, and this makes C also part of the strong loop.
So the weak tie will be just the opposite, A and B have distant interests and connection routes, which can mean different or just distant interests, however in network theory these ties are important for the functioning of the network and its dynamization, unlike the what common sense says.
What Granovetter researched is that the greater the strength of the bond between two people, the greater the chance that the circle of friends and ties will be common and that the message will only stay in that circle, not reaching other circles of relationships and expanding the network.
In this sense, limiting or banning social networks means reducing and making the social network (which is not necessarily done via the media) limited, however, there are networks that commit certain crimes and should not be legitimized and, when possible, banned.
This is discussed within the issue of power, because the theory of networks contradicts the idea of an increasingly stronger and centralized power as a solution to social problems, because even if prohibited, social networks continue to function as established by the theory of the six degrees of power. Separation and distance between actors is smaller than centralized power assumes, as it is often isolated in its social or ideological “bubble”.
Social networks dynamize the structures of social ties and ignoring them can be a source of empowerment for different social groups and helps to grow true popular will.
GRANOVETTER, Mark S. The Strenght of Weak Ties. The American Journal of Sociology, vol. 78, n. 6, p. 1360-1380, may 1973.
A piece in the chess of war
15
Apr
Since the fall of the monarchy in Iran, at the
time Shah Reza Pahlavi, who was a traditional ally of the USA, the Islamic republic of Iran began to have hostility with the USA, which imposed sanctions because of the processing of uranium essential for nuclear bombs, making causing Iran to seek support and form alliances with Russia.
In 1st. April this year, Israel launched an attack on Syria (not assumed), killing Iranian generals, who have since promised retaliation and recently attacked Israel’s territory with drones and missiles, according to Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israeli military spokesman: “it will launched more than 300 threats, and 99% were intercepted”, and concluded: “this is a success”.
Shortly before the news of the launch this Saturday (13/04), Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “the defensive systems” are working, and that the IDF (Israel Defense Force), in a reprisal that was already As expected, the bombers continued yesterday (04/14).
As there are strong connections with Hezbollah and the Houthis to the south in Yemen and Hezbollah to the north in Lebanon there is also news of attacks on Israel, both the Israeli military command, the G7 and the UN security council have already called a meeting yesterday.
Italy and Germany have already spoken out against Iran, condemning the attacks, the USA and France helped intercept the missiles (it is reported that Jordan also helped the defense), so Iran is isolated in the West.
The objective at the moment is to prevent a larger scale attack on Iran, which would trigger an escalation of war in the region, Netanyahu must attack some targeted targets in Iran.
Russia has not commented so far, but it is a traditional ally of Iran, and the drones used in the attack on Israel are the same type as those used in the war in Ukraine.
Russian attacks continue to escalate in Ukraine with the main objective of depleting the country’s energy sources, the progressive fragility of the defense of Ukraine’s military forces makes the situation in the country, and to a certain extent in the NATO countries, quite dramatic.
Peace is always possible, what ethical forces call responsibility could play a decisive role in decision-making, as the leaders involved in the conflict increasingly seem not to understand the gravity of a conflict in the midst of a civilizational crisis.
After World War II, the forces in conflict understood the need for peace, now the worsening of the crisis, paradoxical as it may be, can make leaders call for peace.
Polycrisis and hope
05
Apr
Rumors of confrontation between Russia and NATO have worsened in the
last few hours, however, the hope for peace and the resistance of the Spirit, as portrayed by Edgar Morin, remain alive.
In addition to Morin’s polycrisis (just as poly is multiple and is also city polis, Krisis also has the meaning of decision-making power) professor Adam Tooze (Financial Times article), of history at Yale University (USA) expanded and updated: pandemics, droughts, floods, mega storms, forest fires, war in Ukraine (and now in the Gaza strip0, energy and food prices, etc.
In his reasoning, without directly pointing out the professor “discovers” the complexity and a new transdisciplinary vision of the “whole”: “A problem becomes a crisis when it challenges our ability to deal with it and, thus, threatens our identity. In a multiplicity of crises, the shocks are differentiated, but they interact in such a way that the whole is more ambiguous than the sum of its parts”, he states in the article. (in the image the painting by Tsherin Sherpa (Nepal), Lost Spirits, 2014.)
Morin said: “Linked to the domain of calculation in an increasingly technocratic world, the progress of knowledge is incapable of conceiving the complexity of reality and in particular human realities. The result is a return to dogmatism and fanaticism, and a crisis of morality while hatred and idolatries spread” (Newspaper La Repubblica, interview), however, beyond the polycrisis there are signs of hope.
While the Resistance of the Spirit invokes an understanding of the gravity and issues surrounding the current crisis, Hope (capitalized here) means this Spirit put into action and thus the achievement of a countercurrent spirituality that invokes values of change.
Those who immerse themselves in this Hope in different ways, are always willing to embrace the problems that everyone runs away from, to embrace the fragments of a polarized world, and to remember what unites as opposed to what disunites and polarizes, fortunately there are these spirits and I would call them Spirits of Resistance through Hope.
Go to the World and Bring the Good News, it cannot just be a biblical key, it is Living Hope.
Declared war and dangers
25
Mar
After Russia openly declared that it is at war with
Ukraine in a week of heavy missile attacks on Kiev, including using Polish airspace, which generated tension, Ukraine responded with another major attack on Crimea and oil refineries.
The West was on alert because the price of oil is expected to rise, and tension with NATO and Europe is already at high levels, statements by Putin and Macron with provocations from both sides, the placement of Russian troops on the Finnish border, and an Islamic State attack on a concert hall in Moscow.
From the beginning, the climate of tension has been at its highest this week of Holy Week, there will be no shortage of false prophets and hate mongers to make the situation worse, as Eduardo Galeano said about war, what the hatred of war did not do to the complete media, There have always been cold analysts who think of war as politics since Sun Tzu on the art of war, until Carl von Clausewitz was resurrected to justify the unjustifiable “art” of War.
The small autonomous territory of Transnistria (image) was shaken by the downing of a military helicopter, is within Moldova and governed by pro-Russian forces and is a cause of fear for Moldova, which is a member of NATO.
On the other dangerous front, among the many wars across the planet is the crisis in Palestine, it is another war of strong polarization, where the solution to the crisis seems distant, with increasing hatred from both sides and which could spread throughout the Middle East. .
In addition to the oil problem, the dangerous increase in maritime circulation of grains and industrialized products could generate a supply crisis and affect the problem of hunger, which is already common in many areas of the planet.
This is not an apocalyptic or prophetic vision, if it exists it is for a few and the majority are charlatans and speculators, but the civilizational crisis already has a very visible horizon.
Edgar Morin and other calm and common-sense analysts call for “resistance of the spirit”, not allowing oneself to be contaminated by this climate of hatred, violence and terror that plagues almost all four corners of the planet.
Keep your soul and heart pure and a strong spirit that faces the storms.
Truth and good works
22
Mar
There is no ontological truth where the unveiling
of being does not occur, and this depends on its deeper realization in contact with its essence and must bear fruit for life, for personal and social well-being and for those who believe for an eternity.
Sophists in ancient times created truths that could even be logical, but the objective was to gain power and benefit from those who had wealth and influence, and this has not been eliminated from everyday life until today, a large part of politics is the negotiation of public goods, fraud and for this they use non-truth, and this is not the monopoly of one group.
There is no way to maintain this logic without authoritarianism, the restriction of freedom and silencing the voices of those who suffer from greed for power and wealth, a large part of the current crisis comes from these values, even if they blame the media, they are also under control of these powers.
The media follow the ontic logic in the ontological difference, we briefly develop this issue of the way Heidegger and other followers of the different ontological currents see it, in the scope of interpretation and dialogue the logic cannot be ontic, it must follow the ontological truth that follows from fusion of horizons in the hermeneutic circle (see previous post).
Dualism and polarization follow the ontic truth, blaming the media that do nothing that they do not have under control in some way, which could even be algorithms, man himself, thus the dual ontic logic used is instrumental and in a certain way sophistical because it aims the power.
On Sunday, Holy Week begins for Christians, the ontological truth that was manifested as being in the person of Jesus had to be destroyed by the discourse of power, even the religious power of the time that could not believe that truth is the logic of Being and man, when he manifested his good works, almost always confronted power.
It is necessary to go against the current to reverse the logic of ease, of easy money through corruption, of power for power’s sake and of disservice to society.
