Nací bajo el signo de Libra y, no obstante (¿quien negará?), soy piscis: un genio dual e inconstante, quebrado y dedicado a las mentiras y al agua [alcohol]. Pero quédate tranquila, Ariadna, los libras no creemos en el horóscopo...
"In the long run, the truth does not matter". Un estudiante transcribió este verso de Stevens en su florilegio la primavera de 2008, hace un año. Es un biotopo para la literatura y la filosofía. Confiere casi absoluta paternidad de su experiencia y perentoriedad vital al mito homérico de Ítaca. A cualesquiera podría sugerirle incluso los aires proverbiales del ubi bene ibi patria, de las Tusculanas (aunque sólo si le sacudiéremos a la paremia cicerónica la consuetudinaria y aberrante lectura neoliberal que se le ha hecho, evitando de paso hacer aquí una analogía del verso de Stevens como axioma político) y muchísimas más cosas, sin, no obstante, dejar de exhalar inspiración experimentalista de frente a la obstinada metafísica de la verdad. Es un verso de sastrería para el tiempo corriente, en el que las teleologías se han replegado sobre sí mismas para negar la pertinencia de su doctrina como nueva afirmación de su objeto, situándonos en un nihilismo caracterizado por la suspensión del interés causal debido a la irrupción posmoderna: la única causa genuina es el principio dinámico primario e individual en la asunción de una realidad relativa. Provocativa la arcanidad del adagio ¿no cree?, tanto cuanto su sentido vital aquiescente. Un verso de prontuario.
LA CONSTITUCIÓN HA MUERTO
Doloroso nos es causar al pueblo mexicano la merecida afrenta de lanzar esta frase a la publicidad: "La Constitución ha muerto..."
¿Pero por qué ocultar más la negra realidad?
¿Para qué ahogar en nuestra garganta, como cobardes cortesanos, el grito de nuestra franca opinión?
Cuando ha llegado un cinco de febrero más y encuentra entronizada la maldad y prostituido al ciudadano; cuando la Justicia ha sido arrojada de su templo por infames mercaderes y sobre la tumba de la Constitución se alza con cinismo una teocracia inaudita ¿para qué recibir esa fecha, digna de mejor pueblo, con hipócritas muestras de alegría?
La Constitución ha muerto, y al enlutar hoy los frontis de nuestras oficinas con esa frase fatídica, protestamos solemnemente contra los asesinos de ella, que como escarnio sangriento al pueblo que han vejado, celebren este día con muestras de regocijo y satisfacción.
-- Ricardo Flores Magón
El Hijo del Ahuizote. 8 de febrero de 1903
Debí decir que te casaste con un afgano durante el último de tus viajes a Turkestán motivados en la investigación del funcionamiento de las maquinarias colonialistas de los gobiernos nacionales centrales sobre las mociones autonómicas de las etnias uigures orientales y musulmanas. Me negaba a reconocer que simplemente te fuiste. Yo creo que fuiste feliz aquí.
Ahí se erigían castillos de pompas rosadas;
de saliva y de leche,
y luego ropían aguaceros de muchachos apretados en cabinas de bochitos
muy antiguos;
Ahí se erigía la sangre en espaciosos asientos de chevroletes compartidos por racimos de púberes sin credenciales, a la luz del día.
Ahí se erigía la razón hereje.
¡Que vuelvan los amores punitivos
de hombres y mujeres que olvidaron el aroma de las frutas y el durazno
a contraluz que es la piel enamorada!
Sabemos que el año 1968 representa una articulación entre la rigidez modal, axiológica, del período de la Guerra Fría -concretamente la década de 1950- y las estructuras profundas de la sociedad de nuestros días; pero con esto no estamos hablando únicamente de la relevancia del 68 en un ámbito sensual, de liberación individual y empeño juvenil; no sólo del enfrentamiento generacional. En lo que hoy conocemos como República Checa -entonces Checoslovaquia hasta 1992- la significación de la Primavera de Praga trascendía aquellos principios casi estrictamente sensuales del movimiento francés, del mismo año, para buscar su propósito: un "socialismo con rostro humano". Por su parte, el movimiento estudiantil mexicano que terminó en la hecatombe de Tlatelolco también se alejaba de los principios parisinos, y aunque politizado, sí, era consecuente a su propio contexto mexicano y no, obviamente, a una extrapolación del particular marco histórico checoslovaco. Sin embargo, finalmente las sociedades jóvenes de distintos países sí tuvieron algo en común: la idealización de la práctica de la libertad, la cual hasta hoy no deja de escandalizar a muchísimos papanatas.
De los movimientos internacionales de 1968 hemos heredado la supuesta efectividad de las libertades individuales, el empeño igualitario entre géneros en el ámbito laboral y cultural, la impasibilidad ante la diversidad racial, y muchas más cualidades presupuestas en algunas de las sociedades actuales; aunque en este punto debemos dejar lo ilusorio y reconocer que también en algunos momentos todo esto ha quedado en el nivel de la intención sin alcanzar ni siquiera en grados necesarios la emergencia de su eficacia. Baste recordar sin tanta perífrasis la intolerancia de hace unos meses hacia quien fuere EMO, principalmente en Querétaro, Guanajuato y Estado de México, o la desconsideración del marco histórico en que paupérrimas mujeres embarazadas desarrollan su vida material, al repeler, los más integristas, las consideraciones seculares del aborto; o bien, reconocer la persistencia de la distinción de géneros en las diferencias salariales entre hombres y mujeres en algunos momentos de la sociedad actual mexicana.
Por otra parte, en cuanto al capitalismo emergente contra el cual los jóvenes de los 68 se subvirtieron en tanto a su dimensión de sociedad de consumo, paradójicamente se vio impulsado por sus detractores. El nuevo régimen económico-social necesitaba vulnerar a la sociedad tradicional para instaurar su flamante modelo de consumo y los movimientos juveniles entonces se encargaron, en este sentido, inconscientemente, de predisponer lo necesario para el desarrollo del capitalismo de posguerra.
En este 40 aniversario del 68 internacional nos encontramos de nuevo ante la representación equívoca de un año por muchos celebrado y desacreditado por tantos otros. Dado el interés que la relevancia del 68 puede suscitar en todos nosotros, hemos dedicado un poco de Tertuli@nos a este tema.
Tertuli@nos
Zoe Williams
(Debajo de este post hay un vínculo para muchos artículos y entrevistas muy interesantes de BBC Mundo.)
Free love, drugs, long hair, bell bottoms, millions of young people embracing the counter-culture philosophy of "Turn on, tune in, drop out" – this is an image many university students today have of their counterparts in the sixties and the seventies. However, this is only a half truth. Though undoubtedly they had a good time, the young people of this era were also highly political. They fought for and achieved political goals – the benefits of which many of us perhaps take for granted today – such as increased rights and opportunities for women and people of colour, and the end of the Vietnam War.
This may was the 40th anniversary of what were perhaps the biggest student protests of the era. The years 1968 and 1969 saw student unrest and uprisings in the United States, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Poland, Brazil, and of course, Paris. These protests, while never quite attaining revolutionary status, made history, and should not be forgotten by today’s students.
As it has been so many times before, Paris in the spring of 1968 was at the centre of events that many hoped would radically alter the structure of a political system, society, and way of life. The student protests that began at the university campuses of Nanterre and the Sorbonne, and spread throughout many sectors of French society were fueled by radical ideologies – Trostkyism, Maoism, libertarianism and anarchism. The protesters seemed to truly want to change the world, and believed in their ability to do so. They attacked not only what they saw as the political failures of the state, but also the failings of "bourgeois" culture and morality. In less lofty terms, they also took issue with various aspects of the university system. These included racist and "fascist" university policy, overcrowded classrooms and residences, outdated teaching methods, the absence of basic university facilities, widely despised standardized examinations and perhaps most important of all, the very strict rules separating male and female students in university residences. However, despite the masses of people that seemed ready to fight for these goals, in political terms, the May Events were an utter failure – after a few weeks of albeit wide scale and intense protests, strikes and demonstrations, the French seemed ready to re-embrace the status quo, going as far as to re-elect President De Gualle (against whom many criticisms of the protesters had been aimed) as the protests were still winding down. The post-May years were however, characterized by some degree of restructuring of the university system in France, and a relaxation of cultural and societal mores. Many questions are raised by the May Events. Was this truly a revolutionary situation? A crisis of civilization or the ‘ancien regime’ as a number of academics suggested? Or merely what sociologist Raymond Aron called a "psychodrama or a symbolic revolt," no more than a diversion for thousands of bored, middle class kids?
Although incidences of student unrest had occurred throughout the decade, serious agitation and discontent began in Paris amongst students in late 1967, through until the late spring of 1968. First at Nanterre, and later at the Sorbonne, classes were cancelled and the universities were closed. This served only to fuel the protests, and students, later accompanied by workers, took to the streets. This was no peaceful demonstration, but one marked by violent encounters between police and protesters. In one incident, students hurled Molotov cocktails at police, who responded by battering students and innocent bystanders. At the end of the night, 460 arrests had been made, 367 people were wounded and 200 cars had been burned. Later, in support of the students, trade unions declared a one day strike. This quickly escalated into a situation in which millions of workers walked out, and revolution must have seemed imminent. Protests, demonstrations, occupations all continued into June, though lessening in intensity as time wore on. Eventually, workers returned to work, elections were held, the Gaullists won a decisive victory, and slowly, as students drifted back to school, the country returned to the "pre-events" status quo.
As mentioned above, the eventual result of these protests were two-fold – a restructuring of the french university system, and an overall shift in cultural and social norms. These protests, and the sixties in general, also marked a change in the politics of the left. No longer did the leaders of student movements look to the old-guard Communist parties, but to figures such as Mao and Castro, or to more "alternative" ideologies such an anarchism. However, the majority of students were driven to protest, not for the overthrow of the capitalist system, but for cultural or personal reasons – the truly revolutionary sentiments (in political terms) were not shared by the mass of students. The May Events took place in a world that was perhaps less susceptible or prone to traditional Communism or Socialism than ever before. Unparalleled economic expansion characterized the post-war years in the West (up until the early 1970s) and the absolutely abysmal working conditions that had characterized the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had been ameliorated, at least to some extent by reforms. Thus, the immediate need for a class-based revolution was perhaps less pressing, especially to the mass of university students who were, whether they liked it or not, ultimately of the middle class. However, it is undeniable that the students involved in these protests were political, but their goals and vision can perhaps be best summed up by some of the graffiti found sprayed onto Paris walls at the time – "Workers of the world have fun" and "It is forbidden to forbid" are exemplary.
The leaders of the May events never realized their concrete goals of overthrowing the French government, and perhaps many of those who joined the protests just wanted to bring their girlfriends up to their dorm rooms. So what lesson can we take away from May ‘68? Today, coming from many sides, there is a call to real action in the face of environmental crisis. Herein lies the lesson, both in the widespread protests in 1968, and the students movements of the sixties more generally. While their protests were sometimes ineffective or even frivolous, the students of that era were ready to fight the "man." Today, we are facing problems and challenges that certainly rival those of the sixties – the environment, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rising poverty levels at home and abroad to name a few. So maybe it’s time to take a page from our parents’ book, stop joining groups on Facebook, and get out into the street.
Para encontrar mas opiniones y artículos sobre este tema (especialmente la entrevista con Kimball "Un Desastre Moral" y Tariq Ali "El Placer Inevitable"):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/specials/2008/mayo_68/newsid_7364000/7364406.stm
Or in English, and far less extensive:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7475973.stm
Free love, drugs, long hair, bell bottoms, millions of young people embracing the counter-culture philosophy of "Turn on, tune in, drop out" – this is an image many university students today have of their counterparts in the sixties and the seventies. However, this is only a half truth. Though undoubtedly they had a good time, the young people of this era were also highly political. They fought for and achieved political goals – the benefits of which many of us perhaps take for granted today – such as increased rights and opportunities for women and people of colour, and the end of the Vietnam War.
This may was the 40th anniversary of what were perhaps the biggest student protests of the era. The years 1968 and 1969 saw student unrest and uprisings in the United States, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Poland, Brazil, and of course, Paris. These protests, while never quite attaining revolutionary status, made history, and should not be forgotten by today’s students.
As it has been so many times before, Paris in the spring of 1968 was at the centre of events that many hoped would radically alter the structure of a political system, society, and way of life. The student protests that began at the university campuses of Nanterre and the Sorbonne, and spread throughout many sectors of French society were fueled by radical ideologies – Trostkyism, Maoism, libertarianism and anarchism. The protesters seemed to truly want to change the world, and believed in their ability to do so. They attacked not only what they saw as the political failures of the state, but also the failings of "bourgeois" culture and morality. In less lofty terms, they also took issue with various aspects of the university system. These included racist and "fascist" university policy, overcrowded classrooms and residences, outdated teaching methods, the absence of basic university facilities, widely despised standardized examinations and perhaps most important of all, the very strict rules separating male and female students in university residences. However, despite the masses of people that seemed ready to fight for these goals, in political terms, the May Events were an utter failure – after a few weeks of albeit wide scale and intense protests, strikes and demonstrations, the French seemed ready to re-embrace the status quo, going as far as to re-elect President De Gualle (against whom many criticisms of the protesters had been aimed) as the protests were still winding down. The post-May years were however, characterized by some degree of restructuring of the university system in France, and a relaxation of cultural and societal mores. Many questions are raised by the May Events. Was this truly a revolutionary situation? A crisis of civilization or the ‘ancien regime’ as a number of academics suggested? Or merely what sociologist Raymond Aron called a "psychodrama or a symbolic revolt," no more than a diversion for thousands of bored, middle class kids?
Although incidences of student unrest had occurred throughout the decade, serious agitation and discontent began in Paris amongst students in late 1967, through until the late spring of 1968. First at Nanterre, and later at the Sorbonne, classes were cancelled and the universities were closed. This served only to fuel the protests, and students, later accompanied by workers, took to the streets. This was no peaceful demonstration, but one marked by violent encounters between police and protesters. In one incident, students hurled Molotov cocktails at police, who responded by battering students and innocent bystanders. At the end of the night, 460 arrests had been made, 367 people were wounded and 200 cars had been burned. Later, in support of the students, trade unions declared a one day strike. This quickly escalated into a situation in which millions of workers walked out, and revolution must have seemed imminent. Protests, demonstrations, occupations all continued into June, though lessening in intensity as time wore on. Eventually, workers returned to work, elections were held, the Gaullists won a decisive victory, and slowly, as students drifted back to school, the country returned to the "pre-events" status quo.
As mentioned above, the eventual result of these protests were two-fold – a restructuring of the french university system, and an overall shift in cultural and social norms. These protests, and the sixties in general, also marked a change in the politics of the left. No longer did the leaders of student movements look to the old-guard Communist parties, but to figures such as Mao and Castro, or to more "alternative" ideologies such an anarchism. However, the majority of students were driven to protest, not for the overthrow of the capitalist system, but for cultural or personal reasons – the truly revolutionary sentiments (in political terms) were not shared by the mass of students. The May Events took place in a world that was perhaps less susceptible or prone to traditional Communism or Socialism than ever before. Unparalleled economic expansion characterized the post-war years in the West (up until the early 1970s) and the absolutely abysmal working conditions that had characterized the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries had been ameliorated, at least to some extent by reforms. Thus, the immediate need for a class-based revolution was perhaps less pressing, especially to the mass of university students who were, whether they liked it or not, ultimately of the middle class. However, it is undeniable that the students involved in these protests were political, but their goals and vision can perhaps be best summed up by some of the graffiti found sprayed onto Paris walls at the time – "Workers of the world have fun" and "It is forbidden to forbid" are exemplary.
The leaders of the May events never realized their concrete goals of overthrowing the French government, and perhaps many of those who joined the protests just wanted to bring their girlfriends up to their dorm rooms. So what lesson can we take away from May ‘68? Today, coming from many sides, there is a call to real action in the face of environmental crisis. Herein lies the lesson, both in the widespread protests in 1968, and the students movements of the sixties more generally. While their protests were sometimes ineffective or even frivolous, the students of that era were ready to fight the "man." Today, we are facing problems and challenges that certainly rival those of the sixties – the environment, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, rising poverty levels at home and abroad to name a few. So maybe it’s time to take a page from our parents’ book, stop joining groups on Facebook, and get out into the street.
Para encontrar mas opiniones y artículos sobre este tema (especialmente la entrevista con Kimball "Un Desastre Moral" y Tariq Ali "El Placer Inevitable"):
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/spanish/specials/2008/mayo_68/newsid_7364000/7364406.stm
Or in English, and far less extensive:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7475973.stm
Communiques and Documents from '68
Suscribirse a:
Entradas (Atom)