Democracy is the new Communism

Last year, in the aftermath of the 30S riots in Quito, I posted the following note on my Facebook account:

"I heard the word democracy thrown around a lot today but I begin to wonder what it means, if we can define it because everyone seems to be defining it differently or not defining it conveniently. I heard the word oppressor thrown around a lot today and I begin to wonder what it refers to. Is the oppressor the one that monopolizes the media and de-legitimizes the voice of its detractors or is the oppressor the one that irresponsibly puts the safety of the civilian population of a country in jeopardy? In the end, I think that the crisis today represents a failure to listen, a failure to communicate, intertwined with egos and agendas from all factions. It represents an inability to negotiate and compromise. What happened today was anti-democratic. But a lot of what has already been happening here for 4 years is also anti-democratic. Had it been otherwise, this crisis would have not happened in the first place. 

I hope that the government takes this incident as a chance to reflect on their policies and decisions and how a lot of them are things that have stirred much unrest among certain groups in Ecuador. That decisions cannot be made unilaterally like they have been done up until recently, that there needs to be more transparency and more dialogue.

But this crisis has also brought to light a lot of things that are not right with the country. The control of the media today was awful as the coverage was completely and blatantly biased and media offering alternative viewpoints being completely cut off and made unavailable to the public. There is no freedom of speech here. And that becomes painfully clear today. Because freedom of speech is not just about being free to agree with a position but being free to openly disagree with it without being called names, or have labels slapped on you, or have your voice de-legitimized by saying it is misinformed and being manipulated by someone or something else. The unwillingness of the government-controlled media to present alternative voices and viewpoints on the situation reveals a fear of losing control and power...something that is frankly terrifying to me because a government should be concerned about governing and not about losing their image. $37 million of the government's money is spent on advertising the president's media campaigns. That's $37 million that are desperately needed in a number of other areas in this country that has 75% of its population living under the poverty line, a growing unemployment rate, and a decreasing investment rate.

It is no secret that I have no love for President Correa. I find him arrogant, stubborn, and petulant. He is politically irresponsible (hearing about his views on the Yasuní issue and the new Higher Education law is something that really angers me) and far too in love with his power for comfort. But he was constitutionally elected. And as such, I think that post commands respect and while I sympathize with the reasons the police force had a strike, I think that the way they went about it was irresponsible and put the safety of the civilian population of the country in jeopardy. I really hope the government takes this as a plea to listen, to stop pointing fingers, stop picking petty fights, stop demonizing factions that disagree with them. Perhaps listening to some constructive criticism will do them some good.

I think that today's greatest oversight was perhaps analyzing the validity of the opposition's dissatisfaction, failure to recognize a problem that has clearly been brewing for some time now, that there is sufficient unrest here to shake the country up as bad as it did today. It is a symptom of something being wrong, something that needs to be addressed. I hope the government sees that instead of taking this day as a victory, as another proof of them being right.

But of course this is all politics. And I'm sorry to say that my experiences with Ecuadorian politics have left me jaded and without much hope for politics or politicians of any kind. Also, I've seen too many cases of corruptio optimi pessima to be left with any hope at all."

Today, it is the first anniversary since 30S and I´m thoroughly upset by the way this event is being marked. Today, according to the government, Ecuador "commemorates" 30S and "remembers" one of its darkest days in recent history. There is a 200,000 person gathering at Av. de los Shyris for this purpose. 200,000 gathered in the name of commemorating the day democracy almost died.

I´ve come to hate that word. Democracy. It gets thrown around a lot. And I don´t hate it because of what it means or what it stands for (I strongly believe in Democracy. It might not be a perfect system but out of most political systems out there, it is the one that has worked the most effectively in recent history I think). I hate the word because as of late it has become a weapon, sort of the way "Communist" was back in the McCarthy Era in the United States. 30S has been painted as an event where people went out in defense of democracy where in fact it became the exact opposite of that. So much of what was seen on TV or how that event has been portrayed since has been fabricated by the impressive propaganda machine operated by the government. So much history has been rewritten and twisted around that even I have begun to doubt my own memories. Today I was sickened when I saw the government take control of all the national channels in the morning to air a small "documentary propaganda" about the "heroes of democracy" - members of the special elite team that rescued President Correa from the hospital.

Heroes of democracy.

I´ve seen propagandas urging the population to bring those who perpetrated 30S to justice, urging them to not let the "opposition" oppress them any longer. That only through the government can freedom come. That only the government can guarantee freedom of speech, progress...

This of course, being broadcast simultaneously on all channels. The advert itself being produced with tax dollars that could be easily spent on things the country needs - like houses, or improving infrastructure. Produced by essentially passing laws that pretty much force advertising production companies to make these adverts for extremely low budgets or face problems from the IRS.

Freedom of Speech?

What a laugh.

I ´ve felt more freedom in China.

New political leaders pose as the defenders of democracy, of people´s right to elect leaders. A lovely speech to use as a distraction while every other right is stripped from right under our noses.

Categories: politics

Running On the Edge

I. Hate. HATE. running.

I cannot tell you how much I hate, abhor, detest, passionately dislike it.

And yet despite of that, I´ve made it a habit of running every morning at 6 am for an hour. And today, I ran my first 5K race.

No, I didn´t win.

But I didn´t come in last either. I beat my personal record (from 60 minutes down to 53) and was able to finish without much trouble (excepting some minor burn in my legs).

Tonight, I signed up for the We Run Quito Nike 10K for October 29th.

Yeah, I´m slightly nuts.

The reason I run, even though I hate it, is because it gives me some discipline in working out and it is a means to an end. I need to be fit and I need to be lighter to get back into what I´m really passionate about - fencing. My trainers and coaches have made it very clear that if I don´t drop 30 pounds and improve my overall fitness, premature re-entry into fencing might result in some bad damage to my left ankle (which although completely healed by physical therapy, can still be, quite literally, my achilles´ heel). So after grumbling for a bit and cursing the alarm clock, I drag my butt out of bed and onto the road.

Other reasons to go running is the fact that (1) I can run anywhere, (2) I can´t afford a gym, and (3) apparently the neighborhood I live in is like runner´s heaven. The roads here are ideal for hard-core training. I can´t tackle the hill my house is on yet, but there is a smaller incline road off the main road that is a good starters circuit. Someday I´ll try the bigger hill. Someday when I go completely bonkers and decide to sign up for "La Ruta de las Iglesias" a notoriously hard but beautiful race that takes participants on around Quito´s old colonial center at night. This all sounds wonderful until one realizes that the colonial center is built around the steepest hills in the city. Cars regularly have trouble going up them. Imagine running up one of those things.

No thank you. I´ll stick to my flat races....

Anyhoo, the 5K I did today was one I signed up while I wasn´t quite there mentally (i.e. I was deluded by exhaustion). The conversation went something like this:

Dad: There´s a 5K on Saturday. Do you want to run?

Me: Uh-huh.

(falls asleep on couch)

The race itself was going through the Chaquiñán (Quechua for "road") which is basically this dirt road that follows what used to be the railway tracks. It starts in Cumbayá (the suburban town I inhabit) and ends up somewhere in Puembo (a place so far that it takes 40 minutes to get there by car). Insane nutty athletes run this whole path on a regular basis on the weekends. Me? I did a bicycle ride there once...when the school made me do it for Environmental Education. Like all excursions of the sort, it sucked.

(Tangent: The school often forgot that most of us were not insane nutty athletes and would organize dumb field trips like that under the excuse of getting us outside. "Let´s go hike up Ilaló!" was the more reasonable trip, but sometimes we´d get stuff like "Let´s go hike up Cotopaxi!", which, honestly, guys, there are PROFESSIONAL HIKERS who have trouble climbing up that damned glacial volcano. What makes you think that a gaggle of 80 prissy prep-school high schoolers are going to be able to accomplish that?)

Anyhoo, the Chaquiñán trail is pretty intense. It is dusty, pretty hilly (with a lot of ups and downs), and it is riddled by unstable footing. Some more experienced runners told me (later on) that it was a difficult trail to do, especially in the morning with the Equatorial sun beating down on you. So, all in all, considering that I didn´t stop once and that I got to the finish line, I feel very accomplished.

They tell me the Nike 10K is easier. Mostly flat. All inside the city (so on asphalt) and at night (no tiring Equatorial sun) so it should be ok. I still have to train though. I don´t think I´ve ever really done 10K in training. I usually just stop at 5, which capped off to about an hour. I guess that means more hours of training in the morning.

Ah well.

I think I can do it. :D

Categories: health, race, sports

More Reasons to move to China and start making films there

A film based on the 1911 revolution. Pretty awesome-looking.

Categories: China, film, trailer

A Message of Hope

A lovely song that´s been on my mind as of late. I listen to it when I´ve been feeling down.

Here it is:

Categories: music

Daoist Wisdom

"I was pondering what it is that brought be to this extremity, but I couldn´t find the answer [...] Still, here I am - at the very extreme. It must be fate."

- Zhuangzi

Categories: daoism, quotes, wisdom

Getting up in the Morning

The alarm clock I need to get up in the morning:

Tocky from Nanda Home:

Another awesome little creation from MIT Media Lab alums...I came across it while looking at the Object-Based Media Research Group Website.

Categories: MIT media lab, tech

Eat Free Range

A wonderful little Chipotle ad.

Make the change! Go free range!

:D

Categories: advertisements, foodie, vegetarian