Text – Page 10 – Citizen Reporter

Old Presidents

Lula — image by Luiz Fernando Reis / flickr

Over the past 3 weeks I have been in Portugal helping my grandparents with daily life during a trying series of complications that often come with old age. During that time Ive strangely found myself watching television, specifically programming from the more intellectual Portuguese state television RTP2. While washing dishes one night I heard a familiar Brazilian accent and looked over at what was a clearly older and slightly weaker Lula da Silva. The former 2 term Brazilian president was being interviewed about his life, his presidency, his country, and the world in general. He spoke about how his thinking has been impacted by his successful battle against throat cancer. He spoke about injustice and inequality in different parts of the world, including in Brazil. And most impressive for me, he spoke with a clarity and wisdom you’re rarely allowed to see in the world of international politics.

This got me to thinking about the wisdom and freedom to speak that comes with no longer being the leader of a nation. Every now and then, a president or a prime minister steps down, and suddenly it is like a weight has been lifted and a light shines upon them. In the United States, Jimmy Carter has long been the voice of unwavering criticism and honesty about the state of the world and the shortcomings of is own presidency. Nor he or Lula are the first of their kind, but listening to someone who led such a large and dynamic nation during a period of such immense change, in addition to having survived the near loss of his voice (and life), is quite enlightening.

Critics will say – he (and all former leaders) are still and always will be politicians. Lula himself says this. But the office of the executive seems so often to paralyze and silence the true voice of the person elected to that position. Perhaps you can’t speak truth to power when you are the power. But if anyone in this world were looking for useful information based on unique and qualified experience, look for the former presidents who still care about the world and have finally found the nerve to tell it like it is. They can help advise both leaders and citizens of this world, to learn from their mistakes, and look critically at how our world is being run.

Note: I will subtitle the interview and post it in the coming week as a video entry.

Too Soon To Worry About Libya?

A militia rolls into the airport and shuts down all air traffic, because they’re angry about something. Another militia goes into the offices of the electoral commission and burns ballots, because they’re upset about something. Officials from the International Criminal Court are arrested and later released, under suspicion of being spies.

– Eight months since the declaration of a new Libya and the end of Gaddafi’s rule, the steady stream of bizarre and sometimes dangerous activity continues in that country. As per the nature of media and stories that travel beyond its borders, these stories overshadow the positive developments that are also surely taking place. But the question becomes, despite the short amount of time that has passed, have the first steps in these critical months been the ones that will lead to a more just and peaceful future for the country? Are these isolated incidents that will pass, giving way to cooler heads and more rational conflict resolution?

There is perhaps no great point to speculating or judging for the first year or years, but I am reminded of old wisdom from both religious texts and human rights advocates throughout history on the subject of wars and bringing about change through violence. Violence begets violence. That doesn’t have to be 100% true in all cases, but in today’s Libya I see what seem to be signs of what happens, the side effects of bringing about much needed change by using violence. The guns haven’t gone away and more importantly, the wounds have not simply healed. The trauma continues to play out, and sadly, creates more victims long after the official war has ended.

Was there a better way to do it? Again, it is both too late and not the point. The point – is that the costs of what happened and how it was carried will continue to be felt for what seems like the foreseeable future. Those costs undermine the goals of creating a better country where people can live life without fear of their government or their neighbors.

The Promise of Employment

It is a formula that we decided decades ago makes sense and should therefore work. It is a recipe that for many people in the past decades, has worked to provide a decent life and what people often refer to as security as they look to the future. – You go to school, you do your training, and when you’re finished there will be a job for you somewhere, and it will be a job you want.

Nowadays this formula is less solid than it has ever been. There aren’t many jobs to go around, yet many are still doing the training and the degrees under the assumption that the old deal will still be honored. As they come out and find the world is not quite what they thought, there is anger, frustration, and sadness across the board. Then come the protests and the campaigns, some speeches from politicians and average citizens, a few policies to try and re-animate that old connection between job training and job. Underneath all the activities and discussions there is a basic principle that remains, in this world as we have built it, you should be able to get an education which also prepares you for a career that once you’re met some set requirements, you can pursue. After all, how else is it supposed to work?

The hardline voices in the wilderness will say — there are no guarantees in life. A statement that is easy to confirm.

But getting back to that old deal that we’re still trying to revive, here in Portugal one can observe the living breathing collapse and aftermath of that socio-educational correlation. People young and old with degrees in social work, primary and secondary education, and a long list of other studies, find themselves either in the never-ending spiral of unemployment and job training, or the very common – working retail in a shopping mall. You might have the skills and training to help people in need or teach, but nowadays where you’re needed is selling iPods at the nearest strip mall. Are these jobs terrible? No, not for everyone. But what happens when you’ve got a country full of social workers and educators selling jeans and flipping burgers? When people’s lives get placed on hold as they wait for that possible real job they trained and prepared for. When they decide not to have any children and to live at home forever to save something from their minuscule pay check?

The discussion is not new. It even finds its way into political discussions regularly these days. But the underlying principle should also be subject to scrutiny. Why believe in the formula anymore? There is not just one way to learn. There is not just one way to make a living. Hoping and working to repair a once functional system is perhaps a noble goal that bears the occasional fruit. But what about teaching each other to break out of the pattern. That if they continue to just wait for something to happen, instead of making something happen, they could be waiting for the rest of their unfulfilled lives.

The Coincidences and the Big Picture

I’m probably a very annoying person to deal with on a daily basis, especially when I’m doing my typical “big picture” speeches and appreciating the life I’ve carved out for myself knowing full well how many do not get to enjoy, travel, try… as I have. I’m not sure what turn of events, what influential person or piece of media that I ever heard/read/watched, that made me someone that continuously comes back to one conclusion: despite some slim odds and all the factors that could have played out differently, I have arrived (as have so many of us) at this point in my life doing things I love to do, having people in my life (near and far) that I’m honored to know, and in reasonably good shape as far as the essentials of life go. Although much of the world seems so busy and eager to move past these types of observations, just as quickly as someone might be about to click away from this text, I think the ability to see it – especially at difficult moments- is something that needs nurturing.

Can everything change suddenly? – Of course. Are there worries? -I’m a citizen journalist in the year 2012; there are worries. Have there been set backs and tragedies? I think we’ve all had them, though again I feel fortunate having learned about and seen how bad things can be and are for so many in this world. Beyond all that – is it enough to just dwell on the big picture of fantastic coincidences that have led to a certain degree of satisfaction on a personal and work level? Probably not.

But still, as so many astute observers have stated, there is much beauty to be seen and experienced in this world. Sometimes it is right there in front of us, and we choose not to look or we lack the ability to see it, especially during moments of weakness. Think about the series of events that took place before you read this text today, and all the other factors that could have stopped you from reading it, but somehow didn’t come in to play this time. I believe there is something to be said for the good chain reactions of life. Maybe it is the power to recognize them and enjoy them, that helps us individually and collectively, find responses to the many challenges and problems of our world.

No President is Sacred

Last month there was a big to-do in South Africa over an art piece by Brett Murray, depicting president Jacob Zuma posing in a Lenin-style look to the future along with his penis being clearly visible. Protesters have called it everything from disrespectful to racist, culminating in one enraged person attacking the artwork, damaging it, and closing the exhibition (or is it back already? I haven’t heard the latest)

Zuma has long been a contreversial figure, especially when it comes to sex and sexuality. He has had 6 wives and from them a grand total of 20 children. More infamously, he was acquitted of rape in 2005. Throughout his political career in some way sex or sexuality has always been there, either in the background or the foreground. This would seem to be the grounds for which the artist chose to prominently include the president’s penis in the image.

Many disagree. They see these matters and personal and not subject to public criticism. They also feel the president of the nation deserves respect and not to be made a caricature of. But they don’t just disagree and write about it in the media and express their opinion in the many forums available to people today. They take it further and seek to have such images banned and follow that with all manner of accusation about the intentions of the artist. Its a familiar theme in a world that has become very much about not just expressing an opinion, but stopping others from expressing their perhaps less popular opinion. Everyone is very busy being offended, and they demand someone else get in trouble for their alleged suffering.

Im neither South African nor a real artist, but I think there’s a global message in the events taking place around this work. Therefore I’m making sure “The Spear” is available on this site… enjoy – or don’t.

A Living Podcast History

Most discussions of blogging or podcasting history immediately sound crazy because they all involve an allegedly “long” span of about 12 to 14 years. As crazy as it may sound, when it comes to the internet, 12 years is an eternity. When it comes to life, however, 12 years goes by in the blink of an eye.

This spring I have rediscovered a podcast I used to listen to regularly, The Overnightscape, hosted by Frank Edward Nora who several times a week takes you along during his commute to work from New Jersey to Manhattan and occasionally invites you to relax at home with him or with a friend as they talk about everything from pop-culture to history and generally, things going on in Frank’s mind. Back in 2004, when podcasting first officially started, Frank’s style of recording would have been called stream of consciousness, which could be one of the greatest examples of what made the voices and style of podcasting so unique. No radio program would ever have had the nerve and patience to allow a host to just think out loud without a time limit, but the freedom and honestly of podcasting was the perfect place for it.

Though we’re not far from podcasting turning a decade old, strangely many of those podcasts that were so unique and experimental have disappeared. Producers of these programs stopped for a wide range of reasons, among them: the lack of financial resources to continue, the lack of returns in the form of feedback (or perhaps money), the demands of a day job or other offline life requirements, loss of interest, or as Ivan explained on a recent edition of the podcast – some projects need to end. Among today’s remaining independent podcast programs, there is a mix of specialized topics which often involve interviews and just a few long running monologue (stream of consciousness) type shows. (my favorite being the incomparable Yeast Radio) Many of these have faced their own critical moments where things almost shut down for good but then fortunately made it through and carry on still today.

Yet despite what we still have in terms of audio (and video) creators, many great ones have hung up their spurs and called it quits. There are countless audio and video files who’s hosting accounts ceased to exist and are therefore no longer available online. Time and the internet keep moving forward, things change, and what seems at present so permanent, can disappear so easily. At the recent gathering of creative minds during Re:publica12 in Berlin there was a group of people looking for like-minded individuals interested in archiving and preserving blogs. The familiar idea- that one day many of us and/or our websites will be gone and the only way to preserve this valuable (or valueless) work is to put it somewhere in such a manner that it will still be accessible well into the future.

With all this in mind I notice wordpress telling me that I will soon reach 2000 posts on citizenreporter.org. 2,000 posts, 420 podcasts and counting- will it all still be accessible in 12 years? I very much hope so.