Fernando Alcoforado *
Throughout the course of the year, we should reflect deeply on the trajectory of Humanity throughout history in the sense of seeking the best paths that lead us to peace and solidarity among all men and women on our planet. All of us should incorporate in our minds that we are living decisive historical moments for humanity in which very powerful economic, social and environmental forces can lead us to a catastrophic picture of conflicts between human beings and the revolt of Nature against those who attack it, that is, humans.
In human history, conflicts between human beings have been a constant. Violence has grown over time. The end of the Cold War, for example, has not contributed to the peaceful resolution of conflicts between nations and peoples that continue to cause millions of dead and maimed people throughout the world and prevent many people from living in the least conditions of dignity. Even in seemingly peaceful situations, violence is, in many ways, a daily reality that destroys lives and condemns to survival in wicked conditions a multitude of human beings.
Is it not unemployment, illiteracy, insecurity, growing inequalities, the exploitation of man by man and the future threatened manifestations of violence with which we are constantly confronted? Let us not confuse nonviolence with passivity, cowardice, or relinquishment to fight for justice. Affirmation of self, aggressiveness and conflict have been hallmarks of human behavior throughout its history. War can not continue to be a constant in the history of Humanity.
Humanity today has material and spiritual resources that allow it to do without violence as a way of guaranteeing survival and it is possible, starting from a slow and difficult process, to inaugurate a new civilizing era of humanization, personal and community enrichment, through confrontation and understanding of the other, the different. Today, it is possible to think of the evolution of humanity outside the framework of violence.
There is a proverb that has become common sense that “if you want peace prepare the war” which is false because it encourages the proliferation of war with the arms race”. Just as we must learn to kill to practice violence, so one must be prepared to die to practice non-violence”, Gandhi said. Now, to have this principle as a horizon of life presupposes a deep and persistent inner work because non-violence does not refuse conflict, but seeks to transform it into a source of growth and maturation of human consciousness and solidarity, conscious of the limitations and precariousness of this same process.
Not satisfied with the conflicts between human beings throughout history, Humanity began to practice violence against Nature, putting at risk its very existence in the face of the environmental catastrophe that is foreseen on our planet. The rulers do little to preserve the cradle that sustains Humanity, that is, the planet Earth. It has developed a culture of putting the interests of Humanity above Nature, because survival is stronger than the preservation of the Earth.
They forget that the Earth is a cradle and is a road, a sine qua non for the survival of Humanity. It is necessary to develop social awareness as the most effective way of bringing the Human Being to know about oneself and of the Whole in a fraternal correlation of knowledge that does not leave the Earth in second or third planes, but in an equality plane.
In Charles Chaplin’s “final speech” in the film The Great Dictator, he lives a brilliant satire to Adolf Hitler. The classic climax of this film is the celebrated final speech, a libel to the triumph of reason over militarism. He stated, among other things, in a context different from the current one, but valid today, that we all want to help each other. Human beings are like that. We want to live for the happiness of our neighbor – not for their misfortune. Why should we hate or despise one another? There is space for everyone in this world. The Earth, which is good and rich, can supply all our needs.
The path of life can be that of freedom and beauty, but we stray. Covetousness has poisoned the soul of man … raised up the walls of hatred in the world … and has made us go at a goose’s pace for misery and death. We create the era of speed, but we feel trapped within it. The machine, which produces abundance, has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us skeptical, our intelligence hardened and cruel. We think too much and feel too little. More than machines, we need humanity. More than intelligence, we need affection and sweetness. Without these two virtues, life will be violence and all will be lost.
The next nature of these things is an eloquent appeal to the goodness of man, an appeal to universal fraternity, to the union of all of us. To those who can hear me I say, “Do not despair!” The misfortune that has fallen upon us is nothing more than the product of covetousness in agony … of the bitterness of men who fear the advance of human progress.
Let us now fight to liberate the world, to put an end to greed, hatred and arrogance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world in which science and progress lead to the happiness of all of us. Still with much hope that Humanity will reconcile with itself and with Nature, we present our desire that all our dear friends make a deep reflection on the gigantic problems that afflict us and engage in the struggle for a better world of what men and women have built to this day.
* Fernando Alcoforado, 79, holder of the CONFEA / CREA System Medal of Merit, member of the Bahia Academy of Education, engineer and doctor in Territorial Planning and Regional Development by the University of Barcelona, university professor and consultant in the areas of strategic planning, business planning, regional planning and planning of energy systems, is the author of 14 books addressing issues such as Globalization and Development, Brazilian Economy, Global Warming and Climate Change, The Factors that Condition Economic and Social Development, Energy in the world and The Great Scientific, Economic, and Social Revolutions that Changed the World.
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