Opinions

Competition is one of the foundation stones of Capitalism. Certainly competition has its place, but not where matters of universal importance are at stake; not when co-operation is required to ensure the future prosperity of humanity. Will the Mont Pelerin Society forum think outside the Capitalist box this time, or will it not?

The discovery of a new planet and the denied appointment by the UN of someone responsible for relations with ‘aliens’ leads us to reflect on the moment in which humanity finds itself as a whole. What will mankind do at this historical crossroads? Will we continue in our prehistory or will we launch ourselves like a shooting star towards other worlds?

Mario Luis Rodríguez Cobos, Silo, died in Mendoza, Argentina on the 16th of September 2010 but none of the big European newspapers (nor the television channels) reported this fact. They therefore silenced the great initiatives and humanist proposals which came from the other side of the Atlantic and which are still there, constructing *“life to come”*.

Silent and humble: Silo lost in the huge auditorium, was the visible leader of the great humanist movement which celebrated an International Encounter in Quito. I attended keen to learn about his ideology, to contact his kindred humanists from the five continents; Tomás Hirsch, the Latin American humanist spokesperson, Giorgo Schultze, Rafael de la Rubia.

One year after the World March started in Wellington, New Zealand, the book of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence – a compilation in 400 colour pages of almost everything that took place over three months, plus the preparations – is presented in Toledo, Spain. The following are the words of Tony Robinson, international Spokesperson for World without Wars and Violence.

Here we transcribe the entirety of these lines by “Guri”, the owner of the ice-cream parlour in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza, Argentina. “About the death of Silo”, in which he recounts his 25 year relationship with Mario Luis Rodríguez, Silo, who always bought his ice-creams and ate them on the terrace of his ice-cream parlour.

Silo’s spiritual dimension is inexhaustible and his death leaves us with a teaching whose scope, both unpredictable and vast, is difficult to measure. This phrase, uttered in these very complex and clichéd times, seems to speak of someone with an opinion on anything and everything; but Silo did not have anything to do with what is in the media, nor was he a stage act.

*Those who know something about Grameen Bank will know it is a Bangladesh outfit and idea so where was that country in Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post’s Business Section September 16, 2010, article “Grameen in mainland microfinance venture”? Not even a passing reference to the originator nor the proud originating country!*

The following are the notes of the open talk by Fernando Alberto García at the meeting place of Humanist Rebellion base team of The Community for Human Development (Frías 262, Buenos Aires, Argentina), on Saturday August 28, 2010.
It is based on talks Fernando had with our friends in India during July of the same year.

On 19th August, the last US army combat brigade left Iraq. It was 1:30 on Thursday when soldiers from the Fourth Stryker Brigade of the Second Infantry Division crossed the border with Kuwait. There were 56 thousand soldiers still on Iraqi territory for “stabilisation” tasks, such as training Iraqi armed forces and police.