10th Anniversary of this Blog - Part IV

                Good morning for whom is reading this text in the morning. Good afternoon, if you are reading in the afternoon and good evening for whom is reading at night. As last post of the year, I've decided to carry on celebrating the decade doing this blog. The celebration started I writing about how I've been an resilient activist for better education. The second I wrote about how important is the GDP growth for development and to create better conditions of living for the population. And in order to better analyse the growth in differents countries we need to compare countries with the same stage of development. The third I wrote about the importance for all of us to defend human rights. Now it is time to write about others important issues I have been writing in this ten years, besides those I said previously. If you have been reading this blog, you have realized that there are many texts about democracy, politics, political inclusion, and justice. All these issues are interconnected. For a better country all of them must work well. All political scientists say that the better political system is that with full democracy with period plebiscites, accountable politicians with incentives for renovation and transparent organisms. An impartial and based on human rights judiciary system is also fundamental. So, I need to ask you, Are we having all these conditions for improvement in Brazil. The Brazilian people want these changes. It is what was shown in the huge protests of June 2013. That is why I keep remembering the second biggest manifestation in Brazil history. We should never to give up fighting for a better country, with better democracy with a better and inclusive politics. Have you already thought about the importance of a more inclusive politics? Without more candidates with real chances to win, the mandate owners may feel little pressure to work for a better country, state or city, besides they feel they can easily win every election without being accountable for their work or lack of it. So, it is fundamental importance to have a political system that support and encourage people take side on politicals issues that direct or indirect affect their lives and participate in the election. A health democracy needs as many citizens participating as possible in the political debate as well as in the elections. If you want to read more about the importance of popular participation you can read this text, http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2016/07/strengthening-citizen-participation-in.html But I think that everyone knows it, so I have to ask, why have I had my right to participate in the elections systematically violated? It should have a law compelling a political party that promised to register a candidate to do it. If not they are free to deny some candidate the right to participate in the election. And nothing happens to them. They did not have any reason to deny this right to me. On the contrary, I decided to participate in the elections because the people was asking me to do it. Since 2011, when I joined a party, we have waiting and wishing this justice. Here in the city where I was born and live, the people know me since I started to work for my father when I was fourteen years old, so they know I am a ethical, hard-working, honest and sympathetic person, and they want to see me as a politician. And why can they not have their desire accomplished? But now it is not only them, we have realized the support for my political rights coming from all over the world, the desire of a lot of people abroad and from other parts of Brazil to see me working as a politician. By the way, I really appreciate all the support we felt here, I really would like to thank you all. We all have to recognize  people that use their work as journalist or their fame as actor or actress to lower hypocrisy and to increase truth and justice. And I hope never disappoint all these support and we will have to keep our fight for human rights, democracy and justice for many years ahead for the good of humankind.

Human Rights Day 2020

             This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/human-rights-day-2020-theme-campaign-slogan-importance-2336402. The second was published at  https://www.standup4humanrights.org/en/humanrightsdays2020.html. The third was published at   https://virgin.co.uk/branson-family/richard-branson-blog/thoughts-on-human-rights-day

                 This year's human rights day focuses on the devastating fallout of COVID-19 pandemic on the underpriviliged people, children, and women and the need to build back better by ensuring human rights are central to recovery efforts. Human Rights Day is observed on December 10 and every year the U.N. encourages nations "to create equal opportunities for all and address the issue of inequality, exclusion and discrimination. Human Rights Day is a great opportunity to spread awareness about the importance of human rights in our communities and worldwide solidarity in rebuilding after the pandemic. "Recover Better - Stand Up For Human Rights" is the theme for human rights day this year. The aim is to engage with all partners and also involve the people to push  for transformative action. The pandemic has pushed innumerable people to the brink. In order to "build back better", the widening gap among people must be addressed, according to the world rights body. 1) End discrimination of any kind.  2) Take steps to protect economic rights.  3) Encourage participation and solidarity.  4) Promote sustainable development.                                                                     The theme for this year's Human Rights Day relates to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need to recover better by ensuring human rights are at the heart of the recovery efforts. The global COVID-19 crisis has been fuelled by deepening poverty, rising inequalities, strucutural and entrenched discrimination and other gaps in human rights protection. Only measures to close these gaps and advanced human rights can ensure we fully recover to a world that is better and more resilient, just and sustainable. Human Rights Day is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of human rights in re-building the world we want, with global solidarity, interconnectedness and shared humanity. The annual celebration of Human Rights Day highlight how people everywhere stand up for human rights. In Geneva, on 10 December, UN human Rights will host "Recover better: stand up for Human Rights", an exclusive online audio-visual event. The 90-minute programme will highlight innovation by and inspirational stories of people and organizations that are finding ways to rebuild a better world by placing human rights at the heart of the recovery from COVID-19. In New York, UN Human Rights will host "ACelebration of COVID-19 Frontline Heroes." This one-hour virtual event will spotlight frontline workers who have borne the brunt of the pandemic and community organizers who have helped those around them to cope with the pandemic in a human rights-centered manner. In Latin America, an online concert will be organized on recovery better through music.                                                                                                                      Human Rights Day is more than a commemoration of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by UN members states on 10 December 1948 - in and of itself a real accomplishment of a weary human family emerging from the bloodshed and terror of World War II. It is a good reminder that the idea of human rights must never be taken for granted. Millions around the world continue  to live under constant threat of discrimination, intimidation, persecution, torture and even death for standing up for their human rights and those of others. Many continue to languish in prisons for speaking truth to power, for demanding recognition and respect, for challenging authoritarianism and oppression. Perhaps the most tragic part for many is that their voices are never heard, their stories never told, and their names never known. As respect for the rule of law has eroded in so many places, and human rights and human dignity have come under attack from populists and authoritarian rulers alike, this is the moment to stand up, speak our minds and demand change.

Some Psychological Aspects of Privacy

               This post is a summary of the article with the title above published at    https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol31/iss2/5/

                 The state of privacy is related to the act of concealment. Privacy is an outcome of a person's wish to withhold from others certain knowledge as to his past and present experience and action and his intentions for the future.The wish for privacy expresses a desire to be an enigma to others or, more generally, a desire to control others' perceptions. What consequences follow from compulsory visibility? One may hope that the rough answer to this question attempted below will be deemed relevant and useful in appraising the value of privacy in certain of its legal contexts. An adult person lives his life in relation to various social systems. He is taught appropriate ways to behave, depending upon his age, sex, family position, occupation, and social class. If he does not conform to extant role-definitions, sanctions are directed against him. A kind of sanction applied against actions and utterances that are unacceptable, or not intelligible to others, is the process of denigrating the actor or utterer by calling him "mentally ill." If a person can not or will not learn expected roles, he may be regarded by others as "mad." When this happens, the person can be hospitalized. Prior to the pronouncement that he is cured or improved, the patient is subject to eletric shocks, injections, administration of tranquilizing drugs, and conversations with a professional person ( psychiatrist, psychologist, or nurse). The experience of psychotherapists have shown that people maintain themselves in physical health and in psychological well-being when they have a "private place." Those responsible for ruling and leading a society, whether self-appointed or elected, have a vested interest in knowing what people are thinking, feeling, and doing. Even in a democracy, they may spy upon people and reporting to the authorities what they have seen. Bur where there is not privacy, there is little or no individuality. The whole process of a person's becoming a unit is one of divesting himself of his private existence. Sartre's statement holds a psychological as well as an artistic truth. One view of "hell" is changelessness. The person who can not grow, who experiences his own being and the being of the world as "frozen" in its present status, is in a kind of "hell." Without the availability of private places, people suffer individually, and society suffers collectively. As a psychoterapist, I have frequently been called upon to help persons find more viable ways to live than those that have culminated in a breakdown. In my opinion, our educational institutions are misnamed. The schools, from kindergarten through university, might better be called training institutions for promoting conformity in ideology and social behavior. True educators, by contrast, aims at awakening, illuminating and expanding consciousness, at eliciting new possibilities of thinking, feeling and acting; at exploring new realms of value; at providing standards of truth and justice that afford a basis in consciousness for criticizing and modifying existing ways. People who emerge, thus educated, from our institutions of learning are rare. If exploration and inventiveness in ways to live, play, and interact with others is not permitted, or, if permitted, is not conceivable or tolerable to rigidly trained people, we can expect increasing rates of suicide, alcoholism and drug addiction, and psychological and physical breadown. If the general population came to believe that private life is free, that its privacy is to be respected, and that variety, not uniformity, in ways to live is a value, then the expected catastrophes following may be averted. Doubtless, too those current aspects of family life that militate against the quest for viable and health-yielding ways to live in private will have to be changed. In short, privacy is experienced as "room to grow in," as freedom from interference, and as freedom to pursue experimental projects in science, art, work, and living. In the name of the status quo and other,  privacy may be eroded. But without privacy and its concomitant, freedom, the cost to be paid for the ends achieved, in terms of lost health, weak commitment to the society, and social stagnation, may be too great.

170th Birthday of Robert Stevenson

              A little more than one week ago, precisely on 13th November, the Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson would complete 170 years-old, so this post is a tribute to him. He was an humanist. His writings makes us think about  hypocrisy, truth, guilt, responsibility. And like others great writers show us moral, social and psychological issues. This post is a summary of four articles. The first was published at   https://www.biography.com/writer/robert-louis-stevenson.  The second was published at   http://www.rlstevenson-europe.org/en/r-l-stevenson/. The third was published at   https://www.businessdestinations.com/bd-portrait/robert-louis-stevenson-the-father-of-modern-travel-writing/. The fourth was published at   file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/BPTX_2008_2_11210_ASZK00306_132513_0_74386.pdf

                    Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was born in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1850 to Thomas and Margaret Stevenson. At the age 17, he enrolled at Edinburgh University to study engineering. But this did not appealed to him, and he began studying law. He emerged from law school in 1875, but did not practice, as, by this point, he felt that his calling was to be writer. Stevenson's first book of short fiction, New Arabian Nights, marked the U.K. emergence into the realm of the short story, which would come to be his calling card. A turning point in Stevenson's personal life came during this period, when he met the woman who would become his wive, Fanny Osbourne, in 1876. She was a married American woman with two children. In 1878, she divorced and Stevenson set out to meet her in California. They remained together until Stevenson death in 1894. The 1880s were notable for both Stevenson's declining health and his prodigious literary output. He suffered from hemorrhaging lungs (likely caused by undiagnosed tuberculosis), and writing was one of the few activities he could do while confined to bed. The idea for Treasure Island was ignited by a map that Stevenson had drawn for his 12 year-old stepson; Stevenson had conjured a pirate adventure story to accompany the drawing. Treasure island was published in 1883, and by the end of the 1880s, it was one of the most popular and widely read books. The year 1886 saw the publication of what would be another enduring work, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. which was an immediate success. The book went on to international acclaim, inspiring countless stage productions and more than 100 motion pictures. In June 1888, Stevenson and his family set sail from San Francisco, California, to travel the islands of the Pacific Ocean. In 1889, they arrived in the Samoan islands, where they decided to build a house and settle.                                                                                                          Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde are world-wise best sellers, frequently republished and translated, adapted as films and graphic novels. The writer's works go beyond these books. The Master of Ballantrae, Kidnapped and The Black Arrow are also widely read, as are all his novels, poetry and tales of the south seas. The writer left Scotland, where he was born, in search of a climate which would soothe his respiratory illness. He ended his days at the age of 44 amongst the inhabitants of Samoa in Oceania. For Stevenson travel was not a pretex or an escape, but an opportunity for encounters. The accounts of his travels in Europe are regarded as genuine ethnographic descriptions of peoples and lands. Robert Stevenson is at the heart of humanistic values, based on openness to others and tolerance of differences. Writer, traveller, adventurer, idealist, Stevenson left his mark on the places he visited through his literary work and his profound compassion for humanity.                                                                                                                                             When asked of the impact Robert Stevenson had on the literary world, many would point ti his widely renowned works of fiction: Treasure Island and The Strange case of Dr jekill and Mr Hyde. However, fiction was not the source of his initial success. Stevenson's early travel writing was a driving force for his literary career and has continued to influence the way people write about travel even today. It was during his summer vacations that Stevenson found his niche in travel writing, with his earliest published works recounting his travels in France. His first volume, An Inland Voyage, was published in 1878, and recalled a canoe trip he made through Belgium and France with a friend. He was very focused on human individuality, as opposed to a lot of Victorian writers, who would tend to sort of homogenise groups, or nationalities or "types" of people.                                                          The works of Robert Stevenson are deeply immersed in social, psychological and moral issues peculiar not only to the Victorian age but also relevant to our time. In his prose he explores the character of human mind with its deformities as well as its virtues, for to be true to life is, in Stevenson's own words, much more estimable than to idealize it. An honest critique of social illnesses is worth a great deal than mere show of ggodness and morality often required by the publishers and expected by the reading public. The Strange Case of Dr Jekill and Mr Hyde primarily deals with something else than the struggle between the good and evil in oneself. More than anything else this book is a critique of the XIX century middle classes and the moral standards which conditioned the appearance of the discourses of criminality, degeneration and atavism as traits inherent to the lower classes. The very argument upon the novel is based is that man's character is not uniform, or made of one whole, but dualistic, containing the good and evil parts, is suggestive of Jekill's continued attempts at finding an excuse for his behavior, as well as blaming it on someone else, in his case, his other "evil" self, Hyde. Like all addicts, Jekill supposes himself unaffected by exercising the Hyde part of his character. He misinterprets Hyde as an evil clearly separated from his own good self. And as he perpetuates this self-delusion. he assures that he can be rid of Hyde any moment. Such proclamation of freedom from a drug are well known to anyone who has ever dealt with an addicted person. Jekill's addiction reaches its high point and the final stage of the cycle of addiction - despair, isolation and the realization of a certain degree of the truth. However, even until his last moments, Jekill refuses to acknowledge the full extent of his guilt and remains obstinately fond of his alter ego. The book rather than make us simply sympathetic with Jekill's burden, calls our attention to the more complex problems of responsibility and honesty, especially about one's attitude to, and the role in, society.

International Day of Democracy - 2020

                  Two months ago, precisely on 15th of September, all over the world was celebrated the democracy.  This post is a summary of two articles. The first was published at  https://www.un.org/en/observances/democracy-day. The second was published at     https://www.twinkl.com.br/event/international-day-of-democracy-2020                           

               The unprecedented COVID-19 crisis has resulted in social, political and legal challenges globally. As states around the world adopt emergency measures to address the crisis, it is critical that they continue to uphold the rule of law, protect and respect basic principles of legality, and the right to access justice, remedies and due process. U.N. has urged governments to be transparent, responsive and accountable in their covid-19 response and ensure that any emergency measures are legal, necessary and non-discriminatory. U.N. says states must respect and protect, among other rights, freedom of expression and of the press, freedom of information, freedom of association and of assembly. Concerns in many countries in the context of COVID-19 include: 1) Measures to control the flow of information and crackdown on freedom of expression and press freedom against an existing background of shrinking civic space.  2) Arrest, detention, prosecution or persecution of political opponents, journalists, doctors and healthcare workers, activists for allegedly spreading "fake news".  3) Agressive cyber-policing and increased online surveillance.   The crisis raises the question how best to counter harmful speech while protecting freedom of expression. Efforts to eliminate misinformation can result in purposeful or unintentional censorship. The most effective response is accurate, clear and evidence-based information from sources people trust. Around the world civil society have answered the U.N. call to action to address the wide range of ways the COVID-19 crisis may impar democracy, by: 1) Developing media literacy, more critical than ever as activism is forced online, so as to address the risk of suppression, interference and closing of civic space. 2) Fighting misinformation and hate speech  3) Empowering women against gender-based violence, which has surged amid Covid-19 quarantines.  4) Helping to highlight the challenges of inequality and weak service delivery made worse by the crisis, with specific focus on the needs and rights of women, minorities and other marginalized populations, so as to help hold governments to account. The International Day of Democracy provides an opportunity to review the state of democracy in the world. Democracy is as much a process as a goal, and only with the full participation of and support by the international community, national governing bodies and individuals, can the ideal of democracy be made into a reality to be enjoyed by everyone, everywhere. The values of freedom, respect for human rights and the principle of holding periodic and genuine elections are essential elements of democracy.                                                                                                               International Day of Democracy is celebrated annually on 15th September. It is a chance to review the state of democracy around the world, encourage democratic movements and promote freedom, peace and human rights. It began in 2007 and each year the event centres around different themes. In 2019, the theme was participation, and the event gave rise to an app to help citizens get involved with politics. In true democracies, citizens can take an active role in their governments and hold politicians to account by voting them out. Democracy is linked to human rights and aims to ensure that everyone in a society is represented. Democracy should ensure that governments protect their people. International Day of Democracy is an opportunity to assess issues like human rights, equality and conflict resolution throughout the world. It is a chance to reflect on our own freedoms. It encourages action and motivates people to work collectively for a fairer and more representative government.

10th Anniversary of this Blog - Part III

          In the previous posts I wrote about two very important issues that are very related to each other, education and development. This time I'll write about another very important issue that I have been writing a lot in this decade doing this blog and deserve the concern of everybody. The defense of  human rights. Actually I have been a strong, steady, and resolute activist for human rights. I think that the defense of human rights should have much more activists than there are nowadays.  Everything that we take for granted in a democracy depend on human rights: your freedom to speak what you want to speak, your freedom to choose any candidate you want to vote, your freedom to have the most basic things in your life such as: your own life and your privacy, your freedom to access justice and official organisms and have your complaints take seriously. And your right to have some reparation, compensation when your right have not been respect and this damage severely your life. A life without those basic human rights is so unbearable that is even difficult for us to imagine our lives without them. If you want to imagine how would be to live without those basic rights, you can watch some movies to help you to imagine how unbearable it would be. Movies such as: 1984, The Killings Fields, Hunger Games, V for Vendetta and many other fictional and non-fictional movies telling us how abuse of power can increase to the point to interfere in our daily and intimate lives doing us to think how precious are those basic rights. It's important to know how a dystopia would be in order to avoid any precedent event or situation that can lead us to this nightmare, to this hell for the majority of the population. Besides movies, the literature can also give a clear idea how a dystopia would look like. If you want to know about the importance of dystopian literature, you can read this post      http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2016/09/the-importance-of-dystopian-literature.html or this  http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2016/01/orwells-world.html. Nowadays eventually we still can listen some disinformed people say nonsense about human rights, for exemplo that human rights defend bandits or it's against punishment. I have been writing a lot about the importance of human rights, but if you especifically want to read something about punishment and human rights click here  http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-human-rights-agenda-and-struggle.html or here   http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2018/12/handbook-on-justice-for-victims.html. If you are a reader of this blog, after the readings of these posts and realizing all that have been happenning in the world in the last two decades, I hope you have a better understanding about human rights and become a human rights defender too. And for those that already are human rights defenders like the NGOs I hope you can realize that more can be done. 

10th Anniversary of this Blog - Part II

          Last weekend I wrote about why I began this blog and why I became an activist for better education. I hope at this moment in history everybody has realized how important education is to personal growth and a country development. In this second part of the celebration for the tenth year of this blog I'll write about another important issue I have been writing. As many of you know I studied Economics during two years in the UFJF during my early twenties, altough I didn't graduate because I worked too much, generally during the 1990s I worked six AM to eleven PM, seven days a week. I learned a lot. And then I felt that was important to explain some economical issues to the people. For example, when compare GDP growth among countries, you need to look among countries with the same stage of development. For example, for a developed country to grow 4% in a year, it is a big thing, but this rate of growth is not big thing for a developing country, and much less for a underdeveloped country. It is happens because of the saturation point in every market in the developed country. For example, in the developed countries there is not much to do in the infrastructure market. Speaking of GDP growth, since the first year I have been publishing the GDP growth of Brazil and many other countries. And what can we realize from this? Comparing the Latin America countries, since 2011. You can see the GDP growth of 2011 here http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2012/05/vol-teac-xxi-real-gdp-growth-in-2011.html you will realize that unfortunately Brazil remains among the countries with the smallest GDP growth in Latin America. The huge potential of Brazil to become a prosperous country is being lost, that why the economists are saying that this decade 2011-2020 is a lost decade. This will be the second lost decade in my life, the first was the 1980s. Why is Brazil failing to us Brazilians economically? Why can Brazil not reach its potential? In this election, ask the candidates what they are doing for better education and to bring development to our cities. So besides being an activist for better education I have been an activist for development and development is reached through GDP growth. In the beginning of this decade, the GDP growth in Latin America was already a concern of many economists, as you can read in this link http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2013/10/lx-after-golden-decade-can-latin.html but even in the previous decade, 2001 - 2010 called by many economists as Golden Decade, Brazil had on average a GDP growth a little more than of the GDP growth of the world.

10th Anniversary of this Blog

                   Last 9th of September, this blog completed 10 years. When I began this blog in 2010, I didn't know how long it would  take. Now I feel that maybe I should keep this blog forever. If you want to know why I began this blog, you can read the first post of all in this link. where I explain why I felt the need to write  http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2010/09/volunteer-teacher.html, following this first blog where I explained why I began this blog I put some articles previously summarized in my email. In my former email, which I don't have anymore I started doing summaries of articles and reports. It is very interesting how some of those articles became so known. But if you are thinking that I started this blog to become famous, you are mistaken. I became famous in Brazil for another reason. I can say it because in 2004 I traveled by motorcycle to São Paulo city and I felt that everywhere I went people knew who I am. So after almost two decades later this fame becomes a worldwide fame. And like many things in life, this fame have positive aspects and negative aspects. Although there is not a counter in this blog, and people in Brazil never give their feedback on my blog. I know that there are millions of readers, because as many things in my life people do not say to me directly, so I have to realize  and figure out if the posts are being read. As you can see, many posts in this blog are about the importance of education, including many of the first year. This is because if a country wants to do like Japan, England, France, Germany did in the XIX century and U.S., South Korea, Ireland, Sweden, etc did in XX century, quality education for all is the only way. The history show us it. China is showing now what education can do for a country and population. If Brazil had done high investments in education 50 years ago, we would be another country today. This decade doing this blog I have been an activist for better education,  and the awareness that all are important in this process: students, parents, teachers, politicians, etc. In 1941, the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig wrote a book called "Brazil, country of the future" if you want to read more about it, here is the link  to read   about a book that gave a country a nickname http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2012/08/voltxxvi-brazil-country-of-future.html. In this book he wrote about the huge potential for brazil to become a prosperous country. The law of the new high school approved in 2017 is the better way to improve the education in Brazil in the short and medium-term, so I hope that next year this new high school can be effectively implemented all over Brazil. I have been writing here about the benefits of this change in the high school. The first summary I did about it was in November 2017, you can read here http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2017/11/flexibility-gives-students-better.html 

The Future of Society: Dystopian and Utopian Aspects in H.G. Wells - Part II

                   H.G.Wells was a great writer and an activist for better education. In his famous book, "A Short History of the World, which I read in 2009 and made a summary of the chapter LVII, if you want to read here is the link, http://thepeopleteacher.blogspot.com/2010/10/short-history-of-world.html , he did a strong defense of education as a tool of progress, social harmony and solution for every problem the humankind was facing in his time. Like me, he believed that real democracy with widespread popular participation, quality education for all and human rights effectively respected was and is the only way for humankind. This post is the second part of the same text from last weekend, the essay published at https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/51a5/4461ffb9d527b7f8c65f3e521d76a1957148.pdf

                   H.G.Wells states what he believes to be the fundamental flaw in any government system; the lack of a good quality education for all. Education and its goal of forming a better future seem to be Wells' obsession. Wells' early work had negative overtones that pointed fingers towards those who did not embrace the future. In The Time Machine the human race had deteriorated and gone backwards instead of forwards. The utopia in Wells' novel is not something that was created by a supernatural being or by stroke of luck. The real utopia is based on the people in that world, just as the title suggests, these people are the masters of their own fate and control all aspects of their world. Wells describes how the utopians, after many catastrophes and wars, lifted themselves to new heights of human development. Wells after World War I moved away from writing Scientific novels to focus on a political idea that is depicted in the novel Men Like Gods. The idea is built upon the believe that governing, leadership, should be given to those who have the best education and skill at their given task. The political agenda also calls for the creation of a world state that will control most aspects of human life within the boundaries for democratic freedom. Wells' goal is to create a better world through a peaceful revolution, using education as a tool that slowly creates change. However, many of Wells' contemporaries did not share his views and believed that the creation of a world state would in any way create a better life for the people of England or anywhere. Wells was a highly prolific writer, both in non-fiction and fiction. He dared to speak his mind and give opinion on subjects others were hesitant about and gave his audience aclear indication about what to expect in the future. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, published in 1932, is a dystopian novel based on Wells' ideas of a world state. In the novel, Huxley creates a world state were humans are controlled by technology. Huxley warns against the so-called "progress" trough the means of science, and he wanted to express caution against unrestricted technological progess, since its goal would only be to further enhance the technology itself. In the novel humans are conditioned with constant platitudes that remind them of their role and the perfect system that supposedly surrounds them. Huxley delves deeper into Wells' novel Men Like Gods and sees the dangers of mixing technology and unchecked power. Even though Wells' political views were controversial, and in some cases radical, it does not mean that his predictions were incorrect. Today, man has become more skilful at using technology to create better conditions for ourselves, and social reform has occurred thanks to unifying organizations with common goals, such as the U.N. or the E.U. Wells was trying throughout the 20's and 1930's to describe a new solution by taking the best of democratic values and mix them with progressive ideas that represented a change from the burdened and often undisclosed way of making politics in his day.

The Future of Society: Dystopian and Utopian Aspects in H.G. Wells

              This post is a summary of the essay with the title above published at   https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/51a5/4461ffb9d527b7f8c65f3e521d76a1957148.pdf

               The year is 1895; H.G.Wells is a 29 year-old author who has just published his first novel The Time Machine. It depict a man of the new century, a man of science and rationality, as he travels through time and discovers the future. The novel explores the futuristic ideas of a man raised in a society that is subject to great social change. H.G.Wells was at this time a biologist, a firm believer in Darwinian Theory. Throughout his career he would describe himself as a "journalist" portraying the world around him. He is today a giant of literature, the father of science fiction. This essay explores the dystopian and utopian writings of H.G.Wells, focusing on The Time Machine (1895) and Men Like Gods (1923). Both novels reflects the social discourse of the time in which the author wrote them. Further, I will argue that there is a change in the mindset of the author from the pre-war novel of 1895 to the novel written after the great war. Both novels contain dystopian and utopian elements, but that in the pre-war novel Wells does not provide a solution to the problem described. That changes in Men like Gods when Wells describes a society and culture that he wants the world to strive for, a system that would cause mankind ro evolve into a single unified society devoid of class, injustice, disease and wars through technological and educational progress. The Time Machine follows an enlightened man as he travels through time. The novel is a combined adventure-story and critique of society, a way for Wells to comment on the problems he sees in Victorian England and a call for those around him to accept a new future based on practically, pragmatism and scientific truth instead of the medieval dogmas and norms. In Men Like Gods Wells attempts to offer the solution to the problems he has experienced during his lifetime, a reporter is transported to a future where there is no centralized government, where education and demoratic freedoms form the ideal society called utopia. The purpose of this essay is that you as a reader will receive a greater understanding of the beginnings of our modern world by exploring the life-changing events and the discourse of that time through the writings of a very prolific writer. I have chosen to perceive these changes through the literature of a man who was very ahead of his time, a man who expresses a critical view on social injustice, war and class. These are also the views who believed that a total new system was needed for mankind to take the next step in our common evolution. Dystopian literature paints a bleak picture of a contemporary or future society; it describes a situation where the majority suffer greatly and a few have all essential control. Dystopian novels are concerned with the flaws of human society and how our division within leads to injustice and as unfair treatment towards those who can not defend or protect themselves. The Time Machine focuses on injustice and the ongoing fight between science and religion, to understand his writing one must look at the world that Wells lived in, and also understand the issues during the late 19th century and the years before World War I. Victorian England is described as a starting point of Western society. however, it was a turbulent time with conservative elements trying to hold back the progress that took place in every aspect of people's lives and affected everyone's reality. Religion is only one part o The Time Machine a much heavier emphasis is placed on social inequality, which Wells proclaims will lead to an escalating division between rich and poor. In The Time Machine Wells display a place that on the surface is beautiful but contains deep scars of history. The protagonist theorises that the reason for the lack of intelligence in the Eloi is because of their static lifestyle and total inability to remain curious for a longer period of time. The dystopian elements can easily be found throughout the novel. H.G.Wells wanted in The Time Machine to give the reader an insight into the problems of Victorian England. He highlight the dangers that society would encounter if it continues to hold onto the past and not accept change is inevitable, In 1917 he traveled to Italy and the front, and in both places he saw the true reality of war. After these experiences he no longer focuses on the scientific novels, his greatest success as a writer. Instead, political commitment takes the front seat. It is during this time that Wells conceptualizes a world that does not contain the waste, fruitlessness and horror he encountered during the years of war. He envisions a system based on universal ideas and the core of this new society would be the education of all people to avoid the mistakes made by previous generations. Wells is very critical to the way hereditary and privileged positions gave some people an advantage over others. This is a theme that would be the focus of his 1924 novel Men Like Gods. It spawned a massive amount of discussion during his lifetime, even to such a degree that the world-view depicted in the novel would be forever labelled as "Wellsian-Utopia." This novel follows the protagonist Mr Barnstaple to a parallel universe called Utopia. The similarities with The Time Machine are quite obvious. Mr Barnstaple is disappointed with the narrow minded people in his own time and searches for an ideal to follow. Throughout the novel Mr Barnstaple becomes educsated in the way of live of Utopia, he learns that Utopia is a democracy with no government, religion or monetary system and is based on the five principles of liberty: privacy, free movement, unlimited knowledge, truthfulness and free speech and criticism.

Day of Fighting injustice - 2020

              Today, 23rd of August is being celebrated in Brazil, the day of fighting injustice. We all must defend justice, because when there is some injustice happening for so many years, a dangerous precedent can happen, destroying democracy, undermining rule of law and the fundamental feeling of justice of the people. So, the public trust in our institutions is severely harmed. Besides, when there is not justice, the abuses tend to grow and spreading and affecting many more people. So if you have witnessed any violation of human rights, record it and help fight injustice. You can send the images to the victims and help them to do justice. You should help to do justice, because if not you can be the next victim.  I have been fighting for justice, democracy and human rights for so many years and intend keep this work for more years ahead. I'll never give up to make Brazil a better country, more democratic, fairer, and where human rights are truly respected. The systematic violations, the impunity, the daily bullying in the mainstream media, the threats online and offline exist to do the victims give up to fight for justice and reparations. Besides, the violations, the systematic abuses, the daily humiliation and the impunity can have a dehumanizing effect in the population, trying us accept what can not be accepted, do not let this happen to you, the solidarity and the emphaty are the essence of the human beings. We all should recognize who have courage to lower the hipocrisy and speak the truth. Because always there are costs to do this, so help who is losing to defend your right. This post is a summary of one article published at https://namati.org/bend-curve-towards-justice/. And a prevace of the book,"Sins of Silence",  published at https://www.amazon.com.br/Sins-Silence-Stories-Injustice-Remain/dp/B08BDX

               It was in a small kitchen in Transylvania when I first felt the sting of injustice. Eta, a retired doctor in her 80s whose twinkly eyes and cheeky laugh reminded me my grandmother. We sat chatting and she told me how much she loved talking with young people and how she would have loved to have had children. "Sadly, not possible because of the sterilizations". Eta was a survivor of Awschiwitz and I was there document her story. She continued to tell me how Joseph Mengele had chosen her for his sterilization program and ordered 10 members of her family to the gas chambers. I listened, growing angry at the now-familiar story of the many who turned a blind eye, and at the system which made this injustice. She was worried the world would forget her family's story. I promised her I would not. I have carried Eta with me since that day, but in the last 12 months she has been all the more present as every day I feel that sting of injustice. With politicians scapegoating complex issues and the birth of "alternative facts" and too many silently watching these events unfold. Injustice is not new, but rather than making progress towards solving the issues, we are seriously at risk of sliding backward. Populist leaders often run on the promise of addressing injustice, but we know this to be a false promise. A functioning democracy which serve the people requires accessible and effective justice systems at every level. We need millions of activists, lawyers, civil servants and governments officials offering a spread of legal remedies. Around the world today, these are the people shaping the law to reduce corruption and reform the systems. Justice needs these people as much as people need justice. Justice needs the nameless Polish lady who passed a piece of soap through a barbed wire fence to Eta with a note saying "we are here for you". Justice needs the millions of people who marched to stand up and say that what is happenning today is not normal. Justice needs you. 

                  In the face of injustice why do some act and others remain silent? This is the nagging question I have asked over and over and about people in general. It is the motivation for this book. Of course, both personal ethics and social ethics are part of the answer to the question above because one can not exist without the other. Social justice flows out of personal integrity and real personal integrity expresses itself in social justice. My intent is to better understand what actually motivates someone to personally reach out beyond self-interests and to speak for the defenseless, ignored, oppressed and hurting. The heart of this book is a group of simple stories that have ethical themes and truths. These stories give a human face to academic ethics and illustrate the personal pain of injustice. The stories tell that kindness and mercy are qualities that are always present when the silence is broken and when someone acts in the face of injustice. It were chosen stories that touch hearts and minds where both good and evil, and courage and cowardice, find shelter and lodging. The stories remind us to act in a moral way within the hard context of social problems and the harsh reality of our own weaknesses. In some of these stories, the beauty of ethical living starkly contrasts with unthinkable circumstances and ugly persecution. Holocaust survivor, Eli Zborowski, saw a puzzling mystery about who speaks and who remains silent in the face of injustice. These are not all "feel good" stories that provide easy and confortable answers. In fact, some od the stories may raise aditional questions about why some people remain silent and some speak out in the face of the personal pain and suffering of others. These stories are part of history from its ethical people perspective. History is people and people live within the context of good and evil and memories and dreams. In the tension between good and evil, we all leave an ethical footprint in the journey of history. While searching for answers about injustice, I continually ran into a wall of silence. It became obvious that injustice and silence are the sides of the same coin of indifference. Edward Yashinsky was a poet who survived the Holocaust only to die in a communist prison in Poland. He understood first-hand the evil consequences of silent indifference. These stories from World War II, slavery and oppression tell how some reacted with courage and some with silence in the face of injustice. So, as you read these stories, listen for the silence. Because it is there, in the far and near past and in our present.         

Mapping Accountability: Origins, Contexts and Implications for Development

         This summary is a summary of the book published at   https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/20.500.12413/3930/Wp168.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

         This paper provides an overview of the political uses and implications of the term accountability in contemporary discourses and practices of development. The first part reflects on the historical origins of competing narratives of accountability and what it means for actors, and the processes in which they are embedded, to be accountable. The second section looks at tools, strategies and processes of accountability in formal and informal arenas, assessing the role of law, protest and a variety of managerial approaches in the creation of mechanisms of accountability. The third section looks at how the narratives of accountability, manifested in these diverse practices of accountability, apply to key development actors, traditionally the nation-state, but increasingly also public authority and the private and NGOs sectors. The argument developed here is, firstly, that the function of accountability is to ensure that those that wield power on behalf of others are answerable for their conduct. Secondly, these power relations are in a state of flux, reflecting the contested basis of relations between the state, civil society and market actors. In so far as an enquiry into the practice of accountability in development is de facto an enquiry into how to control the exercise of power. Political thinkers have worried about how to restrain power, prevent abuses, and keep it in line with established rules. During the last decade, the language of accountability has gained increasing prominence in development debates. Constructing accountability requires, therefore, a definition of the relationship between actors, effectively delineating respective positions of power. To apply accountability principles is to define who has power to call for an account and who is obligated to give an explanation for their actions. The construction of accountability, the definition of the rights and duties that flow from relations of accountability, is of course a political process driven by broader political agenda. The challenge of ensuring accountability is multiplied when political authority is shared, as it increasingly is, across a number of levels from the local to the national to the global. The term multi-level governance describes the layers of overlapping authority that characterise decision-making in the current system. Mechanisms of accountability can take a diverse range of forms from formal top-down processes of elections, hearings and consultations to bottom-up strategies such as popular protests or participatory budgeting.  Traditional notions of political accountability are derived from the responsibilities of delegated individuals in public office to carry out specific tasks on behalf of citizensIt is this understanding of accountability, in which rulers explain and justify actions to the ruled, which traditionally distinguished a democratic society from a tyrannical one. Thus, democratic accountability is characterised not only by elections to determine who runs the affairs of society, but also by the obligation of these officials to explain and justify their conduct in public. Contemporary discussions of accountability have focused on issues of transparency and openness, linking scrutiny with access to information. Mechanisms of political accountability can be both horizontal and vertical. Horizontal mechanisms amount to self-imposed accountability within the state machinery. Vertical accountability, on the other hand, is that which is demanded from below by citizens and civil society groups. To be effective, horizontal accountability should be buttressed by strong vertical accountability, in which citizens, mass media and civil association are in a position to scrutinise public officials and government practice. Answerability and the dual pursuit of information and justification help to promote enforcement of government commitments. Different forms of accountability rely on different enforcement mechanimsms. In politics, for example, removal from office is punishment. Yet accountability is only as effective as the mechanisms it employs, and 'inconsequential accountability' is not accountability at all. To deliver answerability effectively, sanctions are key. This paper shows that while the concept of accountability is an increasingly crucial reference point in development debates, its use in diverse discourse remains loose and under-specific as a result of the essentially contested nature of the term and the political agendas that it is used to advance. This, indeed, is what makes it important and interesting for our enquiry into the relationship between citizenship, participation and accountability. Citizenship is in many ways the concept that brings accountability and participation together. Who has the right to hold to account? and who should be held to account? The answers to these questions will tell us something about the different uses of the term citizenship. Power define accountability, and power to create and enforce the mechanisms of accountability. It is this power that constructs citizenship and the web of obligations and duties that flow between citizens. Ensuring that the power is exercised in the interests of all, is where participation comes in. Creating spaces where the rights and obligations of governments and corporations can be contested, negotiated and continually evaluated is crucial. This is important for responsive governance and it is key for the maintenance of checks and balances on those who exercise power. We have seen throughout the discussion how that power operates at different levels, reinforcing itself through discourse, process and actions. 

International Justice Day

    A little more than two weeks ago, precisely on 17 July, all over the world celebrated justice. We all must fight for justice, because otherwise injustice and suffering can spread and reach you. This post is a summary of four articles. The first was published at   https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/world-day-for-international-justice-2020/. The second was published at https://www.india.com/festivals-events/world-day-for-international-justice-2020-history-and-significance-of-the-day-4087353/. The third was published at https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/07/17/celebrating-international-criminal-justice-day. The fourth was published at   https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/83002/day-international-criminal-justice-2020-fight-against-impunity-continues_en

          Every year on July 17, World Day for International Justice is observed all around the world. The aim of the day is to promote international criminal justice and as a way of supporting the work of the ICC. What is the ICC? ICC stands for the International Criminal Court. It came about when 120 states adopted a statute in Rome. It was known as the Rome Statute. All the countries that agreed to adopt the statute were accepting the jurisdiction of the ICC, with regards the prosecution of very serious crimes. The idea was not for the ICC to replace national courts. It is only able to intervene when a country can't or won't carry out investigations and prosecute. The aim of International Justice Day is to unite everyone who wants to support justice as well as promote victims rights. There are a number of different ways you can play a part. Why not write an article or a blog to highlight the need for justice where you live? You could send a communication to your local elected representative and voice your opinion. Speak to members of your government. 

           The date July 17 marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, which seeks to protect people from crimes against humanity and others. This was in the year 1998. The day is celebrated to highlight the importance of the ICC and the work it does to bring about justice for the victims. This day calls on all countries to jion the fight against impunity, and to help prevent future occurrences of these crimes. 

            July 17 marks International Justice Day, This is a moment to reflect on the importance of obtaining justice for victims of serious international crimes. The ICC faces an unprecedented threat after the Trump administration set in place asset freezes and visa bans that could be used against ICC officials and others supporting the court. Robust member country support is needed to overcome this blatant attempt to obstruct justice. An ongoing review of the court's performance, as well as upcoming elections of the next prosecutor and several judges, have key roles to play in strengthening the court. but the past year also saw significant advances for justice worldwide. In November 2019, Gambia brought a case against Myanmar before the ICC, alleging Myanmar's campaign of atrocities against the Rohingya violated the Genocide Convention. In Germany, a landmark trial against former Syrian officials for widespread torture began in April, with crucial support from civil society organizations, Syrian lawyers and survivors. An increasing number of judicial authorities in Europe are investigating and prosecuting crimes committed in countries outside the ICC's reach. In June, the former leader of the "Janjaweed" militia in Sudan, known as Ali Kosheib, surrendered to the ICC with the cooperation of several member countries and U.N. peacekeeping forces. He is the first suspect in custody on charges of government-backed crimes in Darfur. At the ICC, judges authorized investigations in Afghanistan, including crimes by U.S. nationals. On July 14, a trial began against Al Hassan Ag Abdoal Azziz for alleged crimes in Mali. Despite a challenging global landscape, these strides towards accountability for crimes show that victims and their supporters are undeterred in their pursuit of justice.

               Since 17 July 1998, those who commit violations of human rights around the globe have no safe haven: they can run, but can't hide from international justice. That day, 22 years ago, 120 states adopted the Rome statute, the founding treaty of the international Criminal Court (ICC), which seeks to protect people from genocide, crimes against humanity, was crimes and the crime of aggression. On Day of International Justice, we mark the anniversary of a milestone for humankind that has made our planet a more just place where impunity is no longer tolerated. The E.U. reaffirms its longstanding support towards the ICC system and in particular its unwavering commitment to the ICC, as part of the E.U's wider commitment to a rules-based international order. International criminal justice is a key tool to build a future free of violence, as it contribute to long-term peace, stability and equitable development in post-conflict societies. Currently, the ICC holds 13 situations under investigations in the following countries: Congo, Uganda, Sudan, Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya, Côte d'Ivore, Mali, Georgia, Burundi, Bangladesh/Myanmar, Afghanistan. Each year the EU contributes to the promotion of international criminal justice with over 38 millions Euros since 2014. Worldwide, the EU contributes to wider justice sector reforms through programmes aimed at complementing and reinforcing national justice systems. and will continue engaging in efforts to support human rights workers, lawyers, prosecutors and all contributors to the international justice system who relentlessly work to bring justice and protect human rights.

Digital Rights: Latin America - Part II

              This post is a summary og the same book from last weekend, the book published in 2017 at   https://itsrio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/digital-rights.pdf

             What has been traditionally associated to journalism is now extended to people that elected the internet as their main tool of expression, for instance, bloggers, editors of websites and internet users. There are signs which indicates that freedom of expressions violations have the potential of getting more intense against these communicators, who are generally acting autonomously, without any support from the big companies of the communication sector. Thus, bloggers' and users' rights to protect themselves and to fully assure their right to freedom of expression on internet become an emergent theme concerning web governance. In 2012, Article 19 did the entire registration of the gravest cases of freedom of expression violations on the online environment in Brazil and produced a report called "Threats on the web." Unfortunately, the threats exceed the scope of judicial censorship. Journalists and bloggers are victims of physical aggression, death threats and murders because of what they say on internet. Article 19's research found 16 cases of serious threats to freedom of expression in 2012. It correspond to three homicides, three attempted murders and ten death threats against communicators that disseminated information, ideas and opinions on the web. The right to freedom of expression has been defined as "the fundamental pillar" of the democratic system. Network neutrality ensures that internet will remain open so that dissenting voices may express themselves and gain relevance from the interest of citizens and not by their economic power. The production of independent online content is gaining ground in Brazil to address the broadcasting oligopoly and media concentration in the hands of conservative families. The Civil Rights Framework for Internet Use ensures that requests for removal of content from net should only be imposed when there is a court order. This regulation has proved to be relevant in the case of the 2014 elections. Some politicians have invested against information disclosures, satires and online critiques, but now they need to pass the scrutiny of justice. In the case of privacy, the text states that private communication is inviolable and operators of telecommunications networkd are not allowed to monitor their clients. In dictatorships, surveillance is an essential tool that protects the regime. This is what makes the right to privacy a pillar for freedom of expression, freedom of opinion, and fundamental to democracy. The 8th Internet Governance Forum held in Bali, Indonesia. had as was expected, an intense agenda focused mainly on aspects related to security, privacy and human rights.The need to create workspaces and debates around how we want the internet to be built in the future is not only inevitable but also urgent. It seems unreasonable to think that strengthening the benevolent self-refulation and monitoring by the U.S. government into a multisectoral model full of vices, is the best way of solving the current problems. The role of governments is also important and urgent, but with respect for human rights and multisectoral involvement as a starting point. The internet management, the way in which decisions on its infrastructure, protocols and services are taken, is what is called internet governance. This refers to the development and application of principles, norms, rules, and decision-making procedures, and programmes that shape the evolution and use of the internet. These topics cover the internet entire universe and generally augment tensions between various components, for instance, security and privacy, freedom of expression and the protection of intellectual property, among others. The great advantage of digital activism is that it breaks space and time barriers. You can participate at any given time, at the level of engagement that your time and workload allow for. You can participate from home, from work, from the bus. Online activism is the only way to assure the democratic inclusion of the majority of the working population in political participation. But access to the internet is not enough to include people. It is essential to make good use of the internet. In fact, complaints which don't channel demands, or voice causes, don't generate change. Networks for mobilization such as Avaaz, Change, All Out, etc are able to help people articulate their demands, connect them to decision makers to whom these must be voiced and create a solidary community to deal with several causes. Online activism is what gives Brazil a chance to continually and consistenly democratize political disputes, which, for a long time, remained in the hands of forerunners and elites. This workhelp us deal to dispel the haze of confusion that seems innate to the citizen of the beginning of the 21st century. We can't deny the obvious: we are all confused. The chosen macro themes bring very deep and intriguing questions, starting with the protection of privacy. The world of today is a universe of obvious paradoxes. At first glance, we have more access to information, power of expression and interactivity. As public and private institutions are increasingly exposed, we have the impression of living in a more transparent world, closer to the truth. a lot of information, interaction and transparency leave us stunned by the relativization of everything.The selected articles contained in this book, present us with the current picture of difficult and intense times with controversial, polemic and complex dilemmas. They allow us to better understand how the various issues and problems being discussed in the region take place in the richness of the variety of their contexts. 

Digital Rights: Latin America

               This post is a summary of the book with the incomplete title above published in 2017 at   https://itsrio.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/digital-rights.pdf

               In the history of Human Rights, Latin America has been oscillating between defeat and inspiring leadership. Following World War II, the region led the creation of the world's first extensive international human rights instrument, the American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man, in April 1948, months before what would become its greater symbol, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But such commitment to rights was soon replaced by a succession of national dictatorial regimes, state violence and backlashes against freedom and democracy. Finally, a period of intense transformation arose from the ascension to power of governments with repressed plans of more political participation and social equality and freedom of expression. The new wave of hopes blended with the promises of digital rights. Internet and technology invited politics into its core and since then have been delivering a renewed agenda of rights and debates. We live today in a social scene that is largely in the digital world, in which various types of spaces and devices have become vital tools for recording events, news and expression. Digital platforms are used to share information and to promotea greater degree of participation and engagement in issues of public interest. Technology can bring us countless benefits, but it also creates difficult problems which need to be discussed if we aim to solve them. In terms of privacy, there is s growing fear that the development of new technologies might end up increasing the risk of violations in user's privacy. The astounding growth of social networks and connected devices greatly contributes to the expansion of the amount of information made public on the web, and generates some apprehension about its use. Such issues demonstrate how urgent it is for Latin America countries to develop comprehensive regulation regarding privacy. Many have already passed legislation that directly addresses this matter, but others, like Brazil, are falling behind and let serious violations occur. New tech developments also creates issues concerning fundamental rights, such as freedom of expression. Today, anyone can disclose his thoughts, ideas or discoveries through the globe. This constant stream of communication further serves to develop democratic participation. The tech and the way they are being used have transformed individuals into an important source of information, socio-political engagement and control of public power, allowing a greater empowerment of citizens, which triggers processes of social transformation. All these factors are representative of the emergence of a connected public sphere with significant democratic potential yet to be fully explored. In this perspective, we can already begin to see more solid contours of the consideration of this space as a fundamental dedmocratic space. In May 2011, the U.N. advocated the recognition of internet access as a human right, considering it one of the main means through which individuals may exercise their right to freedom of expression. U.N. expresses that the internet is a tool to promote development on several fronts. The deepening of democracy is one of the most remarkable of them. By drastically reducing costs and barriers to participation, the internet enables instantaneous responses,  broadening posibilities for discourse and debates. In promoting citizens engagement and political participation, the doctrine has identified the impact of the internet on the mechanisms of : 1) improving the transparency of the political processes, by monitoring the actions of government officials and public resources. 2) facilitation of direct involvement and active participation in political processes. 3) improving the quality of the formation of public opinion, with the opening of new spaces for imformation and deliberation. In 2013, Brazil experienced a couple of the biggest protests in its history. A raise in bus fares was the catalyst for several national movements demanding better quality of public services, more public transparency, measures for fighting corruption, among other claims. This would not have been possible, or at least would not have taken such magnitude, without the internet. However, it is clear that such mechanisms of democratic participation find limits. Factors such as the unequal distribution of access, the polarization of discourses, and the increasing appropriation of online space by the logic of state power and market capital. Another example of an obstacle to democracy is the increasing use of bots which conduct automatic messaging and posting on social netowrks in elections periods to promote certain political candidates. This practice, known as astroturfing, tries to simulate spontaneous political movements online by employing bots that can operate several profiles and mask their identity. Clearly, astroturfing brings even more complication to the already complex dynamics of an election, with its ability to artificially influence voters. There has also been some criticism of what has been called "couch-activism," referring to the preponderance of support to causes by manifestations that are restricted to the online environment. However, it must also be said that digital activism can break barriers that otherwise could inhibit political participation. Many people often have little time or energy to engage in activities after managing long hours and many time-consuming tasks in their routine. With the internet, citizens can participate in political discussions at any given time. Overall, the digital environment can provide various mechanisms to reduce human rights deficits and strengthen political participation. Sadly, the tech to promote the capacity of citizens to influence the course of politics are still underused. Governments and other institutions could establish different methods to enable the diffusion of the direct participation of its constituents in important decisions that will affect their lives. Brazil has applied great efforts to produce the civil rights framework for internet use. This law was sanctioned in 2014 and it is a large step towards better regulation of digital platforms. Internet governance is another focus, referring to the development and applications of shared principles, rules and procedures that concern the use of the internet. With more than two billion users around the world, the internet calls for a broader dialogue about its consequemces. The strong preference for a decentralized multistakeholder standard derives from the importance of the equal participation between players. Another field that has been the topic of many controversies refers to surveillance and cybercrime. The scandal involving digital espionage committed by the N.S.A. revealed in 2013, raised a red flag about the potential risks to privacy generated by the misuse of tech. This event has not only badly damaged the public's opinion and faith in authorities, but it has also significantly raised peoples' distrust that digital devices can keep users' information protected. This episode helps to stress the importance of the creation of strategies and structures that encourages transparency, especially to prevent such practices. Such activities should be subject to public scrutiny, at least to delineate its purpose and legal limits. Computer crimes have recently grown more sophisticated and consequently, harder to tackle. Therefore, we must develop new mechanisms to prevent those violations and pass legislation that encompasses cybercrime, in order to better deal with those occurrences. Under the advancement of tech, the key question in our countries is to ask how unchecked surveillance practice continue affecting the right to privacy of our populations. Privacy can no longer be reduced to the right of private space, but as one where everyone can take an active part in controlling the existing information of each individual; a legal manifestation of respect and protection which is guaranteed to each and every person, protecting dignity and human freedom, by recognizing within the holder, a power of control over their personal autonomy. The rapid evolution of digital tech has exposed these aspects of the right to privacy to permanent threats from around the world. The 2014 report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, deals specifically with the subject of privacy in the digital age, with a special focus on the problems arising from state surveillance and the lack of state transparency about it. 

Engaging Civil Society: Emerging Trends in Democratic Governance

                  This post is a summary of the book with the title above published at   https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Engaging-Civil-Society%3A-Emerging-Trends-in-Cheema-Popovski/54e99f7abc379218080a1d256c17ae88a4982850

                 Scholars and development practitioners recognize the centrality of governance capacity to achieve sustainable development, including the irradication of extreme poverty, environmental protection, access to basic services and livelihoods and the promotion of economic growth. Consequently, many developing countrieshave aimed to improve governance systems and processes to promote sustainable development. In developing countries, many factors can constrain governance capacity to formulate and implement development policies: elections are not always free, fair and regular; parliamentary processes may be dominated by the ruling elite without adequate interface between parliamentarians and constituents; checks and balances between the executive, judiciary and legislative branches may be inadequate; and weak rule of law may discourage foreign and domestic investments. High levels of corruption can further impede trust in goverment and inhibit the latter's capacity to bring about change. Other challenges can include weak local governments; a lack of inter-agency coordination where cross-sectoral interventions are needed; the magnitude of deficiencies in basic social services; and low levels of participation and engagement by civil society. The most commonly used definition of civil society is a sector of associations, or "a space between the family and the state where people associate across ties of kinship, aside from the market, and independent of the state." In the field of democracy assistance, the professor of political science at University of Stanford, Larry Diamond, defined civil society as "the realm of organized social life that is voluntary, self-generating, self-supporting, autonomous from the state, and bound by a legal order or set shared rules. It is distinct from society in general in that it involves citizens acting collectively in a public sphere to mutual goals, make demands on the state, and hold state officials accountable." The increasing impact of civil society on the governance of global institutions can be partly attribute to the deficiencies of democracy today, especially in developing countries. Several factors have created a vacuum: low levels of citizen participation, inadequate representation and weak mechanisms for accountability. Civil society organizations (CSO) provide information and structure for citizens to become further engaged in governance. For such purposes, CSOs have evolved to work transnationally and focus on specific issues. Often the reform agendas of donor countries and global CSOs are complementary. Both focus on promoting transparency and simplification of processes of global governance. In recent years CSOs have expanded in terms of their role, number, size, activities, areas and influence. The current and upcoming challenges for their continuing contributions to effective democratic governance are: the need for vertical and horizontal coordination; the need to improve legitimacy; trends towards improved organizational accountability; and need for capacity development. The role of CSOs at the global level has changed and are now vital actors in global governance, which includes normative intergovernmental processes that deal with issues of development, security, human rights and disarmament. Global CSOs now play a key role in the definition and establishment of international norms and standards, that are mutually agreed upon by members of international organizations, and then communicated to the national levels, where CSOs can advocate , pressuring governments to improve service delivery and access, as well as monitoring and assessing government policies and practices. CSOs also promote democratic governance by increasing the transparency of actions, promoting anti-corruption and accountability initiatives. Through these roles, CSOs have become increasingly influential in determining the global discourse. They now generate and disseminate data, provide their analysis and allow for a greater heterogeneity of viewpoints to debates. This awareness and coordination must take place both vertically and horizontally in order for CSOs to be most effective in fulfilling their stated policy objectives. Forging mutually reinforcing alliances and partnerships between global and national CSOs has strengthened CSOs engagement. Global civil society has been instrumental in global advocacy of developemnt, security and human rights issues and in increasing funding sources and flows outside government control. Civil society have been playing a vital role in providing an alternative channel of information to citizens and improving access to services. In coming years, a key obstacle to be overcome by CSOs concerns the issue of their legitimacy. As these organizations come to play an increasingly significant role in policy implementation and assessment, the question of their legitimate moral authority will come into play. This book acknowledges an increasing trend towards reinforcing the legitimacy of CSOs through strategies that improve their transparency, accountability and credibility to the public. Six types of legitimacy must be addressed: legal, normative, political, technical, associational and cognitive. Different approaches have been tried to strengthen this legitimacy: transparency mechanisms, annual reports, audited accounts, reporting and disclosure systems, participation mechanisms, evaluation mechanisms, and complaint and redress mechanisms. In conclusion, civil society is now playing a vital role in stimulating democratic change in many ways: direct involvement at different stages of the electoral process, including voter education and electoral monitoring; engagement with parliamentarians to communicate concerns of citizens; the provision of paralegal aid and other support mechanisms for access to justice; access to media to highlight abuses of power; the protection of rights; supporting the independence of the judiciary; and holding officials accountable to improve access to services. However, in order to ensure that they remain effective advocates of the public good, they must strengthen their linkages with other organizations, address issues related to their legitimacy, strengthen accountability and improve capacities.

7º Anniversary of the Protests of June of 2013

              Last 20th of June one of the biggest protests in Brazil history completed seven years. The reason why this protest is studied until now and others are not, it was its character totally spontaneous, unexpected and non-partisan. And this movement called by some as "June Revolution," must be always remembered. The Brazilian people realized that they deserve a better governance, a better return for so many taxes they pay. Besides, we want respect for our basic human rights and justice when they are violated. We want a fair and inclusive electoral and political systems. We want honesty, efficiency and accountability from our politicians and public service. In short, we want a governmental system that make the most of our human and material resources. And so Brazil can reach its true potential and let to be known as 'the eternal Country of the Future' and becomes really what its potential can make for its citizens. This post is a summary of the report published at   https://www.gold.ac.uk/media/documents-by-section/departments/anthropology/Revolutions.pdf

             The June Revolution that shook Brazil in 2013 took everybody by surprise. It started in São paulo as a small gathering protesting a looming rise in the cost of public transport, and in two weeks it spread across 400 cities and towns, bringing millions of people into the streets and forcing President Dilma Roussef to start a process of constitutional reform. For many political observers this "movement of movements" was a new form of working-class articulation of diverse social forces. Fighting for a freedom that encompassed both social and labor demands, slaves infused the labor movement with civic consciouness. But boundaries between freedom and slavery continue to be fluid in Brazil. As in past forms of slavery, the civil liberties of the Brazilian poor are heavily restricted. As a result, economic and civic struggles to struggle for recognition go hand and hand. The June revolution started when the Free Fare Movement led a demonstration against the rise in public transport fare. This small protest quickly escalated and this led to a second phase of the struggle, which reached its apex between June 17 and 20. By now the demands had widened and included health, education and opposition to PEC 37, which would restrict the attorney general's power to carry out independent investigations, de facto eliminating an importanr anticorruption tool. On June 20, one million people marched on Avenida Vargas in Rio. As in other contemporary mobilizations, the Brazilian movement relied heavily on social media to organize gatherings, flash mobs and direct actions across the city. When President Roussef reversed the transport fare increase and proposed a constituent assembly devoted to political reform, more stringent punishments for corruption and investments in transport, health and education, the movement was furiously repressed. As a result of the violence unleashed by the police, the protest entered into a third phase. demands became more dispersed across a wide range of issues including gay rights, legalization of drugs, abortion, lower inflation, public spending and privatization, traffic tolls, etc. For Saad Filho, the movement was now fragmented and captured by a strong anti-left middle class. Another view holds that this was a moment of convergence between the "old" and "new" left. But how did a brooding political discontent become a full-fledged urban revolution? Perhaps more than any other Brazilian cities, the "wondeful city" is an explosive mix of extreme wealth and deprivation, of drug gangs and finance barons, favelas and luxurious real estate, of ancient aristocracies and brutal police, infrastructural decay and stunning natural beauty. The protest was ignited by what was perceived as an unjust planning of major sport events, the World Cup and the Olympic Games, to be held in Rio between 2012 and 2016. Discontent started to rise when the newly formed Olympic Committee announced its plans of investments in the city. Transport and housing improvements focused mainly on Barra da Tijuca, a high-income area, while bus and low-cost train were to be scaled down. So, was "the movement of the movement" led by the middle class or by the precariat? The answer is not straightforward because the political and economic threshold between the precariat and the middle class is fuzzy. For instance, their main common enemies are inflation and corruption. At the beginning of 2013, the 10% increase in prices hit the working class hard. The middle class was hit even more violently by the raise in services. By the time of the demonstrations, a vociferous anti-inflation movement had emerged. Anticorruption movements are also typically cross-sectional. In May, the trials against the PT politicians involved in the vote-buying scandal (Mensalão) had just ended. André Singer's analysis of the June demonstrators socioeconomic profile confirms the porosity between the middle class and the precariat in Brazil. The majority of the demonstrators were young, especially in Rio, where 41% were under the age of 25 and 80% were under the age of 39. Moreover, participants overall had high levels of education. In most cities, no less than 43% of demonstrators had a university degree. Research suggest that 30% of the demonstrators defined themselves as being from the center and adding those who classified themselves as center-left and center-right, the center constituted 70% of the demonstrators. The changes in the electoral system and expansion of public services linked to oil venues announced by Roussef after the protest communicated clearly that the government took seriously the demands of the protesters and felt accountable towards them. In spite of the damaging effect of the events in June 2013, Roussef was re-elected a year later. A investigation in the kickback schemes of Petrobras is triggering a new wave of protests against the president. 35 Petrobras top managers have resigned. In March 2015, half a million Brazilians took the street in anticorruption demonstrations. Because the scandal involved the entire political system, their anticorruption slogans are directed against the political system. How can the events of June 2013 be reassessed in the light of these contemporary developments? The recent proliferation of free-market slogans does show the isolation of the left. Besides, economy does matter. In time of economic prosperity, horizontal forces may turn popular anger into a progressive movement, as it happened in 2013. But in the times of economic downturn, cross-sectionalism may take right-wing turns.

180th Birthday of Thomas Hardy - Part II

                  This post is a summary of three articles. The first was published at   https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291908399_Thomas_hardy_and_realism. The second was published https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgarticle=1117&context=eng_theses. The third was published at file:///C:/Users/Luciano/Downloads/2-5-22-396.pdf

               One distinguished 19th century novelist was bold enough to observe that "realism", though much championed by the most celebrated fiction writers of the century, was "an unfortunate, and an ambiguous word". It had been, he continued, "taken up by literary society like a view-halloo". Plotting Thomas Hardy's realism is to see with unusual clarity the availability of the term for alternative meanings at the end of the Victorian period. He makes its potential visible as he proposes across his life alternatives versions for where the "real" for the literary writer, might lie. The subject of Hardy and realism is not straightforward. And we have Hardy's own warning about this: he was the distinguished novelist. In the period that saw the establishment of the novel as the dominant literary form in British culture, the Victorians gave powerful consideration to the idea of fiction as representing the real. They were theorists about and practitioners of imaginative prose that described itself, in one way or another, as representing the textures and experiences of lived life. Realism is, at least at the headline level, the imaginative counter of romance. Unlike realism, romance does not have its feet on the ground. Realism claims itself as a language of the earth. Realism lives with history and politics; romance with myth and fantasy. Realism, as a literary practice is habitually a discourse of the agnostic because it concerns itself with things empirically knowable; romance readily makes way for the theological, because it admits into its textures the nonoempirical, the extraordinary, the possibilities of what might be beyond the globe.

               The industrial revolution and the agricultural revolution in the 18th century affected communities drastically. Hardy saw a direct relationship between historical processes and individual lives: both, like natural processes, were evolutionary; human character evolved as history evolved. The roles of education, morality and social mobility were also impacted during this time. Characters such as Tess and Jude were limited by their social position. They represent many characters in Hardy's novels struggling to survive in their ever-evolving world. Thomas Hardy wrote his novels in a time of great change and perhaps with great prupose. The literary critic Stanley Hyman writes, "hardy saw himself as time's surrogate not only in illuminating the past but in stimulating his readers to move into the future. His plots imitate the inoxorable movement of time, and his characters reveal varying degrees of ability to adapt to it. His novels not only express his view of the past and the present but attempt to restructure the responses of his readers in such a way as to accomodate them to the only future he believed possible. Henchard in The Mayor of Casterbridge demonstrates a successful moral evolution as he transcends egotism and return to natural morality. His daughter Elizabeth, is another example of successful evolution to natural morality. In Tess of the d'Urbevilles, Tess demonstrated both success and failure. Tess is at once the most natural and most human of Hardy's creations. Alec d'Urberville is a character who best represents the genteel, landed aristocracy who really places no value on morality. The great beauty of this and all literature I believe, is its timelessness. Although written in the 19th century, Hardy's Darwinian message is timeless. If one were to question whether Hardy was a successful character in light of this study, he would be successful. He not only evolved in his belief system, but used the novel to examine the new world and present his observation to society. He grew up in an age of change and was one of the first writers to discuss the ache of modernism.

              Thomas Hardy was glad about the improvement of science, he enjoyed the advance done in global co-operation and comprehension. Truth should be told, he was a genuine organizer and a humanist. This response against the traditional prudery and fake assembled force in the succeeding decades till finally it formed into an revolt and achieved the end of Vistorianism. Following Hardy's novels is a confounding knowledge. In his novels he has fictionalized the key existential clashes of man with the enigmatic universe and the social order. The contentions and strains that definitely go to the truth of human presence are the central of his inventive work. He is an explainer of man's suffering and infinite distance. Like Shakespeare, Hardy demonstrates a consciousness of the unfeeling mindlessness of the states of human life. Most of Hardy's great characters are archetypal. They are engaged into a dual struggle against the forces of the universe and the irrational elements in social traditions. His characters transcend time and place. They are essentially true to life. For him Modernism, in the turn of the 20th century, failed in the cultivation of the fundamental human virtues of concern and kindness for others. Two world wars bears witness to this truth. His greatness consists in bringing to light the wealth of a life of the common people. But Hardy wrote about them more effectively than any English novelist. Hardy's works have some influence upon and affinities with writers such as John Fowles, William Faulkner, Ibsen, Zola and Dreiser. All these writers base the details of their narratives on ordinary life. Their works present the helpless subordination of the individual to peripheral forces. Like Hardy, they too are sympathetic to the individual whose identity and individuality are recognized. When we speak of morality in hardy, we do not mean that hardy wrote his novels to convey any moral lesson. Meanings are not single, but multiple. They are historical and social constructs. Any approach to life that does not respect pluralism in all walks of life is against the very nature of man.