El secretario de Organización de Podemos y líder del partido en Aragón, Pablo Echenique, ha reconocido este martes que no ha hecho "las cosas bien" en relación al asistente que trabajó para él durante más de un año sin contrato y sin pagar la Seguridad Social, pero ha justificado que la gente "humilde", como el citado trabajador, se vea "empujada" a participar en la "economía sumergida" cuando debe elegir entre pagar la cuota de autónomos o la hipoteca.Más...
Así lo ha asegurado en una rueda de prensa en Madrid, al ser preguntado por la información publicada por El Heraldo de Aragón sobre la situación irregular en la que se encontraba su empleado, que acudía a su domicilio para ayudarle en sus tareas personales durante una hora.
El dirigente de Podemos admitió al citado diario que el que fuera su asistente desde hace unos años dejó de cotizar como autónomo en los últimos meses, perdiendo así la cobertura de la Seguridad Social, porque "tenía problemas para llegar a fin de mes". Ante esta situación, Echenique le dio un tiempo para regularizar la situación pero como no lo hizo, rompió "la relación", según ha explicado.
"Como cualquier familia de esos millones de familias que participan de la economía sumergida, cuando yo pago un asistente sabiendo que él no está al corriente de sus obligaciones con la Seguridad Social, yo sé que no estoy haciendo las cosas bien de la misma manera que millones de familias ante las pocas alternativas que hay para hacer las cosas de otra manera. Todo el mundo sabe que no está haciendo algo bien, yo también lo sabia", ha reconocido.
dimarts, 26 de juliol del 2016
Echenique sufrió mucho manteniendo sin contrato y sin Seguridad Social a su asistente personal durante un año
Científicos belgas crean una máquina que convierte la orina en agua potable
BRUSSELS, July 26 (Reuters) - A team of scientists at a Belgian university say they have created a machine that turns urine into drinkable water and fertilizer using solar energy, a technique which could be applied in rural areas and developing countries.Más...
While there are other options for treating waste water, the system applied at the University of Ghent uses a special membrane, is said to be energy-efficient and to be applicable in areas off the electricity grid.
"We're able to recover fertilizer and drinking water from urine using just a simple process and solar energy," said University of Ghent researcher Sebastiaan Derese.
The urine is collected in a big tank, heated in a solar-powered boiler before passing through the membrane where the water is recovered and nutrients such as potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus are separated.
No actuar según la razón es contrario a la naturaleza de Dios pero no de Alá
El 12 de septiembre de 2006, el Papa Benedicto XVI pronunció una conferencia en la Universidad de Ratisbona, Baviera, en la que parecía diagnosticar el Islam como una religión inherentemente defectuosa a causa del fanatismo. A continuación, publicamos el texto completo de la misma con traducción oficial al inglés del Vaticano.
APOSTOLIC JOURNEY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI
TO MÜNCHEN, ALTÖTTING AND REGENSBURG
(SEPTEMBER 9-14, 2006)
MEETING WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF SCIENCE
LECTURE OF THE HOLY FATHER
Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg
Tuesday, 12 September 2006
Faith, Reason and the University
Memories and Reflections
Your Eminences, Your Magnificences, Your Excellencies,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a moving experience for me to be back again in the university and to be able once again to give a lecture at this podium. I think back to those years when, after a pleasant period at the Freisinger Hochschule, I began teaching at the University of Bonn. That was in 1959, in the days of the old university made up of ordinary professors. The various chairs had neither assistants nor secretaries, but in recompense there was much direct contact with students and in particular among the professors themselves. We would meet before and after lessons in the rooms of the teaching staff. There was a lively exchange with historians, philosophers, philologists and, naturally, between the two theological faculties. Once a semester there was a dies academicus, when professors from every faculty appeared before the students of the entire university, making possible a genuine experience of universitas – something that you too, Magnificent Rector, just mentioned – the experience, in other words, of the fact that despite our specializations which at times make it difficult to communicate with each other, we made up a whole, working in everything on the basis of a single rationality with its various aspects and sharing responsibility for the right use of reason – this reality became a lived experience. The university was also very proud of its two theological faculties. It was clear that, by inquiring about the reasonableness of faith, they too carried out a work which is necessarily part of the “whole” of the universitas scientiarum, even if not everyone could share the faith which theologians seek to correlate with reason as a whole. This profound sense of coherence within the universe of reason was not troubled, even when it was once reported that a colleague had said there was something odd about our university: it had two faculties devoted to something that did not exist: God. That even in the face of such radical scepticism it is still necessary and reasonable to raise the question of God through the use of reason, and to do so in the context of the tradition of the Christian faith: this, within the university as a whole, was accepted without question.
I was reminded of all this recently, when I read the edition by Professor Theodore Khoury (Münster) of part of the dialogue carried on – perhaps in 1391 in the winter barracks near Ankara – by the erudite Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an educated Persian on the subject of Christianity and Islam, and the truth of both.[1] It was presumably the emperor himself who set down this dialogue, during the siege of Constantinople between 1394 and 1402; and this would explain why his arguments are given in greater detail than those of his Persian interlocutor.[2] The dialogue ranges widely over the structures of faith contained in the Bible and in the Qur’an, and deals especially with the image of God and of man, while necessarily returning repeatedly to the relationship between – as they were called – three “Laws” or “rules of life”: the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Qur’an. It is not my intention to discuss this question in the present lecture; here I would like to discuss only one point – itself rather marginal to the dialogue as a whole – which, in the context of the issue of “faith and reason”, I found interesting and which can serve as the starting-point for my reflections on this issue.
In the seventh conversation (διάλεξις – controversy) edited by Professor Khoury, the emperor touches on the theme of the holy war. The emperor must have known that surah 2, 256 reads: “There is no compulsion in religion”. According to some of the experts, this is probably one of the suras of the early period, when Mohammed was still powerless and under threat. But naturally the emperor also knew the instructions, developed later and recorded in the Qur’an, concerning holy war. Without descending to details, such as the difference in treatment accorded to those who have the “Book” and the “infidels”, he addresses his interlocutor with a startling brusqueness, a brusqueness that we find unacceptable, on the central question about the relationship between religion and violence in general, saying: “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”[3] The emperor, after having expressed himself so forcefully, goes on to explain in detail the reasons why spreading the faith through violence is something unreasonable. Violence is incompatible with the nature of God and the nature of the soul. “God”, he says, “is not pleased by blood – and not acting reasonably (σὺν λόγω) is contrary to God’s nature. Faith is born of the soul, not the body. Whoever would lead someone to faith needs the ability to speak well and to reason properly, without violence and threats… To convince a reasonable soul, one does not need a strong arm, or weapons of any kind, or any other means of threatening a person with death…”.[4]
The decisive statement in this argument against violent conversion is this: not to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature.[5] The editor, Theodore Khoury, observes: For the emperor, as a Byzantine shaped by Greek philosophy, this statement is self-evident. But for Muslim teaching, God is absolutely transcendent. His will is not bound up with any of our categories, even that of rationality.[6] Here Khoury quotes a work of the noted French Islamist R. Arnaldez, who points out that Ibn Hazm went so far as to state that God is not bound even by his own word, and that nothing would oblige him to reveal the truth to us. Were it God’s will, we would even have to practise idolatry.[7]
At this point, as far as understanding of God and thus the concrete practice of religion is concerned, we are faced with an unavoidable dilemma. Is the conviction that acting unreasonably contradicts God’s nature merely a Greek idea, or is it always and intrinsically true? I believe that here we can see the profound harmony between what is Greek in the best sense of the word and the biblical understanding of faith in God. Modifying the first verse of the Book of Genesis, the first verse of the whole Bible, John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: “In the beginning was the λόγος”. This is the very word used by the emperor: God acts, σὺν λόγω, with logos. Logos means both reason and word – a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason. John thus spoke the final word on the biblical concept of God, and in this word all the often toilsome and tortuous threads of biblical faith find their culmination and synthesis. In the beginning was the logos, and the logos is God, says the Evangelist. The encounter between the Biblical message and Greek thought did not happen by chance. The vision of Saint Paul, who saw the roads to Asia barred and in a dream saw a Macedonian man plead with him: “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” (cf. Acts 16:6-10) – this vision can be interpreted as a “distillation” of the intrinsic necessity of a rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek inquiry.
In point of fact, this rapprochement had been going on for some time. The mysterious name of God, revealed from the burning bush, a name which separates this God from all other divinities with their many names and simply asserts being, “I am”, already presents a challenge to the notion of myth, to which Socrates’ attempt to vanquish and transcend myth stands in close analogy.[8] Within the Old Testament, the process which started at the burning bush came to new maturity at the time of the Exile, when the God of Israel, an Israel now deprived of its land and worship, was proclaimed as the God of heaven and earth and described in a simple formula which echoes the words uttered at the burning bush: “I am”. This new understanding of God is accompanied by a kind of enlightenment, which finds stark expression in the mockery of gods who are merely the work of human hands (cf. Ps 115). Thus, despite the bitter conflict with those Hellenistic rulers who sought to accommodate it forcibly to the customs and idolatrous cult of the Greeks, biblical faith, in the Hellenistic period, encountered the best of Greek thought at a deep level, resulting in a mutual enrichment evident especially in the later wisdom literature. Today we know that the Greek translation of the Old Testament produced at Alexandria – the Septuagint – is more than a simple (and in that sense really less than satisfactory) translation of the Hebrew text: it is an independent textual witness and a distinct and important step in the history of revelation, one which brought about this encounter in a way that was decisive for the birth and spread of Christianity.[9] A profound encounter of faith and reason is taking place here, an encounter between genuine enlightenment and religion. From the very heart of Christian faith and, at the same time, the heart of Greek thought now joined to faith, Manuel II was able to say: Not to act “with logos” is contrary to God’s nature.
In all honesty, one must observe that in the late Middle Ages we find trends in theology which would sunder this synthesis between the Greek spirit and the Christian spirit. In contrast with the so-called intellectualism of Augustine and Thomas, there arose with Duns Scotus a voluntarism which, in its later developments, led to the claim that we can only know God’s voluntas ordinata. Beyond this is the realm of God’s freedom, in virtue of which he could have done the opposite of everything he has actually done. This gives rise to positions which clearly approach those of Ibn Hazm and might even lead to the image of a capricious God, who is not even bound to truth and goodness. God’s transcendence and otherness are so exalted that our reason, our sense of the true and good, are no longer an authentic mirror of God, whose deepest possibilities remain eternally unattainable and hidden behind his actual decisions. As opposed to this, the faith of the Church has always insisted that between God and us, between his eternal Creator Spirit and our created reason there exists a real analogy, in which – as the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 stated – unlikeness remains infinitely greater than likeness, yet not to the point of abolishing analogy and its language. God does not become more divine when we push him away from us in a sheer, impenetrable voluntarism; rather, the truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and, as logos, has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf. Certainly, love, as Saint Paul says, “transcends” knowledge and is thereby capable of perceiving more than thought alone (cf. Eph 3:19); nonetheless it continues to be love of the God who is Logos. Consequently, Christian worship is, again to quote Paul – “λογικη λατρεία”, worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason (cf. Rom 12:1).[10]
This inner rapprochement between Biblical faith and Greek philosophical inquiry was an event of decisive importance not only from the standpoint of the history of religions, but also from that of world history – it is an event which concerns us even today. Given this convergence, it is not surprising that Christianity, despite its origins and some significant developments in the East, finally took on its historically decisive character in Europe. We can also express this the other way around: this convergence, with the subsequent addition of the Roman heritage, created Europe and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe.
The thesis that the critically purified Greek heritage forms an integral part of Christian faith has been countered by the call for a dehellenization of Christianity – a call which has more and more dominated theological discussions since the beginning of the modern age. Viewed more closely, three stages can be observed in the programme of dehellenization: although interconnected, they are clearly distinct from one another in their motivations and objectives.[11]
Dehellenization first emerges in connection with the postulates of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. Looking at the tradition of scholastic theology, the Reformers thought they were confronted with a faith system totally conditioned by philosophy, that is to say an articulation of the faith based on an alien system of thought. As a result, faith no longer appeared as a living historical Word but as one element of an overarching philosophical system. The principle of sola scriptura, on the other hand, sought faith in its pure, primordial form, as originally found in the biblical Word. Metaphysics appeared as a premise derived from another source, from which faith had to be liberated in order to become once more fully itself. When Kant stated that he needed to set thinking aside in order to make room for faith, he carried this programme forward with a radicalism that the Reformers could never have foreseen. He thus anchored faith exclusively in practical reason, denying it access to reality as a whole.
The liberal theology of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries ushered in a second stage in the process of dehellenization, with Adolf von Harnack as its outstanding representative. When I was a student, and in the early years of my teaching, this programme was highly influential in Catholic theology too. It took as its point of departure Pascal’s distinction between the God of the philosophers and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. In my inaugural lecture at Bonn in 1959, I tried to address the issue,[12] and I do not intend to repeat here what I said on that occasion, but I would like to describe at least briefly what was new about this second stage of dehellenization. Harnack’s central idea was to return simply to the man Jesus and to his simple message, underneath the accretions of theology and indeed of hellenization: this simple message was seen as the culmination of the religious development of humanity. Jesus was said to have put an end to worship in favour of morality. In the end he was presented as the father of a humanitarian moral message. Fundamentally, Harnack’s goal was to bring Christianity back into harmony with modern reason, liberating it, that is to say, from seemingly philosophical and theological elements, such as faith in Christ’s divinity and the triune God. In this sense, historical-critical exegesis of the New Testament, as he saw it, restored to theology its place within the university: theology, for Harnack, is something essentially historical and therefore strictly scientific. What it is able to say critically about Jesus is, so to speak, an expression of practical reason and consequently it can take its rightful place within the university. Behind this thinking lies the modern self-limitation of reason, classically expressed in Kant’s “Critiques”, but in the meantime further radicalized by the impact of the natural sciences. This modern concept of reason is based, to put it briefly, on a synthesis between Platonism (Cartesianism) and empiricism, a synthesis confirmed by the success of technology. On the one hand it presupposes the mathematical structure of matter, its intrinsic rationality, which makes it possible to understand how matter works and use it efficiently: this basic premise is, so to speak, the Platonic element in the modern understanding of nature. On the other hand, there is nature’s capacity to be exploited for our purposes, and here only the possibility of verification or falsification through experimentation can yield decisive certainty. The weight between the two poles can, depending on the circumstances, shift from one side to the other. As strongly positivistic a thinker as J. Monod has declared himself a convinced Platonist/Cartesian.
This gives rise to two principles which are crucial for the issue we have raised. First, only the kind of certainty resulting from the interplay of mathematical and empirical elements can be considered scientific. Anything that would claim to be science must be measured against this criterion. Hence the human sciences, such as history, psychology, sociology and philosophy, attempt to conform themselves to this canon of scientificity. A second point, which is important for our reflections, is that by its very nature this method excludes the question of God, making it appear an unscientific or pre-scientific question. Consequently, we are faced with a reduction of the radius of science and reason, one which needs to be questioned.
I will return to this problem later. In the meantime, it must be observed that from this standpoint any attempt to maintain theology’s claim to be “scientific” would end up reducing Christianity to a mere fragment of its former self. But we must say more: if science as a whole is this and this alone, then it is man himself who ends up being reduced, for the specifically human questions about our origin and destiny, the questions raised by religion and ethics, then have no place within the purview of collective reason as defined by “science”, so understood, and must thus be relegated to the realm of the subjective. The subject then decides, on the basis of his experiences, what he considers tenable in matters of religion, and the subjective “conscience” becomes the sole arbiter of what is ethical. In this way, though, ethics and religion lose their power to create a community and become a completely personal matter. This is a dangerous state of affairs for humanity, as we see from the disturbing pathologies of religion and reason which necessarily erupt when reason is so reduced that questions of religion and ethics no longer concern it. Attempts to construct an ethic from the rules of evolution or from psychology and sociology, end up being simply inadequate.
Before I draw the conclusions to which all this has been leading, I must briefly refer to the third stage of dehellenization, which is now in progress. In the light of our experience with cultural pluralism, it is often said nowadays that the synthesis with Hellenism achieved in the early Church was an initial inculturation which ought not to be binding on other cultures. The latter are said to have the right to return to the simple message of the New Testament prior to that inculturation, in order to inculturate it anew in their own particular milieux. This thesis is not simply false, but it is coarse and lacking in precision. The New Testament was written in Greek and bears the imprint of the Greek spirit, which had already come to maturity as the Old Testament developed. True, there are elements in the evolution of the early Church which do not have to be integrated into all cultures. Nonetheless, the fundamental decisions made about the relationship between faith and the use of human reason are part of the faith itself; they are developments consonant with the nature of faith itself.
And so I come to my conclusion. This attempt, painted with broad strokes, at a critique of modern reason from within has nothing to do with putting the clock back to the time before the Enlightenment and rejecting the insights of the modern age. The positive aspects of modernity are to be acknowledged unreservedly: we are all grateful for the marvellous possibilities that it has opened up for mankind and for the progress in humanity that has been granted to us. The scientific ethos, moreover, is – as you yourself mentioned, Magnificent Rector – the will to be obedient to the truth, and, as such, it embodies an attitude which belongs to the essential decisions of the Christian spirit. The intention here is not one of retrenchment or negative criticism, but of broadening our concept of reason and its application. While we rejoice in the new possibilities open to humanity, we also see the dangers arising from these possibilities and we must ask ourselves how we can overcome them. We will succeed in doing so only if reason and faith come together in a new way, if we overcome the self-imposed limitation of reason to the empirically falsifiable, and if we once more disclose its vast horizons. In this sense theology rightly belongs in the university and within the wide-ranging dialogue of sciences, not merely as a historical discipline and one of the human sciences, but precisely as theology, as inquiry into the rationality of faith.
Only thus do we become capable of that genuine dialogue of cultures and religions so urgently needed today. In the Western world it is widely held that only positivistic reason and the forms of philosophy based on it are universally valid. Yet the world’s profoundly religious cultures see this exclusion of the divine from the universality of reason as an attack on their most profound convictions. A reason which is deaf to the divine and which relegates religion into the realm of subcultures is incapable of entering into the dialogue of cultures. At the same time, as I have attempted to show, modern scientific reason with its intrinsically Platonic element bears within itself a question which points beyond itself and beyond the possibilities of its methodology. Modern scientific reason quite simply has to accept the rational structure of matter and the correspondence between our spirit and the prevailing rational structures of nature as a given, on which its methodology has to be based. Yet the question why this has to be so is a real question, and one which has to be remanded by the natural sciences to other modes and planes of thought – to philosophy and theology. For philosophy and, albeit in a different way, for theology, listening to the great experiences and insights of the religious traditions of humanity, and those of the Christian faith in particular, is a source of knowledge, and to ignore it would be an unacceptable restriction of our listening and responding. Here I am reminded of something Socrates said to Phaedo. In their earlier conversations, many false philosophical opinions had been raised, and so Socrates says: “It would be easily understandable if someone became so annoyed at all these false notions that for the rest of his life he despised and mocked all talk about being – but in this way he would be deprived of the truth of existence and would suffer a great loss”.[13] The West has long been endangered by this aversion to the questions which underlie its rationality, and can only suffer great harm thereby. The courage to engage the whole breadth of reason, and not the denial of its grandeur – this is the programme with which a theology grounded in Biblical faith enters into the debates of our time. “Not to act reasonably, not to act with logos, is contrary to the nature of God”, said Manuel II, according to his Christian understanding of God, in response to his Persian interlocutor. It is to this great logos, to this breadth of reason, that we invite our partners in the dialogue of cultures. To rediscover it constantly is the great task of the university.
* * *
[1] Of the total number of 26 conversations (διάλεξις – Khoury translates this as “controversy”) in the dialogue (“Entretien”), T. Khoury published the 7th “controversy” with footnotes and an extensive introduction on the origin of the text, on the manuscript tradition and on the structure of the dialogue, together with brief summaries of the “controversies” not included in the edition; the Greek text is accompanied by a French translation: “Manuel II Paléologue, Entretiens avec un Musulman. 7e Controverse”, Sources Chrétiennes n. 115, Paris 1966. In the meantime, Karl Förstel published in Corpus Islamico-Christianum (Series Graeca ed. A. T. Khoury and R. Glei) an edition of the text in Greek and German with commentary: “Manuel II. Palaiologus, Dialoge mit einem Muslim”, 3 vols., Würzburg-Altenberge 1993-1996. As early as 1966, E. Trapp had published the Greek text with an introduction as vol. II of Wiener byzantinische Studien. I shall be quoting from Khoury’s edition.
[2] On the origin and redaction of the dialogue, cf. Khoury, pp. 22-29; extensive comments in this regard can also be found in the editions of Förstel and Trapp.
[3] Controversy VII, 2 c: Khoury, pp. 142-143; Förstel, vol. I, VII. Dialog 1.5, pp. 240-241. In the Muslim world, this quotation has unfortunately been taken as an expression of my personal position, thus arousing understandable indignation. I hope that the reader of my text can see immediately that this sentence does not express my personal view of the Qur’an, for which I have the respect due to the holy book of a great religion. In quoting the text of the Emperor Manuel II, I intended solely to draw out the essential relationship between faith and reason. On this point I am in agreement with Manuel II, but without endorsing his polemic.
[4] Controversy VII, 3 b–c: Khoury, pp. 144-145; Förstel vol. I, VII. Dialog 1.6, pp. 240-243.
[5] It was purely for the sake of this statement that I quoted the dialogue between Manuel and his Persian interlocutor. In this statement the theme of my subsequent reflections emerges.
[6] Cf. Khoury, p. 144, n. 1.
[7] R. Arnaldez, Grammaire et théologie chez Ibn Hazm de Cordoue, Paris 1956, p. 13; cf. Khoury, p. 144. The fact that comparable positions exist in the theology of the late Middle Ages will appear later in my discourse.
[8] Regarding the widely discussed interpretation of the episode of the burning bush, I refer to my book Introduction to Christianity, London 1969, pp. 77-93 (originally published in German as Einführung in das Christentum, Munich 1968; N.B. the pages quoted refer to the entire chapter entitled “The Biblical Belief in God”). I think that my statements in that book, despite later developments in the discussion, remain valid today.
[9] Cf. A. Schenker, “L’Écriture sainte subsiste en plusieurs formes canoniques simultanées”, in L’Interpretazione della Bibbia nella Chiesa. Atti del Simposio promosso dalla Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede, Vatican City 2001, pp. 178-186.
[10] On this matter I expressed myself in greater detail in my book The Spirit of the Liturgy, San Francisco 2000, pp. 44-50.
[11] Of the vast literature on the theme of dehellenization, I would like to mention above all: A. Grillmeier, “Hellenisierung-Judaisierung des Christentums als Deuteprinzipien der Geschichte des kirchlichen Dogmas”, in idem, Mit ihm und in ihm. Christologische Forschungen und Perspektiven, Freiburg 1975, pp. 423-488.
[12] Newly published with commentary by Heino Sonnemans (ed.): Joseph Ratzinger-Benedikt XVI, Der Gott des Glaubens und der Gott der Philosophen. Ein Beitrag zum Problem der theologia naturalis, Johannes-Verlag Leutesdorf, 2nd revised edition, 2005.
[13] Cf. 90 c-d. For this text, cf. also R. Guardini, Der Tod des Sokrates, 5th edition, Mainz-Paderborn 1987, pp. 218-221.
La ilegitimidad del referéndum del Brexit
On the basis of democracy, the result of the EU referendum needs to be - if not annulled - at the very least debated and voted on by Parliament. I am not seeking to reverse a decision that I don’t agree with by looking for new rules or seeking a second referendum (for if the first was a mistake a second would be a greater error) but the simple truth is that the referendum outcome is democratically illegitimate. It cannot be justified on the appeal to democracy.Más...
The outcome of a referendum is unlike the outcome of a general election where simple majorities determine the result. A referendum on a matter of major national importance and in which huge constitutional issues are implicated is in itself not decisive. It is consultative. Many countries have rules on the conduct of referenda, such as the size of the majority decision for it to be binding and the relation of the majority to the percentage of the eligible electorate who voted. The UK does not have those rules. However, the absence of such regulations does not mean that a referendum must be automatically enacted regardless of the consequences and the size of the majority.
If the outcome is detrimental to the collective good - and in this case it is demonstrably contrary to the national interest - and leads to undemocratic outcomes, it follows that the argument of majoritarianism does not in itself hold up as the only criterion of legitimacy. | Gerard Delanty
Casi el 40% no votaría en unas terceras elecciones
LA RAZÓN.- Un mes ha pasado desde el 26-J y el intercambio de acusaciones y vetos entre las principales fuerzas políticas recuerda sospechosamente al de la pasada legislatura fallida. Hoy comienza la ronda de consultas del Rey y, por el momento, el PP, con sus 137 escaños, sigue sin contar con los apoyos necesarios para sacar adelante la investidura. Mientras, el PSOE continúa enrocado en su «no, no y no», y sueña con liderar la oposición durante una legislatura que difícilmente echará a andar si no da su brazo a torcer. En este contexto de bloqueo institucional, la encuesta encargada por LA RAZÓN a NC Report habla a las claras del desencanto de los ciudadanos. De repetirse las elecciones, la abstención aumentaría en 5,1 puntos con respecto a los pasados comicios, pasando del 33,9 al 39 por ciento. En esta ocasión iría a votar un 61 por ciento frente al 66 que lo hizo el 26-J. Éstos datos evidencian que la clase política ha demostrado no estar a la altura a los ojos de cientos de miles de electores. Además, según se desprende de dicha encuesta, los electores culparían del bloqueo a PSOE y Ciudadanos. Por su parte, el PP volvería a subir.
Más...
La mayoría culpa al PSOE del bloqueo y quiere que Rivera vote «sí» a Rajoy https://t.co/X5EtPD2cLW— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 26 de julio de 2016
El 9,5% de los votos de Rivera volvería al PP https://t.co/iOPduiyFCm— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 26 de julio de 2016
Roban toda la documentación del 'think tank' crítico del PP
Unos desconocidos entraron en la empresa de Isabel Benjumea, directora de la Red Floridablanca, y robaron toda la información relativa al think tank
 |
| Isabel Benjumea |
La directora del think tank La Red Floridablanca, Isabel Benjumea, guardaba toda la información relativa al think tank en dos ordenadores y un disco duro. Pese a ser una plataforma muy joven que apenas empezó su andadura hace dos años, la información contenida en esos soportes informáticos era "privada y sensible", según ha podido saber Libertad Digital. Entre otros motivos porque contenía la información relativa a los socios y militantes del PP que apoyan el grupo con sus propuestas, una amplia red de contactos y entrevistas con figuras importantes de la formación.Más...
Curiosamente, el pasado jueves uno o varios ladrones entraron en la empresa de Benjumea y sustrajeron únicamente el ordenador de Isabel y el disco duro que contenía la información relativa a la Red Floridablanca. Los desperfectos no se corresponden con el material robado. Según fuentes consultadas, los ladrones también sustrajeron toda la información impresa en papel relativa a la red (tres archivadores donde ponía Floridablanca). Ni dinero, ni otro material informático fue robado de la oficina.
El ‘dron’ de Hacienda aflora un fraude catastral de 1,7 millones de inmuebles desde 2014
Construir sin permiso, ampliar un chalet intentando pasar desapercibido, cambiar el uso de una parcela o hacer una piscina a escondidas, tiene su coste. El plan de regularización catastral promovido por el Ministerio de Hacienda sigue dando sus frutos a través de lo que se conoce como el ‘dron viajero’. A través de este vehículo volador no tripulado, se han inspeccionado por vía aérea 1.691.000 inmuebles en 6.331 municipios, el 83% del total existentes en España. Gracias a esta técnica de ‘policía aérea’, los ayuntamientos afectados por los diferentes tipos de fraude han ingresado 1.254 millones extra a través del Impuesto de Bienes Inmuebles (IBI) durante 2014, 2015 y la mitad de 2016.Más...
Mediante este método, Hacienda ha conseguido poner la lupa sobre el 82% de los inmuebles de todo el territorio nacional. 4.154 expedientes han sido ya finalizados, 456 están a punto de caramelo y otros 1.721 se acaban de iniciar. Los datos actualizados a 20 de julio reflejan que el número de edificaciones y fincas regularizadas en cada municipio equivale al 8,6% de los inmuebles urbanos incluidos en el padrón. El 70% de las omisiones están relacionadas con nuevas construcciones, ampliaciones y piscinas sin declarar. De media, el padrón urbano de cada ayuntamiento ha aumentado en un 3%. La foto resultante demuestra que por cada euro invertido en el programa de inspección catastral se han recuperado 16 a través de la recaudación por IBI.
dilluns, 25 de juliol del 2016
¿Qué consecuencias legales tiene la votación del Parlament?
JxS y la CUP pactan saltarse al TC y llevar al Parlament la vía unilateral de independencia https://t.co/MTzuoWZmxC vía @elespanolcom— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 25 de julio de 2016
EL PERIÓDICO.- El artículo 87 de la ley orgánica del Tribunal Constitucional (TC) establece que “los poderes públicos están obligados al cumplimiento de lo que [este órgano] resuelva”. A partir de ahí, según el artículo 92 del mismo reglamento, se pueden aplicar diferentes medidas de sanción. Entre ellas destacan, resumidamente, la imposición de “una multa coercitiva de 3.000 a 30.000 euros a las autoridades, empleados públicos o particulares que incumplieran la resolución” y “acordar la suspensión de sus funciones de las autoridades o empleados públicos de la Administración responsable del incumplimiento” hasta que el TC decidiera el tiempo exacto de inhabilitación.Más...
Centrando esos puntos en la votación de las conclusiones de la Comissió d’Estudi del Procés Constituent que quieren llevar a cabo JxSí y la CUP en el pleno del Parlament pese a la advertencia del TC, la relación causa efecto para castigar la desobediencia puede no ser tan directa en función de cómo se actúe. El apercibimiento del Constitucional incorporaba una mención explícita a la Mesa de la Cámara catalana, pero la intención de los grupos impulsores es quitarle la responsabilidad a ese órgano y diluirla en los diputados al plantear la votación en el pleno pidiendo la alteración del orden del día en el mismo hemiciclo.
La Mesa traspasa al Pleno la responsabilidad del inicio de la 'desconexión' para evitar la inhabilitación del TC https://t.co/Xu0o8BkKvG— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 25 de julio de 2016
Sanders comenzó una revolución que ya no puede detener
THE WASHINGTON POST.- Bernie Sanders spoke to a large group of his supporters on Monday in Philadelphia. The crowd cheered as Sanders ran through all of the successes he and his self-professed "political revolution" had run up this year: the millions of votes he won, the reduction in superdelegates, the takeover of state parties by Sanders supporters.Más...
Then came time for the pivot. Sanders tried to tell the crowd that now was the time to line up behind Hillary Clinton and her running mate, Timothy M. Kaine. Boos cascaded down. Shouts of "no!" And then a Sanders chant started up.
Sanders was at a loss. Here he was telling his most loyal supporters what needed to happen next in order to unify the party and beat Donald Trump. And they weren't listening. They wanted revolution. Now, not later.
What was clear for anyone watching Sanders's unsuccessful attempts to calm the churning among his supporters is that the revolution he started is no longer one he can totally control. Or maybe even control at all.
Los contenidos más perjudiciales de los emails filtrados del Partido Demócrata https://t.co/vDXEBVojF6— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 25 de julio de 2016
La cara negativa de las políticas de eficiencia energética
Reconozcamos, ante todo, que todavía estamos muy lejos de poner fin a nuestra dependencia de los combustibles fósiles. De manera que, si somos serios cuando hablamos de ocuparnos del cambio climático, necesitamos desarrollar tecnología verde al punto que sea más barata que el petróleo, el gas o el carbón.Leer el artículo completo, aquí
Como sucede con los argumentos sobre una "brecha" de eficiencia energética, algunos dicen que la energía verde ya es más económica y que lo único que falta es voluntad política. Pero no es así. La energía verde cuesta 168.000 millones de dólares en subsidios cada año y, para 2040, en realidad estaremos pagando inclusive más -206.000 millones de dólares por año-. Y, aún con estos subsidios masivos, apenas el 2,4% de nuestra energía provendrá de fuentes verdes en 2040, según una estimación de la Agencia Internacional de Energía.
La manera de hacer que la energía renovable resulte competitiva es logrando que su precio baje. Necesitamos un incremento drástico de la financiación para investigación y desarrollo, para que las próximas generaciones de energía eólica, solar y de biomasa sean más económicas y más efectivas.
Nuestra investigación revela que si estuviéramos dispuestos a dedicar apenas el 0,2% del PIB global a investigación y desarrollo de energía verde, podríamos aumentar drásticamente las posibilidades de un avance. El objetivo más inteligente de las Naciones Unidas entonces sería "duplicar la investigación, el desarrollo y la demostración (ID+D) en tecnologías energéticas". Esto tendría beneficios 11 veces superiores al dinero invertido.
Esta estrategia sería mucho más efectiva que los subsidios ineficientes, o que centrarse en mejoras de eficiencia incrementales. | Bjørn Lomborg
Los Mossos manipularon conversaciones del alcalde de Sabadell para acusarle
Los Mossos manipularon conversaciones del alcalde de Sabadell para acusarle https://t.co/Hsv8nsSwFs #ca— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) July 25, 2016
El intento de golpe de Estado en Turquía a través de los whatsapp de los militares sublevados
Un grupo de conspiradores del golpe de estado fallido en Turquía utilizó un grupo de WhatsApp para comunicarse entre sí. Bellingcat ha transcrito, traducido y analizado la conversación, con las referencias cruzadas de los mensajes con fotos, vídeos, e informes de noticias de la tarde, la noche y la mañana del 15 al 16 de julio.
La transcripción se compone de dos fuentes diferentes. La primera fuente es un video que fue subido a Twitter en la mañana del 16 de julio, y parece mostrar la conversación en el teléfono de un golpista rendido, capturado o muerto. Este video reveló la conversación en WhatsApp desde su comienzo a las 21:15-22:45. La segunda fuente es de 21 fotos que muestran el resto de la conversación y que ya ha sido transcrita. Las fotos son cortesía de Al Jazeera Türk's Selahattin Gunday.
El 'rey de la basura' reconoce que financió a CDC y a Unió
El 'rey de la basura' reconoce que financió a CDC y a Unió https://t.co/XLzsHgbOBz vía @elmundoes #ca— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) July 25, 2016
diumenge, 24 de juliol del 2016
Erdogan ya tenía preparada la lista de detenciones antes del golpe, según el comisario europeo Johannes Hahn
 |
| Johannes Hahn, comisario europeo de Política Regional |
INDEPENDENT.- The swift rounding up of judges and others accused of taking part in a failed coup in Turkey indicates the government had prepared a list beforehand, the EU commissioner dealing with Turkey's membership bid has said.Más...
Following a failed coup attempt on Saturday, Turkish authorities on Sunday rounded up nearly 3,000 suspected military plotters, ranging from top commanders to foot soldiers, and the same number of judges and prosecutors.
"It looks at least as if something has been prepared," Johannes Hahn said. "The lists are available, which indicates it was prepared and to be used at a certain stage.
"I'm very concerned. It is exactly what we feared."
It appears, Mr Hahn added, as if Turkey had "prepared" arrest lists of political opponents and was waiting for the right time to act.
Observers said the scale of the crackdown, especially against the judiciary, indicated the government was taking the opportunity to further consolidate Mr Erdogan's power.
Amnistía denuncia torturas, incluida la violación, en centros de detención en toda Turquía https://t.co/ZYyFmAABII pic.twitter.com/EK8aoy0f4t
— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 24 de julio de 2016
Turquía contrata 20.000 maestros 'religiosos' para sustituir a los seculares expulsados de la docencia https://t.co/VnG9njkdjn
— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 24 de julio de 2016
Aparecen en Estambul pintadas con dos direcciones IP para eludir la censura en internet https://t.co/RjkVblxT2g pic.twitter.com/WsPRGGRgnj— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 23 de julio de 2016
La policía turca detiene a 60 niños por traición https://t.co/JrDJBEl5A5— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 23 de julio de 2016
La lista de instituciones cerradas por el estado de emergencia en Turquía llena 58 páginas https://t.co/5Y72gy9EDY pic.twitter.com/AbMjlH6SrQ— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 24 de julio de 2016
Turquía cierra 25 cadenas de TV y radio nacionales y detiene a muchos periodistas https://t.co/w8ohVnexn9
— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 24 de julio de 2016
via @pressfreedom
Así protestaban las mujeres en Irán contra la obligación del velo tras la revolución islámica de 1979 @History_Pics pic.twitter.com/qY3yZFC9um— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 24 de julio de 2016
La involución turca en dos imágenes pic.twitter.com/6ReiFj969R
— The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) 24 de julio de 2016
Juan Abreu pinta a las víctimas de Hipercor
Ayer, tarde serena, pinté a Xavier Valls, asesinado en HIPERCOR por los patriotas vascos. Me gusta llamar patriotas a los etarras porque es lo que son, si se les llama terroristas también es correcto, pero se pierde un poco lo más relevante, es decir que mataban por la Patria. Las fotos que voy consiguiendo no son buenas, de mala calidad en general, pero las de los fusilados cubanos también lo eran y eso no me detuvo. Tampoco me detendrá esta vez.
El arte es lo contrario de la muerte. | Juan Abreu
(Vía)
Todos los diputados de CDC excepto Homs votaron al PP
EL MUNDO.- >Los diez votos secretos que garantizaron con toda holgura la apuesta del Partido Popular para amarrar en el centro derecha el control de la Mesa del Congreso tienen nombre y apellido. Siete llevan la firma de Convèrgencia, dos del PNV y uno de Coalición Canaria. Sin embargo, los portavoces de las dos primeras fuerzas no mienten cuando aseguran que su papeleta llegó a la urna en blanco. Ni Francesc Homs ni Aitor Esteban votaron a favor del tándem de vicepresidencias que patrocinaba el PP: la primera para Ignacio Prendes, de C's. y la tercera para la popular Rosa María Romero.Más...
Santi Vila queda fuera del consejo nacional del PDC https://t.co/D3S1EKe7Gi vía @EconomiaED_ #ca — The Catalan Analyst (@CatalanAnalyst) July 24, 2016
Cataluña, caso abierto
Reza el tópico que la justicia si es lenta no es justicia y nadie niega que es una verdad incontestable. Pero siete años después de estallar el 'caso Palau' aún no tiene fecha para el juicio.
Los casos 'Pretoria' y 'Mercuri' siguen también irresolutos y cuando se cumplen dos años de la confesión de Jordi Pujol se acumulan las incógnitas sobre los negocios de su prole. Son ejemplos que prueban que algo falla en la lucha contra la corrupción.
EL PERIÓDICO ofrece una radiografía de los principales casos de corrupción de la última década en Catalunya.
El mapa de la riqueza en España pueblo a pueblo
Descubre en este mapa cuál es la renta media de tu municipio | El País
dissabte, 23 de juliol del 2016
La guerra sucia de la dirección del Partido Demócrata contra Bernie Sanders y Donald Trump
Los cerca de 20.000 correos electrónicos de la dirección del Partido Demócrata de Estados Unidos publicados por WikiLeaks revelan la guerra sucia del Comité Nacional Demócrata no ya contra Donald Trump sinó contra su correligionario Bernie Sanders.
Acordaron utilizar las creencias religiosas de Bernie Sanders contra él
Los emails de WikiLeaks muestran la hostilidad y el desprecio de la dirección del Partido Demócrata hacia Sanders, según Associated Press
The emails include several stinging denunciations of Sanders and his organization before and after the DNC briefly shut off his campaign's access to the party's key list of likely Democratic voters.
The DNC temporarily curtailed Sanders' access to the list in December 2015 because the organization accused the insurgent campaign of illegally tapping into confidential voter information compiled by the Clinton campaign. The Sanders campaign briefly sued the DNC but the party reached an accord with Sanders and the suit was dropped in April.
The emails show that after the furor over the voter records was resolved, hostility simmered from top DNC officials over the Sanders campaign.
In mid-May emails with Miranda, his deputy, Mark Paustenbach, questioned whether the DNC should use the voter record furor to raise doubts about the Sanders campaign.
"Wondering if there's a good Bernie narrative for a story, which is that Bernie never had his act together, that his campaign was a mess," Paustenbach wrote. Miranda spurned the idea, although he agreed with Paustenbach's take: "True, but the Chair has been advised not to engage. So we'll have to leave it alone."
The same month, in another email to DNC officials, another official identified only as "Marshall" said of Sanders: "Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps."
Otros emails muestran la guerra sucia contra Trump, como la falsificación de anuncios clasificados:
#DNCLeaks: plot to smear @realDonaldTrump by planting fake ads for hot women in Craigslist https://t.co/pePOdxjWDE— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) 22 de julio de 2016
El surgimiento de un nacionalismo negro en EEUU
THE WASHINGTON POST.- The People’s New Black Panther Party and the Washitaw Nation have vastly different ideologies and no direct ties to each other, but they are part of a broad landscape of black nationalist groups playing a role in America’s violent summer 2016.Más...
“There are a few big groups and a lot of little ones, and they are growing in an echo chamber where all they hear is ‘anger, anger, anger, anger, anger,’ ” said J.J. MacNab, an author and George Washington University researcher who specializes in extremism.
Some of these groups espouse extremist, anti-government views, and their numbers jumped from 113 groups in 2014 to 180 last year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks extremism.
Ryan Lenz, an SPLC analyst, said that increase has partly been a response to a rise in white supremacist and white nationalist activity amid the racially charged environment of past two years, including the 2016 presidential campaign. For example, SPLC figures show that the number of Ku Klux Klan chapters increased from 72 in 2014 to 190 last year.
There is tremendous racial tension in this political environment,” Lenz said. “The idea of an ‘us-versus-them’ ideology is being pushed very heavily no matter what political camp you are from.”
Analysts said it was impossible to determine exactly how many people are involved in black nationalist groups. But officials at both the SPLC and the Anti-Defamation League, which also tracks extremism, said the numbers were probably in the hundreds at most. A former FBI official who supervised domestic terrorism cases in recent years also said, “We are talking dozens of people.”
Most of the black nationalist groups have formed in response to a perception that U.S. society is deeply racist against black people. How they organize themselves and what they actually do to achieve those goals varies greatly.
Some simply seem to exist as online forums for expressing rage, often against police. One group Johnson had “liked” on Facebook was the African American Defense League, which has a photo of an arsenal of guns as its profile picture.
Even though the group has more than 1,000 likes on Facebook, Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism, called it “one guy with a Facebook page” and limited influence.
Following the shooting of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo., the Anti-Defamation League said the site featured a photo of Wilson with this notation: “When you find Dar¬ren Wil¬son you know what to do! Who-ever finds him knows what must be done! Take every¬thing that he took from Mike Brown.”
A similar group, the Black Riders Liberation Party, which calls for armed revolution against racism in America, has a Facebook page with more than 9,600 likes. It is run by a man who calls himself General T.A.C.O. — short for “Taking All Capitalists Out” — who calls police “pigs.”
Earlier this month, the group posted on its Facebook page in response to police killings in Louisiana and Minnesota: “It’s on in 2016! R.I.P. to Alton Sterling in La and Philando Castile in Minnesota! We need recruits everywhere! Arm yourself of Harm yourself!”
Segal said those smaller groups “orbit around” the New Black Panther Party, a black militant separatist group started in Dallas in 1989, but don’t directly coordinate their efforts with them.
Other groups are larger and more formally organized, holding meetings and attending rallies, often wearing the classic militant uniform of black clothes and a black beret. In some cases, they carry weapons.
¿Qué fue de Pertur?
“Han transcurrido 40 años desde la desaparición de Eduardo Moreno Bergaretxe, Pertur, y seguimos sin conocer su paradero. El esclarecimiento de su secuestro y desaparición sigue siendo una tarea pendiente que no debe obviarse”, señala Martin Auzmendi, compañero de militancia de Pertur, hermano de su pareja, Lourdes, y representante de la familia en la causa. Auzmendi se une al llamamiento de la familia para que “los que sepan algo sobre su paradero lo hagan saber” en el aniversario de aquel 23 de julio de 1976 en que desapareció el que fue líder de ETA político-militar (pm) y promotor de su desdoblamiento en un partido, que derivó en Euskadiko Ezkerra y concurrió en las primeras elecciones democráticas de 1977.Más...
Pooper, un Uber para recoger la caca de tu perro
THE WASHINGTON POST.- What do you get when you combine a population too busy to look up from its smartphones, a “one-tap economy” and 78 million pet dogs?Más...
You get Pooper, an app that summons someone to scoop your pooch’s waste off the sidewalk or neighbor’s lawn.
Perhaps you have enough time to own a dog, feed a dog and take it on walks, but you are just too darn busy to reach down to pick up its poop. You are Pooper’s target customer.
The app, which began being marketed this week despite not being up and running yet, is supposed to work pretty much like Uber. Once your dog does its job, you open the app, pinpoint the excrement on a digital map and order a scoop. You are then free to leave; a scooper — the driver in the Uber analogy — comes to do the clean up.
That is, of course, if Pooper is real and not some sort of ironic commentary on dog obsession and the sharing economy. Its quirky video ad and motto — “Your dog’s poop in someone else’s hands” — have left some reporters skeptical. That’s prompted the people behind the app to issue a statement saying they’re fine with the doubts: All the better for spreading the word and attracting more investors.
De cómo la dominanción sexual influye en la política
QUILLETTE.- This may sound like a Freudian way of thinking, but being that sex is such an important part of evolution, its influence on personal and political behavior should not be discounted. Indeed, research suggests that sexual strategies may be driving much of politics and religion.25 26 If so, the link between sexual pleasure and political dominance may be more direct in fascism than in any other political movement. Political movements, including fascism, may harness dominance as a means to non-sexual political and moral ends, from the acquisition of resources and territory to the redress of nationalistic and racial grievances. But fascism’s reliance on dominance over other political tactics may be partly explained by the sexually rewarding undertones of dominant political action, especially for men.Leer el artículo completo, aquí
Humans can formulate long-term goals and plan drawn-out courses of action to reach them.27 Therefore, it is possible for dominance-based political movements motivated by sexual pleasure to emerge. Such movements may be further developed and made more sophisticated by ideological, bureaucratic, and fashionable accoutrements, and may spread within and across generations as sexually dominant individuals are drawn to their appeal. Fascism may be one such political movement, though it is probably not the only one. Any movement whose long-term political strategy is marked by dominance may be driven, in part, by sex.
Biological accounts of personal and political life are on the rise, which is an inevitable and necessary trend. If we are to promote non-destructive political movements over harmful ones, we have to acknowledge the evolutionary and physiological roots of our behavior. However speculative, I believe that the preceding account of the sexual underpinnings of fascism deservers further scrutiny.
It is not easy to recognize the signs of a rising authoritarian movement, but focusing on how central dominance and sexuality are to individuals within a movement may help us to avoid its destructive and sadistic outcomes. This neglected approach is all the more pressing amid the rising shadows of right-wing and Islamic authoritarianism. We need not paint dominant or submissive sexual behavior as wrong or unnatural, however. Consenting adults should be free to engage in whatever sexual activities they find pleasurable. The problem is making sure that fascism does not escape the bedroom. | Gregory Gorelik
¿Pueden globalistas y nacionalistas convivir en paz?
The upshot of all this is that the answer to the question we began with—What on Earth is going on?—cannot be found just by looking at the nationalists and pointing to their economic conditions and the racism that some of them do indeed display. One must first look at the globalists, and at how their changing values may drive many of their fellow citizens to support right-wing political leaders. In particular, globalists often support high levels of immigration and reductions in national sovereignty; they tend to see transnational entities such as the European Union as being morally superior to nation-states; and they vilify the nationalists and their patriotism as “racism pure and simple.” These actions press the “normative threat” button in the minds of those who are predisposed to authoritarianism, and these actions can drive status quo conservatives to join authoritarians in fighting back against the globalists and their universalistic projects.Leer el artículo completo, aquí
If this argument is correct, then it leads to a clear set of policy prescriptions for globalists. First and foremost: Think carefully about the way your country handles immigration and try to manage it in a way that is less likely to provoke an authoritarian reaction. Pay attention to three key variables: the percentage of foreign-born residents at any given time, the degree of moral difference of each incoming group, and the degree of assimilation being achieved by each group’s children.
Legal immigration from morally different cultures is not problematic even with low levels of assimilation if the numbers are kept low; small ethnic enclaves are not a normative threat to any sizable body politic. Moderate levels of immigration by morally different ethnic groups are fine, too, as long as the immigrants are seen as successfully assimilating to the host culture. When immigrants seem eager to embrace the language, values, and customs of their new land, it affirms nationalists’ sense of pride that their nation is good, valuable, and attractive to foreigners. But whenever a country has historically high levels of immigration, from countries with very different moralities, and without a strong and successful assimilationist program, it is virtually certain that there will be an authoritarian counter-reaction, and you can expect many status quo conservatives to support it.
Stenner ends The Authoritarian Dynamic with some specific and constructive advice:
[A]ll the available evidence indicates that exposure to difference, talking about difference, and applauding difference—the hallmarks of liberal democracy—are the surest ways to aggravate those who are innately intolerant, and to guarantee the increased expression of their predispositions in manifestly intolerant attitudes and behaviors. Paradoxically, then, it would seem that we can best limit intolerance of difference by parading, talking about, and applauding our sameness…. Ultimately, nothing inspires greater tolerance from the intolerant than an abundance of common and unifying beliefs, practices, rituals, institutions, and processes. And regrettably, nothing is more certain to provoke increased expression of their latent predispositions than the likes of “multicultural education,” bilingual policies, and nonassimilation.
If Stenner is correct, then her work has profound implications, not just for America, which was the focus of her book, but perhaps even more so for Europe. Donald Tusk, the current president of the European Council, recently gave a speech to a conclave of center-right Christian Democratic leaders (who, as members of the educated elite, are still generally globalists). Painfully aware of the new authoritarian supremacy in his native Poland, he chastised himself and his colleagues for pushing a “utopia of Europe without nation-states.” This, he said, has caused the recent Euroskeptic backlash: “Obsessed with the idea of instant and total integration, we failed to notice that ordinary people, the citizens of Europe, do not share our Euro-enthusiasm.”
Democracy requires letting ordinary citizens speak. The majority spoke in Britain on June 23, and majorities of similar mien may soon make themselves heard in other European countries, and possibly in the United States in November. The year 2016 will likely be remembered as a major turning point in the trajectory of Western democracies. Those who truly want to understand what is happening should carefully consider the complex interplay of globalization, immigration, and changing values.
If the story I have told here is correct, then the globalists could easily speak, act, and legislate in ways that drain passions and votes away from nationalist parties, but this would require some deep rethinking about the value of national identities and cohesive moral communities. It would require abandoning the multicultural approach to immigration and embracing assimilation.
The great question for Western nations after 2016 may be this: How do we reap the gains of global cooperation in trade, culture, education, human rights, and environmental protection while respecting—rather than diluting or crushing—the world’s many local, national, and other “parochial” identities, each with its own traditions and moral order? In what kind of world can globalists and nationalists live together in peace? | JONATHAN HAIDT
divendres, 22 de juliol del 2016
Albert Camus lee el pasaje de apertura de 'El extranjero'
Mi madre murió hoy. O, tal vez, ayer; no puedo estar seguro. He recibido un telegrama del asilo: 'Su madre falleció. Mañana funeral. Acompañamos sentimiento'. Lo que deja el asunto dudoso; que podría haber sido ayer.
El hogar de ancianos está en Marengo, a unos ochenta kilómetros de Argel. Con el autobús de las dos debería llegar antes de la noche. Así la podría velar y estar de vuelta aquí mañana por la tarde. Le he pedido dos días libres a mi patrono, cosa que obviamente, dadas las circunstancias, no podía rechazar. Sin embargo, parece que no le ha hecho mucha gracia. Le he dicho: 'No es culpa mía'. No ha respondido. Después se me ocurrió que nunca debía haberle dicho eso. No tenía ninguna razón para excusarme; en todo caso era él quién debía presentarme sus condolencias. Probablemente lo hará pasado mañana, cuando me vea de luto. Por el momento, es como si madre no estuviera muerta. Tras el entierro, por el contrario, todo será un asunto burocrático y habrá adquirido un aura oficial.
Cogí el autobús a las dos en punto. Era una tarde de calor abrasador. Comí en un restaurante, en Casa Celeste, como de costumbre. Todo el mundo fue muy amable, y Celeste me dijo: "De madre solo hay una". Cuando me fui vinieron conmigo hasta la puerta. Estaba un poco aturdido y subí a casa de Emmanuel para pedirle prestado su brazalete negro de luto. Él perdió a su tío hace unos meses.
Tuve que correr para coger el autobús. Supongo que fue la prisa lo que, con el resplandor de la carretera y del cielo, el olor de la gasolina y las sacudidas, me hizo venir tanto sueño. ormí durante casi todo el trayecto. Cuando desperté estaba apoyado en un soldado, que me sonrió y me preguntó si venía de muy lejos. Yo solo asentí, para cortar la conversación. No estaba de humor para hablar.
Crece el independentismo pero sigue sin llegar al 50%
Los partidos independentistas mantienen la mayoría absoluta pero podrían perder dos escaños
EL PERIÓDICO.- Si Convergència (ahora Partit Demòcrata Català) y ERC volvieran a presentarse unidas en unas elecciones catalanas bajo las siglas de Junts Pel Sí, cosa que está por ver, la coalición soberanista lograría entre 60 y 62 diputados, dos menos o los mismos que los que tiene en la actualidad (62). Esta candidatura conjunta y la CUP, que bajaría de 10 a entre 6 y 8 escaños, obtendrían por tanto una horquilla de entre 66 y 70 asientos en el Parlament. Retendrian así la mayoría absoluta fijada a partir de las 68 plazas, aunque perderían fuerza al dejarse al menos dos diputados, según el último barómetro del Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO).Más...
De acuerdo con la encuesta de este organismo dependiente de la Generalitat, los independentistas también se desinflarían en porcentaje de voto. En las últimas elecciones, del 27 de septiembre del 2015, los soberanistas obtuvieron el 47,8% de los apoyos, el 39,59% JxSí y el 8,21% la CUP. Según el sondeo, en unos nuevos comicios esa cifra se quedaría en el 43,4, pues la coalición de ERC, CDC e independientes bajaría al 38,2% en estimación de voto y los cuperos, al 5,2%.
E-NOTÍCIES.- El independentismo mejora sus resultados respecto al barómetro del mes de marzo, pero los empeora respecto a los resultados de hace un año, según el CEO. De este modo, un 47,7% quieren que Catalunya sea un Estado independiente, una cifra muy similar a la obtenida en las elecciones 'plebiscitarias' del 27-S.Más...
Esta cifra supone una mejora de más de dos puntos respecto al barómetro de marzo, cuando el 45,5% se mostró partidario de romper con España. Sin embargo, pierde más de dos puntos respecto a junio de 2015, cuando el independentismo era del 50%.
Los partidarios del no, por su parte, son el 42,4% y pierden casi tres puntos respecto a marzo, cuando eran el 45,3%. También pierde unas décimas respecto a hace un año, cuando los partidarios de seguir en España eran el 42,9%.
Subscriure's a:
Missatges (Atom)