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Profile of Alvaro Restrepo
I think that the position of human beings in [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that the position of human beings in relation to all those different types of life is one of the reasons of the world crisis we are living in nowadays. There are people who think themselves different, who assume that they are different. I also think that human beings consider themselves kings of the creation and that position make them to commit a collective suicide. I think that the fact of not considering ourselves a part of a whole make us think that we have the right to transform nature in an absolutely unconscious way. In my opinion all type of life are equally sacred and people must understand that they belong to a whole.
I think capitalism in a way has been a [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think capitalism in a way has been a perpetuation of Darwin's survival of the strongest, of the fit. I think that humanity has to find a synthesis between the values of solidarity and justice that were in the utopia of socialism and find in the values of competitive democratic societies the sense of freedom. But we cannot sacrifice a freedom in order to have solidarity, the same as we cannot sacrifice solidarity in order to defend freedom or free competition. I think if we do not find a balance between this two ways of functioning in the world there will not be anything after capitalism. So I insist the values of solidarity cannot be sacrificed in order to have freedom, because, otherwise, freedom is that's not authentic freedom, the one that is preached by capitalist systems in, if we do not have a society that is based on the principles of solidarity.
First of all, we have to define what -- or [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: First of all, we have to define what -- or redefine what globalization really is. I think the world is more than becoming a globe, it's becoming more and more flat. You could speak more of the flatenization or something like that, [applanamiento] del planeta, because we are not really perceiving our planet as a whole, as a body, as an interdependent body that needs all its different organs, nations or regions to survive. I think that economic globalization is promoting the dictatorship of the centers of economic power. The centers -- the different centers of economic power are the ones that are really dictating the way or shaping our world. So, I think that this economic non-humanistic or non-humanitarian economy vision of the world is promoting a very flat un-human world.
Well, this question is of great importance. [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well, this question is of great importance. In my country Afro-Colombian and native communities suffer discrimnation and are excluded from the rest of society. At this point we return to the subject of worldwide cultural and ethnical diversity, a big treasure that remains unrecognized in this diversity. The kaleidoscope, the wonder of language diversity is represented today, I think, in this event. We are all here, in this Babel-place, answering questions in various languages. I think, Afro-American people or simply African descendants that came to America suffer discrimination. I say this because I live in a city, in Colombia, where this sort of discrimination is present. Colombia has many Afro-Colombian inhabitants and mestizos and is a most racist city in the world. In Cartagena of the Indies racism is even worse than in South Africa. In Cartagena of the Indies things are not to change. In my opinion this question is very important because we live in societies that do not recognize the treasure, the beauty of diversity. We should pay more attention to this subject.
My work in Colombia has to do fundamentally [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: My work in Colombia has to do fundamentally with dignity. In my opinion dignity is one of the most important words or concepts that we have to fight for. When we talk about dignity we talk about this other concept of quality that we human beings have to find. When we work in educational processes with children and adolescents, poor people and marginalized people, it is an important fact in this educational process that those persons can discover their human dignity as their biggest treasure. I think that dignity concerns the most important quality or concept which is selfrespect. In the moment in which a person knows himself/herself and respects himself/herself then he/her can also start to know and to respect others. This is why education plays an important role in the process of finding other qualities that make people have the feeling of dignity. For me the worst privation or agression that one person can commit against other human beings is depriving it from the right of education or the right of getting to know that... through the access of knowledge it is possible to get the most elemental form of human dignity.
This question is particularly hard for a [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: This question is particularly hard for a country like mine. I come from Columbia, which is a country that has enormous possibilities to produce the food for its people and to produce wealth for everybody. But, for one reason or another that is the core of this question, we are blind enough to deny other people the possibility of feeding each other. And, I think sometimes we speak about food in the material sense. We have to speak of different kinds of food or different kinds of nourishment. I think that we are very concerned about the nutrition of the body, but we have to think that simultaneously the body and the spirit have to be nourished at the same time. Why don’t we produce enough food for everyone in the world if we have the possibility of doing it? I think, it is very much in the spirit of self destruction of humanity and may be it has to do also with the sense of superiority of some individuals over others that we are denying others the possibility of surviving. I’ve always referred to my country for example as a country of blind of blindness, the same way as H.G. Wells defined it many years ago. We have the possibilities. We have the richness. We have everything. We have the wealth. And, we simply deny ourselves the possibility of being.
Corruption is a word that I think should be [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Corruption is a word that I think should be also in the center of the discussion. During many years, I have stated in my country that as long as corruption is not declared as a crime against humanity at the same level as other crimes against humanity, things would not change. The issue of corruption -- political corruption, I think is one of the most important to be taken into consideration. I do think that the current global economic system is inherently corrupt. And, I think that for example, in a country where people, where children are starving or don’t have any educational opportunities, somebody, a leader, a political leader that can steal the money of the educational system or of the health system, he should be judged for genocide. And, I think this can only be done as a global strategy. The United Nations should create a tribunal to judge the economic corruption crimes the same as they judge the war crimes. The politician that steals the money of a health system or of an educational system in a country should be judged with the same severe standards as a genocide crime.
Alvaro Restrepo:
It is not only possible, but it is an [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: It is not only possible, but it is an obligation and a necessity. There is actually a social corporative responsability in my country which is “in fashion”. But it cannot only be a sort of fashion. This is the only possibity that we have to survive. The companies that are led by material wealth have to share wealth with the society. Once again I have the opinion that it is not a subject of generosity or good intentions but a subject that has to do with the only possibility that we have to survive in this world. Either we accept that the good of everybody is the unique condition for the growing of humanity or humanity will be lost.
Once again we talk about the subject of [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Once again we talk about the subject of gender or the subject of the inbalance which exists between men and women in our society. I think that the moment has come in which women should take a position of power in society. They should not be a companion of the shadow [] of men but, if we can say it like this, they should be a bearer of other forms of sensibility. All human beings together are men and women. As men and women we participate on the essence of those who begetted us. We cannot talk about men on the one side and about women on the other side. We are all men and women and we are an unity. And I believe that only until a certain moment the masculine sensibility []. And I think that the moment has to come in which the sensibility of the woman equips itself with masculine energy. This energy has until now always ruled the world and has led women to the point where they are today. I am working with children and adolescents in Cartagena de Indias in Colombia and sometimes we are confronted with questions of what feminine sensibility is good for in processes of education. And I believe that men as children, adolescensts and guys are much more men in the sense of the word when they let go their feminine sensiblity, their feminine side and their refinement of their feelings. Like women when they let go their power, their integrity...
The issue of Africa is an issue that [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: The issue of Africa is an issue that concerns the whole planet and the responsibility we have in this part of the world. I think most African countries have suffered and are suffering the scars of inhumane, unhuman colonial systems that left their nations, their economies completely devastated. And, devastated not only economically, but systems that destroyed and threatened very deeply the cultures of all these countries. I think there is a very -- and this, I could say for Latin America as well. Of the scars of colonialism affected very deeply the self-esteem of these countries than the people who inherited the power, the Africans that inherited the power from the colonial structures that left inherited also the capacity for despising their own people. I think corruption is very much in the core. Political corruption is very much in the core of this problem and this issue of corruption which I would like to speak more about is in the center of the need of transformation of society.
I have always said that in my country, [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I have always said that in my country, Columbia, extreme wealth, extreme wealth is as immoral and as obscene as the extreme poverty or misery. I think our society has to fight excessive wealth the same as it have to fight excessive hunger or poorness. This I wouldn’t doubt to say that this is obscene or that this is immoral. It is not acceptable, maybe it is socially acceptable, but I think this has to change completely.
I think that if the law is based on [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that if the law is based on illegitimacy, on arbitrariness, on imposition of interests that are threatening human dignity, then I think than this is not a law anymore, I think that then it changes into another concept. Whenever a law protects insane commands, then they can no longer be seen as law and turns out to be an outrage on dignity. And in such cases it is legal, from every point of view, to break the law, the arbitrariness and the illegitimacy.
I think that traditional or religious values [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that traditional or religious values are sacred in a determined culture, but I do think that humanity and its collectivity has also made good progress in the acceptation of those rights which should be unalienable and respected. I think that if globalization is conducive to something, than it is the resultant communication excess that gives us the chance to get to know each other better, to claim the progresses of other societies and so gives us the opportunity to enrich the development of our own society. I also think that there are some values that are universal, which is the respect towards human beings, or the respect towards the integrity of humans. Therefore I think that, although the line that differentiates in what extend one should respect certain traditional values that in another moment can be threatening the rights of a person is very thin; I think that we can find a way to integrate the respect towards certain basic rights in cultures; referring for example to the women that in many cases in certain societies are suffering from discrimination and have their rights alienated because of religious or cultural reasons. I think that this is one of the most difficult questions because how do we know in what extend it is legal that one society imposes its cultural and religious values on another society.
Recently some countries are trying to [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Recently some countries are trying to develop brands to identify their own identity or their own symbols that identify their main issues. And in a way, it is trying to [recuperate] or the make the commercial products as a way to sell their values as if they were products and I think that governments have a more obligational duty to defend their own values, but at the same time they have to know who they are. Sometimes this economic power takes over the values of a country and that’s why countries have to really try to get their own, to go deep into the soul of their culture to know what, but it identifies them deeply.
This question has to do with all the other [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: This question has to do with all the other questions we have answered so far. It has to do with the ethics of the discussion between developed countries and countries in development. I think that China in a way is sacrificing many of its values because of the need of entering in this globalized economy. And, I think that they have of course, a right to development and to industrialization. But, they have to, I think the world has to see how they can preserve certain values that are being sacrificed in order to achieve this industrialization. China will become -- if it’s not so yet one of the centers of economic power. And, I think the ancestral values that they have in their culture have to be defended in order not to enter in this sick order of things that is not giving anything to humanity.
Well, I am really interested in this subject [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well, I am really interested in this subject because I am work on the Education field. I am in charge of an educational project in Colombia which encourages the development of dancing skills on children and young people. There are a many different education systems all over the world. However, non of them are designed to make the people happy, but to make them norrow-minded and homogeneous persons. Every human being is different, and this diversity is exactly what makes kids to be aware of their skills and to develop them. Undoubtly education is the big task and I think that the education systems have the responsability to detect talent. They must encourage talented kids and young people to develop themselves and to improve themselves. I'm convienced that each human being has a gift or a mission in this world and the education sistems have the obligation to detect their gifts. Unfortunately the 99.9% of the people never get to know their purposes in this world or what are they good for. That's why sometimes we feel frustrated. I think that education must give a chance to each one of these talents.
Well, I think that in a way this unbalance [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well, I think that in a way this unbalance that our world is living, is a very serious responsibility that our world has to solve in a way. I think the wealth of the first world is not real wealth as long as there is people in other parts starving or going through economic difficulties. I think that human beings are, as I was saying, depending on other people’s health, the health of the planet is one. So, what we are seeing now in Spain for example all this Africans -- all these Africans crossing the ocean to come to look for the wealth of Europe. This is a symbol of the imbalance of our world and how we have to redefine wealth, and we have to redefine well being. I think that we are not well, we are not rich as long as we have other cells of this body planet there are struggling to survive. So, I do think that the first world's wealth is depending on the poorness of the third world and this has to change.
That's a very important question too. There [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: That's a very important question too. There are fist, second and third class deaths and first, second and third class lives as well. This is something absolutely unacceptable. The genocide of Ruanda for example. If something similar had happened in a first world country, the entire world would have reacted in a forceful way. But they were just a million of negroes who killed each other in Ruanda, then we perceive it as a cruel way, almost as a natural selection process, a natural regulation process. I think that this is one of the most serious sins that we can commit. Of course, there are first, second, third, fourth, fifth class lives and deaths, and this is absolutely unacceptable. In my opinion this has also to do with the economic power of the different countries, of the different people. There are lives that are worth more because they have a higher price and there are others that are worth less because they have a lower price, because they are poorer societies.
This is again a question for economists. [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: This is again a question for economists. The only thing I can say from my point of view is that we have to start speaking of not only humanitarian economy, but humanistic economy. Values of mankind have to be taken into consideration in the process of developing strategies for developing the countries that need to develop. The question if it's micro-finance or macro-finance, I think I cannot answer. The only thing I claim for is for a humanistic vision of this kind of decisions.
I think women have an incredible [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think women have an incredible responsibility not only with the world but with themselves. I think, it depends not only on men to open the space for women to exist and to be protagonists of history. In fact, the role of women through history has been of extreme importance. Recently, I have been reading Hungarian writer Sándor Márai, who says that the difference between men and women is that for women, men are their most important thing, their man or their home or their families, that's their the biggest struggle. Of course, this is a very limited edition in a way. I think women are more and more having transcendental roles in history -- in present and contemporary history. And, I think that the responsibility they have with humanity is to transmit their creative generative power into humanity. Women have been supporting the deeds of men of this macho world. And, I think, the time has come for women to use their apparent weakness in a way that they can make us more human, that they can make us more complete. Why are women still at a disadvantage? I think, we have to ask women as well.
Well, as colombian I must give a vehement [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well, as colombian I must give a vehement answer to this question. I come from a country which has suffered the consequences of its economy and its values perversion. I think that drugs haven't been fought properly. We have been concentrated on punishing the drugs producer societies but not the drugs consumer ones. In my opinion that's the main point of this problem. We should ask ourselves why do industrialized societies need drugs. Do they need drugs as an anaesthetic, as a creativity engine to enrich its spirituality, or just as a mean to go on with life? I think we must get together in order to solve this problem and it is fundamental to educate countries which need drugs to survive.
The whole world has a big responsibility. [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: The whole world has a big responsibility. AIDS must be our absolut priority. Global health is perhaps one of the biggest tragedies nowadays, mainly AIDS, which is related to love and transmitted by sex, but we are going back to this point in the next question which has to do with education. A socity has to die if it doesn't educate its people and that's exactly what is happening in Africa. That's why I talk about an enormous responsibility. I think that concerning AIDS the Catholic Church has committed one of the biggest crimes of this century because it hasn't support the condom as a mean of AIDS prevention. We should strongly condemn that position fron all points of view. Condom is a well known prevention mean, that's why we can't call "Religion" to something that is opossed to it. I would call it a system of power, but not a religion. What this religion has made ist totaly criminal and it must be punished.
Easy question, easy answer: Obviously [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Easy question, easy answer: Obviously nowadays the word love has become a kind of outworn and devaluated term, and this may seem anachronic. But I think that, maybe because of my role as an educator, I grant a huge importance to love in educational processes. If we do not start from the very beginning to educate our children with love, we will never succeed in getting rid of violence, anger and hatred. So these three words are reactions – reactions, as the human being is a reactive being that reflects what it experiences. And if it has even been educated with violence, anger and hatred, it will give back the same violence, anger and hatred. It is always said that the one who commits a delinquency has at some time been misused and this turns out to be a vicious circle.
We can not ask young people to place [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: We can not ask young people to place importance on education, mainly when this education doesn't place importance on young people. We can not demand young people's interest if we don't provide them with any attractive and pleasant educational process, if we are not able to inspire them. I am usually asked at our Colegio del Cuerpo School in Cartagena de Indias about how do we involve young people in the educational process. We talk about terms like [school retention] or [school desertion], about the incapacity of schools and educational process to provide young people with a sort of refuge in life. Schools generally try to domesticate young people, but not to inspire them. Education is the only way to make young people to develop their own capacities, to make them know what are they good for and how worth they are. Education should be a way to happiness, to freedom, as Pablo Freire said. I think we should strongly introduce the notion of pleasure in the educational process. That's the only way to provide young people with a refuge at school.
If we visit the United Nations building in [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: If we visit the United Nations building in New York, we can see a graphic on a wall which answers this question. It is a very big pyramid which datails all the military expenses of the humanity. The world hunger could be solved only with a segment of this enormous military expense. The sanitary, education problems and people's basic needs would be solved with another segment of this enormous military expense. The great war business, the great death business is what does not make possible to find a solution to the most urgent needs of the humanity. Obviously, the best use to these budgets is to help developing countries.
There is no peace in Middle East yet because [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: There is no peace in Middle East yet because there are no intentions to recognize the right of others to exist. I think that the Jewish people, who has suffered so much, has no right to do what it is doing with Palestinians. Precisely because of its history, Jewish people have the moral and historical responsability of finding the right way to Justice. We can't accept any longer what is happening to Palestinians there. The United States support this infamious process because of the big economic power that Jewish people has in that country. We must accept all these people's right to exist, to coexist, to share a territory, to share those historical places which belong to all of them. The only possible way to peace is reconciliation. Nevertheless Jewish have built a wall, a wall which is only going to cause more wars, more violence and more hate.
This question includes a big [] in the sense [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: This question includes a big [] in the sense that war is something inherent of life and of our planet. I think that we should only intervene if we want to influence our governments in order to find other solutions of conflicts. And only a strong and organized civil society can put a government under pressure so that they propose other alternatives. One of the biggest problem is a state of not declarated civil war because it is maybe on of the most painful wars, like e. g. in my country. But I think that all wars are civil wars. All wars are happening between human beings, between the same species. But the interests in one country that obligate human beings to fight against each other can only be achieved if there is a very strong society that opposes itself against that form of fratricide. As I said all wars are fratricides. All wars are like this.
I think that an organization like the United [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that an organization like the United Nations should be much more effective. It should really be a collective will that rules the world. But we perceive that the United Nations are not very effective concerning recent problems like the war in Iraq or other problems when they were completeley incapable against the objectives of the most powerful country of the planet. In my opinion this country which declared itself to be the head and the government of the planet is making some mistakes that will be regretted and that humanity will not be able to change. All empires have a moment of decadence, but the decadence of the North American empire is different to the decadence of other countries. The decadence of the North American empire will lead to the fall of all of us because we depend on their qualities and their strategies that they made themselves. And this is a tragedy. The fall of the global government may be the fall of the whole world.
I think this is one of the most persuasive [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think this is one of the most persuasive questions. It is a fact that the powerful can talk about preventive wars or democratical security or friendly fire and that they use all these abhorrent words, and I believe that those powerful countries that use strategies of selfdefense are also terrorists. For me terrorism is the power of using arms and the possibility to subordinate other people by the fear of death. And I think that all human beings are rulers of the life of others and we are all able to take possesion of the life of other human beings and we are able to destroy it. All these forms are in my opinion terrorism. They are all forms of violence. There are forms of legitimate reaction concerning an oppression and there are extreme forms of reactions because the violence or the oppression have been also extremely. Many times the reaction to what you get is proportional. In my opinion that’s why people react violently to terrorism. They react with a violence of blood. Thus I think that there is a double moral when we talk about selfdefense and about other terrorists that also use their legitimate right of selfdefense.
Why is this tolerated? For the same reason [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Why is this tolerated? For the same reason as hunger is tolerated by humanity. We have to think about the difference of combatants and non combatants. As I said I am living in a country with a not declarated civil war. And the combatants are not other people then the adolescents, Colombians and unemployed people from the same social class. The people who are really fighing are thus not the powerful and neither the sons of the powerful. They only finance war. But the killed people are always the most poor ones and the most weak ones that find in war a way of surviving. That is why I think that the combatants and the non combatants are all civil people. In some way those who don’t have salary get to be a part of an armed group and they are simply victims of a society that expulsed them and that obligated them to enter into the abyss of death. The civil population and those who don’t intervene in war are victims of those civilians that feel obligated to give their life and their bodys. They don’t have their ideals, they only feel the necessity of surviving.
I have already mentioned the example of my [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I have already mentioned the example of my country. Democratical security is the basic idea of the actual government in my country to the costs of the individual liberty. It think that a society which is always worrying about the security has surely many owes. A society that has to barricade itself and to offer itself and to arm itself for protection is surely a society that has lost the word of quality of life. People and individuals that live constantly vigilated are people that lost completely their liberty and that are living at very low levels of quality of life and don’t have any quality of life anymore. They are societies that have to barricade themselves like for example the United States and many other societies in order to protect themselves and so they have completely lost their quality of life.
I think that this is a very naive question. [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that this is a very naive question. On the eleventh september 2001 many North Americans asked themselves in a painful and naive way: “ Why do they hate us so much?” Have we obligated them to accept our qualities and to bring our way of life and our American Dream into the societies? For many societies this way of life and this American Dream is a nightmare. And it changed into the nightmare of the world. Many times the occidental countries that want to show the world how it should develop don’t see that they invade other forms of thinking that are not compatible with the world of consume and capitalism. I think that there is a dictatorship on the market that is comparable to other forms of dictatorship. It is a dictatorship in capitalist and occidental countries that many times don’t give the possibility to understand that there are other forms of living and that there are people who don’ t want to live like this. There are nations and cultures that don’t want to live this way of life.
Well I think this question deals with the [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well I think this question deals with the same topic as the last one. I believe that there are many decent and good people living in the United States who are victims of a system that is really doing harm to the rest of the world. I am struck that on this table there is an enormous number of people who conceives a terrible criticism towards the government of the United States, and not towards the American nation; although I do believe that there has been a certain complicity and deafness on the part of the American nation to the disgrace and the errors their government has committed. After all it is the American population who has elected this man now holding sway over the world, and therefore I think that it is up to the decent people to not elect this type of monsters, instead of making a selection from which the whole planet consequently suffers. I think that this circular table in a certain manner sums up the world as a whole, and adjudges unanimously the rash words, the blemish and the disrepute the government of the worlds´ most powerful nation has committed against the planetary welfare. The interests of the worlds´ most powerful nation cannot be a reason for acting against the interests of others and for violating the rights of the rest of the world. This has to be very clear and definitive. It is also symptomatic that the majority of the questions arriving here – it would be interesting to count how many of them are coming from the United States.
I think the right to chosse where to live is [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think the right to chosse where to live is inalienable. The problem is that the world doesn´t belong to everyone. We have invented so many borders that prevent us from moving freely on this planet. I believe that everyone should be free to choose we to live in this world. And I find it almost tragic that we have to fight so hard to become able to choose a place, we want to live. For example, to be able to come to this meeting in Berlin I was given a visa for four days. I came two days ago and on 11. September I have to leave, because my visa is only for four days. As Colombian, as a citizen of this world I have no right to enter this paradise, the paradise of the First world, just for four days. I think this is a good example for the absurdity of systems, human beings have invented. We cannot choose where to live, we cannot choose where to go, as if the world woudn´t belong to everyone. It is very sad, when I think that we spend only few decades on this planet and not even have the right to move freely, to go where we want and to live where we want. I think this is something we should change.
This question is difficult to answer as we [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: This question is difficult to answer as we do not know what would have happened. But possibly we would have permitted - the whole mankind would have allowed the different African cultures to prosper and thereby find their own ways of development. But somehow and for any reason which by now we have not been able to understand, Africa in some way has turned out to be a kind of penalized continent. I think that humanity is hugely and pricelessly indebted to Africa. The discrimination the black race has suffered from is one of the worst dishonours mankind has ever committed. I think that the countries that enslaved Africa have not cleared their debts yet and they never will. The circumstances we are nowadays witnessing in Spain with the arrival of all those immigrants who risk their lives in these fragile vessels in order to reach paradise, and searching for welfare and opportunities, is a proof that the misdeed committed on Africa was enormous. All the efforts done by the western world should be executed in order to help Africa to find its own way, a way of dignity and of development and thereby giving the western countries the opportunity to clear their debts, which are unaffordable in my opinion.
I think, the human race has found a perfect [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think, the human race has found a perfect way for self-government and is seeking to develop a most just and fair system. I think, though, that in the name of democracy many arbitrary and unjust acts have been committed too. In my opinion democracy is the most perfect of the most imperfect methods that human race has developed for self-government so far. But as I said before, in the name of democracy many unjust acts have been committed. Sometimes we condemn totalitarian systems like the totalitarian system in Cuba, for example. Cuba has deprived its people of the right to elect their government. The price for the future achievements in the field of education and health care, were numerous battles, eventually won by regime. Democracy had to be sacrificied in order to have fairer society. I come from a country with, it is said, the most ancient democracy in America. I come from Colombia. An in the name of this democracy we live in a state without justice, in constant fear and violence. I think this is dramatic, because we sacrifice much in the name of democracy. Democracy is like synthesis of a government formed by minority and the benefit for all.
Just war. I don’t know if we are talking [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Just war. I don’t know if we are talking about just war or only war. I think that their is neither holy nor just war. The only holy thing that exists for me is life itself. War is an aspect of human nature that has to do with insanity, with the capacity of the human beings to enter into some cycles of insanity or collective madness. It is obviously possible to talk about selfdense and humanitarian intervention in order to prevent bloody death of people in extreme situations. But for me there do not exist just or holy wars. War is always diabolic, tragical, sad and it is always synonym of disease.
As many other questions this one is coming [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: As many other questions this one is coming from a North American and the United States actually have to ask themselves many questions. An example for the false perception of themselves and of the world is the fact that they call themselves America. And me as a South American touches the fact that they call themselves Americans when they aren’t the only Americans but North Americans. I think that those structures of balance that we need against those imbalances don’t make any sense. Some minutes ago I was talking about a possible fall of the world through the fall of the global empire. I think that in the moment in which the United States from North America will lose their place as the most powerful nation of the planet, the planet will fall, too. I don’ t know if this change can be made in a gracefully way whithout taking innocent victims with it. I don’t think that it will be possible.
Who profits from terrorism? The construction [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Who profits from terrorism? The construction companies. In this terrible war on Irak for example, we can see that at the same time the U.S. government decides to raze and destroy a country, the construction companies are ready to react. Destroy in order to rebuild, this is the business. And I think that the war on Irak for example is a terrorist war against terrorism or against a state of terror. But I think that those who benefit from the destruction are the construction companies and this is dramatic.
Courage means fighting for its own ideas, [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Courage means fighting for its own ideas, for its own believes. In my opinion, courage also means to live defending the truth, but first of all I don´t believe in heroism and I don´t believe in homeland. For this reason I believe that it is courageous to defend its own life and to defend the life of others. Defending the ideals of justice, defending the values of human life, means much courage to me too. In addition to all this, I think that word "courage" and word "love" are synonyms. In my opinion, love is the most active form of courage. To speak about love in a society like ours shows much courage.
An Iranian nuclear bomb is not more [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: An Iranian nuclear bomb is not more dangerous. I think that a country like the United States and a country like Iran are equally fanatical and equally dangerous. In my opinion any kind of fanatism is dangerous. The fact, that the United States believe to have a right to guard the world and play the guardians of global stability, does not make the world more safe. I think, this country doesn´t have any right to posess a bomb that can destroy entire planet. Nor do the Jewish or the French have a right to possess weapons that can destroy entire human race. I think, the balance they pretend to create is not really a balance. Nobody has a right to possess weapons that can destroy entire human race.
I think we have already answered this [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think we have already answered this question in the previous one. Public international law does exist, but there are no effective enforcement mechanisms to apply it. I think all nations should jointly seek an agreement about legitimacy and to demand from powerful governments to respect international laws, because otherwise the existance of all these institutions doesn´t make sense.
The connection between politics and [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: The connection between politics and violence. I come from Colombia, a country, that is involved into an undeclared civil war for 40 years; a country that fell victim to a process of political, moral and economic degradation of enormous extent; a country where political institutions have no credibility any more despite the fact that we have a government declaring rights, declaring democratic security which is maintained through an armed peace. Evidently we don´t have stability nor authentic democracy. If we would, for example, talk about democratic peace in my country, it would have a different meaning. In order to eliminate the causes of violence, the causes itself should be attacked and not the consequences. In other words: security, interdict, pressure. In a society the reasons of violent acts should be attacked. Violence is undoubtedly linked to hunger, lack of education, lack of opportunities, frustration. The consequense is: politics and violence become synonymous.
There are many modern versions of [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: There are many modern versions of colonialism and one of them is mass media. I think that television is the medium, most effectively spreading ideological colonialism. Nowadays internet provides the most democratic access to infomation, the madium like television, though, lies in the hands of the most evil human beings. In my opinion, television could save the world, because it is a very powerful instrument of transformation and penetration, and it reaches the most remote places of the world. Unfortunately television doesn´t fulfil its educational duty and on the contrary, spreads ideological ideas penetrating human minds. In my opinion this form of colonialism is the most evil and most contemporary one. Entire world was colonialized this way, especially through "American way of thinking and American way of life, the antivalues spread through television. I think, television is the worst version of colonialism that currently exists.
The word "freedom" is relative to the [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: The word "freedom" is relative to the previous question. Very often democratic states are equated with the possibility to live in freedom. The question is, though: who is really free in a democratic society? Very often democracy is equated with capitalism. Here comes the next question: is democracy equal to capitalism? Is democracy equal to capitalism or freedom? I think that in a democratic country, in many countries where democracy "prevails", there is no freedom. We may be free to leave a country, we may have the freedom of speach and have the right to contradict, but in a country like mine and many other Third world countries people are free to die from hunger, people are free but have no access to basic services of health care, education, etc.. What is freedom good for, if there is no access to benefits of democratic and free society? I think we always should distinguish between freedom, capitalism and democracy because the three concepts are not synonyms so easy to equate.
We can't talk about personal freedom if we [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: We can't talk about personal freedom if we have neither social freedom nor social well-being. I think that people should have the capacity to decide where the line between personal well-being and social well-being is to them. I think I should go back to the concepts of Global Body, Collective Responsibility and Reciprocal Dependence. The personal well-being, the personal freedom and the life well-being of each person depend on their interaction with the other members of the society. Last year, as I was working as a art director at the Kampnagel Festival in Hamburg, I suggested to present a subject which was the body as the mirrow of the world, the body as a metaphor of the world. I wanted to contribute with a reflexion on this close relationship and dependence among the different organs and countries of this planet system. That's why it has no sense to talk about personal freedom if we don't have a collective freedom.
I think that pacific resistance is one of [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that pacific resistance is one of the most effective ways to fight. An example of that is India, a country which has provided the humanity with one of the main exponents of the pacific resistance. Eventhough Ghandi was himself a victim of violence when he was murdered, he tought us something very important, which is extremely relevant and helpful to those countries at war or with a high level of violence. I think that the non-violent resistance is effective and it is a good method to defend ourselves from this death instint which is threatening the humankind.
Of course this question was posed by [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Of course this question was posed by somebody who belongs to a society that is constantly searching for heroes. I think that nowadays the general concept of a hero is strongly affected by the American concept, primarily because of the movies, “the heroes”. I am not searching for heroes; in my opinion all those anonymous persons that work hard every day in order to improve their lives and those of the others are heroes. I believe in those people who believe in life, I believe in the creators, in hope, and I do not have the American idea of a hero as a physically existing man that saves the planet. In my opinion we are all heroes.
Alvaro Restrepo:
I think that there is no right economic [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that there is no right economic growth without an ecologic limit. Economic growth without ecologic limit means an overflow, excess, destruction. One of the terms that we must redefine is economic growth or economic development. I think that somehow we have deformed the concept of development, the meaning of civilization and we have put them in an equal level and underestimate other notions of life's quality. Instead of creating better conditions, we are exaclty doing to the oppsite. The nature itself is already taken the proper measures to put a limit on those economic growth pretentions.
Having internet at home has advantages and [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Having internet at home has advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on how you use it. Nevertheless, I do think that the number of controlling devices is increasing in this paranoia age, in this terrorism age, in this protective war times we are living in. Orwell prophecy of Big Brother is watching comes true and that scares. I don't know very well the controlling devices but I do assume that the more connected to internet we are, the easier to be controlled. Non the less, I hope that the humanity found the best way to use this prodigious device in order to develop and grow.
I think we have an excessive trust on [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think we have an excessive trust on technology. I think that we are like children fascinated by toys. I do think of course, and recognize the importance of technology as a tool to convey development. But, I think, we have to come back to much more, to more natural truths and more natural relationship with things. I think we are complicating ourselves too much, and becoming too fascinated with the tools that technology is giving us.
Again the problem of education. We must make [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Again the problem of education. We must make people aware of the importance of stopping using up resources. We must educate people since the very beginning of the their life. Education is the only possible solution.
I think that water will be the oil of the [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that water will be the oil of the future. In my opinion the wars in the future will be on water. Our planet is composed of three-quartes of water but of salty water. That's the big paradox here, what I would define as another example of God's humor. I hope that scientits had already found a way to use all that water we have in our planet. It's also a tragedy how we have destroyed the original water resources, how we have contaminated the rivers, that's why we'll pay for all these damages, we'll face terrible consequences. We are already facing them. I don't know if we could recuperate the water without conflicts. I think that the world has already come into conflict because of the water.
Alvaro Restrepo:
Immediate steps that we can take for the [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Immediate steps that we can take for the preparation of our society for emergency. Sometimes someone would say that the only possibility is to pray for the planet and to cry for humanity because of processes of trying to unite political, economical and social volunties in order to prepare ourselves for facing all those problems. It is very difficult to foresee what we can do. To make people be conscient and perhaps to have some united nations that are really effective and that have a principal and effective organisation for the global problems of the environment. The only thing that we could do is work for the enforcement of global organisations and agglutinated corporations of the countries in order to do something for the salvation of our sick body which is the planet.
Well. There have been other questions [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well. There have been other questions concerning television and the utilization of television. I think that television is a very powerful mean of communication. And I want to underline what I said some minutes ago that television could save the world but it is instead converting into the closure of humanity. The worst qualities of humanity are transmitted through television. Television is in worst hands. In my opinion vulgarity, banality and unimportant events of life are transmitted by television. I think that television has an extraordinary power to transmit qualities but instead of that it is transmitting antiqualities. I believe that television has to take possession of itself. Television has to take control of television. Television is destroying the particularities of the cultures. Some minutes ago I also said that television is one of the modern forms of colonialism and penetration. I think that artists, designers and real thinkers should take control of television. Governments should take responsability for television in order to avoid that all human energies lie in it.
I think that humanity is divided into people [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that humanity is divided into people that have a short vision or immediate vision and people that only care about their own interests, about their own qualities and future. And only the idea of coresponsability can help us to find a way out of it. Governments and companies that only seek for economical profit even if the know that they are causing damage to humanity still continue to seek for economical profit. That’s why we human beings always have to defend ourselves from others because some have a conscience and others don’t have one. But I think that we have a conscience and that we should help to diffuse it. Thus we have to help to reveal those questions that are occult. So we continue taking risks and we continue playing with fire. But we’ll see untill which day.
Alvaro Restrepo:
Well. I think that one of the principal [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well. I think that one of the principal solutions is to get rid of cars and to cancel them from our lives and to start to search for other alternatives of movement and mobilisation in the cities. I strongly believe that the collective transport of good quality is the only solution, even though the global warming is not only a consequence of cars. But I think that the planet has to perceive some day that cars have been the worst invention of humanity. Cars destroyed the quality of life and of air in the cities and at public and urban places. Cities have been constructed for cars and not for human beings. When we look at the space which one car occupies at urban places we really see that we have made a fatal error.
Once more, the subject of balance and [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Once more, the subject of balance and imbalance. I think, that the problems we have were caused by all these disproportions that exist in the world: the countries that produce less than they consume or countries that are wasting their resources and food, while in other parts of the world people die from hunger. This kind of disproportion causes chaos, which we have to flee somehow. I don´t know, how we can compensate the energy needs and resource consumption of the developing countries. I think, it´s time for developed countries to wake up. They are sometimes blinded by their "own welfare" and are not aware that such a state is not real.
I think that architecture and architects as [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that architecture and architects as big artists of the urban space and of the spaces where we live have a big impact on the quality of life of our cities and of our habitat. I think that architects should turn into being artists again. In many cases architects became constructers and technologists and the signifance of arts and of the space in which life happens has got lost. The significance of the artistic space in which life should happen and of the human space has got lost. Architecture should promote meeting spaces, spaces of cohabit, of reflection and of circulation. The Colombian architect Rojelio Salmona which is one of our biggest architects talked about the importance of architecture in relation to time, to the perception of architecture of time as a dimension, architecture that invites to wander and to walk through time, architecture that meditates or that obligates to meditate and to feel time in realtion to its space.
The future we long for, the future I long [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: The future we long for, the future I long for is a world free of wars, a world, where the human race were counscious of who we all are, conscious of what we have, conscious of the great potential that we possess to produce beauty, to produce prosperity. The future, where we could live the miracle, which is our life in this world, to the full. A future I want, should provide equal opportunities to everyone and guarantee dignity not only to the humans but to all living beings on our planet, because in my opinion, dignity is not only people´s characteristic feature. I believe that human race deserves a future where everyone could enjoy the goods, given by the Earth. Human beings should stop being egoistic and learn to share, learn what it is like to share the natural goods among people. I wish a future, where elderly people and children would be worshiped like sacred, where the circle of life would be regarded as something complete and would be respected and appreciated from the beginning till the end.
I think that it is an opportunity to be [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that it is an opportunity to be fastly connected to the world and to know the questions and problems that concern all of us. But this excess of communication that we can also call immediate and direct communication also changed completely the velocitiy of life so that we are in some way getting confused. In my opinion the quality of communication is very cheap, even if there is a big quantitiy of communication, but the quality is very cheap. That’s why we also get very []. The world has lost its singularity and its difference. In all channels of communication we have the same news, the same events because we are highly connected. That makes the world get flat and boring. I think that this excessive communication didn’t enrich us, it made us loose our particularities.
Yes. At this moment we are connected and [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Yes. At this moment we are connected and talking to a machine. We came to answer questions. We are connected to the internet and thousands of people in the world, we don’t know how much, are listening to us. Like some of my neighbours sitting her we have all the feeling to be together but talking all alone in monologues. We have the feeling to be talking to an unknown dimension that we cannot control and that some abstract and unknown people are listening to us. In my opinion it is not desirable to have the possibility that our minds can be connected mecanically to machines. I think that we can use machines for our mind, what we are actually doing. But all these fantasies of science fiction that tecnology brought to us really scare me. I don’t believe necessarily in a romanticism that negates technology but I think that we have to be careful in order to not lose humanity or the relation to men and human beings. We are too much fascinated by machines that we invented for playing.
I think that the societies have their [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that the societies have their governments and they should understand that they will in many ways profit from investments for education. But not for any sort of education. It is not a problem of covering or quantity but of quality. For me a correct education is an education that is really interested in people and in individuals in order to discover their personnality. A correct education wants to discover the personnality and it wants to help people and help human beings to find out who they are and why they were born. It is only possible to contribute to society and to the world if the human beings are happy with their work. The writer Gabriel García Márquez talks in one of his articles and in one of his texts which is called “the country reaching for the kids” (“el país al alcance de los niños) about the secret of a long and happy life which lies in the work for what you like most. And I think that we have to teach our children to discover what they can do best and what makes them happy. This may be the only way...
I think that being alone is the natural [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that being alone is the natural condition of a human being, we all are alone. We all are lonely and we have to learn to be alone. I think that each of us has to confront its life and death alone. We should stop being afraid of being alone. We should get prepared from our childhood on to be alone and we should get prepared for the death too. We feel united in loneliness, we are afraid of being alone and we are not able to be alone with ourselves. Loneliness is tragedy for us. I think that there is no higher privilege than being able to enjoy loneliness, being able to be alone with itself. Furthermore, we should learn to prepare ourselves for the process of our own destruction, for the death. It is common to talk about loneliness in a crowded place. We should appreciate loneliness as a gift, as a gift of stregth and not as tragedy. Here we are talking all together in this big event and still we are alone, infinitely alone.
I think that in this period of access to the [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that in this period of access to the internet and to computers the access to knowledge has certainly been democratized. Low-income communities obviously need access to equipments and computers etc. And I think that internet and computers are certainly wonderful means for easy access to knowledge and for the economical and social development. Education could use the internet in order to diversificate the offer to the pupils. I think that it has really been an important step for the development of humanity. But sometimes we may criticise that the communication via internet and e-mails somehow led to the loss of romanticism that the communication via letters still had. But we have to accept the changes that technology proposes to us whithout losing all forms of humanity that we need in order to save our especie.
I shall choose a tree. Well, I choose a tree [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I shall choose a tree. Well, I choose a tree of my country which is called “la bonga” and which is a very beautiful tree, perhaps an archetypical tree that has perfect proportions. I believe in the creative capacity of human beings and that’s what I work for. I want to awake this creative capacity. I believe in the power of art to excite, to concuss and to affect and that’s what I work for. I think that art like a vehicle evidences the creative capacity of the human beings like science. Art and science are those fields where men can spread their capacity. And this capacity, creativity and instinct to life is this one which moves me and which makes me believe that we will get bigger and more powerful.
Everything can be bougth and everything can [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Everything can be bougth and everything can be sold. Culture is also getting an object of consume. I don’t think that it is necessarily negative that we can consume. But we have lost the significance of qualitiy of what we consume. In this society people count more for what they have got and not for whon they are. That’s why also the cultural and espiritual production is getting a mean of consume. It is possible to buy it and to sell it. And we don’t produce because of pleasure of creating or because of the necessity of pervading or communicating with other dimensions. Many times we create something in order to sell it and in order to negotiate.
Well. I think that the human beings should [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well. I think that the human beings should be conscient that they too are part of nature. This is something that we have lost in the “advanced” countries. Those “primitive” societies that have always lived dependendly on the forces of nature and that have lived in harmony with the cycles of nature clearly know that the human beings live in an interdependence with their environment. I think that once again we are coming to the subject of education. I believe that only through education people can understand that we are a part of a system and that we depend on it. And this system is totally changing and we are destroying it. Once again the metaphor of the planet as a body appears in the education of the human beings. We have to understand that our body in which we live depends also on the environment. Our exteriour body which is the planet and nature has to live in harmony with our internal body. And only through educational processes we will get to this level of perception. Educational processes can make people be conscious of being a part of our nature.
Well, I find this question a bitt silly, but [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well, I find this question a bitt silly, but I suppose the question is relevant to the previous one. We are used to consume rubbish and we are used to consume poison. It is because we are victims of the market forces. They have been selling to us this poison from our childhood on and now it is easier to have access to a can of Coca Cola because all this business has been inoculated to us by communication media. The water seems simply too boring. But I think the next question will be about water, so we´ll wait for it.
I think we can learn from Africa as much as [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think we can learn from Africa as much as we can learn from any other region in the world. We all have something that others could learn. Africa has its lessons, Latin America, Asia and Europe, each continent, each region has extraordinary things that others could learn. I think that Africa is a country with thousand years of wisdom, with ancient cultures. In my opinion, cultures and civilizations of Africa are very sophisticated. The most sophisticated arts or one kind of the world´s most sophisticated arts comes from Africa. Long time ago great artists from Africa were appreciated. I think, we also can learn from what has impressed me some time ago: I read the article about the reconciliation process in South Africa. It was written by African author Anti Krog with the title " African apology too sophisticated for the West". I think, African culture has a number of elements our cultures could learn. If after the acts of 11. September, the United States would have reflected a bit and had asked themselves, why are they so hated by the rest of the world, if they would have regretted instead of choosing revenge, the destruction of Afghanistan and Irak
In my opinion we have to preserve our local [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: In my opinion we have to preserve our local cultures, it is urgent to preserve our local cultures. One of the biggest tragedies of our time is also the fact, that we travel and do not feel that we travel. The ability to descover other worlds, the feeling of having moved to different place is something that is lost. All cities look similar now, we dress the same way, we eat the same food, we watch the same television channels, we have made everything similar in the world. I believe that we should feel a part of one world and at the same time we should defend our differences, preserve special features of our own culture. I think, this is a dual process: we should gain knowledge and at the same time be able to recognize the beauty of the world´s diversity and to appreciate our own particularity, our own wonders and treasures.
The problem is that we almost always talk [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: The problem is that we almost always talk among ourselves. We should achieve that this kind of events would be attended by individuals that share other opinions. I think we should be able to sit at the same table with the powerful people too, those who make decisions. We should make the powerful to listen to us and not to continue talking just among ourselves, sharing the same opinion. We need to have the powerful, industrialists among us in order to suggest solutions together. That´s why I firmly believe in education. The only way to achieve any change on this planet is to dedicate ourselves to the education of the poor, to the education of the rich, excuse me.
Alvaro Restrepo:
Alvaro Restrepo:
If you had only one piece of knowledge to [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: If you had only one piece of knowledge to give to the world, what would it be? I think that we need to comment again on a word that I have been confronted with in many occasions and of which we are afraid and this is simply love. I believe that we are supposed to find the ability to love within ourselves. And by completely assuming this ability, we are able to exist. I think that we firstly have to love ourselves and thereby be able to love others, to love our own actions, to love the world we live in and finally to find in ourselves the concepts of being able to love. Me as a teacher and pedagogue feel that what moved me to do what I am actually doing is just the ability to love and also the vocation to serve. I believe that in this life the only thing that makes sense is to serve others.
I think this is linked to the rhythm, our [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think this is linked to the rhythm, our life acquires. All inventions, all technological inventions are intended to save our time. But while saving time, we are involved in more and more activities simultaneously. We talk on the mobile, work while we drive a car, we can talk on the mobile and communicate at the same time in internet. At the same time we are at various places, we are connected to various different people and very often we are not aware of "here" and "now". I think, that technological inventions should help us to enjoy the present and the small things in life. But these inventions always make us to be in some other place, in some other time and do not permit us to feel the present. In my opinion, this deforms time and space.
Undoubtedly, the technology boom of the past [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Undoubtedly, the technology boom of the past fifty years could have been very beneficial to the human race, if it wasn´t driven by the destructive military forces. In my country, high percentages of the GDP are used for the war, the so called "pacification of the country". In reality, though, they are taking money that could be used for education, for scientific research or other areas, that could bring development into our country and prevent dehumanization that is currently taking place. I think, we have wasted enormous potentials for development thanks to technology and are following instead the merchants of war, the merchants of death.
Normally, each country should be responsable [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Normally, each country should be responsable for its own natural resources. In my opinion, we need a global institution, that would be responsable for the politics in the field of environment and natural resources. Unfortunatelly, various countries or the governments of the countries lie in the hands of great economic powers, whose only interest is economic profits. Great economic powers do not care about the preservation of natural resources. For this reason there is a need for a global institution, that would be multinational and multilateral and could control the world´s natural resources. Much injustice has been done, though. In Europe, for example, developed countries have exhausted their own natural resources, this way they have achieved their development. Now they go to the developing countries and want to exhaust their natural resources. We should introduce laws in order to save our natural resources as long as we, the countries of the Third world and especially Latin America, still are "the lungs of the planet". The subject of who should manage the natural resources, is a double moral. In my opinion, we need a global institution, that would be integrated not only by authorities but by communities too, that were in harmony with original ethnics and with natural resources.
Of course we can still be indigenous in the [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Of course we can still be indigenous in the twenty-first century. I believe that the origin and the consciousness of our origin is something very important. A little while ago we were talking about crossbreeding and how we all derive from different races although we know our origins and where we come from; but I think that nowadays the question concerning our provenience is watched by an enormous membership. For example today we have on the cover of the “Herald Tribune” the French Minister of the Interior raising a question. Maybe he should also attend this desk. This is something that troubles me on these kind of events. In general we attend them in order to debate, well actually on this desk we are not debating but simply reflecting about different topics in a monologue, surrounded by persons who possibly have the same views and we will never get the chance to really rub shoulders with people who have different views. These questions – Sarcozy´s question – (perfect) – September 9 - Herald Tribune – Who is European? What is the identity of a European? I think that this is a question that obviously deals with the European identity. In my opinion this continent is just as mixed as other continents.
Alvaro Restrepo:
Alvaro Restrepo:
In Colombia, in gymnasium we work with [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: In Colombia, in gymnasium we work with children and young people that come from quite difficult conditions. With physical work we literally seek to pass on the values that later in life would help them to overcome adversity or bad economic conditions. In my opinion, self-respect, respect for others and humility are the three most important values or three of the most important values. I think the ability to get to know itself, to recognize own abilities to create and produce life is a sine qua non to be able to recognize sacred and inviolable human being in others. Humility is a quality, a value that should be emphasized. If people were benevolent, unpretentious, profound and not ostentatious, I believe that we could become masters of others and masters of ourselves.
I think, the duty, that every artist has, is [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think, the duty, that every artist has, is to emphasize the sacred value of life. Arts is one way of showing that human beings are capable of creating. I think, this even could be an antidote to death, to numerous unnecessary deaths. An artist should be capable, in first place, of revealing the sacred value of life.
What moves me? Well, the concept "motion" [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: What moves me? Well, the concept "motion" is really complicated in this sense. What moves you and what stops you? Well, I´m specifically concerned about movement, that´s called life. What moves me, I think, what gives me a boost to move is first of all hope. It is hope to feel, hope to make others feel and to be able to feel myself, hope to be able to enjoy moments of happiness and to enjoy being alive. Life is very short. With each second that passes by, our biological clock reminds us of passing time and the shortness of life. I don´t believe in death. I believe that we transfrom after we die. I think we form part of the whole that constantly mutates. This mutation is what moves me.
I think, nobody can write a formula for [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think, nobody can write a formula for these myths. The society created myths that are already lost, though. What we need, is to find out what is sacred to us, to get our rituals back. I think, we are not able anymore to make rituals, we have lost any sense for sacred existence. This led eventually to the fact, that the life passes by without our noticing that we are alive. The human race should regain, in my opinion, spirituality. I think arts and culture would help best to get back to that spiritual world. From there new myths emerge and new world visions arise. But I cannot say exactly what sort of myths they are: maybe new values like sacred concepts, human life and the life of other creatures sharing the planet with us.
Alvaro Restrepo:
I think, it has to do a lot with the fact, [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think, it has to do a lot with the fact, that we do not regard ourselves as citizens of the world, as citizens belonging to the same human race. One concept, in my opinion, should be immediately eradicated from the face of the Earth: the concept "fatherland". Powerful and negative world leaders use this term very often. Many crimes have been committed in the name of fatherland. This country, where we all gather today, knows too well the horrors of having defended nationalism, of having defended patriotism. This was a country, whose government used the term "fatherland" in order to control and manipulate its own people. Now we are allies, once the most powerful government has united us, the government that misused the concept "fatherland" in a most horrible way. I think, in order to eliminate nationalist ideas and a very restricted way of thinking, we should talk more about the Nature, that is a mother for all of us.
I believe that this is another questions [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I believe that this is another questions that has to do with the subject of education. I think that we should take the human body as our habitat. If we are not conscious about the importance and function our body has, we are never going to pay enough attention to the nuntrients and food we aet. We need a high quality food and that's why I say education, education and education, but an authentic education. We must learn that we are what we eat.
Which god, which religion? I think nature is [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Which god, which religion? I think nature is god and god is nature, and the only possible religion is life. Yes, my god does not have any religion, neither it has laws nor a structure.
This question hast to do with the [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: This question hast to do with the homogenization of the planet. We all should make an enormous effort in order to preserve the architectonic heritage, the traditions, the costums and the festive celebrations of each city. That is the only way to keep save the identity. In my opinion that is a responsability of the goverments. And it is true, as I said before, we travel but we don't really feel that we are travelling because somehow everything looks exactly the same, doesn't it?
I believe that this is a miscegenation [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I believe that this is a miscegenation problem. That question concerns the never ending miscegenation problem. I think that we live in a mixed racial world, that's why we should accept us as a part of this races melting pot. I can say that I am African too. I live in very mixed city, it is a "mulata" city at the Colombian Caribbean Sea where, unfortunately, there are high levels of racism and class-consciuosness. However, we should break up with all those racial divergences. I think that the humanity wonder is based on that diversity and mixture which are the most important elements. Unfortunately the problem of races is still a very significat topic nowadays and that's perhaps the reason why we don't develop ourselves at all.
I think that there are many things that [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: I think that there are many things that children and young people should read. I think that most of all it is important to spark their interest. I believe that, as (Sachstern) said, we need to show the children how to be their own teachers and to find out what they like and which is the best manner to teach themselves. The children should go outside and discover the world, see the world, go into nature and specially they are supposed to stir up their own curiosity and conceive the desire of discovering the world they entered. Actually, young people need to have a spirit of curiosity, and I consider this to be the only way to turn themselves into do-gooders.
We talk about an instantaneous [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: We talk about an instantaneous communication, about how is it possible to be at different parts of the world at the same time, and how can we strengthen the connection between human beings. Very often we aspire to establish a connection to those who are far away, and are not aware of the fact, that we have people right at our side to talk to. Often, we know the location of a certain planet or entire galaxy and are not able to say where our own liver or pancreas lies. I think that this "macro" perspective should provide us the "micro" perspective too. Internet should not only connect us to the rest of the world but it should serve as communication tool in the field of education in our own communities.
Well, the future of the city depends a lot [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Well, the future of the city depends a lot from our ability to solve the car problem. In my opinion the fact, that more and more cars and car drivers deprive in a city living people from the public space, is a big problem. It is interesting how car drivers forget that they too are persons, that they too are pedestrians, that they too are able to think and not cars think for them. It is unbelievable, that as soon as a person enters a car, it becomes machine and thinks like machine, not like human being. In my opinion, cars are currently the biggest city problem and it sould be resolved in first place. Another problem is the question of space. People need public space in order to be able to meet, to have where to discuss their problems, to meet new people. The problem is that a city becomes a territory that belongs to nobody. Very seldom citizens have a feeling of belonging to urban environment. City is foreign territory. I think, cultural and communal centres serve as places for reflection, for meeting people, and should make people feel and understand the meaning of a life in a community.
Why Chinese? What if every single person [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Why Chinese? What if every single person wants a car? Chinese are not the problem, eventhough there are many of them. Cars are a big problem, they are a tragedy. We must completely redefine the principle of people's displacement and transportation. Automobiles are a big mistake, an authentic tragedy.
Without any doubt, egoism plays a main role [...]
Alvaro Restrepo: Without any doubt, egoism plays a main role in human failure. In my opinion egoism is nothing else than blindness and I insist on this term that I used in my previous answers. Human race has to open its eyes and look at what is happening and at all the failures of humanity. Egoism is nothing else than silliness. We should see our planet as a body whose organs or countries depend from each other in order to guarantee the overall health of the global body. And than it´s obvious that there can´t be any privileged organ if the body is to survive. So I think human failure is connected to the fact that there are organs or countries believeing they can remain healthy while others are ill. We all depend from each other and we must fight against egoism. Furthermore solidarity is not just a walue but solidarity is essential in order to survive as a human race.
