by Flavio Goncalves
Having recently watched “The Day The Earth Stood Still” starring Keanu Reeves, a remake from 1951 original movie, I've come to the following conclusion.
The story is simply this: planet Earth is not ours, we are merely its modern tenants. Unhappy as to the way we are mistreating the planet, the landlord, in the figure of the alien Klaatu Nikto, decides to pay us a visit, to call out for our attention to or warn us that we do not amend our ways, he would exterminate entirely all life on the planet saving only, in a sort of Noah’s ark, the flora and the non-human fauna.
Even though the movie solely focus on the ecological aspect about the way humans' exploit of the natural resources on this planet, I believe we are in need of a Klaatu Niktos that would call our attention to other aspects of our modern lives. While the bombings and the invasion of Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces are still warm in our minds – which resulted in the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and part of the Israeli embassy staff stationed in Venezuela – given that these events opened up the year 2009 for us, I believe that it’s urgent that we become aware of the harm we cause not just to our planet but to our fellow man.
With the economic recession spreading, we end up by not giving a thought about other humans. We are preoccupied with ourselves. How will I be able to pay my bank loan? My car loan? My credit card? My consumer credit loan? We live our lives buried in our own, sometimes miserable, existence that we end up solely watching what goes on in the world through television.
We don’t even realise that it’s up to us, all of us, the responsibility to try and change the way things are, preferably in a specific manner before frustration kicks in among our youth against all that is of democratic politics and capitalist economy, like the frustration that bursts into the streets by the rebellious fervor of the Greek youth (still waging a civil war against their own government).
I hope that all the violence and gore that opened this new year for us, be it in Israel or in Greece, won’t last long. And that all of us can collaborate in a far more positive spirit so that the Azores and Portugal, even in recession, will not fall into a spiral of depression and misanthropy. The attitude in our daily lives, maybe the lack of civil concerns - a trait of most of our own people - needs to be eliminated and THAT is very important.
Without a Klaat Nikto in a world that awakens the human beings to the awareness of our own mistakes – or to the very least the errors of our rulers – that awareness is up to us, and we should evaluate ourselves given that we already do such, in a much prejudiced way, daily evaluating those around us.
The construction of a Socialist, Libertarian and Fraternal 21st century is in the hands of the average citizen, not the sole responsibility of our rulers.
“What we have to keep in mind is how Portugal should be. I’m not in politics, it’s not in my ways to work in such. What we have to do is keep in mind how it should be. And keeping in mind how it should be, we hope…” – Agostinho da Silva; in “The Empire is over. What now? – Dialogues with Agostinho da Silva” by Antonio Sousa, Casa das Letras, page 137, Portugal.
For my part I would add: keeping in mind… and acting accordingly!
Having recently watched “The Day The Earth Stood Still” starring Keanu Reeves, a remake from 1951 original movie, I've come to the following conclusion.
The story is simply this: planet Earth is not ours, we are merely its modern tenants. Unhappy as to the way we are mistreating the planet, the landlord, in the figure of the alien Klaatu Nikto, decides to pay us a visit, to call out for our attention to or warn us that we do not amend our ways, he would exterminate entirely all life on the planet saving only, in a sort of Noah’s ark, the flora and the non-human fauna.
Even though the movie solely focus on the ecological aspect about the way humans' exploit of the natural resources on this planet, I believe we are in need of a Klaatu Niktos that would call our attention to other aspects of our modern lives. While the bombings and the invasion of Gaza by the Israeli Defence Forces are still warm in our minds – which resulted in the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador and part of the Israeli embassy staff stationed in Venezuela – given that these events opened up the year 2009 for us, I believe that it’s urgent that we become aware of the harm we cause not just to our planet but to our fellow man.
With the economic recession spreading, we end up by not giving a thought about other humans. We are preoccupied with ourselves. How will I be able to pay my bank loan? My car loan? My credit card? My consumer credit loan? We live our lives buried in our own, sometimes miserable, existence that we end up solely watching what goes on in the world through television.
We don’t even realise that it’s up to us, all of us, the responsibility to try and change the way things are, preferably in a specific manner before frustration kicks in among our youth against all that is of democratic politics and capitalist economy, like the frustration that bursts into the streets by the rebellious fervor of the Greek youth (still waging a civil war against their own government).
I hope that all the violence and gore that opened this new year for us, be it in Israel or in Greece, won’t last long. And that all of us can collaborate in a far more positive spirit so that the Azores and Portugal, even in recession, will not fall into a spiral of depression and misanthropy. The attitude in our daily lives, maybe the lack of civil concerns - a trait of most of our own people - needs to be eliminated and THAT is very important.
Without a Klaat Nikto in a world that awakens the human beings to the awareness of our own mistakes – or to the very least the errors of our rulers – that awareness is up to us, and we should evaluate ourselves given that we already do such, in a much prejudiced way, daily evaluating those around us.
The construction of a Socialist, Libertarian and Fraternal 21st century is in the hands of the average citizen, not the sole responsibility of our rulers.
“What we have to keep in mind is how Portugal should be. I’m not in politics, it’s not in my ways to work in such. What we have to do is keep in mind how it should be. And keeping in mind how it should be, we hope…” – Agostinho da Silva; in “The Empire is over. What now? – Dialogues with Agostinho da Silva” by Antonio Sousa, Casa das Letras, page 137, Portugal.
For my part I would add: keeping in mind… and acting accordingly!
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Your explanation was remarkable! Yes, we are killing the planet..the best example would be the "Global Warming"
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