On the future

Today, I will comment a column by Mayra Montero. She is a Cuban writer who lives in Puerto Rico and who writes about Puerto Rico. In today’s paper (she has a weekly column in El Nuevo Día) she wrote about how people dare to complain about bats that are mainly inoffensive but do not say anything about the destruction of the environment. Mayra is like Anna Quindlen once was, a voice that needs to be heard. She has no party affiliations and is willing to offend those who she considers vermin. Her complaint today made me think that we are leaving future generations a very sorry looking planet. In science fiction anti-utopias the world is a gray place where color is secured only for a few, the ones who control the world. That’s how I see the future, a bleak place where the sound of a bird chirping on a bright sunny morning is only a faint memory or a recorded sound only a few have access to. Mayra said a very wise thing again and I quote “al verdadero gobierno, que es el poder económico, nadie le vota en contra porque no se presenta a elecciones. Lo sagrado no está en juego. Y por eso se derriban 4,000 árboles de una sentada.”( I won’t translate because I am assuming that if you are interested in this log you are either a Puerto Rican or can read Spanish. ) Here she was griping about the politicians and their petty fights and squabbles. She argues that they are, in the big picture, meaningless. The ones who really control our destinies are the ones who control the big money.

Roberto Carlos (Brazilian singer/songwriter) wrote a song about how would we explain the ecological disaster to our children: "Los niños te preguntarán que es lo que sabes, de las ballenas que cruzaban viejos mares.....o en los libros o en imágenes de archivos de un programa vespertino de televisión, responderás con el silencio de tu boca, recordaras batiendo el mar con furia loca,....una proa expuesta al viento y en sus últimos momentos, un recuerdo es un trofeo en forma de arpón" I wonder...