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Current present into: “World Politics”

Week 4
Joensuu, Finland

My Thursday’s night 26.1.2017 was full of internet reading due to the last orders of the new USA president at that particular moment. The topics there are being discussed at the moment are relevant for me because I am a female who loves science, enjoys traveling, believes in cooperation and collaboration, thinks that everybody should have a minimum right of shelter, health and education, believes in freedom and I am an immigrant. Additionally, I am proud to say that my “heimat” is Mexico.

So, I was reading this analysis of this column El viaje es una trampa, when suddenly, as if I was  watching a film everything changed because I got the article  el primer mandatario que dice no. The international press was also writing about the current conversation between two neighbor countries, for example in the  bbc and euronews.

I felt I needed to say something and I needed to digest, so I only could say this in my  forgotten FB’s wall:

We are transforming our “real world” in an INTENSE rollercoaster.
It is time to play wisely.
Wish to be listening more to historians and chess players. They are needed!

The new president of the USA is making us think, which in itself is a good thing. We were given a lot for granted lately.  The wall between USA and Mex already exist, the interesting fact is to reflect upon his approach to divide which imho might be short sighted. Yes, for Mexico USA is an important customer, but also for USA Mexico is the second important customer after China. The following infographic is quite interesting in terms on how USA could be affected if the borders are changed without thinking.

The topic of the wall is short sighted as there are all the topics I have heard so far, but ok, one has to respect. However what happen when topics actual relate to all humans on earth as:

a) Denied human influence into climate change

b) Forbid the communication between researchers and laypeople. (note here and here)

Time to think and ACT!

This reminds me, I remember, some years ago at a seminar in Tampere, were one of the papers we were discussing was about LARPs. For me, it is a difficult to get into the LARP world, real life is very immersive for me. I am not a larper, it is a fact.

However now I wouldn’t mind “playing” on a futuristic “LARP” where different scenarios can be created of our current rollercoaster.

Let’s  keep constructing our future,

— cais

PS.  Historians, where are you? We need you! Please remind us several things from our human past to be able to see the future.

 

importance of universities, i am inspire by the actual Mexican student movements

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Week 20, 2012
Helsinki, Finland

When I read what is happening with the Mexican university students, it moves me.  For decades in Mexico we have been fighting for freedom and equality, or shall I say for centuries? That is a good question.

Nevertheless, this post focuses on our latest fight, which from my perspective started in 1968. University students from that time were fighting against the current government, which was some kind of dictatorship, we were ruled under the political party of the PRI.  During the time in which the PRI was in power, the seed of A LOT of the actual problems was sown as corruption, lack of education, drugs,…..

In October 2, 1968, the government committed a massacre, which until now has not been punished. The open wound is open in our society.

The general elections of 2000 had a massive participation and we finally changed of government. I am so happy I was able to vote in those elections. Since then we have 12 years with the PAN.

Now we have elections again. The context of this election is very challenging, I would say, and it is full of LIES.  Additionally, our educational system has been in decay, there is not media literacy in the country and the mass media does not want to inform objectively the society. In few words, the syndicate of teachers and the owners of the mass media have their own political agendas, which they are following carefully instead to serve the society. *sight*

In May 2012, the candidate of the PRI visited the University Iberoamericana – my alma matter btw –  and the students demonstrated their opposition towards the candidate. However after the visit the publicity of the candidate’s party  and the mass media did not acknowledge this event and modify it, diminish the students demonstration. Consequently, the university students react and published a video specifying that they were participants of the protest (video below).

Octavio Rodriguez Araujo wrote in his column the article entitle Los jovenes de ahora, mentioning that the actual generation we are defining as Ni-Ni because we perceive them as passive, conformist, apatic,  are actually showing us that in peace, they are demanding a change. For example, they are creating a movement towards impartial media.

Unquestionably, for the actual political movements that are taking place in México, as in other countries,  social networks are fundamental. The university students are putting their face, replying and questioning to politicians. They are expressing their truth and fighting for their rights. Unfortunately the Internet penetration in Mexico is low and very expensive. But things are advancing, somehow.

All these events reaffirm that Universities transpire life, they are generators of change and innovation. Universities have an important role in our societies.

Each one of us, as researchers, lecturers, teachers have an important commitment with our universities and with our youngsters. We shouldn’t transmit only collections of facts, instead supported by the subject matter of our expertise we should promote: critical thinking, questioning, search for evidence, tolerance,…. Each generation have to live what they have to live, but we have to offer them the tools for them to walk their own path!

game: politics

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Week 20, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

In this year, due to presidential elections which will affect me directly, I have been following, closer than usual, different political agendas in Europe and American continents. To be informed is our right and responsibility as citizens. However the game of politics is, for me, very complex.

A common denominators emerged across countries, which I would consider game components:

  • Population: require education in different subjects including politics, in addition to have critical thinking skills. Their aim is to decide which politicians will organize them by representing them. The education level of the population determines the degree of freedom that the politicians will have. Consequently, as less educated is the population, politicians know they can manipulate easily the information and avoid the creation of constructive analysis over political and economical decisions that sooner or later will affect each member of the population, i.e. each individual.
  • Politicians: in theory they are part of the population, and their aim is to help the population to be organized.  However most of the politicians seem to be affected by some kind of virus called power. According to the culture, the politicians might be more immune to the virus than others. As more infected the politicians are the more they will utilize the population to fulfil their personal agenda neglecting their aim to organize the population. The worst case scenario is when the politicians are highly infected by the virus and the population is no-educated.  However, what most of the politicians have in common is: they believe their own words, at least apparently.
  • Discourse and Strategies: the mechanics of the politics. I would say this should be the most interesting part of the game. Nowadays, it seems in danger of extinction.

Politics is a difficult game, which all of us has to live at some level, we want it or not. *sight*

 Note: this post has not the same agenda than Ian Bogost approach to persuasive games. Persuasive games might complement this post in the sense that digital games with a political agenda belong to a big game of politics. I find Bogost’s analysis and arguments interesting and, honestly, some of them I am still digesting. Nonetheless, the purpose to write this post is: to express my wonder about the meta game of politics, and my concern is the lack of education on the topic.

politics game

politics game

Photos source: from the Journalist Foundation

 

questioning the publishing system of research information

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Week 5, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

Access to information is vital for research. Universities pay considerable amounts of money for accessing the digital repositories. I am grateful to be in a University that is able to have access to a wide diversity of relevant repositories.

My impression is that scholars are aware of the high costs of spreading research information, which forbid several Universities to have access to the repositories for lack of economical means.  However for one reason or another the systems has been working in this way.

When I requested the permission to the publishers who hold the copyrights of my articles – which I wrote- for my dissertation, and one of them indicated me that I needed to pay a fee, my comfort zone regarding this topic disappear. Sad but true, I needed to be shaking to react.

There are many systems in our modern societies, which we must question more about them in order to modernize them.  And things are happening, I invite you to read the article of Wired Magazine by D. Dobbs: “Testify: the Open-Science Movement Catches Fires”, because things are happening.

joining the internet strike by spreading the word

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Week 3, 2012
Joensuu, Finland

My life, as the one of millions or billions of virtual dwellers, is tightly involved with the technology, particularly with the Internet.  For me, the technology is as important as the content that it transmits.

In resent weeks I have been reflecting about information and content. I have experienced different ways in which we handle the information nowadays. Consequently my awareness related to information and its accessibility has been increasing (a post about this will come).  As we all know information is power. Information help us to grow as individuals and as community.

The Internet helps us greatly to transmit information beyond boundaries. Internet serves as an amplifier of creators of content so more individuals can read / listen / watch their information. Therefore, Internet helps us to share information.

As an Internet dweller, I feel the responsibility – and still is my right – to be respectful with the authors of the information that is available, but also to express whatever I want on Internet and to share the information that I want with whom ever I want. I am – still- FREE to do so. Thus, I am against of any attempt of a legislation that attempts to detriment my rights and my freedom. I found unbelievable the initiatives that want to attack the freedom of Internet dwellers. Therefore I want to join, somehow, the actual Internet strike by sharing some information:

SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) in US
ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agrement) – in US, Europe, Japan …
Ley Doring in Mexico
Ley Sinde in Spain

The following videos help me to understand the potential implications of previously cited law proposals. The videos explain things differently, however one video is in Spanish (the first one) the second in English.

Spanish:

English: