Opinions

We are publishing here the complete paper presented by Professor Marina Fernandez to the Second International Symposium organised by the World Centre for Humanist Studies in the different virtually interlinked Parks of Study and Reflection. Marina Fernandez gave her presentation at Punta de Vacas Park of Study and Reflection in the thematic group of Art and Culture.

I want to thank the World Center of Humanist Studies for inviting me to discuss “Foundations for the future Planetary Civilization” in this Park of Study and Reflection located at Punta de Vacas. I wish to emphasize how extraordinary it is to be discussing these issues seemingly so distant from political and social activities.

Just days away from crucial midterm elections, WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, unveiled the largest classified military leak in history.
Almost 400,000 secret Pentagon documents relating to the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq were made available on-line.
The documents, in excruciating detail, portray the daily torrent of violence, murder, rape … (read more)

Dear Mario, now we live in different spheres, but I feel that our spiritual and moral contact, our friendship and sympathy have not disappeared and cannot ever disappear. Only after the death of a man can we appreciate the real meaning of his life because in everyday life is almost impossible to appreciate the magnitude of the work of others.

Competition is one of the foundation stones of Capitalism. Certainly competition has its place, but not where matters of universal importance are at stake; not when co-operation is required to ensure the future prosperity of humanity. Will the Mont Pelerin Society forum think outside the Capitalist box this time, or will it not?

The discovery of a new planet and the denied appointment by the UN of someone responsible for relations with ‘aliens’ leads us to reflect on the moment in which humanity finds itself as a whole. What will mankind do at this historical crossroads? Will we continue in our prehistory or will we launch ourselves like a shooting star towards other worlds?

Mario Luis Rodríguez Cobos, Silo, died in Mendoza, Argentina on the 16th of September 2010 but none of the big European newspapers (nor the television channels) reported this fact. They therefore silenced the great initiatives and humanist proposals which came from the other side of the Atlantic and which are still there, constructing *“life to come”*.

Silent and humble: Silo lost in the huge auditorium, was the visible leader of the great humanist movement which celebrated an International Encounter in Quito. I attended keen to learn about his ideology, to contact his kindred humanists from the five continents; Tomás Hirsch, the Latin American humanist spokesperson, Giorgo Schultze, Rafael de la Rubia.

One year after the World March started in Wellington, New Zealand, the book of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence – a compilation in 400 colour pages of almost everything that took place over three months, plus the preparations – is presented in Toledo, Spain. The following are the words of Tony Robinson, international Spokesperson for World without Wars and Violence.

Here we transcribe the entirety of these lines by “Guri”, the owner of the ice-cream parlour in Chacras de Coria, Mendoza, Argentina. “About the death of Silo”, in which he recounts his 25 year relationship with Mario Luis Rodríguez, Silo, who always bought his ice-creams and ate them on the terrace of his ice-cream parlour.