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Bolivian President Evo Morales is marking today's winter solstice and the much-discussed calendar date by celebrating a hopeful vision for a "new era of peace and love" in the world, one in which the spirit of community and respect for Mother Earth will win out over the greed induced by global capitalism. |
The 'end of the world' it is not, says president of Bolivia, but rather
an opportunity to dispose of 'capitalism's greed' and unite in happiness
and unselfishness
In an open invitation to celebrate the day, Morales explained that "the
Mayan calendar's 21 of December is the end of the non-time and the
beginning of time. It is the end of the Macha and the beginning of the
Pacha, the end of selfishness and the beginning of brotherhood, it is
the end of individualism and the beginning of collectivism."
And continued, "The scientists know very well that this marks the end of
an anthropocentric life and the beginning of a bio-centric life. It is
the end of hatred and the beginning of love, the end of lies and
beginning of truth. It is the end of sadness and the beginning of
happiness, it is the end of division and the beginning of unity, and
this is a theme to be developed. That is why we invite all of you, those
of you who bet on mankind, we invite those who want to share their
experiences for the benefit of mankind."
Morales, a champion of indigenous rights and himself a descendent of the
Andean Aymara people, helped supplant the idea that the 2012 winter
solstice marked the "end of times" or an "apocalypse" by clarifying that
the lunar happening was simply an opportunity for spiritual renewal.
Though auspicious for the Mayan people, most of the loud rhetoric
clamoring about the "end of the world" is a Western invention, pushed by
those who know little of the traditions or spirit of the indigenous
people and their deeper history.
As The Guardian reports:
Morales will mark the day by boarding one of the largest reed ships
built in modern times and join thousands of people for celebrations on
the Island of the Sun on Lake Titicaca.
"According to the Mayan calendar, the 21
of December is the end of the non-time and the beginning of time," he
told the UN in September. "It is the end of hatred and the beginning of
love, the end of lies and beginning of truth."
The Bolivian government has hailed the solstice as the start of an age
in which community and collectivity will prevail over capitalism and
individuality. Those themes have long been present in Morales's
discourse, especially in the idea of vivir bien, or living well. He has
stressed the importance of a harmonious balance between human life and
the planet, though some people question its application in Bolivia,
where the economy depends heavily on mining, oil and gas industries.
A fuller excerpt from Morales' speech announcing the celebration for the
solstice is provided by the Indian Country Media Network, in which he
said:
"I wish to take this opportunity to
announce an invitation to an international meeting on the 21 of December
this year. A meeting closing the age of non-time and receiving the new
age of balance and harmony for Mother Earth. It would take so long to
tell you about the knowledge of our indigenous brothers in Mexico, in
Guatemala, in Bolivia, in Ecuador, but basically we are issuing this
invitation to hold a virtual debate, and also in person, on the
following topics:
Number 1: Global crisis of capitalism
Number 2: Mold of civilization, world government, capitalism, socialism, community,
culture of life
Number 3: Climate crisis, relationship of the human being with nature
Number 4: Common energy, energy of change
Number 5: Awareness of Mother Earth
Number 6: Recovery of ancestral uses and customs, natural cosmic calendar
Number 7: Living well as a solution to the global crisis, because we
affirm once again that one can only live better by preserving natural
resources. This is a profound debate that I would like to have with the
world.
Number 8: Food sovereignty of course, security with food sovereignty
Number 9: Integration, brotherhood, community economy, complementarity,
right to communication, community learning for life, the new holistic
human, the end of patriarchy, awakening of self knowledge, and of course
health which is so important.
“And I would like to say that according to the Mayan calendar the 21 of
December is the end of the non-time and the beginning of time. It is the
end of the Macha and the beginning of the Pacha, the end of selfishness
and the beginning of brotherhood, it is the end of individualism and
the beginning of collectivism – 21 of December this year. The scientists
know very well that this marks the end of an anthropocentric life and
the beginning of a bio-centric life. It is the end of hatred and the
beginning of love, the end of lies and beginning of truth. It is the end
of sadness and the beginning of happiness, it is the end of division
and the beginning of unity, and this is a theme to be developed. That is
why we invite all of you, those of you who bet on mankind, we invite
those who want to share their experiences for the benefit of mankind."
And Shankar Chautari, also from The Guardian, reports back from a recent
trip to the Mayan regions of Central and South America that there is
little or no sense that the day marks the end of anything in a physical
sense.
Throughout our trip, we encountered many
ordinary Mayans from every walk of life to check out their reaction to
the supposedly doomsday prediction. Most of the Mayans we spoke to were
largely baffled by the question; others flatly denied that there was any
reason that the world would come to an end. Told that a lot of
conventional wisdom behind the doomsday scenario in the rest of the
world supposedly derived from ancient Mayan texts, they politely replied
that they were not aware of any such prediction or text.
In every place we visited, whether in a large city like Merida or a
smaller town like Celestun or Uayamon, we found the local people going
about their business in perfect calmness without any concern for any
impending apocalypse.
Perhaps that was because no such apocalypse is foretold. David Stuart, a
noted Mayan and Meso-American specialist at the University of Texas at
Austin, observed in his book The Order Of Days: The Maya World and the
Truth About 2012, that "no Maya text – ancient, colonial or modern –
ever predicted the end of time or the end of the world."
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