Silo Punta de Vacas 05-4-1999
Here we are again!
Here we are together in this celebration,
some of us the same friends
present since the very beginning of our project,
along with others who have joined us more recently
in this difficult task of humanizing
a world which, moving in a direction opposite to our aspirations,
is becoming more dehumanized with each passing day.
First, out of consideration for those present who may lack sufficient information
about our works and ideas,
we believe it only fair to develop some points which,
though greatly oversimplified, can give them an overview of the events
that gave origin to this current of thought and action,
which was expressed publicly for the first time
in this same desolate spot,
exactly thirty years ago today.
It was during the decade of the sixties.
The barbarism of the second world war having long since passed,
in some parts of the world a great process of economic reconstruction
and social reorganization was underway...
Yet
military conflicts continued,
hunger and inequality spread across vast latitudes,
and humanity’s capacity for mass destruction grew unchecked.
The world had become polarized
between two blocs, with each side preaching
the doctrine that the arms race was a vital deterrent to the aggression of its opponent...
Thus
the globe was divided between ideologies,
both of which were in a position to act
as instruments of domination
but neither of which was in a condition to understand
the historical moment in which they found themselves,
much less to understand the process toward which events were carrying them.
The crisis of civilization which began in those years was not an
original phenomenon, however,
it was simply the continuation and exacerbation
of the same factors that had contributed to generating
those previous monstrosities and global catastrophes.
It was in that climate of general malaise
that the phenomena of the youth movement of the sixties erupted.
And in the midst of this a small group
arose in these latitudes
and began to spread to other places that were increasingly distant.
This was a group which could not express itself freely
where it began, because by this time dictatorships had already begun to appear.
When the militant activity of this group’s members
brought them to the need to communicate their proposals to more numerous groups of people,
a conflict was unleashed
which eventually led to the imprisonment and deportation
of so many young people, whom we would like to remember on this occasion
courageous young people from Chile and Argentina
who carried forward this emerging movement in exile.
We also wish to remember in a special way
the first members in Spain,
Italy, and the U.S.
who welcomed with a spirit of solidarity the exiles of those times.
Many of these old friends, united by so many
shared experiences, are here with us today...
to all of them, our warmest greetings.
But let’s go on with our story.
By the 70s
an organization known as
The Community for Human Development had begun to form...
this was a social and cultural group
which, with the passing of the years
would come to be recognized by the United Nations.
During those years, more precise doctrinary parameters were defined
and the characteristics of this new type of movement were established
so that it could no longer be confused with the spontaneous kinds of groups
that had already entered a situation of decline and disintegration.
Starting with The Community for Human Development,
whose logo is a triangle within a circle,
a wide range of cultural clubs, neighborhood associations,
and base organizations began to appear.
In this way the Humanist Movement gradually took shape,
until today it continues to spread through numerous expressions
ranging from literacy campaigns
in the Caribbean and Africa
to public health initiatives
in which doctors, paramedics, and volunteers work
under serious limitations but with great spirit
in various parts of the world.
This Humanist Movement,
which is so diversified in its social and cultural activities,
has also given rise to political parties
which began to form in the 80s.
By the 90s,
this movement had attained full conceptual maturity,
defining itself as Universalist Humanism
or New Humanism,
and differentiating itself clearly from the old humanisms,
with which it has neither organic nor ideological relationships.
In this year, the movement is preparing to carry out
a complete evaluation of everything that has been done
from its first steps,
with the intention of defining its strategy for the century to come.
To complete our picture, we can say
that what ultimately defines this movement
is not a certain political action,
or social action, or cultural activity
it is a set of ideas and a style of behavior.
In simplest form, we can express the most general proposals of this movement by saying that
first, it advocates placing the human being
as the central value and concern,
with nothing above the human being
and no human being above any other.
Secondly,
this movement affirms the equality of all people,
and therefore works to go beyond
the mere formality of equal rights before the law,
to advance toward a world in which there is true equality of opportunity for all.
Thirdly, it recognizes personal and cultural diversity,
and therefore affirms the characteristics of all peoples
condemning all discrimination based on
economic, racial, ethnic, and cultural differences.
Fourth, it encourages any tendency that develops knowledge
beyond the limitations imposed on thought
by prejudices accepted as absolute or immutable truths.
Fifth: it affirms the freedom of ideas and beliefs.
And finally, it rejects all forms of violence,
understanding that physical violence is not the only such expression,
but that in addition, economic violence, racial violence,
religious violence, as well as moral and psychological violence,
are daily practices which have become deeply entrenched in every region of the planet.
These proposals – considering the human being as the central value,
affirming equality of opportunities for all,
recognizing diversity and opposing all discrimination,
promoting freedom of thought,
and struggling against violence in all its forms
characterize our thought and our action in their most general aspects.
At the same time, these proposals come to configure a style of life
and a way of relating to others embodying the highest of moral values, which can be expressed in this way:
“Treat others as you want them to treat you!”
Finally
we must point out that, in order to carry forward the above proposals,
a hallmark of our behavior is participation in all fields of human endeavor.
For our movement, beyond being a recommendation,
the act of participating in cultural, social, and political arenas
with the greatest energy and tenacity of which we are capable
becomes a vital need in these critical times we are living through.
The argument that everything is in the hands
of an infinitely powerful and violent system,
that success belongs to the corrupt and the incompetent,
instead of being grounds for acceptance
of our condition as subjugated and humiliated beings,
must be transformed into a fundamental stimulus to change the state of public affairs.
At the same time, we also place emphasis on the dimension of the strictly personal
and interpersonal
which, though inscribed within a social context,
constitute the nucleus of our existence.
Personal relationships, which today have deteriorated to such an extreme degree,
reveal the growth of a callous violence
in which the importance of you and the solidarity of we are fast disappearing,
and from which the individual, thrown into isolation and dizzying confusion,
no longer finds any way out.
We must reaffirm in this field
that all human beings have the right to ask themselves
about the meaning of life, about love, about friendship...
about all those things that make up the poetry
and the greatness of human existence,
and which that stupid and small materialist culture
attempts to denigrate, dragging everything toward antivalues and disintegration.
And in this situation that we are living in,
we recognize the provisional triumph of the culture of antihumanism,
and we declare the failure of our ideals, which have not been realized.
But the triumphant of today cannot be assured of their future,
because a new spirituality
is beginning to express itself all over the world.
This spirituality is not the spirituality of superstition,
it is not the spirituality of intolerance,
it is not the spirituality of dogma,
it is not the spirituality of religious violence,
it is not the ponderous spirituality of ancient tablets or worn out values
it is a spirituality that has awakened from its profound sleep
to once again nourish human beings in their best aspirations.
If today we must declare our failure,
we must also announce a new civilization that is being born:
the first planetary civilization in human history.
And therefore, the crises that now beset us
and are still to come in the near future will serve,
despite their misfortunes,
to surpass this final stage of human prehistory...
and each person will know whether or not they decide to accompany this change;
and each person will comprehend whether or not they seek
a profound renewal in their own life.
On the occasion of this 30th anniversary we are celebrating,
I want to send my warmest regards
to the hundreds of thousands of our friends throughout the world,
and at the same time to convey my fraternal greetings
to all those here with us today.
For all of you, Peace, Force and Joy!
Also for you; Peace, Force and Joy