ESSAY: Learn To Be On The Ball

The ultimate “progress” on this century has been the progressive increase of velocity on the development of new technologies. ¿What are the consequences of this? ¿Is there a point when technologies became useless, dissociated from their primary purpose? ¿Are we slaves of consumerism?

My thesis is that in the last time (10-20 years) a really thin line has emerged between the situations of “using technology for your own purposes” and “letting technology use you for the higher purposes behind it”. 

I think that the main arguments to support this thesis are: First, the huge evidence of the emergence of “disposable” technologies. Second, the need of faster production cycles which is satisfied by the implement of this type of technology. And finally, the illusion of relief brought by technology on working duties, which really are only more ways to make you more functional, productive and profitable.

50 years ago, people used to buy things for their quality and their long life. Today, the main reasons to buy things are the ones purposed by the media: Popularity, luxury, their extent to grab attention, their suitability with stereotypical role models, etc. And most technological devices last no more than a year or two, and become “obsolete” compared to the newest ones in less than 6 months. So, I think that this new kind of technologies could be called “disposable technologies” because of their inability to stay current in time. Extreme examples of this are the MAC “iphones” or any kind of laptop you can buy today. Iphones for instance changed from 3G (3^rd generation) to 4G (4^th generation) in less than a year, and made almost mandatory for their consumerist users to buy the new device and pay more expensive cell phone plans for them. And most of them did. There was even a “wake up night” event here in Chile to wait for the new equip to come out, almost like Christians waiting for the white smoke to announce that a new pope has been chosen.

Of course, this nonsense has a reason to be. The improvement of technologies in a capitalist economic system equals to enhancement of the production cycles. And at the same time, the motivation to advance in technological terms comes from the desperate need of making those cycles go faster. It’s a vicious cycle, a dialectical relation between technology and capital. ¿Do you think that this means “progress” for mankind? You’re far away from the truth then. It is not a common global goal that we’re achieving. It’s the depredation spree led by of a small group of people whose only objective is to make more money. Nothing else!

There’s a clearance to make. I’m not saying that ALL technology is useless. There`s plenty of it that can really draw out a lot of weight off our shoulders… Laptops for example are one of the most amazing tools of this century. Having almost everything you need to work or to entertain yourself with you at all times is a real pleasure. However, if you use them to work (like most people do) the “uses” you can get out of them aren’t really YOURS. All the time you gain with it by having the chance to do your working tasks much faster is just more money for your employer! (If you work independently, I may congratulate you, you’re one step closer to freedom!). There`s a twisted reason to pay salaries based of working hours and not based on “finished tasks”. No employer could get profit from your improved productivity that way. And today, clearly we DO have the technology (as paradoxical as it may sound) to implement that kind of working logic. So don’t think that technology is releasing you from work, is just making you work a lot more.

My conclusion is that the only way to survive this depredatory way of life is to try, as hard as it is, to use the technology for your own objectives, hopefully being an independent worker, at least 1 mile away from big sized companies.  There`s a lot of technology that’s really useful, you just have to be on the ball and don’t let anyone steal the uses you’re getting out of them.

How to spend 10 million dollars

Before i spend anything  i would make sure that my family have all the posible needs covered, like the  studies of all my brothers and my sister, and invest some money on the family business to keep it going well.

That being made, the first impulsive thing i would do without doubt is to buy myself a nice super-car. If i have the luck to run into someone that's willing to sell me a Ferrari Enzo i would inmediatly spend my first million (of dollars) on that toy. There are only 400 Enzos worldwide, so it is kind of an invesment...(yeah sure!)

To get this set of wheels i would probably have to travel a lot around europe, so it wouldn't be unpleasant to freeze my studies and spend the whole year driving this beaty around the continent with my girlfriend and best friends.

After that i would probably buy a house on the country i liked the most after the travel, and leave the car there to do more trips, then i would really like to visit Australia, Thailand, Japan, India and the United Arab Emirates.

But not everything is about aesthetic pleasures and travelling, so after the money-spending spree i'd like to get serious and put my hands into social business. I've always belived that giving money to charity isn't the best way to give something to the world, because in this world money runs out quite easily, and i also believe that using the tools of capitalism is quite better and more useful than fighting directly against it, so my idea is to fund some medium and big size companies around Chile with the purpose of using their entire profit on education and social health, inyecting a continous flow of resources, and hopefully giving the model to other rich people to do something for their countries. This companies would also being runned by their workers, with a full-transparency policy and of course with decent good salaries.

Despite of all the crazy things i've said here, i think that i really don`t deserve to win 10 million dollars for my own happiness, i mean more than a lot of people that really need that money to have some life quality or even to just survive. Spending money on trips and toys it's the dream of any young man or woman, but there are things that are way more relevant than the caprices of an adolescent.

Let's think green for a minute!

Learning how to take care of the environment is a task that probably will take a lot of time here in Chile. It’s no secret that most people here don’t give a … about it, and how could they, if there’s no propaganda, no media interest or commitment, or places designed for recycling proposes??…How can we start this learning process??

To be honest, I’m not a very green person. I drive a car daily, I don’t make any classification of my garbage and I don’t recycle anything at all. And I can say from the “lazy Chilean” point of view that recycling on this country it’s really hard for the common people. You have a garbage removal system that doesn’t give you any choice but to throw it all on the truck, recycling centers that are almost unknown, there aren’t any special dumpsters like in others countries where you can separate paper, plastic, glass and stuff, there aren’t many bicycle roads and the ones that we have are wrong madden, etc… So it’s not surprising that most people don’t do anything for the environment. We clearly need to reform this environment-indifferent way of life that we have chosen by a new state policy. Money must be invested before it’s too late!

Of course, changing the way that people threat their garbage or how they transport themselves is not enough to deal with this problem, because environmental damage is mostly made by industry. For example, I worked an entire month 2 years ago recycling on a medium size company, and I can tell you one thing about my experience: recycling makes a LOT of money. It’s the best way to get rid of the trash, because you can make profit instead of hiring a special cleaning service, and also it's environment friendly. At that time I calculated that I made like 5 times my salary for the company by gathering and selling different kinds of material… You just need to know where to sell the stuff! What better incentive can a company have to start changing their policies? GLOBAL WARMING?

LET'S PLANT THE SEED OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSCIENCE!

The new and wealthy life of the 33

An historical event has happened here in Chile. There has never been in any time or place a rescue mission with the proportions of the one that we witnessed yesterday, when 33 miners were rescued from 700 meters under the ground. But now that the miners are out and safe... What does the future keep for this 33 men?

From the minute when the first signs of life form this men appeared, there has been a huge publicity campaign around them, starting with the goberment, that considering the little time it has been running in La Moneda, it has gotten a lot of approval from the people with their flawless execution of the rescue mission, making people forget about other relevant politycal issues. Also, the main television networks are making tons of money from this event... Just look at this banner from Canal 13 network!

Taking account of the huge effects of this event on the public oppinion, i think that it is very probable that this low-salary miners get fulfilled of job offers, publicity spots, travelling gifts, etc, with the only purpouse of getting some attention from the masses. Maybe i`ll sound indifferent with the life stories of the miners or  "the miracle" that this event has been transformed to by the press, but that`s the truth. I even think that probably in one month or two some miner will end up having an affair with a model, like soccer players do often here in Chile...

The miners will be wealthy and famous... and that`s what they deserve... but the sad part is that the ones behind this publicity campaign will be 10 times richier!

Around Santiago

Traveling to Santiago can be the best experience if you know what to do and where to go. The first thing you must do in Santiago is getting a source of transportation, because it`s a very big city and you can get lost easily. If like most travelers you don´t have the money to rent a car, i suggest that you get a BIP card, with which you`ll be able to transport in all city busses and subway. You`ll spend around 2000 Chilean pesos per day, which equals (aprox) to 4 american dollars.

For the stay you`ll find hotels and hostels for any pocket, however if you`re staying for a long time it`s a lot more cheaper to rent a house paying a monthly fee. Althought it`s little more complicated, your pocket will be thankful. Plus you can be sure that your sheets are clean!

There`s a lot of places to visit in Santiago. If you join that tourist`s tours you`ll probably visit a lot of historical buildings, which is okay for a day or two, but you`ll get quite bored...(and be careful, as there`s a lot of thiefes looking for some tourist fresh meat to grab!). I recommend to skip a little (not too far of course!) from the typical routes. For example, if  you`ve been in santiago for a couple of days, you`ll be probably familiar with the location of the Santa Lucía hill (it`s the classical!). If you walk a little further around that area you can find some almost-hidden and really interesting coffee shops and restaurants, and a beatiful literary neighborhood. There`s  also a small french restaurant  called "Les assassins" that you can`t miss!

If you are willing to risk your stomach a little, i recomend you to eat at least ounce on the Mercado Central. Is not the cheap cheap place it used to be, but the food is still great and isn`t that expensive either. Other place i recommend to acknowledge the chilean spirit is the Liguria bar & restaurant (the one near tobalaba metro station), specially if you go in the night. The food and the drinks are quite good, but the best of this place resides on it`s noisy-crowded ambient and all it`s chilean decorations. You can find a more sofisticated variant of this kind of place if you to "The Clinic" bar, where you`ll probably bump to some chilean celebrities, but isn`t as historical as Liguria. Von apepit!

Visiting Spain

I would love to go to Spain again! I went there when i was 12 years old and it was quite an experience, but i think that traveling now that im over the age limit it will be very different, since i`ll be able to do a LOT more things.

During my stay the thing i liked the most about Spain was that the people are very friendly, out-going and doesn`t make a big deal about nothing... I really hope that this thing in particular hasn`t changed in the past years, because i`ve heard that Chilean people where discriminated there since a lot of "international thiefs" has made our contry`s name very infamous around Europe. Nevertheless, that certainly wouldn`t hold me back if i had the chance to went there again.

Another thing that i really like about Spain is the diversity of it`s architecture, for example in Barcelona you can walk around a beatiful gothic neighborhood, then see a very modern building, then look at ancient cathedrals, then visit Gaudi`s houses, etc… You could walk along the whole city with your eyes looking up and never get bored! (of course, if you don`t get run over by a tourist bus first)… And finally an anecdotal tip: In barcelona is permitted by law to walk naked around the streets… That`s something that you MUST at least see (or do!).

The last semester... what?

When i first saw this task i thought something like "man, that`s easy!" "i can complete this in 5 mins"... However, the time that the single excercise of looking back in time has taken away from my life made me realize that it wasn`t easy at all. The conclusion i've gotten after several minutes is that  i mostly feel like nothing relevant happened last semester. It just passed by... and left nothing behind. For example, i can barely remember the things i "learned" in my classes, or the carretes i went to... That can`t be good.

If you ask me to say in a single phrase what i think about the last semester i would just say: Boring as hell!