Leaning back in comfy mechanical beds. Channel-surfing. Gorging on an unlimited supply of free food. Joking around until 4 or 5 in the morning with my friend John in our shared room at a medical research facility, recovering from a mild case of government-induced malaria. This is a highly unlikely scenario any way you slice it, but it’s downright surreal to think that it was under these circumstances that John and I had an epiphany about the harsh realities of globalization, free-market economics and the irreconcilable, inescapable rabbit hole of conflicted interests that it has wrought on the entire human race.… [Read more]
A Rant Against Hoodies – Part II
Now that my rant against hoodies is out of the way, it is time to explain my theoretical basis for the rant. As mentioned in my previous post, I am not against hoodies. What I am against is a display of hoodies in lieu of taking any concrete steps to eradicate stereotyping and racism.
Why is it important that we stop such meaningless displays?… [Read more]
The Curious Case of Jacobo Árbenz
The Cold War was a war of two differing courses for humankind. The United States and its allies fought a bitter war of ideas with the Soviet Union and its Communist brethren. It was a war, however, that involved more than words. For the two sides, in their quests for spheres of influence, resorted to anything to ‘secure’ these spheres.… [Read more]
Latin America and Its Classist Struggle
Latin America is a huge region spanning much of the Americas. Its topography, geography and peoples are among the most diverse in the world. Its people, though, by far are its greatest asset with their wonderful music, literature and arts, their lavish hospitality and their incredibly rich languages.
Latin America, however, has its ‘dark side’. With bloody civil wars, rampant crime and, perhaps worst of all, its ever-pervasive classism.… [Read more]
Zapata Revisited
“Tierra y Libertad” (Land and Liberty) was the famous slogan of the Mexican Revolutionary, Emiliano Zapata. The slogan resonated with the peasants of that era of Mexico, as more and more small farms were taken by the large estates or haciendas. The Revolution successfully overthrew the despotic regime of Porfirio Díaz, however the disparity between rich and poor is stark and obvious in Latin America today.… [Read more]