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I remember a TV show. It was titled "The Magic of David Copperfield". On
one occasion the famous illusionist vanished the Statue of Liberty in
front of the live audience on Liberty Island. It was unbelievable. A
magic performance never seen. The very same Statue of Liberty became
invisible behind a large curtain for a few seconds before the astonished
gaze of the spectators. Premonitory?
Almost 30 years later, governments and large multinational corporations have improved this trick of invisibility leaving stunned the civil society as a whole.
Millions of people displaced by armed conflicts, many of them fueled by geostrategic interests of governments and greedy corporations exploiting natural resource.
Million of people unemployed, without hope, to the brink of social exclusion.
Millions of workers in precarious working conditions with wages that do not allow a dignified life. One effect of offshoring and free trade agreements, in general, of globalization.
Millions of people living below the poverty line, while a minority live in opulence.
Millions of people evicted from their homes because they can not afford the payments on their mortgages, in front of millions of empty houses result of the property bubble.
Almost 30 years later, governments and large multinational corporations have improved this trick of invisibility leaving stunned the civil society as a whole.
Millions of people displaced by armed conflicts, many of them fueled by geostrategic interests of governments and greedy corporations exploiting natural resource.
Million of people unemployed, without hope, to the brink of social exclusion.
Millions of workers in precarious working conditions with wages that do not allow a dignified life. One effect of offshoring and free trade agreements, in general, of globalization.
Millions of people living below the poverty line, while a minority live in opulence.
Millions of people evicted from their homes because they can not afford the payments on their mortgages, in front of millions of empty houses result of the property bubble.
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| © Tommy Trenchard/IRIN |
Hardly in the news of mass media. Only
one more figure in the statistics. Without taking into account that each
one of those millions of people is living a personal tragedy that we
can not overlook.
Invisibles. Covered by the curtain of statistics. Covered by the curtain of oblivion. Unemployed and evicted people only on the news when the only way out they find is suicide. Strangers whose stories of misery and suffering only appear on the covers when refugee camps are visited by death, hunger, thirst, or sexual abuses.
But like Statue of Liberty reappeared behind the curtain when it was moved aside for a second time, I am wondering what the underprivileged of the world must do to make visible their terrible situation. Perhaps, like the main characters of the Spanish film "Los lunes al sol" (a group of unemployed people who meet themselves every Monday lying in the sun to share their lives, their stories, their hopes, their frustrations and fears ...) we should establish globally the "Mondays of the invisible ones". One day a week for the underprivileged to appear at the eyes of society, at the eyes of the MPs elected democratically. A day to stop being invisible, all gathered in the streets and public spaces in our towns and cities.
Invisibles. Covered by the curtain of statistics. Covered by the curtain of oblivion. Unemployed and evicted people only on the news when the only way out they find is suicide. Strangers whose stories of misery and suffering only appear on the covers when refugee camps are visited by death, hunger, thirst, or sexual abuses.
But like Statue of Liberty reappeared behind the curtain when it was moved aside for a second time, I am wondering what the underprivileged of the world must do to make visible their terrible situation. Perhaps, like the main characters of the Spanish film "Los lunes al sol" (a group of unemployed people who meet themselves every Monday lying in the sun to share their lives, their stories, their hopes, their frustrations and fears ...) we should establish globally the "Mondays of the invisible ones". One day a week for the underprivileged to appear at the eyes of society, at the eyes of the MPs elected democratically. A day to stop being invisible, all gathered in the streets and public spaces in our towns and cities.
Because before neoliberal capitalism seizes freedoms and people sovereignty, making them disappear as a famous illusionist, it is necessary that the people by themselves take control of their destiny and move aside the curtains that hide the victims of the system.
The "Mondays of the invisible ones", without anger, without bitterness, without hatred, without harangues. Only one day to remind our MPs and society in general that sovereignty resides in the people. And also to make visible the human tragedy that millions of people suffer in silence, but with the hope that another world is possible.
"Sometimes cannot see anything on the surface, but beneath it everything is burning"
Y.B. Mangunwijaya
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