My take on Ryan

Well, it's not about Chile, but here's my take on Romney's choice for VP. In a nutshell, I suggest that it was much more about maintaining the unity of the Republican Party than about winning the election. In fact, barring some unknown unknowable popping up between now and November, it may almost guarantee defeat.
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Tomas Gonzalez and the OECD

Twice in the last few days Chile came to a virtual standstill as everyone watched (or in my case, tried to watch on the Internet from work) Chilean gymnast Tomas Gonzalez aim for an Olympic medal, and fail. By this much.

He came in fourth. This led to much discussion, as most things in Chile do. Should we celebrate this achievement, or lament that we were celebrating having lost something? Twitter was aflutter.

So I wrote this.

The argument is that it all depends on whom we are comparing ourselves to. Just as in the OECD our numbers are often awful, at the bottom of most rankings, our Olympics results are usually unimpressive as well. That is because in both cases we're playing in the big leagues. When you think of the state funded gymnastics programs that exist in countries like Russia, Ukraine or China, Gonzalez' achievement seems huge. 

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The Waltz of the Useless

El Vals de los Inútiles / The Waltz of the Useless (trailer) from Daniela López Lugo on Vimeo.

This seems to be a documentary about last year's student movement. It is moving, not least because it recalls a time when the students had purpose, were peaceful and creative. Most of that is gone now.
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Mel Brooks and the Student Movement in Chile

There is a classic double entendre in a Mel Brooks movie where Harvey Korman tells Brooks, in a Marie Antoinette setting, that 'the people are revolting'.  I have borrowed the line for an extended piece published by the University of Miami's Center for Hemispheric Policy, here I have been Visiting Fellow this year. I try to explain (in English, for a change), some of the causes of what is happening in Chile.

It is not easy, as the back and forth with my editors will attest. Each point requires further explanation, especially to a foreign audience. Why must universities be non-profit, but not schools? Why are undergraduate programs so long? If 70% of tertiary students are first generation, why are they complaining about access? If they are in favour of public education and against high fees, why do they shut down public education for six months, but keep paying their fees during all that time? Why did they keep demonstrating once two education ministers resigned and the government agreed to several demands? Why do they tie in very specific demands, such as interest rates, with the electoral system or tax policy?

This is a complex issue, but here is my attempt to explain it. For now.

Politics and the Age of Acceleration

When the University of Toronto Nobel Prize winner John Polanyi was asked what age we live in, he responded, ¨The Age of Acceleration". And he wasn't talking about CERN.

One of the big problems that political parties all over the world face is that those raised in the age of instant messaging expect quick answers. Political parties, like most political institutions, don't move quite as fast. So while there are many reasons why voters may feel disenchanted, one big one is that they live in the age of acceleration, but political institutions don't.

And, as I point out in this column published in El Mostrador today, we've been taught for years that maybe that's not a bad thing. Institutions are not supposed to be easy to change. So it may well be that highly institutionalized political systems (good) are the least equipped to respond to a rapidly changing world (bad).
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Chavez no se va

The subtext here is interesting. It's a reelection slogan and a farewell at the same time:

Siempre te voy a amar

Chavez no se va
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Regressive

                                                                                                      Source: Publimetro

The Caupolican theatre in Santiago is symbolic. It was the site of antigovernment rallies during the Pinochet dictatorship. It was were President Frei Montalva rejected the institutionalization of the regime following the fraudulent constitutional plebiscite of 1980.

And on Sunday it was the site of a tribute to Augusto Pinochet. The event attracted about 1000 die hard Pinochetistas, including former members of his government and some family members.

Questions:

1) Is it worth banning such events? Would it not be better to let these people fester in their own memories of torture and general mayhem?

2) This is the second such tribute in less than a year. Why is it that Pinochet supporters suddenly feel emboldened to hold such public displays of affection for the dictator? Is there something this government is doing, or not doing, that is contributing to this renewed sense of pride?

3) Is the presence of 1000 people, most of whom are the same mix of former government members and older, middle class women who took to the streets when Pinochet died, a signal of a renewed Pinochetismo, or the last gasp of a dying breed?

4) Why did the police arrest the anti-Pinochet demonstrators but escort the Pinochet supporters out a back door and then supply buses to transport them away from the theatre?

5) Why is no one pressuring the owners of the theatre? In North America, it seems to me, when these types of events occur or threaten to occur, the first recourse is to pressure the venue.

6) Is reconciliation possible? Is it even desirable? Yesterday, government spokesman Andrés Chadwick, a cousin of the president, a member of the UDI, and, together with fellow ministers Lavin, Longueira and Dittborn, one of the 'stars' of an infamous picture with Pinochet, declared he regretted his support for Pinochet in light of what he now knows of the human rights abuses committed under the regime. Perhaps events such as the Pinochet tribute provide valuable learning opportunities, no matter how painful the process may be.

Discuss.