It wasn’t a lecture, it wasn’t advertising – it was a speech living up to the moment. Let’s hope for the best…: Full video. David Brooks writes about this: “…. The salient divisions in the Biden era won’t just be left versus right. They will be between the performers, the people who run for office to get on TV, and the builders, the people who want to achieve something. They will be between the fantasists, the people who lie and fabricate, and the realists, the people who are attached to reality. They will be between the narcissists (Ted Cruz) and Read More
Category: Human Way
Issues of political Importance and related
Sristi Village – An Island of Hope
“Their biggest disadvantage according to the society is that they are slow, but I think it is their biggest strength.” Karthikeyan, the founder When Karthik had bought the land for his dream project of establishing a village of hope for those who were outcast for being too retarded in the eyes of society there came an ugly surprise – the land was barren: no water at all. So he called in agricultural experts who tried to find a solution to the parched place, but did not come up with anything real. Along the way, an elder living in the area Read More
Investigative Journalism – The marginalized 4th pillar.
By Chacko Jacob (reposted from Kanthari) It is hard to comment on journalism as a whole, as it is too wide a profession.There are types of journalists that have a regular schedule, there are types who’s lives are at risk for what they report about, and a thousand other variants.But here we talk about the ones that stick their necks out to get factual information to people.In most countries there is too much power vested in one of the pillars of democracy or colluding between two or more of them.What is the situation in your country? Is the legislature gaining Read More
Reverse Inclusion: Ability Sports Africa
The Ability of the Disabled is the Disability of the Abled. Faruk Musema, a Kanthari Alumni from Uganda, realized that early on as a child who loved sports, but who got stigmatized because of a slight handicap. So he went on to look for a way to do sports with those disabled – disabled in the eyes of the abled – and realized what tremendous abilities these people possess. Form there he set out to build a vision for ASA – Ability Sports Africa. At ASA everybody is welcome and the able are learning about their disabilities and to admire Read More
Rebellion to Reconciliation, by Dilip Simeon
…. Any serious social-democratic program must affirm fundamental respect for human life, and place on its agenda society’s determination to liberate itself from fear. Violence is both the expression and the symptom of social and political crisis. We need to debate its roots, forms and functions, in order to cast fresh light on the iniquitous relations between the sexes, castes and classes; and on the structured violence of the global polity. If I have learned anything of significance about politics, it is this: to question what is known as ‘commonsense’ is our primary responsibility as human beings. Such questioning and Read More
Stick Your Neck Out for Truth and Independence
Chris, as Mohammed El-Gharani was called in Guantanamo, was taken prisoner as a 14 year old pupil while learning English and IT with his friend’s uncle in Karachi. Since he had come from Medina the Pakistani authorities sold him for a ransom as a potential Arab terrorist to the American military right after 9/11 – who took him to Guantanamo. There he became the most unruly and obtuse inmate of the camp, organizing a defiant struggle for justice and fairness against the brutalizing, torturing guards. His weapon was truth and independence of the mind which he kept up against all Read More
Paving the Way
Following is a quote from an article by George Monbiot in The Guardian. What happens happens? t.a. “I understand that, in a sentimental nation, bromides like Biden’s might be considered necessary. But I fear he believes what he says. When he spoke to wealthy donors at the Carlyle hotel in Manhattan last year, he told them not only that “no one’s standard of living will change, nothing would fundamentally change”, but also that “you have to be able to reach consensus under our system”. In this context, consensus looks like appeasement. Obama’s attempt to reconcile irreconcilable forces, to paper over Read More
Courage and Trust
What about trust and UN leadership? While the publication says plenty about courage, trust, on the other hand, is far less cited. When it is, it is mainly in conventional terms of building and creating trust, between parties or within a team. Similarly, many references speak to a second trust dimension, defined as “being trustworthy”, with people trusting you to do the right thing, to exercise courage, and so forth. The emphasis on creating or building trust ignores a third and equally fundamental dimension of trust: the trust in others, and in them doing what is right. This dimension is harder Read More
Kanthari – Sabriye Tenberken: Giraffe Heroe and her Giraffe Incubator
It is amazing what Sabriye & Paul have got together and it is fascinating to listen to Sabriye talking about how it came all to happen. The perfect match for the Giraffe-Heroes-Project. Convince yourself: ‘”The biggest danger is not to dream big and fail but to dream small and succeed.” In case you have no Spotify access you may listen on our website directly: kanthari-empowering-the-marginalised/
who dares knowing
In any case, this close relation between knowing and doing can help us to interpret one cause of the fear of knowing as deeply a fear of doing, a fear of the consequences that flow from knowing, a fear of its dangerous responsibilities. Often it is better not to know, because if you did know, then you would have to act and stick your neck out. (Abraham H. Maslow, Toward a Philosophy of Being, 1962; reprint Wilder Publications, 2011, p. 58f)