Are ethical decisions possible when your basic necessities are not met?

 There has always been the discussion if it is possible to take ethical decisions when basic necessities are not met. In desesperate situations, the human being has a survival instinct that can lead to break the limit of the ethical. Moreover, cannot that be controlled and come up with other solutions?
 On the one hand, there are people who break the law or do immoral things in order to achieve their purposes of getting, as in the movie Slumdog Millionaire, money or food, because Jamal and Salim's desire of fulfilling their hunger is greater than any other thought, such as if what they are doing is appropiate or not.
 On the other hand, we can see people who in case os needing something. directly ask for it if they cannot get it by their own means because they lack possibilities. They leave the discussion of dignity away and let other people decide wether they are helped or not instead of stealing to satisfy their needs. In my opinion, this way of trying to get what they lack is ethical in every possible way, as they are not harming anyone.
 All in all, my conclusion is that it is possible to take ethical decisions to fulfill your basic necessities but the ones who do not take them cannot be judged, as they find theirselves in a struggle to survive.

“Were women in the 1900 more respected than nowadays?”

Throughout history, the role of women in the society has drastically changed. While in the 18th century their lives were practically decided by men, nowadays they can choose the way they want to live. Then, the question that arises is, where women in the 1900s more respected than women nowadays?

Society was, then; governed by maleness. Above all, economical division was widely highlighted, and so the role of those who had the less was accomplishing with what nobody wanted to. Between those unwanted activities, the more slaughtered ones were left to women. As we can watch in Downton Abbey, the household was made up by both women and men, but the harsh work, such as cleaning, cooking and having things organized for their masters, which whom they couldn't have much contact. This contrasts with activities done by upper class women, who were more likely to be worried just by the handling of their family welfare and the way they were presented to society.

Furthermore, the difference between poor and rich women also comprehend the fact of having a family or not. Referring again to Downton Abbey, we can mention that maids or chambermaids dedicated their whole lives to their work, and had no possibility of starting a family as they had to continue earning their own living. Otherwise, Ms. Crawley’s daughters had to worry about marrying a wealthy man, as if remaining single or falling in love with an ‘ordinary’ men was not a possibility for them. It that happened on those days, society would had judged the woman and who knows in which way, what punishment was applied to her, whether it was moral or it implied an action, but it was something to be despised for.

Nowadays, changes had taken place and women have more rights and they are mostly respected. Today women’s role is not set and they participate in many aspects of life, and not only those ones specifically originally thought for them. Such is the case of house chores which was previously linked to women, and nowadays is shared with males, as mutual respect between genders. We can also experience that women can get jobs and work, when in the past, that was only men’s tasks.

Women have the possibility of choosing, not only in their professional life, but also in their personal lives. They may or may not choose to form a family and that is alright. If they bring a child to the world, their schedules would work (the same for her partner) and she might not want that for her life. So women’s “objective” in life is no more procreating for leaving an heir for her husband. Not to mention that nowadays is also accepted for women to remain single and enjoy lives/life all by themselves.

Moreover, social classes still exist, but that does not affect the role women have in society. They can get a job and decide what they want in their lives. The difference may be that in lower classes, male chauvinism is still ingrained and cases of femicide are most commonly produced, as women are stripped of the rights of being a free human being. The annulment of their rights is also present, in a lower scale, when women are paid less than men for doing the same job, or when they are rejected for taking any job because of the “risk of getting pregnant”

All in all, I personally believe that women have gained a lot of respect among history. They have changed the way they were seen and treated by the whole society, and have now more power over her selves, more self-esteem to succeed as a person. Despite this, I strongly consider that there is still work to do, because beyond being women, they are human beings.

Is travelling to town from Adrogue better by minibus than by train?

For travelling to town from any point of the suburbs such as Adrogué, there are several options to choose, but the most frequently chosen are going by train or by minibus. So if we have to chose, which one is better?

First of all, we have to consider three principal aspects in which both means of transport differ: time, comfort and price. If you are in a hurry and need to reach destination quickly, taking the train is the best option, as it takes nearly 30 minutes from Adrogué to Constitución station. Very different is the case of minibus, which lasts at least one hour and 30 minutes, as it circulates through the road with the heavy traffic.

Secondly, taking into consideration comfort, depending on the time of the day, the train does not provide a great service. Early in the morning when commuters go to town, carriages  are full and it seems as there is not enough air for everyone to breathe. With the combi, instead, you can travel sitting and it has a capacity of 30 people, so there is no way to be uncomfortable. Into the bargain, seats are cushioned for your benefit.

Finally, in terms of price, it is far more viable to travel by train if you have to do this trip every day, as it costs less than four pesos while, in contrast, you have to pay 38 pesos each trip by minibus. However, special discounts are offered for regular passengers.

In conclusion, the better means of transport from Adrogué to town varies depending your necessities and your priorities. Nevertheless, from my point of view, if you are in a hurry, the train is always better. If you do not have much money, you will need to travel by train. If you have enough money and prefer travelling comfortably, then going by minibus a good option to choose.

Mitiguemos todos juntos que es mejor!

 Citando a la Real Academia Española, MITIGAR es la acción de moderar, aplacar, disminuir o suavizar algo riguroso o áspero. ¿Cómo lo vinculamos con el cuidado del medio ambiente? La mitigación es la acción o conjunto de acciones que podemos realizar para disminuir nuestro impacto en el planeta.
 Toda acción cuyo objetivo sea disminuir la huella ecológica, suma a la causa de mitigación. No es algo que solamente puedan hacer las grandes empresas, o los grandes capitales del mundo, que son generalmente los responsables del mayor porcentaje de contaminación de la Tierra. Nosotros, desde nuestras elecciones cotidianas podemos ayudar. Ya sea eligiendo comprar lámparas de bajo consumo, cerrar el agua mientras nos cepillamos los dientes, decidir usar la bicicleta en vez del auto, todas esas pequeñas acciones colaboran a reducir el impacto.

 Debemos solidarizarnos como civilización con el medio ambiente, porque TODOS
somos parte de él y necesita de nuestra ayuda. Es importante que uno se sume al cambio, y si eso es importante, ¡imaginemos lo que será si todos nos comprometemos!
 Es de suma relevancia la participación activa de quienes tienen la posibilidad de trasmitir estas propuestas, como los educadores o los gobiernos, para que estemos informados de qué formas podemos colaborar y hacer que el planeta, nuestro planeta, cure las heridas que estamos causando.

Si nos unimos y todos juntos, empezando por uno mismo, nos proponemos hacer un cambio, el cambio va a ser real.

Re-encontremos nuestra libertad

El sistema por el cual la civilización moderna se rige nos mantiene encerrados, atrapados en el constante consumo, de una forma en la que se nos dibuja de la realidad para que no nos demos cuenta del gran daño que podemos estar causando y, ¿por qué? Porque hay que mantener ese sistema, la economía tiene que mantenerse, superarse y controlar a quienes forman parte de ese ciclo de obtención de bienes.

Por diversos medios se nos inventan a las personas necesidades que en realidad son superfluas, pero se nos convence de lo contrario, obligándonos de forma indirecta a satisfacer nuestros deseos de consumo, que deriva en el consumismo desmesurado, en ese que no se preocupa por el medio ambiente.

Es el medio ambiente el que sufre y se lastima con el consumismo, y es en ese medio ambiente en el que nosotros vivimos. Los que crearon este sistema, los que tienen el poder para cambiarlo, ¿se interesan en revertir los efectos de lo que generan? Lamentablemente, la obsolescencia programada nos dice lo contrario. Los productos que nos convencen de necesitar están diseñados para no durar lo suficiente y así poder generarnos, a los consumidores, una nueva necesidad que nuevamente va a ser satisfecha. 

¿Se podría cambiar esto? ¡SI! Si los productos no estuvieran diseñados para romperse cuando podrían ser útiles, si los medios no nos indujeran en el subconsciente lo que "tenemos" que consumir, si pensamos en cómo abastecer nuestras necesidades de la mejor manera posible, es decir, reduciendo al máximo los desechos ajenos al medio ambiente natural, el mundo estaría viendo una diferencia.

¿Y esa diferencia es realmente posible? Nuevamente, ¡SI! Como habitantes de este planeta, como testigos del gradual deterioro que esta sufriendo a causa nuestra, cada vez somos más los que estamos despertando, siendo conscientes y dándonos cuenta de que el cambio depende de cada uno de nosotros. Cada individuo puede hacer un cambio que el día de mañana va a ser agradecido por nosotros mismos y por los que estén por venir. Nos estamos dando cuenta de que la economía tiene su importancia, pero no se la puede poner por sobre la importancia que tiene el BIENESTAR DE NUESTRO PLANETA, que nos va a permitir seguir habitándolo y disfrutándolo. 

¿Nos podremos perdonar?

Es muy fuerte que nos digan lo que estamos haciendo con el planeta. Genera impotencia darnos cuenta del daño que generamos y nos sentimos inútiles frente a lo que pensamos esta en manos de otros, pero no lo somos. Todos y cada uno de nosotros formamos parte de este sistema. Cada cosa que hacemos, decimos, cada cosa que mostramos en nuestra vida cotidiana influye. Ya sea dando el ejemplo a los que están aprendiendo o actuando de manera que genere un impacto en el medio ambiente, TODOS somos protagonistas de nuestras vidas y nuestras elecciones determinan el rumbo que queremos para nosotros, y para quienes vengan después de nosotros.
Personalmente me impactó la forma en que está relatado el video. Cuenta hechos que todavía no se dieron, pero que si no nos proponemos revertir lo que estamos causando pueden ser posibles en un futuro no tan lejano. La posibilidad de quedarnos sin el "pulmón" del mundo, que los océanos estén todos contaminados, que no hayan miles de las especies que hoy conocemos y ya están en extinción, de la misma manera que ocurrió con otras de las que no hay ejemplares vivos. Es muy angustiante pensar que al paso que vamos, las futuras generaciones no van a poder disfrutar de lo maravilloso que es este planeta.
Lo que resalto, es el final del video. El desenlace del mismo, que nos hace darnos cuenta que todavía estamos a tiempo, que podemos hacer algo para prevenir ese desastre, que aunque no parezca, tenemos al mundo en nuestras manos.

¿A qué llamamos desarrollo?

A partir de la visualización del documental La Isla de las Flores, analicé la relación de su contenido con el que se comparte en el documental Comprar, tirar, comprar. Ambos nos muestran cómo el mundo se rige por la economía, sin importar en absoluto los daños que esto causa al planeta y a todos los que lo habitamos. Cuando se trata de dinero, las potencias parecen ser ciegas a las consecuencias de sus decisiones e ignorarlas, dado que su inmediato beneficio va a ser valorado siempre por encima de aquel de los habitantes del mismo planeta en pocos años más.