Opinion articles

The canton and the city of Cuenca have characteristics that clearly identify them despite the fact that, in the case of the canton, even for us citizens of this part of the country it is not so evident that there are different climatic regions in this territory , some of which to the west border with the warm ones of the Coast, specifically with those of the Guayas province. The city of Cuenca, on the other hand, is located in an environmental setting marked by the Cajas National Park, located just twenty minutes from the city, in which there are more than two hundred and fifty natural lagoons that allow the life of the city, of its inhabitants and its natural environment.

Water for Cuenca is part of its natural and cultural heritage because we are deeply attached to it for all that it represents in the daily life of the region. The four rivers that run through the city and define it in its character and identity make us proud, not for its environmental bombast or the spectacularity of its torrents, but rather for its simple but powerful life force because it is essential. The basin cannot be understood without the sound of the crystalline water of its rivers in its stony beds, which has even made it possible for us to attempt an explanation of the reason for the particular intonation of local speech from there.

In the scenario of Ecuadorian politics, one of its protagonists uttered this phrase to qualify some of his assembly members, attributing to them that unfortunate characteristic, probably true not only for the anatemized but also for the vast majority of Ecuadorians.

In the action of thinking, a series of elements of all kinds converge: empirical, the product of experience; theoretical, which are the result of processes of objective description of the circumstances; doctrinaire, which represent the thinking of intellectuals about how life should be; philosophical and religious, which start from the acceptance of assumptions that support their argumentative development. Thus, each one of us and all human beings, when we think, use resources that come from daily life, as well as elements that are the product of scientific study, others that are the result of reading doctrines; and also metaphysical reflections, apart from an infinity of factors found in the fields of biology and the socio-emotional, individually and collectively.

Social settings and their circumstances always carry struggles and debates within themselves. I analyze two of them that are in the antipodes: poverty associated with dependency and bonanza related to the production and control of science and technology.

The context of poverty, to a large extent, is defined by social characteristics such as rejection of those who are part of it, political abandonment, lack of education, health precariousness, deterioration of human relationships, material and emotional suffering that in many cases generates violence, protest, helplessness and pain. The scientific and technological scene is characterized, to a great extent, by forms of life related to the investigation and technological application of scientific knowledge, the production of devices for social life, the material improvement of living conditions, the relentless deterioration of the planet and the consumer-market. Thus evidencing the differences between social groups that produce and sell science and technology, with those that only consume them.

In general, it happens to many of us, who define ourselves with different names that can only be labels because our actions are not consistent with their meanings. We call ourselves democrats, but we do not respect the rule of law for different reasons, always personal; we handle the concept of equality of human beings, but we consider ourselves superior to others due to knowledge, economic resources, ancestry or any other circumstance; or we label ourselves as obsequious advocates of ethics, but our actions reflect otherwise. All denominations, which for those reasons are just that, letterheads or labels.

"Search your dreams", "do your best", "do your best", "do everything possible and even more." These are some of the phrases found in all cultures as exhortations for the achievement of people's aspirations, ours, others, everyone. They have a lot of truth and they are axioms, but obviously, they are never enough by themselves, as nothing is, since a series of elements always converge at every moment that are beyond what each individual can solve. However, the will applied to achieve the desired achievement is an unavoidable part of what is needed to get where you want to, a will that can be affected by its power of impact if the individual loses that focus and enters vehemently into the analysis of what is not. is okay or may be better in your environment. Of course, those responsible for it –of the social and organizational context– must be applied thoroughly so that their specific objectives of managing a suitable environment for others are realized. The goals of some are individual achievements and those of others build and manage social scenarios that allow the former to achieve them.

For many intellectuals, the recognition of a word that identifies one of their ideas is a personal accomplishment. The Spanish professor and philosopher Adela Cortina in her multiple face-to-face and telematic interventions, which are also recorded, explains the satisfaction that it represented for her that the Royal Spanish Academy of the Language has incorporated one of the terms she coined to refer to a circumstance in especially, the rejection of poverty or aporophobia, precisely defined by the dictionary - which validates the teacher's contribution - as a phobia of poor or disadvantaged people. Also Cortina, a friend of Ecuador and who has been with us on multiple occasions and will return in the coming months, states that another of the words that give an account of his ideas, that of "well-being", has not had the same fate. allows the analysis of the criterion of well-being and criticizing it, complements it.