History seems to be trying to say something, only...those who can hear it won't listen and the rest of us are just helpless. I don't mean to be pessimistic, but it seems like Thomas Hobbes was right after all.

I've been thinking and seeing Guatemala through history lenses. And what I fear might be the truth beneath it all might apply to all societies through out human history. This is not a good thing.

It would seem like we've progressed (human kind). It would seem like we've changed. And then there's that famous quote "those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it". And there are soooooo many history books and essays and articles and testimonies and movies and web pages and and and...so many ways to learn and understand history. So many people have tried to...sooo many. But still: history continues to repeat itself. So I guess we haven't been "able to learn it".

I'm going to use Marx's historical-perspective not because I agree with his political views but because I think that most people would agree that he did a great job at analyzing human history: let's say there was primitive Communism (???), and then slavery, feudalism and capitalism. I find it clear that these are three different systems, but I worry that they have the same essence.

I just read a book by Juan José Arévalo. It's called "The Shark and the Sardines". I realize that it is ideologicalized (what isn't???) but it's still a very strong book. Tough, because it states something that I must admit to believe. The world is ran by a small number of hyper-powerful people/families. This is the essence of history: concentration of power, only it is so concentrated now that it makes it hard to believe anything can change. Robert Michels said: "all forms of organization, regardless of how democratic or autocratic they may be at the start, will eventually and inevitably develop into oligarchies. The reasons for this are the technical indispensability of leadership, the tendency of the leaders to organize themselves and to consolidate their interests; the gratitude of the led towards the leaders, and the general immobility and passivity of the masses"... and of course, the human nature, which hasn't proven to be all that great, in general. But then again there's always this amazing people who change the world by love, like Mother Theresa, Mahatma Ghandi or Nelson Mandela. But have they REALLY changed the world, or just filled up our empty hope-tanks?

I feel so helpless. I don't have enough power to know the truth about anything that goes on in the world today. I have to settle for what the newspapers want me to believe. And it's frustrating to think that it isn't "the system" but ourselves, our human nature, to blame for the world's reality. Can this be true??? I won't ever lose hope, but I wish I could know how high I should set it. What world is really possible??? I know we can do much better. But how??? What can I DO???

P.S. I'm not in this mood just out of the blues: this week I read a lot on Guatemala's twentieth century history, went to a forum today on the 36 year-long Guatemalan internal conflict and saw an interesting movie I recommend: "Un mundo maravilloso", directed by Luis Estrada. Of course, the movie is a bit exaggerated, but it certainly has a point.

I have to go to sleep. Good night.