A true fountain of inspiration

I recently learned of the demolition of the famous Hotel Fuenti, located on the beautiful coast of Amalfi in Italy. This structure had become a symbol of what seems to be known as environmental "abusivismo” in Italy. At least this is what comes out of the automatic translator I use when navigating Italian web sites. I am sure that this case is fascinating to those who are interested in administrative law or in the study of Italian society. To begin with, this case has been around for the last thirty years.

The demolition of 34,000 square meters of reinforced concrete structure is no small matter anywhere. Exactly how these measures are approved and taken in order to effectively defend the environmental rights of a society or an individual without resulting in legal "abusivismo” is a challenge to one’s imagination.

I am sure that most of us, without going into much more detail, are absolutely sure that whatever the legal regulations the promoters of the Fuenti violated, there are thousands of worse violations that will never suffer this drastic fate.

On the other hand, most of us will probably not shed too many tears over what may be a total injustice that the Fuenti’s owners are being subjected to. One explanation of the above may be what one could call the Fuenti’s high Visual Contamination Index (VCI).

In order to understand the VCI, let us imagine that we can assign points to the ugliness of any structure, ten points for the ugliest to 1 point for the least ugly. Likewise, we could assign points for the relevance or beauty of its location, from one point for the most insignificant to ten points for the most beautiful and relevant. By multiplying both rankings, we can obtain the VCI. In the Fuenti case, if we assign an eight for ugliness and multiply this by an eight for the beauty and relevance of its location, we obtain a total score of 64. This apparently is enough to send the structure to the gallows.

Does this seem easy and fair? Not necessarily. Imagine trying to get two Italians to come to an agreement about the assignation of points for beauty and relevance!

I sincerely hope that the case of the Hotel Fuenti will serve as an inspiration so that we can begin to confront the serious problems of visual contamination that occur in Venezuela, specially on the Island of Margarita.

Playa El Angel, Playa Guacuco, Playa Anywhere. In all of these we can observe how half-finished structures, like a herd of dinosaur skeletons, provide eyesores to all those who care to pass by. Is it possible that these structures insolently consider that simply because they have suffered an accident, financial or otherwise during the initial construction period, they have the right to contaminate our island. Just as an airplane is required to take on sufficient fuel to get it to its next destination, any construction project should be required to have enough resources to get it to completion.

When you study some of the laws that govern this matter, for example the Urbanization Law, you can find plenty of articles that allow, for one reason or another, authorities to paralyze work on any construction project. Surprisingly, there is no mention whatsoever that refers to the obligation of a project’s promoters to actually finish what they started. Evidently, since the laws are drafted by politicians who are not exactly known for their ability to finish what they started, the word “surprisingly” is probably overdone.

Although I consider the road to the demolition of existing structures to be a dangerous one if based simply on visual contamination, I do believe it is possible to develop a good set of rules to handle half finished projects. Obviously, any law drafted to regulate this matter must guarantee affected parties the right to develop alternatives within a specified period of time (years, not decades!).

We must also analyze those projects that, due to simple lack of use or care are severely deteriorated. We are all aware that fashion once considered that holes in blue jeans were “chic”. Likewise, any amount of building materials has been used to create a rustic look to buildings, mostly with a lot of success. However, when we observe walls that are crumbling due to lack of care or, even worse, to bad construction practices, we do not need rocket science to see that something has gone seriously wrong and that we must find a cure.

With every day that goes by, all aspects of defense of our environment become more and more critical. For an island like Margarita that lives of tourism and that is faced with increasingly heavy competition from other locations, the avoidance of visual contamination is more than critical, it is vital.

http://alborotandoturismo.blogspot.com/1999/06/el-fuenti-una-fuente-de-inspiracion.html

PS. And nowhere will you find a visual contamination like nowadays Margarita LagunaMar. I do not want to show you the pictures, as it breaks my heart.

Mobility and economic growth

I still remember going through MAD Magazine at least thirty-five years ago and seeing one particular cartoon strip in which the North American population slowly lost their lower extremities due to atrophy as a result of using their cars to cover even the shortest of distances. They all ended up looking like bowling pins. In the last frame, a Chinese army easily bowled over these odd looking pins.

Evidently, none of this happened. On the contrary, in Kosovo, the United States and its allies have shown without a doubt that you don’t need your lower extremities even to wage war.

I have recently published several articles in which I write about the exorbitant taxes that are imposed on gasoline around the world the effect of which I consider to be like discriminatory commercial taxes or duties, which keep the oil producers from receiving what is rightly due.

In this sense, there is a marked difference between the United States and Europe. In the United States, gasoline is sold for 25 cents per liter while in Europe the final consumer must pay about US$ 1 per liter. This fourfold increase is due exclusively to these “taxes”.

I have also had the opportunity of writing about the growth in unemployment and have made some similar comparisons between the United States and Europe. In both cases the generation of jobs in traditional sectors such as agriculture and industry are basically the same, 2.5% and 17.5% respectively.

The United States, however, is today a miracle of job generation while Europe is submerged in a crisis of high unemployment that is close to being structural in character. The difference lies basically with the service sector. In 1997, the service sector in the United States represented 54% of the total population of working age while in Europe; this sector employed only 39%, a whopping 15% less.

The observed difference between the level of taxes on gasoline and the generation of jobs in the service sector allows me to suggest the thesis that the only way Europe can solve the problem of unemployment is by drastically reducing the tax charge per liter of gasoline consumed. Once this has been done, the European consumer will most certainly venture out of his home more often rather than staying in. This means more trips to the restaurant, the movie theaters, etc., all of which generate jobs.

Some European countries have already announced a plan that will increase taxes on gasoline annually by about 6% over inflation. If so, by the year 2006, consumers should be paying about US$ 2.50 per liter. Since the oil producer would only obtain about 12.5 cents of said price; we are in the presence of a great commercial injustice. Additionally, if Europe insists on levying such taxes on gasoline, they are not only contributing to unemployment on their own continent, but will also be guilty of putting the brakes on economic development worldwide.

I clearly remember when the world in general accused the oil producing countries of pushing them into global recession during the oil boom of 1974. As a remedy, these countries were obliged to recycle their petrodollars, which they did with such enthusiasm that they went overboard and ended up with immense public external debt. Today Europe as well as many others keeps the price of gasoline higher than ever even though most of the final selling price is tax, causing recession and unemployment. The difference is, however, that today nobody accuses them of anything.

I think the world should seriously rethink its energy policy and study the elimination of these duties. This is the only way to get out of the vicious circle which, aggravated by the development of the Internet, cable TV and other such technological progress, conspires to increasingly isolate consumer within his home, where he simply restructures his purchase habits, mostly to the detriment of job creation.

In the Venezuela of today, submerged as it is in a profound recession, we must certainly not forget when it comes time to consider increases in the price of gasoline that many jobs still exist only because the cost of mobilization has been kept low.

Likewise, I consider the revision of our fiscal policies to be an absolute necessity. I simply cannot accept that the basic Income Tax with its definite advantages as far as redistribution of wealth is concerned is subrogated to VAT or taxes on gasoline which only punish consumption and therefore economic activity per se.

Finally, we must remember that only healthy global economic growth will make resources available to develop technology that will make gasoline a cleaner burning fuel.

Let's talk about official advertising (and exchange rate anorexia)

Let's talk about official advertising (and about an exchange rate anorexia)

If the constituents of the time when the Constitutions, which currently inspire those of the Western world, were drafted, had had a notion of the importance of publicity and understood its irresistible temptation for a politician, they would surely have established all kinds of limitations to the same.

Advertising is for a politician, like drugs for a drug addict, he cannot live without it. In normal times, under a fully current Constitution the Nation is administered by politicians. Hence, it would be impossible, like asking for pears from an elm tree, to ask those same politicians to generate effective self-regulation in advertising matters.

In a Constituent Assembly, since there is a greater possibility of a certain apolitical representation, it would be the almost unique opportunity to introduce the limitations on politicians that civil society believes are necessary.

What limitations can be proposed? Before answering, it would be helpful to illustrate what you want to avoid. The following are just a few examples, although, of course, readers will surely have their own list.

The fact that to “inaugurate” a small "green" space of 12 m2 with some nuances, awnings, chairs, sound equipment, gifts and other promotional material are hired, shows an absolute disrespect for the citizen.

Surely many have observed, when passing through some highway, crews of workers who are actually doing a good job of cleaning and maintaining the road, who, unfortunately, are forced to carry, like a cross, a sign that weighs more than than his work team and that only fulfills a promotional function.

We see throughout the country so many posters that announce, with the name and surname of the official on duty, the fulfillment or supposed fulfillment of duty, of the President, Minister, Governor and Mayor. All these advertisements, surely expensive, only serve to remind us why we are not politicians. Out of simple politeness, we would be embarrassed.

To avoid abuses such as those expressed above, I would love to include in our Constitution, within a chapter entitled "Limitations for officials in the use of advertising", the following articles:

1. Advertising expenditure related to the execution and start-up of any civil work is prohibited, exceeding 1% of the cost of said work.

2. Any public servant is prohibited from using, in relation to any official activity, any adjective intended to give a favorable connotation to the way in which said activity has been carried out.

3. In any activity that can be classified as promotion, advertising or information, and regardless of the origin of the funds for payment, whether public or private, the use of one's own name, photo, or any other element that, directly, can personally identify a public official or a political organization.

To the extent that in our next Constitution we manage to introduce some type of limitation on the shameless self-promotion of the politicians in power, to that same extent we will be able to say that we have achieved a new Constitution, with real possibilities of producing results. Only in this way can we have, at least the hope, that the politicians of the future will have to dedicate themselves to achieving real fruits of their management, instead of spending resources and time trying to sell us imaginary fruits. Does that seem little to you? This alone would almost justify the Constituent Assembly!

Another different matter. [An exchange rate anorexia that can plague a centralized oil-revenues cursed nation] 

A respectful question to Mr. President. Just for my historical archive.

The rate of the bolivar against the dollar should be at 900, but it is at 600. As a result, a hotel, when converting the 40 dollars it obtains from a tourist, receives, instead of Bs. 36,000, only 24,000 and goes bankrupt. If you try to obtain the Bs. 36,000 you must charge 60 dollars, then the tourists go to another destination and you go bankrupt. The disaster affects everyone. Today we read about a small gypsum plant that had to close because it is cheaper to import gypsum from Spain. 

Even postgraduate degrees (the paid ones, not the free ones) are cheaper abroad. It is true that a devaluation, by itself, does not remedy anything, but I believe there is more than enough evidence that anorexia would change if it kills

I have no doubt that if I were responsible for the country's economic policy and had to face uncertainty regarding exchange rates, if I sinned, I would always, always prefer to do so in favor of the national producer and not the foreign one. Since, upon reviewing my files and finding that the first date, on which I got on my knees begging for a greater rate of devaluation, was in July of '98 and since then, I have cried out for it, "so many hundred" times, I know , that they didn't pay attention to me.

Mr. President: Who was it? Who was it that convinced you to continue with Dr. Kevorkian's exchange rate policy? Was it Casas? Was it Natera? Was it the International Monetary Fund? Was it a military man? Was it Kelly? Was it Alfaro? Was it Emeterio? Who was? Don't you remember? - With respect, I recommend you remember - Many others are going to ask you... and very soon.

Translated by Google from an OpEd published June 15, 1999

Time, the ANC and meridians

I have no intention of putting the right to punctuality in the same category as the basic traditional human rights such as the right to education, security, access to health care, food and work.

 

However, in a country such as Venezuela we can easily lose up to three hours per week waiting for something or another, due mostly to a total lack of respect for the value of our time. Accumulated over our average active life span of 55 years, this adds up to approximately one year of our lives. I therefore think that this matter is not at all irrelevant, less so in times of a constituent assembly.

 

As a matter of fact, our Constitution and laws supposedly protect the common citizen against the unjustified loss of his or her right to freedom. All civil rights organizations in the world would go ballistic if someone would dare propose the possibility of unjustified arrest, even if it were for only one year. How come nobody says anything when we lose our liberty for more that one year, even if it is bit by bit, due to the lack of punctuality or mediocre and/or non-existent services.

 

I am not a candidate for the constituent assembly. My other responsibilities to my family and country allow me to avoid a process which would only bring my lack of powers of assembly to light. However, this does not limit nor my right nor my obligation as a citizen to present proposals and observations to the process. In this sense, I must remind the 131 members of the constituent assembly that, for example, when the State requires the country’s population to carry an identification card and the latter takes more than fifteen minutes to issue, we are essentially in the presence of a clear violation of human rights.

 

But in the case of the lack of punctuality, it is evident that we need a total reform of all civil society. There is no doubt that among the majority of the population, both among defenders of human rights as well as among those that complain about the public administration, there hide a bunch of vulgar violators of human rights who, without remorse whatsoever, blithely ignore the existence and purpose of the clock.

 

How, then, do we reform our civil society? This is a difficult question to answer, specially when you consider that should we require punctuality as a basic prerequisite for election to the constituent assembly, it would surely be very difficult to complete the roster of 131 members.

 

One alternative would be the creation of a “Punctual Venezuela”, parallel to the actual one. For example, if we start to use a little symbol that could be printed on all invitations to those activities that really require punctuality at the risk of being either excluded from the event or publicly chastised, we could possibly begin to create some semblance of civility. This symbol could be a watch, but I would rather leave that up to the specialists in advertising.

 

The interesting part of this alternative is that it would simultaneously allow us to impose, as of today, a heavy public sanction for those who lack punctuality without having to request that “notorious sinners” must go through a process of painful public remorse. Additionally, the mere fact of maintaining the option of a “Punctual Venezuela” alive, would allow us to simultaneously allow us to continue to humor those foreign visitors who, with a tropicalisation which rivals that of the inhabitants of Borburata, take every chance to take revenge on and/or liberate themselves of the yoke of punctuality.

 

I wish to take this opportunity to mention another problem that preoccupies me and that also is related to time. We have recently been witness to public spectacles such as the fight the United States has sustained with Europe about bananas. I have often suggested that the effect of global warming has been much greater that we first suspected. It seems to have moved the parallels normally identified with Banana Republics northwards towards Washington.

 

I consider, however, that not only the parallels have gone crazy, the meridians have gone haywire as well. I often take my daughters to parties that begin at mid-night, which to me simply seems like a real and crude version, in cinéma vérité, of Saturday Night Fever. I can not but suspect that their generation has simply decided to substitute the East Coast’s meridian for that of the West Coast. Some of the television channels seem to suffer from the same syndrome. Somehow, I always seem to go to bed at night watching comics while, if I am not careful, my daughters wake up with XXX.

Extracted from "Voice and Noise" 2006. The first two bullets are based on the article published June 11, 1999 in The Daily Journal

Three bullets on punctuality

Time and human rights

I have no intention of putting the right to punctuality in the same category as the right to education, security, health care, food, and work. 

However, in a country such as ours (Venezuela) where we because of sheer lack of punctuality can easily lose up to three hours per week waiting for something or another, this, over our an average active life span of 55 years, adds up to around one year. 

As civil-rights organizations normally go ballistic whenever anyone is arrested without justification even for a couple of hours, I wonder how they let this pass.

There can be no doubt that the majority of our countrymen do, without any remorse whatsoever, blithely ignore the existence and purpose of the clock, and so it is evident that in terms of punctuality we need a total reform of our civil society. How do we achieve this? 

One alternative would be the creation of a “Punctual Venezuela,” parallel to the actual one. For example, if we start to use a little symbol that could be printed on all invitations to those activities that really require punctuality at the risk of being either excluded from the event or publicly chastised, we could possibly begin to create some semblance of civility. This symbol could be a watch, but I’d rather leave that up to the specialists in advertising.

The interesting part of this alternative is that it would allow us to impose, as of today, a heavy public and social sanction for those who lack punctuality without having to request that “notorious and incurable sinners” kick the habit cold-turkey. Also, maintaining the option of a not punctual Venezuela alive would allow us to continue to humor those foreign visitors who with a tropical flare that rivals our best take every chance they get to free themselves from the yoke of punctuality.

About parallels and meridians

We have recently witnessed public spectacles such as the fight the United States has sustained with Europe about bananas. Perhaps the effect of global warming has been much greater than we suspect as it seems to have moved the parallels normally identified with Banana Republics northward.

However the meridians might have gone haywire as well. I often take my daughters to parties that begin at midnight, which to me simply seems like a real and crude version, in cinéma vérité, of Saturday Night Fever. I cannot but suspect that their generation has simply decided to substitute the East Coast’s meridian for that of the West Coast. Some of the television channels seem also to suffer from the same syndrome. Somehow, I always seem to go to bed at night watching their afternoon comics while, if I am not careful, my daughters could wake up with their XXX-rated after midnight material.

My daughter’s cult

She is rarely late but she is absolutely never ever a minute early. She follows that Just-In-Time cult that drives us inhumanely nuts.

Extracted from "Voice and Noise" 2006. The first two bullets are based on an article published June 11, 1999 in The Daily Journal

We will be watching you, NCA

The country is rapidly approaching the moment when the National Constituent Assembly (NCA) must get down to business. The fact that Venezuela should begin the new millennium with a brand new constitution fills me both with enthusiasm and fear. The results arising from the NCA could either be wonderful or an absolute fiasco. A lot will depend on the way our civil society participates in the process.

Even though the formal responsibility of the NCA lies with the 131 elected members, I feel this does not diminish the responsibility or duty all of us as citizens have of trying to positively influence the process. Those who for some reason do not wish to be elected, or those that are up for election but realistically do not expect to be one of the chosen few, that is to say all but the 131 members finally elected, should begin to plot our strategy without delay. The following are my thoughts about the matter.

The assembly must take into account the country as a whole while undertaking its duties. Even though I do not believe we should televise the entire proceedings, something like Mr. Simpson’s trial in the United States, I do believe we must under no uncertain circumstances maintain records of all the proposals presented as well as of all the debates. Above all, we should register, with names included, the votes cast by the assembly’s members.

With this data in hand, society should organize its system of evaluation in order to publicly congratulate those members who have honestly and successfully complied with their duties and publicly chastise, with means that will be registered in the annals of history, those that do not. In this sense, it is important to develop a reasonable method of evaluation, which should, of course, take into consideration that not all of the assembly’s functions are the same and that not all must be complied with by all of its members.

Included in the members’ duties that must be evaluated are the following four. The number I have put in parenthesis are simply for the purpose of presenting examples of how many of the 131 members could be dedicated to a particular task.

  1. The generation of coherent political visions that would give the assembly a real meaning (5)

  2. Continual interaction with the civil society in order to insure that the latter’s proposals and desires are coherently included in the final output (20)

  3. The study, analysis and brainstorming of each specific article in order to insure that the final product is coherent (101)

 4. The final coherent write-up of the new document so that Venezuela can show the world with pride that it has produced a real Constitution for the next millennium (5)

Evidently my use of the word “coherent” in all four of these activities, makes it evident that this is extremely important for me. Some of my other colleagues in the NGO that must necessarily be formed and that could be called “Watch the NCA” will undoubtedly include other parameters. This should permit us to create a ranking which although not perfect should at least allow us to identify the names of 10 of the members who’s performance was outstanding and 10 who’s performance were disgraceful. 

This does not necessarily have anything to do with the intellectual and curricular capacity of each of these members. Those members who were given the right to occupy one of the 131 seats on the assembly on the basis of their ample and well documented legal know-how could conceivably receive a much lower ranking than a mother that has come out of her household to be present in dignified representation of her compatriots and by just honestly and correctly choosing among the options presented to her.

I have heard that there are candidates out there that are members of unions and other representative groups who’s only stated purpose is to insure the continuation of the prerogatives they figure come with their professional investitures. Evidently, should these people be elected to the assembly, they would be prime candidates to occupy the last places in the ranking, both to their own detriment as well as to that of the groups they represent.

Another member of the assembly that would insure a place at the bottom of the list is the one that insists on including constitutional guarantees for each and every right that he or she can think of without worrying about how they will be complied with. 

I am the first to acknowledge that the Constituent Assembly is a national act of much more importance and intimacy than that of a simple election and I would therefore not be inclined to formally invite external observers. However, the ONG would have the right to look for advice, wherever this may come from, in order to fulfill its duty and be vigilant during the process. I am sure that entities such as the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and Transparency International, among others, could give us support and good advice.

For decades, our society has been demeaned due to the lack of social sanctions. We cannot run this risk with the NCA. Our ranking should be a part of the tools to be used to stimulate and punish.