The kids who try to be thieves here are sad. They don't make it very far with that kind of lifestyle in a place with such harsh policing. At least a stern "vete" seems to do the trick of excusing oneself.
Museums are so important. It's so easy to forget how recently colonialism began. 500 years is only a few generations when elders live to 100.
The past has been completely erased in that time. Reduced to a gourd behind glass, we don't have a way to express how short our experiment of ego has been.
If the enlightenment gave Europeans an idea of their divine power and its necessity of hegemony, a new idea can emerge to show the true weight of centralized rule over the world's people.
Unlike Marx's Capital which only serves to cement centralized rule, Terkel's Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do brings light to the actual lives people live as subjects to this vast order.
Here in Colombia, the lives of the poor are so extremely visible in the streets. The people selling all manner of merchandise from sheets laid out on the sidewalk count coins that barely add up to a glass of juice. The goods are frequently borderline trash.
Those that hold raffles are the next level up. It's slightly honest as the participant is fully aware of the chance involved. The games are crude and do not provide long-term value though.
Creators of kitsch do better. Their items become symbols in human relationships, a social lubricant healthier than alcohol.
Those reselling beers, sodas, and bottles of water exist because they want to feed people's desires. Not a scourge, this is in fact a decent way to live a simple life under the circumstances. Those selling food from carts fall into the same category.
Categorizing people can only happen to the poor though. When a single activity encompasses one's entire life, they lose perspective.
An undefinable person is clearly wealthy. While a minuscule percentage achieve this under modernity, informal societies can achieve this for the mass.
Without strict record keeping, human qualities guide economics. The path to a reduction of recorded relations is not clear. A universal basic income does nothing in this direction. A reputation system akin to eBay lacks forgiveness.
We must be willing to forget. Jubilation is an ancient concept. Long forgotten years of fallow have been replaced by scientfic efficiency.
We can now reach so far but the deep end of the lever may collapse, should we act too steep.
Of course, this is widely understood by those in control. Robotics are set to arrive on schedule.
