Stories written by Leonardo Boff
Leonardo Boff is a writer and theologian.

EXCHANGING DEBT FOR DEVELOPMENT – A NEW WEAPON AGAINST POVERTY

Speaking on September 20 at the Summit against Poverty, in New York, Spanish president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero announced that his government will be actively involved in exchanging debt for social development initiatives, and especially in the field of primary education, writes Antonio Vereda del Abril, president of the Iberoamerican Foundation for Development (FIDE). In this article, the author writes that exchanging foreign debt for development co-operation amounts to freeing up resources so that poor countries can invest in the education and health of their citizens, fund microcredit operations that can result in the creation of great numbers of jobs, and in general, have the resources to spur their own development. Through foreign debt, finance has become an instrument of domination and inequality. Many countries have to channel 30 percent of their budgets to service their foreign debt, thus becoming exporters of capital, which prevents them from investing in their own development.

THE ECLIPSE OF THE FATHER

The complex social division of labour, the participation of women in public life, and their harsh criticism of the patriarchy and machismo have thrown the father figure into crisis. In a sense, what has emerged is a fatherless society, or one in which the father is absent, writes Leonardo Boff, a Brazilian writer and theologian. In this article, Boff writes that the eclipse of the father figure has destabilised the traditional family. The increase in divorce brought with it considerable and at times dramatic consequences. According to recent official statistics from the US, 90 percent of children that run away from home come from fatherless families; 70 percent of juvenile crime is committed by youth from homes without fathers; 85 percent of juveniles in prison and 63 percent of juvenile suicides grow up without fathers. It is the father figure that provides an understanding of the difference between the world of the family and the social world, where there is not only well-being but also work; where there is both kindness and conflict; where there is both winning and losing. The absence of a father figure deprives children of structure, leaves them adrift, and erodes their desire to commit to a life plan. We have to bring the father back.

IS THERE STILL HOPE?

Generalised terrorism, whether that of Al Qaeda, of Sharon in Israel, or of US President Bush, arouses very real fears of calamity in the near future, writes Leonardo Boff, a writer and theologian. At times it seems we haven\'t yet seen the worst that could befall us. This situation raises a philosophical question: can we still place any hope in human beings? Are we capable of improving our social behaviour, our sense of humanity and morality, or are we condemned to live this tragedy to the very end until we destroy ourselves? It is always possible to improve, Boff writes, but humanity will improve only if the majority of its members do so. If this does not happen, we are finished. We will increase our destructive capabilities until tragedy is inevitable. But for this not to happen, one must assume the existence of a second factor: a philosophy of hope.

TOWARDS A BROTHERHOOD OF ALL CREATURES

Walking down my street, where almost nothing even happens, I counted 58 dead beetles in just fifty meters. As we don\'t see ourselves in these our smaller brothers and sisters, we step on them and run them over with our cars. Were Saint Francis still alive he would weep with compassion, writes Leonardo Boff, a writer and theologian. In this article, Boff tells a myth of the Maue indians of Brazil. When the world was created there was no night. There was only day and light penetrated every space. The Maue, as much as they wanted to, couldn\'t sleep. They were always tired and their eyes hurt from too much light. One day, one of them got up his courage and went to talk to the Great Cobra, the sururiju, completely dark, which was considered the high master of the night. The Cobra agreed to make a deal: you give me poison and let me distribute it to my defenceless little relatives. This way you will watch where you\'re going and not step on the little creatures. They will be able to defend themselves. And in exchange I will give you a coconut full of night.\'\' In the end they lived peacefully together and in mutual respect. Why is it that we big creatures don\'t look out for the small creatures?

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