THE FOOL ON THE HILL

THE FOOL ON THE HILL

JUAN MANUEL OCHOA TORRES SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFÍA Y ESTADÍSTICA, A. C.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR JUAN MANUEL OCHOA TORRES is a member of the SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFÍA Y ESTADÍSTICA, A.C. (Mexican Society of Geography and Statistics), which is the oldest scientific and cultural society in America, having been founded in 1833 by the then President of Mexico, Valentín Gómez Farías.

The author forms part of the National Academic Council of said institution, acting as Chairman of one of its Academies and has written a large number of books on social, economic, civic, ecological, demographic and historical issues, and a variety of analyses, some of which have been translated into English. www.juanmanuelochoat.blogspot.mx/

THE FOOL ON THE HILL

JUAN MANUEL OCHOA TORRES

SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFÍA Y ESTADÍSTICA, A. C.

Original title in Spanish: “El

tonto de la colina”

FIRST EDITION: JANUARY 2014 ISBN: 978-607-7944-11-9 Registration number: 03-2014-050913210400-01 Copyright © Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres To correspond with the author: Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres: mailjmot@gmail.com www.juanmanuelochoat.blogspot.mx/ SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFÍA Y ESTADÍSTICA, A. C. Justo Sierra 19 Centro Histórico Telephone: +52 (55) 5542 73 41/ 5522 2055 ismge@prodigy.net.mx http://smge-mexico.blogspot.com México 06020, D.F. MEXICO Typography and book binding: Luis Tovar Carrillo tecnografica64@gmail.com Cover: Ana Sofía Ochoa Ricoux and Luis Tovar Carrillo Translated to English by: TLS Bureau and Marie-France Fortoul marifrance60@hotmail.com The total or partial reproduction of this book is prohibited without the autorization of the autors

Contents Chapter I..........................................................................

Crossroads

A stranger enters the

Page

5

scene..........................................

8

Chapter II..........................................................................

Different perspectives “El Encinal�..................................................................

13

Chapter III.........................................................................

Meeting

21

Chapter IV........................................................................

A different dialog

35

Chapter V........................................................................

Opposite point of view?

51

Chapter VI........................................................................

Expanding the dialog

69

Chapter VII . ....................................................................

Another perspective

87

Chapter VIII......................................................................

A controversial return

105

Chapter IX........................................................................

The differences increase

131

Chapter X.........................................................................

Night follows day

163

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Chapter I Crossroads We rarely reflect on the fact that each person carries an entire history of experiences, aspirations, errors, concerns and dreams.

To give an example: in a big city on any morning, we do not stop to think that the lady walking briskly to work is completely immersed in a great number of work and personal matters she must attend to throughout the day.

Nor are we really concerned about the man nervously checking his watch every few minutes, as if afraid that time is going to play a dirty trick on him.

Anyone who believes that this human introspection only affects people living in big cities is mistaken because, whether they live in big or small cities, urban or rural areas, or big or small houses, an intricate series of elements will be activated inside each person that will form his own particular thinking.

To corroborate this phenomenon, let us use the magic power deliberately installed in our own minds—better known as our imagination—to transport ourselves in a flash, first to a small town in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, where on any morning, one block from the main square with its hustle and bustle, we will discover how this underworld that lies inside each man or woman comes together.

While Don José’s kind words mask his great concern for selling all his tamales and atole, one of Doña Maria’s aims is to get rid of the fruit she has on show because 5

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she knows very well that if she does not accomplish her goal, a lot of the fruit will ripen very quickly making it less attractive to buyers.

Doña Margarita, meanwhile, calculates with the precision of an efficient accountant how to optimize her budget in order to be able to provide for her entire family with as little money as possible.

Notary Public Don Fidel walks briskly to his office, thinking about a solution for the public deed several people will sign a few minutes later, and something similar is happening to Luis Fernando.

But all these issues occupying the thoughts of the inhabitants of this beautiful Michoacán town pale in comparison with the anguish a lady called Doña Soledad, better known as Doña Chole, believes she is experiencing.

Everyone is internally juggling their aspirations, questions and assumed goals, but no one comes close to the afflicted spirit of this restless lady.

And just as nature sometimes capriciously combines dark colors with bright ones, or birdsong with the sound of gently falling water, Doña Chole’s house is also home to strange contrasting combinations: her sister Natalia had recently been widowed and gone to live with her.

Doña Chole is a volcano about to erupt, while Natalia is a placid lake indulgently and tolerantly watching the birds pass and clouds slowly traveling in the sky.

The scene played out at this house day after day is seen only by silent witnesses: some old furniture, a large quarry stone fountain surrounded by all manner of potted plants and a ray of sun that shyly, as if asking for permission, begins to enter the courtyard. The only ones 6

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that dare break the silence are a large number of birds in a great many cages hanging on the walls of this peculiar residence.

While Doña Chole runs from one side to another, arranging things she just has brought from the market, these witnesses watch Doña Natalia silently rearranging certain things, getting ready for breakfast which they are about to have.

And so as birds can sense the coming of a storm, Natalia has a presentiment that, because her sister Chole is rushing around, her restless mind is becoming overwhelmed with a great many mixed thoughts that she is about to externalize.

And while Natalia seems distant, she is well aware of the main reason for her sister’s concern: her son Álvaro. She knows that, despite her requests, Álvaro has not wanted to leave a very special job he has near Tingüindín, with a certain Don Alonso.

“It really is beyond me,” Doña Chole says, “how Alvarito still wants to stay there with that crazy old man, when he has been offered a big job in Morelia… Sometimes I think that Álvaro has also gone mad like that poor man he works with.

Anyone else would be extremely alarmed by such statements, but Natalia had known her sister all her life and impassively keeps quiet as she enjoys her breakfast.

“Some years ago,” she continues, “because I believed my friends and you, I thought Álvaro would be over that nonsense in a few months, but now it’s even worse. It seems that old man has even more influence over him…

What nerve!”

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“But, Chole,” Natalia claims. “Álvaro is very happy in that job. He even brought his girlfriend Esther to meet us, and they’re planning on getting married.”

“That’s exactly what worries me even more!” Chole replies. “Now that he met that gullible girl in Zamora, who even agreed to go hide away at that ranch too, he’ll want to come here even less… He even says that crazy old man will give them a house there!”

“Have you tried the roasted sweet potato and the squash?

They’re really good…”

“Don’t change the subject!” Doña Chole says, practically screaming. “What interests me is Álvaro, not the stupid breakfast…”

“We shouldn’t worry for no reason, Chole. I remember my deceased husband said that some decades ago, all the professionals went to the capital and big cities to work, but now that trend seemed to have reversed and here are opportunities in medium-sized and small cities.”

“Exactly…! Medium-sized and small cities, but I don’t think your husband ever thought Álvaro would want to hide away at a shabby ranch like that one…! And don’t tell me to calm down because it makes me angry that you don’t think that’s important!”

A stranger enters the scene We used to say that behind every person lies a story and different motivations. Perhaps we fall short of the mark if we do not add one more element. Fate also likes interspersing a lot of different elements and patiently observing the result this produces.

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And the truth is that Doña Chole never imagined that this sometimes fickle, disconcerting hand of fate was spinning an invisible web around them. And fate would make use of its own personal ambitions to bring them into that web.

So, at that exact moment, Gustavo Mora, special commissioner from an important forestry ministry is driving in the vicinity accompanied by the agronomical engineer Miguel Sánchez, who had been his friend since they were young men.

Both are in the back seat of a large minivan and, judging by the number of incoming and outgoing calls, they seem to be in a mobile office rather than a vehicle.

Once his last call is over, Gustavo says with a sonorous voice, “An opposition party will soon submit a new forestry project to Congress and the Minister has charged me with analyzing the topic. So I wanted to talk with you, Miguel, so you can tell me about your experiences because our party needs to be ready to discuss the matter.”

“The truth is,” he continues, “something effective urgently needs to be done in forestry. We’ve been losing forests at a terrifying rate: 990,000 acres a year, according to some sources, and others say the figure is even higher…

Imagine! We’re talking about over 2,470 acres a day…”

“Well, yes,” the engineer replies. “That’s true, but that will make society capable of rising to the challenge of solving the problem, won’t it?”

“That’s what should happen, my esteemed Miguel, but because of the way politics is done in our country, the Government mustn’t cause problems, but rather suggest solutions and, furthermore, solutions that don’t seem dif9

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ficult, because if it doesn’t do this it won’t win elections or popular support…”

Gustavo continues, as his friend Miguel looks expectantly at him, “What percentage of votes do you think we would have won in the last election if we had raised the real problems we are facing? You saw how we did. We won by a few points because some of the opposition basically only offered dreams and dazzled many voters.”

“I think,” the engineer says, “that it is perfectly possible to make objective proposals to citizens on the issues concerning them. If we treat society like a child, it will react like one.”

“Many people will, but most will take the easy way; whichever party offers the most ‘attractive’ things, which is why I’m telling you that this causes the same problem for the country, which is in fact exactly what happened to us a few decades ago.”

“So, you’re saying that we have to present an unreal optimistic situation to win an election in order to win popular support. Is that right?”

“What I’m saying is that in political matters things must be presented in such a way that they don’t sound like they need a lot of effort because people won’t vote for that, and they’ll go with what looks more appealing, even if afterwards they’ve been deceived. So things have to be put to them in a certain way. That’s politics, and not just in this country, but everywhere.”

“I rather think that that’s bad use of politics. Remember what Simón Bolívar said and our history teacher repeated to us many times, ‘Rectitude is the best politics.’ Things need to be said as they are. But we have to know how 10

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to say and implement them, and I guarantee that people will respond.”

In the face of these resolute objections expressed by his friend Miguel, Gustavo gets the feeling that they’re not going to get anywhere with that discussion so, using his vast experience, he very subtly changes tack.

“That’s exactly what we now want, to ground the solutions. And that’s where you’re going to help me. And as far as politics is concerned, believe me, we’ll try to do things right.”

“Okay, Gustavo. I’m very happy to talk to you about my experiences in forestry and you can then make the suggestions you wish, don’t you worry. But before we start, let me tell you that when you called me and told me you were coming, I brought you out this way because I want us to talk with a person who is out here and has a ranch that he operates pretty well. But we have to see if he wants to talk to us because he’s a pretty strange guy, I mean, he doesn’t really like talking to people.”

“Good grief! And where’s this guy from? He sounds a bit weird if he doesn’t even like expressing his ideas, doesn’t he?”

“Look, don’t get me wrong. He’s just an odd guy, but don’t think he lacks focus. He used to be a Notary Public. He’s very educated and lived in Mexico City for many years.

The thing is that now that he’s older, he came here and has a ranch that he operates well and I think if we manage to talk with him, he could give us some ideas on what you’re looking for. The thing is we need him to receive us.”

“Well, if you think it would be interesting, let’s do it… but, how do you plan to get him to talk to us?”

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“I used to like going to his ranch to talk with him until one day he just refused to see me. It’s like he’s in a different world… but don’t get the wrong idea. He appears a little strange, but he’s not that lost. He’s right about a lot of things…”

“I get the feeling,” Gustavo claims, “that we’ll just be wasting our time…”

“I know what I’m talking about. You’ll think a lot of the ideas are impractical, but in short, we’ll take the good things he tells us. It’ll take a few hours.”

“Well, if you want to… let’s go then…”

“Look, there’s a young man who works with him called Álvaro and we’ll be able to talk to Don Alonso—that’s his name—through him.”

“By the way,” Miguel continues, “we’re arriving at the town where his mom lives. She’s a good friend of mine.

Let’s see if by any chance Álvaro has been here.”

The engineer turns to Juan, the driver, and says, “Before you get to that bridge, turn left and go straight ahead up to the square and then I’ll tell you where Doña Chole’s house is. I think she’ll be at home.”

“And by the way, Gustavo, the local bread is really tasty if you want to buy some to take back to Mexico City. It’s baked in special ovens. You can enjoy it when you get home. Would you like some?”

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Chapter II Different perspectives When for any reason two water currents cross, we know that one of the two will have more influence on the other.

And curiously, we also know that it is not so much the quickest and most sonorous flow that prevails, but rather the current that appears tamer, by dint of possessing the greater volume, that determines the way.

And at those meetings, where the sometimes incomprehensible hand of fate strangely accommodates certain events for those days, the true internal force of each one cannot be seen with the naked eye, given that, just as rivers seen from the surface do not usually reveal their true content, something similar happens in human interaction. It is not possible to evaluate the true potential of someone until his thoughts are duly expressed.

Nevertheless, when it is not possible to conduct a better analysis, something is better than nothing, or at least for the time being. Let us analyze, then, the events that have started to take place in that beautiful MichoacĂĄn town.

And so we shall see that DoĂąa Chole and her sister, Natalia, with absolutely no idea of most of the events that were interwoven into their surroundings, continue conversing while they finish their breakfast. For their part, Gustavo and Miguel, once they have made some purchases, are about to knock on the door of an old house located almost one block from the main square.

Once she hears the knock at the door, DoĂąa Chole, before opening, discreetly looks through the aperture of her liv13

Juan Manuel Ochoa Torres

ing room window and thinks she recognizes Miguel and so heads quickly to open the door.

“Welcome, Don Miguel! To what do I owe the honor of a visit from you? You’re just in time for breakfast. Come in and make yourselves at home…”

“Doña Chole,” Miguel says, giving her a hug. “Let me introduce you to Mr. Mora…”

With typical Mexican provincial hospitality and in order to be able to talk more while she offers them something, Doña Chole warmly leads them to the dining room table while Natalia, after the customary introductions, discreetly becomes the hostess so that her sister has the chance to talk properly with her unexpected visitors.

“I’m so happy to have you visiting us. You’re welcome, any time!” Doña Chole says as she passes them generous portions of local dishes she luckily already had available…

“Thank you, Doña Chole. I’ll just take two round tamales with a little beans because we already ate something, but I truly can’t resist these. Try them, Gustavo! They’re a kind of local tamale… I don’t know if you ate them when we were at high school in Zamora, but if you don’t like them, try these uchepo tamales, they’re made with corn…”

While Gustavo momentarily goes out to the courtyard to take a call, Doña Chole says to Miguel, “You hardly ever come here anymore, Mr. Sánchez! Are you supervising some ranch? What brings you out here?”

“Actually Mr. Mora, whom I have known since we were at senior high in Zamora, now has a very important job in Mexico City and wants to know more about forestry 14

The fool on the hill

projects. We want to visit Don Alonso’s El Encinal, and I thought that your son Álvaro might be here.”

“If only he were! The thing is that devil of a boy is completely absorbed in that dirty ranch working with that crazy old man, and he hardly ever comes to see me…”

Natalia, as she puts some things to the table, is careful to keep quiet, even though she does not share her sister’s view…

“To be frank,” Doña Chole continues, “I don’t think that job is at all right for Alvarito. He could end up crazy like that guy. And he hardly leaves the place.”

Once he finishes his call, Gustavo sits down and keeps discreetly quiet though, from what Señora Chole is saying, he is increasingly convinced that there is no point visiting that ranch, where that seemingly odd man lives.

Nonetheless, the confidence he has in his friend Miguel makes him persist with the visit they had planned.

“Well, we’re going to Tingüindín right now,” the engineer says. “If you like, I’ll say something to Álvaro because we want to talk a little with Don Alonso. Let’s see if he wants to…”

“What have I got to say to him? You know how things are there… He might not even see you…”

Gustavo, without letting it show, is increasingly intrigued.

What kind of guy is this oddball? But in any case, he goes along with it thinking it’ll make a good story; something out of the ordinary. He also thinks it won’t take long and he can keep up to date with work on his phone, as if he were at his office…

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Meanwhile Miguel, oblivious to the detachment and growing skepticism of his friend Gustavo, continues talking to Doña Chole.

“Well, yes, the worst that can happen is that he won’t see us… but hopefully Álvaro will help us…”

“Well, yes, that’s right. I’m sure Álvaro will help you and by the way, please take him a few things he left here last time he came, would you…”

“How do you find the food and the town, Mr. Mora?”

“Oh, it’s all very good, Señora! But, what I like most is the people. They’re very kind… It’s true that there have been some problems in the region, but I trust they are temporary…”

And so they spend a while longer talking and, as she escorts them to the door, Doña Chole discreetly holds Miguel back and says to him, “Let’s see if you might be able to convince Álvaro that he’s just wasting his time there, eh?

Just imagine! All those studies just to go hide away on a shabby ranch with a crazy old man like that guy…”

The engineer, struck by such an odd request, can only nod while everyone says a friendly goodbye.

El encinal Within a few minutes they are already traveling in the minivan to Tingüindín. The engineer explains to Juan, the driver, that they are going to go through Zamora and then head south.

Gustavo says to him, “I don’t even remember anymore.

How far is Tingüindín from Zamora?”

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“About 25 minutes. Don’t you know this area?”

“No, remember, there was no paved road in this area when we were in senior high.”

“You’re right! And now I think about it,” the engineer says, “the lack of a paved highway until relatively recently meant that the locals preserved their old fashioned customs and traditions, didn’t they?”

When they pass by Zamora to the side of the southbound ring road, Miguel, extremely shocked says.

“Just look how far the urban sprawl has spread! Do you remember when we were in senior high? All this was farmland…”

“So, tell me. How many acres does the valley have?”

“I don’t know exactly. I think around 42,000…”

“Well, a very significant part of the valley has already been invaded by houses and that has reduced farming potential in an unbelievable way…”

“Well, the same is happening throughout the country… isn’t it?”

“That’s true, but the fact that it is happening everywhere is no comfort to me, quite the opposite…”

Nevertheless, as they get closer to Tingüindín, the vegetation begins to change and the density of the surrounding trees becomes increasingly concentrated. Not used to being in this area, Gustavo starts to enjoy the landscape…

“By the way, Miguel,” Gustavo says, “when I told Alejandra my wife a while ago that we were going to Tingüindín, 17

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she thought I was joking. Can you believe she hadn’t heard of it … Do you, by any chance, know where the name comes from…?”

“Well, it’s a Pre-hispanic town and I don’t blame Alejandra for not having heard of it. We have because we’re used to…”

A few seconds pass and Gustavo adds, “By the way, Miguel, I’m thinking that all the Purépecha names have a special meaning according to the features of the place.

Like that lake called Camécuaro we used to go to when we were in senior high, or that waterfall called Tzaráracua near Uruapan. Just out of curiosity, do you know what Tingüindín means?”

“I think so. Some time ago, when I was looking at its coat of arms, I saw it had some bells. I thought that it meant ‘place of bells,’ but then I read that the name is a Spanishization of the Purépecha term ‘Tzingüitzuri,’ which means ‘place of adoration.’”

“Good grief! Just look where you’re taking me!”

“I confess, Miguel, that after listening to Doña Chole and everything she was saying about that man, I didn‘t even want to come…”

“Well,” Miguel says, “the thing is that Doña Chole is not very fond of Don Alonso, though don’t expect something from another world either. The question is will he want to talk to us… But let me describe this man to you…”

“I get the impression,” Miguel continues, “that he has some ideas that don’t sit very well with some people and that’s why he decided to move out here. He’s… how can I put it…? Let’s just say he’s very idealistic. I don’t know 18

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how much, but sometimes I think that he’s the one who’s right and it’s the rest of us who should share his vision.

I admit, I don’t know.”

“So,” Gustavo begins to interrupt, “do you think…?

“If I may… let’s see what he says and from there we’ll, or you’ll, take whatever you think is useful. How does that sound?”

He stares at Gustavo in surprise as he replies, “Let’s go, then. You know what, now I’m even curious…”

“We´re almost there Juan,” the engineer says to the driver.

“As soon as we pass that hill on the left, take the first road you see, but slowly because it’s a dirt road.”

As soon as they are on the dirt road, completely surrounded by trees, Gustavo is surprised to be in such a location when barely two days ago he was in the capital city in a completely different world. His mood seems to start changing and it occurs to him to tell Miguel a joke, like they used to during those far-off years of senior high.

“I wonder if we’ll be looking for the ‘Fool on the Hill,’ like that song back in senior high…”

But Miguel doesn’t think the joke is funny at all and doesn’t even dignify it with a response, to which Gustavo adds, “I’m kidding, man. Let’s go see your friend…”

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Chapter III The meeting Despite being on a road surrounded by trees, a few dark clouds can be seen on the eastern horizon, and the locals already know that when this happens it is an almost unequivocal sign that it will soon rain.

But as the saying goes, “ignorance is bliss”, and once they arrive at the gate of the ranch with a big sign saying ‘El Encinal,’ Gustavo quickly gets out of the truck to take a look, followed by the engineer.

Gustavo had heard so much about this unique man, that, despite his vast experience in different fields, he was quite curious to meet him. And he somehow feels that he will receive them.

Nevertheless, both unexpected visitors seem to ignore the imminent nature of the rain that seems to want to beat them to it, albeit in a very discreet almost polite manner.

They, too, are absorbed in some ideas and concepts they perhaps are not expecting.

But, just as nature is not used to taking the trouble to give notice to those unprepared for its plans, on occasion even abruptly expressing itself, nor is the, at times, incomprehensible transformation of daily events announced, but rather simply placed on the table.

And that slow imperceptible sliding of the clouds from the east, as well as highlighting the diversity of the silent forces operating around us, seems an invisible prelude to something they are not expecting.

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Meanwhile, as palpable proof that when faced with the same scene there are always many perspectives, Gustavo and his companion, the engineer, feel like they have been transported to a parallel universe, where the incomparable green landscape is interspersed with the almost imperceptible sound of the leaves on the trees blowing in the light breeze, and everything is magically shrouded in an incredibly pure aroma of grass.

This meant that after chatting on the way, unable to agree, they were now silent, allowing nature itself its turn to express itself, even though it did so in its own peculiar way.

But suddenly the engineer is brought back to reality because he knows very well that their visit has a certain purpose. He starts to wonder more about how to go about it because the particular conditions of the place do not lend themselves to simply opening the door and entering without notice.

Nevertheless, fate often surprises us by facilitating things.

Joaquín, a worker who is carefully clearing weeds from some avocado trees, is a mere 330 feet away, and once he approaches, surprised by the large minivan, he immediately recognizes the agronomist.

“Mr. Sánchez! It’s Joaquín! Do you remember? What are you doing here? Would you like to come in?”

In truth Miguel does not remember the name of this worker, but Joaquín knows Miguel’s since he had helped him prepare some nurseries and do some transplanting at that very ranch for Don Alonso…

“Hi, Joaquín! How are you?”

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Joaquín suddenly remembers the instructions his brother Benjamín, who is the ranch manager, had given him: absolutely no one is allowed to enter because Don Alonso does not like it…

But, Joaquín thinks, the engineer is not a stranger, but rather someone who often helps us with things… Nevertheless, just to make sure, he calls his brother Benjamín on the radio to let him know… and carefully passes the handset to the engineer, who greets him very warmly.

“Hey, Benji, how are you? Is Álvaro with you? I need to talk to him because I want to speak with Don Alonso about something…”

Goodness! Let me call him… Look, let me call you back in a moment…”

Only a few seconds have passed when the radio rings.

“Hi, Mr. Sánchez! What brings you here?”

While Gustavo converses with Joaquín, Miguel moves a few feet away to talk more privately with Álvaro…

“Here’s the thing. I need to talk with Don Alonso about something. A man from Mexico City is with me, who has a very important job and the government is looking into reforestation. You know how crucial that is for the country and he wants to talk about it since you both might be able to contribute a few ideas on the subject. I think, my esteemed Álvaro, that this is really important and worth discussing…” Álvaro thinks for a few seconds and knows that if the engineer thinks this is important, it is because it is, and says to him, “You know how things are here, but from 23

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what you tell me, let me try… Normally he’d say no, but this topic is most interesting to Don Alonso… Though, who knows. Let me try… I’ll call you right back…”

Only a few minutes have passed when the engineer’s radio rings again…

“Okay, he’ll see you. I’ll come get you…”

In less time than expected, Álvaro and these two visitors are greeting each other, while Juan drives the minivan through the gate, parking it under some trees in the entrance….

“If you don’t mind,” Álvaro says, “we’ll leave the minivan here and walk because we have more time at the moment, since it’s not harvest time or anything and we’re taking advantage of the lull to install more underground water conduits. So, there are a few open trenches on the way, okay? And that’ll give Don Alonso time to get from the other side…”

“Sure! No problem…”

So, all three start walking along a path flanked by long rows of avocado trees, each of which has several droppers constantly supplying them with water. When Álvaro sees the drips falling intermittently he calls Benjamín.

“Hey, Benji, tell Amarildo to turn off the watering system. I think it’s going to rain today. That way we won’t waste any water.”

When Gustavo sees those small droppers and how impeccably organized they are, he immediately realizes that he has never seen such a high level of technification for this crop, not even at the ranches he has visited in the United States.

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“What a well-organized ranch!” Gustavo says. “Michoacán is quite rightly the top avocado producer in the country and in the world…”

“It’s like everything,” Álvaro says. “It’s a question of organization and work…”

“Hey, Álvaro,” the engineer says. “We went to say hello to your mom and she sent you a few things. I’ll give them to you before we leave… But I have to say that I get the feeling she’s not too happy with you working here, for what it’s worth… But you know what’s best for you.”

“Thanks, Miguel. Don’t worry,” he says, not the least bit annoyed. “The thing is, my mom has always thought that being on a ranch today is still like it was back in the day, when being at a place like this was synonymous with a kind of isolation. But now, see, with intercommunication, we can turn that into a great advantage…”

“How’s that?”

“I already explained it to my mom, but she doesn’t really understand the change that has taken place. She tells each person she knows is coming out here to try to convince me to leave. She even did the same with another visitor a while ago,” he adds. “But really, don’t worry. I don’t take it the wrong way. I know her intentions are good, but I repeat, things are not as she imagines them. Actually, I think it’s the other way round…”

“I’m glad you see it like that, Álvaro…”

“Of course,” Álvaro calmly says. “Look, from a professional point of view, you can’t even imagine what we’re doing. We export wholesale packaged avocado with specific labeling and standards for each destination country 25

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in order to optimize distribution and marketing channels and avoid unnecessary middle-men, both here and abroad. And I leave the country several times a year to get more clients.”

“In fact, I just got back from the Cologne Fair in Germany, which is the most important food event in the world, having secured some new clients.”

“Look,” he continues excitedly. “With support from a number of sources, we’ve opened credit lines to our customers abroad so they can buy more from us. That’s why with a very low level of debt and a great deal of effort, we’ve improved investment and quality to a level you can’t even imagine. And all that is very good for the country because we bring in fresh money.”

“And that doesn’t take into account,” he adds, “that we’re projecting a good image abroad with a product, quality and delivery that adhere to the most rigorous international standards.”

Gustavo is astonished by the level of organization he sees around him, but what surprises him most is this young professional’s focus. So he is happy to just listen to him.

“And culturally speaking,” Álvaro continues, “things are even better, since the advent of computers and the Internet is turning these times into a kind of watershed, which is much bigger than the invention of the printing press, as Don Alonso says…”

“Oh, is that what he says?”

“Yes, though he also says it will divide people into two groups. While some will take advantage of this new access to a sea of information to learn and develop to 26

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unimagined levels. For others, on the other hand, it will merely provide a good excuse to waste their time with fun and nonsense.”

“And it will all depend,” he says, “on something very simple…” “…the availability of time, along with a personal choice to use it well. I will say this to you, Mr. Mora, and I hope I won’t bore you, since you saw how scared my mom is about my staying at this ranch.”

“Of course you’re not boring me,” Gustavo interjects.

“Please continue…”

“Very well! As I was saying, while some will get endless books, information and very valuable things from the Internet and will use these to develop in an extraordinary way, others could be held back because they’ll just waste their time…”

To which the engineer says, “And what’s your own personal experience? Do you have a computer and Internet here?”

“Of course! Not only do I communicate with customers from all over the world, but I can access any book or important document with a click of the mouse…

And what most people don’t have is time, but you know what?” Álvaro says very convinced. “That is what we have most of here. So, if we combine this with the desire to take advantage of it, we’re in a much better position than those living in big cities.”

Gustavo and the engineer exchange a lightning quick look, both acknowledging that Álvaro is right on this score.

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“And do you read books here?”

“Of course! I read at least three a month. But Don Alonso is way ahead of me; he reads four or five… well, depending on the size.”

“Good grief! Don Alonso still reads books?” Miguel says in amazement. “I thought you’d told me his eyesight wasn’t so great.”

“Yes, but now with the computer he doesn’t even have to read them. A friend of his in Tingüindín, Luis Tovar, installed a program that reads books out loud. Yes, he can read, but it’s a little hard for him. But, he can read so much by listening to them being read out loud.”

“Just to give you an idea,” Álvaro continues excitedly, “a book the size of the Jerusalem Bible, with 66 books and just over 800,000 words can be read in 74 and a half hours from beginning to end. I tell you this because I just downloaded it the day before yesterday.”

With that, Gustavo says, “What do you mean the Jerusalem Bible? Is there more than one bible, or what?”

“It’s not that there’s more than one, but even though it’s the same one, they are primarily from two sources: one from Jerusalem and the other from Alexandria. And during the early years of Christian history, as the Alexandria Bible was in Greek, it was easier to use that one because the Jerusalem Bible was in Aramaic and Hebrew.”

“But,” Álvaro adds, “the Alexandria Bible, since it came from Greek-speaking Israelite groups scattered from before the time of Christ, that version, called the Septuagint, had several additional books on History and Philosophy, such as the Books of Tobias, Macabeos, Wisdom, Eccle28

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siastes and others, but these were never considered by rabbis as holy books. If you like, you can ask and see…”

And when Álvaro sees their eyes widen in surprise, he says in a calming tone, “But don’t worry, it doesn’t mean that there are two different Bibles. It’s the same one.

Just that one, which came from Alexandria, has several additional books, but they don’t take anything away or add anything new to the Christian content.”

“I’ll just say that that text is what Catholics use, but the true erudites, teachers and historians of the Hebrew people were not in the so-called Alexandria Diaspora, but in Jerusalem and were there until that city was destroyed in 70 A.D.” “What’s more,” he continues, “both the rabbis and Christian experts from all eras acknowledge what I’m telling you, as in the case of Jerome of Stridon, also known by others as Saint Jerome, who even gave an important warning in this respect in different prologues to one of his works, the so-called Latin Vulgate, completed at the end of the 5th century.”

“But, well, we’re digressing. What I wanted to consider by way of an example is the extraordinary potential of reading that any person has just by listening to books being read via the Internet. And here the transcendental thing is that this same individual potential can be reflected at a collective level because, as Don Alonso says, ‘What is any Nation, but a simple sum of all the individuals that form it?’”

He cites the Bible as an example because it is a big book and a book of that size can be easily listened to in 75 hours. Can you imagine the potential for growth that one person has?

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And while they are completely engrossed in that peculiar conversation that arose from the questioning of Álvaro, Miguel is not so surprised by the talk and the wonderful surroundings, given that he had already been there many times.

But for Gustavo it is different. He feels he had opened a door to a dimension he didn’t even know existed and this pleases him a great deal.

What happens next is the usual thing. When, for some reason, we get distracted and forget that nature will continue silently doing its job, it often seems like it wants to suddenly wake us up. Though the clouds that a short while ago were in the east and were somehow far away from the talk these three singular men are having, they had quietly ended up above them.

And so first a few drops start falling as a gentle breeze blows and Álvaro, who knows how things work in the area, suggests taking shelter in a small straw house nearby.

They have barely just taken shelter when strong rain starts building up, and Gustavo says to the engineer, “It seems to rain more around here, doesn’t it?”

“A little, but not that much. The average here is around 43 inches per year, though the traditional patterns of precipitation have unfortunately changed in different parts of the country, precisely due to deforestation. That’s why when you called me about the government’s interest in forestry matters, I left all the jobs I had pending and came as quickly as I could.”

“Thank you, Miguel,” Gustavo says…”

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“Well, now that you mention it,” Álvaro interjects, “there are many people who assure us that we should not be alarmed by these climate changes because they have already happened in other periods of history, but I think they’re wrong because it could be a prelude to something very serious…”

“Why?” Gustavo asks, pleasantly surprised at Álvaro’s interest and involvement in the matter…

“Because, among other errors, they don’t inter-relate the facts. For instance, it doesn’t mean the same that these changes took place 20,000 or 30,000 years ago when the global population was around one million, and it could probably get by on 800 to 1,000 tons of food a day, when now we need over 6 million tons a day…”

“And if the climate changes,” Alvaro says, “so do the harvests and most people can’t imagine what this means…”

While the rain taps on the roof of the little house, Gustavo realizes the discussion at this ranch is not to be taken lightly and decides to call his secretary to ask her to hold his calls for the rest of the day… Álvaro, in turn, calls Benjamín to tell him they’ll have to wait a little, due to the rain, and asks him to inform Don Alonso.

“Don’t worry!” Benjamín replies. “The same thing’s happened to him. He had to wait on the other side for the same reason. You’ll just have to wait a little.”

Gustavo, ever more interested in the talk, says to Álvaro: “Have you been able to follow the behavior of harvests or food production in the world through the Internet?”

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“Of course! And you know what? One of the best indicators, though not the only one, are price levels.”

“Why price levels? Because as you know, these are set as a consequence primarily of the point of intersection between the ‘supply’ curve and the ‘demand’ curve…”

“Look, in the last 10 years, according to the United Nations measuring system for food and agriculture, which assesses the price of cereals, dairy, meat and other foodstuffs, international prices have more than doubled…”

“You well know,” Álvaro continues, like the good economist he is, “that under normal conditions, when a price rises or falls it is because the supply or demand curves, or both, have changed. And that rise in international food prices was caused by two combined factors: irregularities in the ‘supply’ due to losses in harvests in several parts of the world caused by climate change, and at the same time a rise in ‘demand,’ since in the last 10 years, the global population has risen by 830 million… That’s a rise in one single decade equivalent to almost all the inhabitants of an entire continent like America…”

Parallel to this conversation, as the rain becomes less intense, nature, which is in some way protecting them by way of an invisible and unrequested compensation, considering the apparent problem of the rain and wishing to apologize for the watering it feels obligated to do over the entire countryside, gifts them an aroma of wet ground, which makes them all forget this small inconvenience to the extent that they are even enjoying their stay at this improvised though much needed shelter.

Gustavo, for his part, without mentioning it, is ever more surprised not only by the ranch’s impeccable organization and operation, but above all by the perspective and 32

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analysis that Álvaro has given them, which his work in Mexico City had not enabled him to see so clearly. And he thinks to himself that these guys aren’t so lost. No wonder Miguel insisted so much on coming here…

With that, Álvaro discreetly turns to Miguel and says to him as if wishing to explain himself, “My mom thinks I’m wasting my time and I think the exact opposite—where I make good use of time, to really live and learn in all respects, is here…”

“Don’t worry any more about that Álvaro. I think you’re right. I only passed on the message,” he replies. “You do what you think is right…”

With that, they see that the rain has completely stopped.

So, after waiting several minutes more, just in case, they continue on their way.

Within a few minutes—in fact they are already close— they get to where the house used to be, where they were supposed to meet, but they’re told that he hasn’t arrived yet, surely because of the rain. So Álvaro suggests they go to his meeting… which they happily agree to…

“Oh, I forgot to tell you,” Álvaro warns his companions.

“Don Alonso likes talking and walking. Do you mind if when we talk to him we keep walking? Because you’ll see that he likes giving examples of what he’s talking about as we look at our surroundings. Is that okay?”

“Sure, no problem! Let’s go.”

Only a few more minutes have passed when at the side of the road they see someone between the trees looking down, totally engrossed in his thoughts. He seems to be miles away… At least, judging by his appearance, anyone 33

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would think he was completely ignoring absolutely everything around him, be they birds, wind, trees or people.

Gustavo would never have imagined it was Don Alonso were it not for the way that both Álvaro and the engineer looked at him… that’s how he worked out that the man they were looking for was standing front of them.

Gustavo’s first impression only helped increase his amazement to an even higher degree, and in a way he suddenly understands Doña Chole’s impression of him.

Nevertheless, for a long time he had made sure not to prejudge opinions and always had that wise Greek philosopher’s saying in his head: ‘Speak so I can see you,’ therefore, he always waited until issuing any kind of judgment.

With that, Álvaro, as he knew him very well and knew perfectly well the degree of abstraction he sometimes reached, lets him know they’ve arrived by saying: “Don Alonso, we’re here!”

“Oh, hello! Welcome to the ranch. Make yourselves at home…,” Don Alonso says as he walks up to them.

Gustavo, despite his vast experience in dealing with people, cannot help feeling rather intimidated by Don Alonso’s direct inquisitive look, which seems like it wants to guess their deepest thoughts. But, overall, friendly introductions are duly made as Álvaro proposes a tour of the entire ranch so they can have a good talk, and they all accept…

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Chapter IV A different dialog Once they have started walking, following Don Alonso’s suggestion and heading first of all to the highest part of the ranch, which is the place from where the water is distributed, this unique group of four moves slowly but surely along a path with a slight uphill gradient, flanked by many avocado trees.

With that, they see, to one side of the path, BenjamĂ­n the ranch manager surrounded by a well-nourished group of workers busily doing different jobs. But their occupations do not impede them since, almost in unison, as if in agreement, they turn with curiosity to observe those two visitors, and once they walk past, continue with their jobs.

Nevertheless, the ones who give the impression that they do not care at all about these two visitors is all the other components of this very special environment. The trees seem more occupied in making clear their spontaneous, though invisible, appreciation for the recent rain by perfuming the atmosphere with an incomparable countryside aroma, and docilely allowing the many drops of water still remaining on their branches and leaves to slowly slide down onto the ground in a slow, almost rhythmical drip.

The birds are also concentrating on their own thing, which is singing, apparently, at least, giving the impression that they are proclaiming to the wind that this recent surprising rise in humidity, far from making them uncomfortable, will contribute to guaranteeing their survival.

The wind, in its own way, participates in this wonderful, almost magical symphony, as if it feels obligated to keep 35

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making a contribution. Therefore, a soft breeze not only spreads the aroma emitted by the trees and grass, but effectively cooperates by gently moving branches and leaves in order to shake off excess water, transferring it to the ground.

To each his own. This seems to be the unwritten golden rule, though it has always been respected by nature. In a mysterious, incomprehensible way, large and small parts of creation knew all along that it was not necessary to etch this axiom in bronze. Therefore, without the need for any written law, all seemed to faithfully follow the lines of an invisible score.

And that is precisely why those two visitors, Gustavo and his friend Miguel, also feel they have a specific goal: to find out the opinion of that strange character who, though they consider him rather eccentric, think that perhaps he could contribute to enriching or somehow improving the long-awaited forestry project.

But Gustavo cannot decide on the best way to start the conversation, and just lets it flow. At least, at the beginning and by way of a prelude, he wants to congratulate Don Alonso for the ranch’s impeccable organization, and says, “That idea of installing drip irrigation is, I think, great because it uses water in a wonderfully economical way…”

“It not only uses water economically,” Don Alonso replies in turn, “but also has a variety of invaluable advantages, one of which is that it enables us to distribute irrigation in a more uniform manner on an irregular surface with different altitudes. And I want to underline that this is especially important in countries like ours, which have a large percentage of land that lies on a gradient, for which this type of irrigation system has not even been produced.

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Another advantage is that it almost triples productivity per tree…”

As he says this he stops, turns and stares at them, and with a slow but firm voice says, “It’s exactly what we could do in our society if we supplied everyone with the necessary means to develop. The social and economic potential from this would be exponential and would generate a number of benefits together. But as we are now, our community seems rather like some of those fields we see from the highway that are so sad to look at…”

“The productivity we generate in that tree over there,” Don Alonso says, pointing to one of the trees, “not only serves the tree itself, but improves the fruit we bring to market, distributes wellbeing over the entire ranch and, you know, by improving the economy of the plantation, that tree, without realizing it, contributes to guaranteeing its own wellbeing, since when the whole is in better condition, we will take better care of it.”

“As you can see, my esteemed Mr. Mora,” Don Alonso adds, “everything in the world is perfectly interconnected. But the big problem does not lie in the validity of this infallible law of social interrelation, but rather in the fact that the vast majority does not even realize that everything works that way…” Álvaro and the engineer, on hearing this particular view, are not at all surprised, since they are already used to it, but Gustavo is pensively observing Don Alonso with a certain expression of amazement.

On noting this, Don Alonso, wanting to make Gustavo more comfortable, says in a calm voice, “You’re among friends. Álvaro told me you are preparing a kind of forestry project and that you’d like to talk with me… Tell us more about this project…”

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“Well, here’s the thing. A new inter-party project, which intends to decisively resolve the serious deforestation the country is facing, is being fine-tuned and, since the issue will soon be discussed in the chambers, we need to gather a lot of information. We want to put party interest to one side and just try to achieve something effective because the situation is serious. We’re losing hundreds of thousands of hectares of forest per year.”

“The situation is much worse than what you imagine,” Don Alonso replies. “And if I may, I’ll tell you why. But, I think I will only mention a few examples so as not to speak for too long. If I don’t, I’ll never stop…”

“First of all, deforestation directly affects the normal rain cycle. You already know how nature works to bring us water: it evaporates seawater through sunrays and this humidity is condensed at a certain altitude, forming clouds. The wind brings them to us and by combining a series of things, including electricity, that water arrives here, and without it, we can’t do anything…”

“I can assure you,” he continues, “that even the best group of scientists in the world couldn’t replicate this wonderful process, not in terms of its cost, efficiency or anything…”

“However, for a variety of reasons, many of which are not even well-known yet, trees and vegetation perform a crucial role in this. If there is no vegetation, the cycle does not work as it should.”

“I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know, but in areas where there are fewer trees, such as in different regions of northern Mexico, we have insufficient rainfall, like only 4 to 8 inches per year. However, it’s a different story in the south, which fortunately has greater forest density, like certain parts of Tabasco, Veracruz and Chiapas, where rainfall is almost 79 inches per year, or even more in some areas.”

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“Another negative effect, among many, of destroying trees is that much less rainwater is captured into the subsoil, since in a deforested zone, the water quickly slides over the surface and at the edge causes flooding problems in lower parts.”

“Also, given that the underground roots usually take up the same amount of space as the trunk and branches above ground, having been deprived of a ‘grabbing’ surface that produces roots, landslides can appear in certain areas, and though some consider that to be unpredictable, it can be perfectly avoided by taking the precaution of looking after the forestry sector.”

“There are plenty of people who assume that when a tree is cut down the roots stay in the ground, but what happens is that since these vegetable remains lack life, as the years pass, they deteriorate until they stop fulfilling their function completely.”

“And, as I said, in addition to the extremely serious erosion caused since, when water flows quickly it wears away or destroys the usable vegetable layer, it also seriously affects the underground water strata, which, among other things, means that wells for urban, agricultural or industrial purposes—which are still permitted because they are becoming increasingly restricted—have to be drilled ever deeper year after year.”

“And if that were not enough, reducing the global forestry surface also reduces the ability to deal with the astronomical amount of carbon dioxide being released in increasing quantities into the atmosphere, which will contribute to global warming, which, in turn, will alter the normal climate patterns and may cause alternate droughts with abnormal weather disturbances with too much rain due to the rising temperature of the ocean.”

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“And what undoubtedly affects good harvests, among other things, is the irregular behavior of the climate.”

“I’ll summarize some of those harmful proven effects caused by deforestation… because if I start talking about other things, we’ll never end, believe me…”

“I like how you visualize things, Don Alonso” Gustavo says in a confirmatory tone. “It’s a hellish situation and many decisions are made from the capital, where these kinds of things are not seen first-hand. That’s why I’ve come here with my friend Miguel to talk to you about this…”

“Of course! We’re very pleased to be here,” adds Miguel.

“But in effect, this is how things are, like you said…”

After a few seconds, given the large amount of ideas that seem to be constantly flowing through Don Alonso’s restless mind, he adds, slightly concerned, “You must forgive me, my esteemed guests, who of course are welcome. But I often end up thinking that things will go much further.

I’ve said this to Álvaro, who is here with us, that the list of consequences is not even fully known, but they will hit us in many other ways…”

Here, Álvaro interjects, “Tell them, Don Alonso, what You were telling me the other day!”

“Yes, do tell us, Don Alonso,” Miguel says. “Tell us your ideas. We’re just talking when all’s said and done…”

“Obviously it hasn’t been proven, at least as far as I know, but a few days ago I was thinking about the following: an important and thorough piece of research was conducted on the damage done to the ozone layer by certain chemicals. This is great and I’m no physicist or chemist, but I think that in the eventual deterioration of said layer, we 40

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should not only consider what damages it, but also what prevents it from regenerating properly in order to remain at appropriate levels…”

“And one of the ways the ozone is formed is through the photochemical action of the ultraviolet rays of the atmosphere, which transforms oxygen into ozone, but also participates in the formation of electricity.”

“I was thinking that trees might also play a key role there too. I’m happy to tell you, but remember, this is no more than a possibility and should be taken as such.

Also, I don’t know if research has been conducted on this matter…”

“You see, if we assume that forestry is closely linked to both rain cycles and cloudiness, this will have repercussions even for the ozone. Why?” “Because we have proven in a multitude of cases around the world that greater forest density leads to better rain cycles and that happens because cloudiness increases, which is intimately linked to the amount of lightning strikes, a factor that also influences, at least partly, the regeneration of the ozone layer.”

“You must recall that the term ‘ozone’ comes from the Greek for ‘smell’ as ever since ancient times the Greeks have perceived a kind of stench after lightning, which is explained by electricity producing ozone. But I think that what’s more important than what’s generated here in the lower layers is what happens in the upper levels, since they can be better preserved there without transforming into oxygen again…”

“A few weeks ago, with Álvaro’s help, we started researching online the amount of lightning strikes per sec41

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ond on the planet. But what mainly caught my attention was the fact that it is in precisely the areas of the world with greater forest density, such as the Amazon, where most electric discharges occur.”

“We tried,” Don Alonso continues slowly, “to find out whether there had been a fall in the number of lightning strikes per second in the world in recent decades, which is precisely when there has been the most deforestation, but we found nothing.”

“I get the impression,” he continues, “that there is no record of this, and this is perhaps due to something very simple. We are talking about something very recent that has been quantifiable thanks to the placement of meteorological satellites, since in 1970, for instance, we probably had no idea how many lightning strikes per second there were in the world.”

“And this is why we can only speculate. What I can assure you of is that everyone my age will clearly remember that many decades ago we heard a lot more electrical discharges in the sky. And let it be said, I don’t mean that they don’t happen now, but there are fewer…”

“We can’t not consider,” he adds, “that this potential link between the amount of trees, cloudiness, rain, lightning and ozone, is only a possibility, but it will be up to scientists to tell us more about this. “ “What I can assure you,” says Don Alonso as he stops a little, looking Gustavo directly in the eye, “is that with the proven damage deforestation is currently doing to nature, we do not need to speculate at all, like I have just done. What we already have proven is more than enough to make us realize that the situation is hellish, as you yourselves said…”

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“Unfortunately,” Gustavo replies, “that’s how things are, more or less, and that’s why we’re here. And the question for us now is: what do we do…?

“With all due respect Mr. Mora, before we get to that point, there is something else we must first analyze. Why are things happening like this? Remember that wise saying: ‘The good doctor is not he who attacks the symptom, but he who looks for the basic cause in order to correct it.’ Do you agree?

“Well, that’s true…”

Suddenly, Gustavo realizes that, while for the others it is no surprise to see the change in the surroundings, it is for him. As they are completely immersed in the conversation, he does not realize that this entire wonderful environment has changed and, instead of being surrounded by long rows of avocado trees, they now have another kind of silent witness to the dialog: a large amount of pine, oak and walnut trees.

From afar, in a slightly lower part, Gustavo spots something that looks like a little reservoir, which immediately catches his eye…

“Excuse me, Don Alonso,” he says. “Did you make that little reservoir over there?”

“The first thing we did when we bought this property from the Oceguera Family some time ago, was a topographical survey to see how, with some changes, we could make the best use of the rain runoff because we believe that if we have a little over 40 inches of rain per square meter per year, even subtracting a percentage due to evaporation and another due to ground absorption, we could capture a certain amount and it worked…”

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“Right there on the base of that reservoir—here they’re called ‘water pots’—we placed a few layers of a certain special material to minimize subsoil absorption and currently of all the water we use, a portion comes from there, another from a river than comes from Patamban Mount and the rest from a deep well we have…”

“It’s great that you have water…”

“Well, we dug that well some time ago. Now they’re banned and we had to go down to 984 feet deep because, as I said, the underground water level seems to keep falling each year, since there is a parallel effect: when the forest area is reduced, the availability of subsoil water is also reduced…”

“I can assure you,” Don Alonso says emphatically, “that first of all, we covered the entire area with trees and the most important thing is that we are giving all the water we use back to the ground, after having made exceptionally good use of it. The deterioration of underground strata is not caused by highly productive units such as this one and others in the region, like those belonging to the Oceguera, Dodoli, Sahagún, Izarrarás Familes and others, but by the criminal and illegal felling that is carried out not only in this state, but throughout the country.

“Well,” Miguel says, “you don’t need to tell us that. It’s obvious that ecological damage is not caused by ranches like this one…”

“As you can see, Mr. Mora,” Don Alonso continues, “and as Miguel can confirm, this is why be take such good care of the water, though we couldn’t make the huge mistake of not giving enough water to our trees because we would be causing ourselves a lot of problems. That‘s why we think that the main correct decision we made was to install the drip irrigation.”

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“Excuse me for insisting, but speaking of what you are interested in Mr. Mora, that system is not even produced for the country, not only for fruit projects, but also for some forestry projects, depending on the ground, climate, cost of earth and rain, because it’s necessary to take into account that a significant percentage of usable surface in the country has a certain degree of gradient, which makes gravity irrigation impractical.”

“I can assure you that we can become first rate producers of certain oily nuts such as almonds, macadamias and countless fruits, and I repeat, even in some forest projects, if they are well managed and given proper assistance.”

“By the way,” Miguel interjects, “did you know that almost all the almonds consumed in our country are imported?”

“But, Don Alonso,” Gustavo points out, “you were able to do this project because you had the means. But, the countryside is poor…”

“It’s the other way round; it’s poor because we haven’t paid any attention to the essential thing that should be looked after, not only in crop and livestock farming, but in everything: productivity and competitivity. That’s the number one element, and furthermore, these kinds of projects usually have to be linked to another thing to make them sustainable during the early stages…”

“You see,” he continues, “let me give you the example of several of our neighbors, who also now have highly productive ranches. Their owners, Doctors Alberto and Prisciliano, worked in medicine for many years in Zamora, but invested their savings here, obviously on some good advice, and now they have a few ranches with a level of efficiency that you won’t even see in Israel. But those things don’t come for free; you have to work hard at it for many years.”

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By way of a pause, Don Alonso stops and says, “I’m going to stop for a moment, since we’re here. I’m going to quickly go see something over there. I’ll be back in ten minutes. I won’t be long…”

“Shall I go with you, Don Alonso?” Álvaro says.

“I’ll be no time at all. I want to give Don Chema a recommendation down there. Just keep our visitors company until I’m back…”

During this brief waiting period, Gustavo realizes that while being absorbed in that almost magical scene was a daily, even normal, occurrence for Álvaro and the engineer, for him it meant being transported to a kind of parallel dimension not fully understood until experienced, even if only for a few hours.

What also surprises him quite a lot—though he does not express it openly—is a disturbing question he is asking himself that does not have an answer: how can it be that, despite being in the true countryside, even having temporarily cut himself off from all communication, he can be seeing things from that perspective?

At that point his thoughts are interrupted by an observation from Miguel.

“I was saying, Gustavo, did you know that all the almonds consumed in this country are imported? And don’t lose sight of the fact that on this particular ranch we are talking about a single special crop—avocado—whose market is practically covered by state production, but from what I know of the field, I’m telling you, you have no idea how much potential there is for countless oily nuts, fruits and many other things.”

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“You were telling me about almonds,” Gustavo replies.

“Where can they be grown?

“That crop, surprisingly, doesn’t need a high quality soil.

It’s just that it’s very vulnerable to the cold, but we have countless space on our coasts where, with the right assistance, suitable conditions can be provided. And there are more water possibilities on the coast. Also, as Don Alonso was saying, it can be linked with another productive activity, such as tourism.

“Don’t forget,” Álvaro interjects, “that what you see here is not the norm in the Mexican countryside, but the exception. Here we have conducted a crop study, market analysis and, most importantly, we are very dedicated to the matter.”

“It’s true,” Álvaro continues, “that there are many ranches that operate very well, even better than here, but this unfortunately doesn’t happen with the vast majority, especially in a smallholding which, except for its very honorable exceptions, have been transformed into something so unproductive that very often don’t produce enough for even self-consumption.”

“And as Don Alonso said,” Álvaro continues, “if we don’t look after productivity we’re screwed. I’ll give you an example—in this case corn—so you can see the scope of good and bad management and how it’s reflected in productivity. The average yield is almost three tons per hectare, and in the United States it’s around triple that, in other words, almost nine.”

“But observe the reaction of some national producers with low yields: they feel let down and puzzled by the lower sales prices of corn on the international market, without reflecting on the fact that it’s not the same to portion out one’s cost per hectare between three miserable 47

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tons—as happens here—as it is to split that cost between nine. That makes this crop profitable abroad, even with a reduced sales price.”

“It’s true; abroad they invest a little more per hectare, but their greater productivity fully compensates to the point of making them competitive.”

“To complete the picture, many of those uncompetitive national producers are practically deceived by some leaders, who tell them that they are victims of free trade, but the truth is that, with or without international trade, such low productivity not only harms them, but harms us all.”

“Of course, there are effective ranches in the country that even greatly surpass the ton per hectare average of the United States, but the majority don’t even achieve a third of that. I’ll just tell you that if we had productivity of only five tons per hectare, that is a little more than half the average yield of our neighbor in the north, not only would we be self-sufficient in corn, but we’d even export it.”

At that point, Don Alonso comes back accompanied by an older man called Don Chema and, as he introduces him, he says he is Benjamin the ranch manager’s father…”

“Please take care of that, Chema,” says Don Alonso as the man leaves. “Any questions, let me, Álvaro or Benjamin know. See you…”

“Are you hungry, gentlemen?” he says to the visitors.

Do you want to have lunch with us so we can talk some more?”

They all watch as Gustavo quickly checks the time, since he is ever more interested in exchanging ideas with Don 48

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Alonso. So he immediately judges it pertinent to extend his stay at the ranch, despite the fact that the food might be far from wonderful.

“If Don Alonso is inviting us, we accept, so we can talk some more… It’s very interesting talking to you…”

“Do you want to eat here or shall we go to the house?”

Now it’s Miguel who interjects, thinking that if they eat right there, they’ll have more chance to talk extensively, which, after all, is his goal. So he says, “If you like, we can eat here, next to that little reservoir…”

“Agreed…”

At that moment, Álvaro makes arrangements with someone at the house to fix lunch, a bunch of firewood, a griddle and enough water.

“We’ll just eat here on the ground, on the grassy part.

Do you mind?”

“Of course not…”

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50

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Chapter V Opposite point of view?

While Álvaro goes to the ranch house to bring the provisions, the rest of the group slowly starts descending towards the reservoir. Don Alonso and Don Chema walk ahead, discussing different matters, while Miguel and Gustavo walk some distance behind them.

Gustavo, though almost imperceptibly for him, has been so influenced by this incredibly special place they are now standing in, that it has caused a kind of unexpected change in his mood. Putting the natural stresses of his job to one side and bringing back the joking attitude of his faraway youth, he says to his friend, “Miguel, can you tell me what the hell we’re going to eat out here?”

This makes Miguel, in turn, who knows him too well, respond in a similar vein.

“When you have eaten the local food in the countryside just once, nothing will happen to you. That’s why we’re here, right?”

“When I tell Alejandra,” Gustavo adds “where you brought me to eat, I mean, in the middle of nowhere, she won’t believe me…”

“Well, you know, you blame me for everything that happens…”

“Hey, Miguel, in all seriousness, do you think that man knows what he’s talking about?”

“I told you, but slow down. I get the feeling he hasn’t started yet, though don’t be fooled by him because he 51

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comes out with all manner of things you can’t even imagine. I suggest we let him tell us all about his idea, and then you can take whatever you can use. What to do you think?

“Okay…”

Once they have all arrived at the little reservoir surrounded by different kinds of trees, Gustavo is literally in shock at the beauty of the place, since it was the first time he had been there.

In one sense, we could say that he had fallen victim to a very curious feeling. And just as birds at the break of dawn would need all their self-control to remain passive or silent in the face of the wonderful spectacle of a new day, Gustavo, too, without being fully conscious himself, feels obligated to follow that understandable human impulse to try to trap one’s surroundings and time.

It´s essential, he thinks—taking a tiny camera out of his pocket—to capture this unique moment, as if it were possible for this invisible wheel of time to stop its inexorable turn. And he does not realize, or at least that is how it seems to him, that just as water runs through our hands, time and space also follow their course, like going behind a hidden object.

But Gustavo does not understand that and continues in his irreverent eagerness. And while he is pursuing his vain attempt, he unexpectedly meets another obstacle: wherever he turns he seems to have a picture postcard in front of him.

And he finally believes he has resolved his dilemma by dreaming of catching time through a great variety of shots. However, the wind and other mute witnesses to 52

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that human eagerness keep a very prudent and timely silence.

With every intention, they discreetly allow Gustavo to believe he has triumphed in that vain attempt, knowing full well that it is not possible to capture its essence, and that the freedom, beauty and attributes gifted by nature could not be caught by that tiny camera.

At that point his friend, Miguel, brings him back to the present world with a simple sentence expressed in a gentle voice, “Wait until Álvaro comes and you can also take a photo of the whole group.”

“Of course, but I wanted to gain some time.”

Suddenly, Don Alonso, realizing perfectly well that Gustavo has been pleasantly impressed by these very special surroundings, given that the same thing had happened to him, which in fact was one of the reasons for him staying here, says with his characteristically slow voice, “One of the challenges of every human being is making sure that all the good or bad that surrounds us doesn’t make us lose the most intimate conviction that moves our internal being and is what gives our lives sense and strength.”

“Remember, my esteemed Mr. Mora,” he continues, “we are like foreigners here, and this is how we must proceed and always live…”

These simple, surprising phrases make Gustavo reflect that this singular character he has before him possesses a completely different perspective on things. But that thought leads him to another that is even more worrying, though he keeps it to himself: might anyone contribute something that is applicable to the problem enveloping us?

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And while he ponders that idea, they see Álvaro returning with Señora Ofelia, Benjamín’s wife, who is helping him with several things and has kindly volunteered to help prepare lunch. She has gone to the trouble of bringing some plastic tablecloths so they can sit down comfortably on the grass.

Doña Ofelia has forgotten there were the remains of a tree that had been the victim of lightning and whose usable parts had been adopted to make practical seats. So, they sit down on them and to one side, with the valuable, diligent help of Doña Ofelia, the food is duly prepared.

And though the aroma released by the food is pleasant, Gustavo does not dare ask about the content. But within a few minutes, Ofelia hands a plate to Don Alonso, who she admires and greatly respects.

Don Alonso declines, and asks for the first dish to be given to Gustavo and, at the same time, explains to him what is in it: “Please, Mr. Mora, I hope you like it. It’s just tortilla and beans with a stew made with the mole they make down there, rosemary and cactus paddle.”

And once everyone has their plate, they start eating the food.

As soon as Gustavo takes a bite, he says, “I’m sure of one thing in my life. I’ve never eaten a taco like this. I don’t know if it’s the tortilla, the beans or Doña Ofelia’s touch, but oh my God, this is exquisite…”

Miguel, knowing that his friend is not used to country food, just smiles with Don Alonso. And after they have been enjoying this original, albeit improvised, lunch for 54

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a while, they are all full and sincerely thank Doña Ofelia for her invaluable help.

“Gentlemen, I feel like I’m in a different world,” Gustavo says. “I think I’m already understanding why you’re here…”

“If you agree,” Miguel says, “let’s return to the matter we were discussing earlier because my friend Gustavo is very interested in finding out your opinion, Don Alonso, on this great forestry issue of ours…”

“Well, yes, it’s a great problem, which in reality concerns us all to a greater or lesser extent,” Don Alonso replies.

“The thing is that everyone is absorbed in things, endless things, and we are all waiting to see who does or says something…”

“First of all, I appreciate your taking my points of view into account and am happy to talk to you about them, but would ask you to take them for what they are, just an opinion that, like all opinions, we must compare and evaluate.”

As they are all feeling more comfortable, Don Alonso says, “All the problems we see in the world around us are a kind of consequence of a large or small combination of negative factors, and this opinion you’re asking me for is very present because it’s a problem I have myself dealt with on countless occasions and have even passed it over to Álvaro here…”

“That’s right, Don Alonso” Álvaro confirms.

“A while ago, I mentioned the effects of deforestation and spoke about two of them. If I may, and I promise not to talk too much. I’ll speak about only three of the elements 55

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I consider to be the causes—among others— that have led us to where we are today.”

“When I have finished, please give me your opinion because I’m also personally interested in having a deeper knowledge of this kind of thing, since we all learn from each other.”

“The first element that has, to a large extent, negatively affected the problems we have, and not only in our country, but in a large part of the world, is the demographic question.”

On hearing this, both guests became a little disconcerted, especially Miguel. And on noting his expression, Don Alonso lets it be known with a gesture of his hand that they should let him expand his idea a little.

“All the problems that exist in the world have their origin in a kind of shift in the rate at which the factors participating in a certain process operate. I’ll try to give you an example. I can proclaim and assure you that ‘food’ is not only good, but also indispensable for life—and he points to the leftover food that Doña Ofelia is already taking away. It’s common sense that we would all agree with that, right?”

“However, if you or I consume double the normal amount that we should, I can assure you that within a few days we’ll end up in hospital, or worse, regardless of that fact that, in effect, the act of eating is intrinsically good or even indispensable for life.”

“Why does this problem sometimes happen? Very simply, when the rate of food ingestion is faster than the ability to absorb and assimilate it, it’s from that moment that the 56

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conflict can occur, which can be so acute that the shift I mentioned takes place.”

Addressing Miguel, who shows more skepticism when listening to this part of the conversation, he says, “Could you, Miguel, ingest the same amount of food again that we have just consumed?

The engineer smiles, thinking about this…

“Well, that’s pretty much what happens in the world, albeit not visibly. You see, from the mid-20th century a series of transformations took place in food and hygiene that fortunately led to the amazing fall in the extremely high infant mortality rate…”

“Several centuries ago, according to some researchers, of all the children a woman gave birth to in her lifetime, a minority survived. Conversely, the situation today has fortunately changed and over nine out of every 10 children survive in the world.”

“However, this human intervention in the matter led to an urgent need for demographic planning because, otherwise, observe what happens.”

“As the rate of demographic growth increased—as I said, thanks to medicine—the period of population doubling was shortened, and that means that the necessary satisfiers could not be provided at the required rate. That’s what I mean by the ‘shift’ in the rate I mentioned, which is one of the basic causes of countless problems in all areas.”

“Our country,” Don Alonso continues, “despite the great migration to our northern neighbor, doubled its popula57

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tion in just 35 years, which doesn’t sound like much to most people, but in practical terms means that we should have been able to build the equivalent of another complete country in that same period and solved the deficits accumulated over the decades or centuries and, furthermore, replaced part of the infrastructure that, with the passing of the years, is becoming obsolete.”

Gustavo is a little surprised by this idea and, despite not being at all convinced, shows interest in knowing more about the subject and so asks, “And what happens when infrastructure cannot be doubled at the required speed?”

“Well, what would happen is exactly what we’re seeing now. Our country and any country under those conditions would have housing shortages due to not having been able to double supply as quickly as was needed, drinking water shortages, insufficient drainage, jobs, education, energy, urban streets, highways, health services, food production, farming areas, forest reserves and, in a word, we’d have more or less the same situation that prevails throughout a country with a similar socio-demographic profile.”

All are silent for a few seconds while they look at each other. Then Gustavo adds, “Just out of curiosity, Don Alonso. If our country doubled in those few years, in what period of time did the rest of the world do so?”

“A little over 40 years, but remember that what we call ‘the rest of the world’ includes the segment considered ‘developed’ and those countries grow at a slower rate.”

“I thought,” Miguel says, “that the developed group did not grow in terms of population.”

“Of course it grows. That myth has proliferated a lot because some developed countries do not grow, such as 58

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Germany and others, but the group of developed countries also grows though, as I say, at a manageable rate.

And if we combine the countries from the ‘rest of the world’—developed and underdeveloped—these doubled in a little over 40 years.”

“And that, in concrete terms,” Don Alonso continues, “means that the world had to have been able to create absolutely all the infrastructure it managed to build in its entire history, in a little over 40 years, which logically would be impossible to do. And this is mainly what has brought us to where we are now, with everything we currently lack…”

“But I’ve read,” Gustavo replies, “that the population growth rate has dropped, and you have a different view…”

“The thing is,” Don Alonso quietly says, “that the methodology used to make that calculation is not the most appropriate for demographic matters. That way of evaluating seems more suitable for economic issues, such as the measurement of gross domestic product, since annual population growth is related to a figure that grows year in and year out, and that gives an increasingly misleading ‘percentage.’”

“And the demographic issue,” Don Alonso says, “must instead be related to set factors, such as available water, farmable land, space, forest reserves and countless nonrenewable natural resources, which seem to be becoming less available for each inhabitant.”

“Can you explain this by way of an example?” Gustavo says, increasingly intrigued.

“Of course. Look, in the early 20th century, the global population grew by around 8 million per year. But, you 59

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see, by 1940 it was already growing by around 20 million, in 1980 by 77 million and in 2010 by 83 million.”

“So, you’ll say to me,” he continues, “how can you say the rate is falling? Well, yes, strictly speaking this is true, but no mention is made of the fact that it is calculated on top of an increasingly higher global amount, which causes a calming effect, but the problem remains.”

And seeing their interest peaked, particularly that of Gustavo, Don Alonso asks them if they want him to expand a little more on the matter.

“I think it would be very interesting to know more. Please continue, if you wish.”

“You’re to blame for asking me questions,” he says jovially. “But look, if anyone is wondering where the need to stabilize the population comes from, I’ll tell you if you bear with me a few more minutes.”

“Nature, my dear friends, has so much to teach us; more than we can even imagine. The problem is that often we don’t pay attention. If we observe the example of a fruit tree, we’ll note that it has two phases that are, in a manner of speaking, set against each other. One is the growth phase and the other the fruiting phase.”

“Now, let me ask Miguel or Álvaro what they know about the matter. Do you know of any tree that can bear fruit as it is growing? It usually doesn’t happen like that, but rather the second and extremely important phase of its existence, fruiting, occurs when its growth is stabilized.”

“Why does it happen that way?” he continues. “The reason is simple. When it stabilizes its growth, its vital force 60

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reorients it differently, which will obviously be projected in true ‘fruiting.’”

“Now, let me make an analogy with human society and, to put it better, allow me to use an anecdote. When I was in Mexico City, at a scientific cultural society to which I belong, someone pondered on the number of scientists and outstanding people the world had produced, which made me reflect on another approach.”

“Rather than thinking of what we have done, we must reflect on what we have not been able to do because the greatest error the world has made—and there have been many—was to have allowed the vast majority of human beings who have accompanied us on this planet to return to the land—humanly speaking—with all its potential unexploited.”

They are all silent while Don Alonso continues completely convinced of his message.

“That limited group of people was able to develop its potential, my esteemed friends, because its circumstances included a group of elements, such as an appropriate family environment, education, food, an appropriate attitude and other aspects. But, I ask you: what would have happened to Einstein or Newton if they had not received a good education or food?”

“You know what? They could have been farmers or who knows what? I could have been one of those guys working over there with Benjamín, if I hadn’t had the opportunity to study. It didn’t happen like that, as I say because my circumstances included the necessary elements. What’s the significance of what I just said?”

“When there is a change in the socio-demographic profile of any country in the world, the need to channel resources 61

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is completely transformed and there may be more routes towards other fundamental elements, such as education and research and it is from there that one of the junctures of social transformation occurs.”

“Let me give you the following example. Currently, a little under a fifth of the world can be described as ‘developed,’ which is where most scientists, published books, inventions and countless things come from. Obviously, there are other elements that must also be improved, but what I want to underline is that the human development favored in each man and woman from those places is superior and that can be perfectly quantified.”

“I do acknowledge too, though, that they need to evolve more in other respects. On one occasion I was talking with a professor from Europe and I recall very well what he told me: ‘What you need to do is educate your people; that’ll fix everything.’ I remember thinking how simplistic and ignorant that reflection on our problems sounded overall, and said to him, ‘How are we going to have enough resources to educate everyone if the means we have available are not enough for even our most elementary needs?’”

I told him that it’s not the same for a European country that, due to its different population dynamic, has an annual need for 20,000 or 30,000 homes, to be able to channel sufficient resources as it is for a country like ours that, among countless crucial and unavoidable issues, also needs to channel resources for over 600,000 annual homes, which we don’t even manage to do.”

“All that results in, as I mentioned, not even managing to double basic infrastructure in the very short period during which the population doubles and, as a consequence, it’s much harder to channel sufficient resources needed 62

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for education or research in order to take advantage of the extraordinary potential of each human being.”

“And this happens for an apparently simple reason. No importance is being given to the ‘shift in rate’ of two of the factors that interact in a certain process which, in this case, is population growth, with the capacity to provide the necessary elements for them.”

“But…,” the engineer claims, not fully convinced of what has just been said, “you are very familiar with the transcendence of education. How can someone think anything else is more important than education? I have also heard that educated people usually plan their family better… Would education not be better than population planning?”

“No one is disputing the transcendental importance of education, much less someone like myself. In fact, I can assure you that it is no less than the key to man’s true resource: his intellect. But, in practice, observe what happens. Here’s another example.”

“If Juan Pérez is on the street, has had nothing to eat and only has 50 pesos, what do you think he’s going to buy?

Something to reduce his hunger or a book? It’s very likely that Juan knows how important knowledge is, but I think he’ll opt for buying what’s more urgent at that time.”

“The country, gentlemen,” he continues, “is but the sum of all the Juans and Juanitas that form it, and if both the government and the general public have urgent needs and are lacking water, food, jobs, energy and countless other things, I think they will focus on their most urgent needs, even though I also believe it will be difficult to find someone who does not place a great deal of emphasis on the extraordinary importance of education.”

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“Let me go further,” Don Alonso insists. “Some decades ago, it was the trend for several international groups to say something similar, that ‘rather than plan, it was necessary to educate.’ And that position was expressed, for instance, at the International Conference on Population and Development held in Cairo in 1994. And do you know what happened?”

“Exactly what I’m telling you; that it was not possible to educate at the required rate and most countries in the world—with high demographic growth—had to put what was urgent before what was important, and that was a logical expectation.”

“I’m completely convinced of your good will, Miguel, but you see, in 1994, when that policy was set out at the Cairo conference, the world was growing at an annual rate of just under 80 million people and now it is growing at a rate of 83 million, in other words, all that remained were good intentions.”

That’s why most experts on the subject now agree that both things are necessary: planning and education.

With that, Gustavo, aware of a certain difference of opinion on the subject between Don Alonso and his friend, Miguel, and with the aim of avoiding polarizing the dialog in any way, interjects with another question.

“Don Alonso,” Gustavo says, “let’s assume that the demographic element affects the socio-economic question in that way, but what repercussions with what you are saying have on the forestry issue?”

“Unfortunately,” Don Alonso replies, “it is reflected in everything. Let’s first look at the growing need for wood.

Think for a moment about the amount of wooden items used in each home: chairs, tables, beds, closets, doors, 64

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etc. Now let’s just think about the formwork needed on average for each home and multiply it by the number of new homes needed per year, aside from those already in existence…”

“Now, if we make a rough calculation of every kind of paper needed per day: toilet, newspaper, magazine, office, official procedures, wrapping and countless other things, we’ll realize that we’re talking about astronomical figures, which makes us think that, aside from focusing our attention on illegal felling, what we should be focusing on is consumption levels since, due to the conditions mentioned, we need tens of thousands of cubic meters of wood per day.

“So, please tell me,” he emphasizes. “Where is all that wood going to come from? Fortunately some of it is imported from countries some say ‘barely grow,’ because those that ‘do grow’ are destroying their wood resources at an incredibly fast rate.”

“But, bear in mind,” Miguel again interjects, “that developed countries pollute most and consume more energy per inhabitant.”

“That’s another thing. In terms of energy consumption per inhabitant, that’s correct,” Don Alonso replies. “But that consumption will not be exclusive to those developed countries, but will be precisely one of the problems in the coming decades experienced throughout the world where, as each country increases its development, energy use per person will also rise. Look what has just happened in China now that it’s developing.”

“But, continuing the topic of forest damage caused by demographic growth, I was saying that, aside from the disproportionate growth in timber consumption, the average amount of farmable land is increasingly dropping, 65

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leading some farmers to migrate and others to look for more ‘profitable’ illegal crops like drugs. Others look for new ‘farmable spaces’ and the best idea they can think of is to dismantle or intentionally set fire to certain parts in order to have some surface area.

At that point Don Chema arrives. He had been asked to help with the installation of certain registry points and had several questions.

“If you like,” Álvaro offers, “I’ll go, Don Alonso…”

“Let’s both go because I want to take a look at something.

Excuse us a few minutes.

“Please, go ahead…”

With that, Gustavo says to his friend, Miguel, “Let me ask you a favor, my esteemed Miguel. You yourself told me a while ago that we should let this man first give us his point of view, so I suggest that we let him finish and then we can tell him whatever you want…”

“Sure, but remember that he, himself, told us to say if we did not agree with him…”

“Of course, but we should let him set out his thoughts on the issue. Plus, I don’t think he’s that lost, but we’ll see at the end…”

“Not even a few minutes have passed when they see at some distance that both men are coming back and Gustavo says to Miguel, “Just look at what they’ve turned this land into. Can you imagine the potential we have in this country?”

“Of course, but I get the feeling that you like the countryside more than I do. But I’ll tell you something, Many 66

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people don’t think about the effort required to make these things happen. Look at the care they put into each detail.

I get the feeling that that square of wood they’re making over there will keep a daily record of temperature and rain because I saw a rain gauge that monitors the reservoir level and I think I also saw an appliance for measuring soil humidity. These guys know what they’re doing.”

“I’m telling you,” Gustavo argues, “what he just told us pretty much hit the nail on the head, so let him finish…”

“I’m not very convinced of that, but I’ll do as you say and at the end I’ll give him my point of view. After all, he, himself, told us to.”

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Chapter VI Expanding the dialog Within a few minutes, Don Alonso and Álvaro are back with the group, all in excellent spirits.

The Engineer makes an observation to Don Alonso.

“I thought I saw an appliance for measuring soil humidity. That meter is excellent.”

“Well, exactly. We don’t make decisions solely based on appearances, but rather so we can know with as much certainty as possible at what point more humidity is needed and at what point it could be excessive. You know perfectly well that any well-hydrated tree can better defend itself against many things, which also helps it in cases of extreme cold. Additionally, it is not good for us to have too much humidity, since among other problems, it would make us waste water and energy.”

“And another thing I believe has helped us greatly,” Don Alonso continues, “is what I once talked about with you, which is conducting periodic soil analyses in different parts of the ranch in order to find out, on time, whether the soil has all thirteen nutrients in the right proportions, both the greater and lesser elements.”

“I’m sure,” he continues, “you must have seen countless cases where productivity fell due to a lack of some or several such nutrients. And who knows better than you that this can and should be preventable. When it is detected just before harvest, it’s already too late.”

“I totally agree,” the engineer replies. “Don’t think I don’t tell the farmers. The problem is they don’t all pay as much attention as you and others from the region.”

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“There’s no doubt,” Gustavo interjects, “that when things are done well, they turn out well. That’s why you have such high productivity.”

“Another of the recommendations I’d like to make,” Don Alonso adds with his characteristically pleasant disposition, “is that we always have to try to anticipate problems, like by adopting a kind of preventative criterion. That’s how we’ve tried to proceed here and that’s one of the factors that has enabled us to move ahead.”

“And speaking of prevention,” Gustavo says, “you already made your first suggestion for the project we’re working on. Would you like to continue talking about another suggestion?”

“I don’t like saying contradictory things, Mr. Mora, but before I go on, I’d like to talk to you quickly about how to implement a potential solution for what I told you about the population issue. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine, continue.”

“The vast majority of our fellow citizens,” Don Alonso says, “are not fully aware of many of the effects of what I told you a moment ago. Indeed, some very conservative groups, who are meant to be better educated, might even be opposed.”

“What has happened in reality is that, in one or two cases, an appropriate analysis of this situation has been lacking, and of all its implications.”

“That’s why, in order to achieve eventual demographic stabilization, which would definitely lengthen the period of population duplication and in turn lead to a drastic reduction in countless shortages and, among other things, 70

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would be reflected in an increase in the level of human development in all respects, something pretty simple must be done.”

“In simple terms, this problem must be extended to all of society because an eventual improvement in this respect cannot come about from the conclusion of a group of experts: that can only be achieved through the sum of responsible decisions of the millions of couples who make up a country and that is why this must be set out in an understandable manner and on a mass scale.”

“You see, the vast majority is likely to act responsibly, on the condition that they have been convinced of the why, and that it can be achieved in a relatively easy way: by planning this situation in an objective and clear manner.”

“Therefore, my suggestion, on this particular point, is for this situation to be opened up to all our society in a very understandable manner because, as I said, an eventual reduction in population growth can only come about as a consequence of greater awareness and social responsibility, and it is precisely there where we must act.”

“Also,” he warns, “there will be people or groups who from the start will be emphatically opposed, though these will represent a minority. But that opposition won’t be a product of something rational, but rather as a consequence of prejudice or fanaticism. However, by dealing with the matter openly and expounding the reasons from all sides, the best will prevail for all. In the long term, reason and common sense win.”

“To prove this, allow me to cite some cases from history.

When some liberal groups expressed the need for democracy to prevail over monarchy and of equality over supremacy of gender or race, when this subject was a 71

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kind of taboo, prejudice endured. But when the matter was opened to the entire social spectrum, reason was imposed and today, even if there are a few radicals, it is hard to find someone who will defend absolute monarchy, racial supremacy or man’s supremacy over woman.”

But, I repeat,” Don Alonso says “when did those myths fall? Until the time the subject was opened to discussion and analysis by all. Because when a matter is restricted to a small splinter group, the situation is extraordinarily limited and that causes monumental errors.”

“Now that you mention objections,” the engineer interjects, “I’m personally not entirely convinced, but if you like at the end I’ll tell you why I think differently.”

“Of course,” Don Alonso replies. “You see, there is no subject in the world that doesn’t have different perspectives, which is why it’s only through dialog and the expounding of reasons from all sides that we all win.”

“In summary,” Don Alonso repeats, “on this topic, my suggestion is to extend this issue to the entire community since, as well as allowing for an enriching interaction of ideas, when we all have a problem, we must resolve it amongst ourselves, voluntarily and consciously.”

Only Gustavo realizes that the engineer would have preferred to have already put forward his objections, so he silently, through a very subtle exchange of looks, gestures that he allow Don Alonso to continue with his entire idea. Therefore, Gustavo says, “That’s right. We now have a clear idea of your opinion on a potential solution for this matter. Would you talk to us now about another suggestion?”

I’d be happy to. But before I do, allow me to give you a second observation. I’m sure that at the start you may 72

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not think it very relevant to the topic of greater interest to us today, but I can see that on a mass scale—with some very honorable exceptions—we’re failing in that, so I ask for your patience and at the end I’ll tell you of the repercussions of all this and how it’s reflected, too, in the forestry issue.”

“I’d like to start with a story. When I was at university, about 800 years ago,” Don Alonso jokes, “one of the subjects I took was, sociology. The teacher, a very distinguished researcher, set out in his class the different ‘types’ of interest amongst human beings.” “’According to these sociologists,’ this teacher told us, ‘there are two kinds of interests amongst human beings.

Some people have a “rational” interest, which is so called because they are parallel like, for instance those of a father and son, or those of a husband and wife.’” “’And also,’ he said, with great conviction, repeating the opinion of those experts ‘we have other interests that will be opposed to those, which we will call “irrational” and will include all kinds of interests where the good of one is detrimental to the other.’ He cited as an example the case of a boss and a manual worker, where the boss intended to obtain a greater amount of work for less pay and the worker was seeking precisely the opposite, as well as other similar cases.”

“And as I had the chance to dissent,” Don Alonso continues, “I objected: ‘That statement is wrong.’” “’That proposition is wrong?’ the teacher replied in surprise. ‘And why do you suppose such a thing?’ And he read me the list of authors who supported this theory.” “’Because,’” I replied, ‘all the interests of human beings on earth are “rational” interests and, using that same ter73

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minology, are always parallel. The thing is that supposed “irrationality” or opposition only exists in appearance, superficially and in the very short term, since, I repeat, in the long term, all the interests of a family, country or even the world go hand in hand.’”

“I confess that at the start, my dear teacher thought that was outright heresy, but in the end,” Don Alonso continues, “he set out countless examples that corroborated my theory and, to make a long story short, the teacher was convinced and, interestingly, let me tell you that during that semester he even exempted me from the final test with a very good grade.”

“I was telling you a moment ago that this particular sociological point of view might seem rather insignificant, but if we go a little deeper we will realize that it has terrible repercussions, like few things in our society.”

“I’ll use some examples, if I may. First of all, I’ll make my point with an analogy using the human body. You see, cells in all organisms, be they in a muscle or a tissue, are not in opposition to those of any other part of the body.

They will be different from each other. Some may even receive more oxygen and nutrients, but I can assure you that those doing well will benefit the rest and those doing badly will be harmful to the rest.”

“When for any reason,” Don Alonso maintains, seeing the expectant look on everyone’s face, “the false theory of the cellular ‘fight’ or ‘confrontation’ ends up prevailing, pointing to supposed inequalities in the level of receipt of oxygen, nutrients or different cellular ‘characteristics,’ even the survival of the organism would be at risk since it could also end up dying.”

“Now let me suggest some examples within the social context, so you can see what I mean.”

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“If a politician at the highest level does a good, honest and efficient job during his term of election, the benefit generated is projected in the short and medium term onto the community. But, there are those who can’t see that this benefit, in an infallible and invisible return action, will also benefit himself and his family, since they’re all part of this same country, which will be more prosperous and will have greater opportunities for development.”

“I mean,” Don Alonso assures them, with much conviction, “any social action always has a certain reaction, but what many don’t see is that the good or bad created comes back in favor of or against the entity responsible for the act.”

“Now,” he says, “let’s analyze the opposite case. Let’s suppose that this politician, possessing a completely short-sighted, backward social vision, assumes that there is a disassociation between ‘his interest’ and that of the entire collective. Therefore, convinced he’s the most astute of mortals and with an evident lack of ethics, not only does he do a mediocre job, but he uses public funds improperly.”

“Regardless of his particular perspective,” he continues slowly, “this improper behavior will not only affect to a greater or lesser extent his electorate, but his bad management will come back to haunt him, his family and his descendents since, as well as the civil responsibilities incurred, whether it’s discovered or not, the damage caused will catch up with him and everyone connected to him in the present and future by virtue of being part of a more limited community due to his political mismanagement.”

The three remaining members of the group, as if in agreement, listen very attentively to this enthusiastic talk by Don Alonso, even giving the impression that the tacit agreement of this small group has been extended to include the other witnesses of this splendid scene.

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The sound of the birdsong, the leaves in the trees blowing in the breeze and the almost imperceptible lapping of the small waves in the reservoir is so discreet that one could almost assume that instead of interrupting the conversation, they seem to have decided to be respectful of this curious dialog.

But, it is Don Alonso who seems unable to contain himself. He is so convinced of his theory that, putting the special spectacle that surrounds them to one side for a moment, he continues with his unique examples.

“Now, let’s analyze,” he continues with great conviction, “the case of a school teacher. A good teacher, as most are, by doing his job well is not only guaranteeing his position, but also helping to create a better, more prosperous country which, even if it weren’t his main objective, will somehow contribute to making his own future more solid, since if the community in which he lives is more prosperous and developed, he’s helping himself and his nearest and dearest.”

“Now, let’s suppose there is a bad teacher who, for some strange reason, hasn’t understood this invisible bond between ‘his interests’ and the common good and, therefore, decides to harm the community by ‘applying pressure’ and organizing street blockades. What is he producing, not only for others, but also for himself?

“Regardless of whether he realizes it or not, the following will happen. Not only is he giving a terrible example to students and other social groups, but he’s also damaging the image of his country and union which will, in turn, damage himself. Why? He’s reducing the potential of the community of which he forms part, which will undoubtedly affect him personally and his friends and family in different ways, and not only in the present. The effect 76

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will be felt for many years to come. It seems unbelievable, doesn’t it? But that’s what happens.”

“And, you know, the worst of it is that this teacher in particular is not even aware of the inter-relationship that exists in all of society.”

“And, if I’m not boring you, can I tell you about another case?” asks Don Alonso.

“Go on…”

“If we have a good plumber, for instance, and that person always does his job efficiently, could his behavior have repercussions on him either directly or indirectly?”

“Of course.” he says. “First of all, the direct repercussions of his behavior will be to increase his portfolio of clients and personal prestige. Secondly, the indirect repercussions—though imperceptible—will be that he’ll be aiding, through his work, even if it is a tiny percentage, the wellbeing and full productivity of the community to which he belongs, which will almost invisibly favor him too.”

“Now, let’s imagine, hypothetically, the opposite case.

If a person doesn’t do his job well, and even as a worst case scenario, let’s suppose he goes to the extreme of committing assaults, since he feels that he ‘discovered’— in his blindness—that criminal behavior constitutes an easier and quicker way of obtaining funds. How will his particular behavior rebound on him?”

“His criminal behavior is not only putting his own life at risk, but is also weakening the community of which he forms a part. He’s damaging the image of his country which will, by some proportion, even reduce tourism, which will reduce his own chances of finding work, as well as those of his family and friends, as well as count77

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less other things that would show that all actions not only affect our environment, but also always rebound on us in different ways.”

“Millions of positive and negative actions happen each day. Can I cite another?” asks Don Alonso.

“Go on…”

“Let’s imagine an irresponsible driver whose family and friends had insisted that he doesn’t drive under the influence of alcohol, but he argues that ‘accidents can happen to anyone’ and that furthermore, ‘his car is insured’ and stuff like that.”

“On a good day—or bad day, as it turns out—,” he says jokingly, “shortly before dawn, he leaves a party and knocks over a woman, killing her. That person was a nurse and also a single mother. The driver considers himself slightly unconnected from the event and his poor social perception makes him appear confident because he has attorneys and insurance.”

“He doesn’t even realize, or at least that’s how it seems— still assuming that he’ll be let off by the law—that the damage he caused will in time rebound on him. Why? Putting moral considerations to one side, first he subtracted from the country’s labor force by taking away a human being who could have carried out many positives actions and, furthermore, can’t now support two small children who will grow up in an even more dysfunctional manner. His future behavior will also leave a lot to be desired, which will harm everyone, including the driver.”

“I could make an endless list of actions in absolutely all fields of the human sphere, showing you how every kind of behavior, be it good or bad, will always have its 78

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inevitable positive or negative consequences, firstly to others, but later, and almost always invisibly, towards the person himself.”

“The problem, gentlemen, would not be so much to show the infallibility of this law of social action and reaction, not even by proving how all the interests of a human being on the planet run parallel. The distressing thing is that the vast majority doesn’t have a clue about how this inevitable interaction between those who make up society operates.”

“Also, not only does it operate at national level, but it also extends to the entire global community. If a nation somehow generates wellbeing over another, that benefit will later turn it into a better client or supplier of a certain good or service, which would benefit both in many ways.”

“That’s why you’ll understand why, when I was at university and heard about that sociological theory that assumed the existence of certain ‘rational’ and other ‘irrational’ interests, I didn’t share that vision because I thought—and I am more convinced each day—that all the interests of a human being are rational interests and are completely and inexorably interrelated.”

“Believe me, the big problem,” he insists, “is that this invisible social mechanic is not felt by all and that makes for an extraordinary limiting factor, since all human behavior combined causes the current state of things in the country and in the world.”

“However, if up to now it has been thus, that is, that the majority doesn’t understand the reach of its actions, this doesn’t mean that it should continue to be this way, and a real sociological perspective can and must be projected to all if we want to see its effects.”

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There is a small pause as everyone is a little pensive. But that brief silence does not last long because Don Alonso, seemingly unable to avoid setting out his idea and giving the impression that he has analyzed it from several perspectives, continues.

“I’m going to move ahead a little, gentlemen, because I’m sure that even though you’ll be convinced of the importance of the matter, you’ll also have two questions.

What are the repercussions on everything, including the forestry problems we have today? And what solution can be given to change this?”

“In terms of the negative effects of the prevalence of a primitive social perception of many, where it is assumed shortsightedly and superficially that there is a kind of disconnection between individual behavior and a certain total result, believe me, provided that anachronous social vision is maintained, true development will not come and the results will have repercussions on everyone.”

“I was telling you that the total result of a country is not the sum of the behavior of every man and woman who form it, but if the majority does not have a clear idea of the scope of the apparently insignificant consequence of its own behavior as a whole, the results will be the social panorama that surrounds us.”

“Many people will think the great repercussion of something apparently as insignificant as I have mentioned unbelievable, but in everyday life, it will be projected onto all fields of human behavior, which will include the forestry issue that now concerns us.”

“The actions of a person on his society are like the case of a tiny cell on an organism. The failed or successful behavior of each cell will have repercussions on the or80

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ganism in some proportion and, at a certain time, will also harm or benefit itself by forming part of this whole.”

“Let’s look at it in a more practical manner: if any community does not have an advanced social vision, that attitude will be reflected in dirty streets, violence, unpunctuality, insufficient quality in goods and services, lack of probity, family dysfunction and endless attitudes that will limit the whole result.”

“And not only that, but it will mean that the community has to spend in excess as an effect of this group of unsuitable actions, but that ‘excess’ expense in some areas will mean that ‘less’ must be spent on other key matters, such as forestry.”

“Additionally, it also wields influence on an individual level. When someone lacks a proper social vision, if for example, he makes a simple fire in a forest, he might not take proper care by not realizing that if a fire is caused, in reality he is also harming himself. And I could mention thousands such cases.”

With that, Gustavo, also very interested in the matter, states “You’re absolutely right, but what could we do to change that?”

“That very question is one I have been asked by a person who at that time was Minister of Public Education, when I was in Mexico City and I’ll tell you what I told him.”

“The approach to the subject of civic awareness has to change, making the transcendence of this situation felt in such a way that books on that subject may clarify the idea of the total result of the country. It’s the sum of the behavior of each and every one of us that makes up the 81

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country, and how individual actions will rebound on each one of us.”

“The then Ministry of Public Education and his Deputy, with whom I spoke in the mid-1990s, were more receptive to this idea, and with a few amendments, upon prior analysis, gave instructions to have the proposed changes made, but they only managed to do so in a very limited manner because the people in charge of educational materials at that time were not keen on the proposal and even accused me of wanting to establish an ‘exploitative society.’”

“An exploitative society?”

“That’s what they said. Also, at a meeting where I tried to convince them, the attorney Fernando Pineda who accompanied me, strongly insisted that I shouldn’t allow them to disregard the educational materials proposed, but the publishing house where I was at that time didn’t want to get into a dispute with the Ministry of Public Education, so other texts that only slightly tackled the issue I just mentioned were approved.”

“Let me be frank,” Don Alonso emphasizes, “I don’t know if they started to see the meaning and scope of that theory, or deliberately wanted to throw it out, but I was even accused of using ‘anthropomorphic’ examples—such as the interrelation that exits between behavior and a small cell and how the behavior is projected in the entire body— and they said that ‘pupils wouldn’t understand that.’ Of course pupils would have perfectly taken that in.”

Gustavo, surprised, asks, “Why would they want to put something like what you proposed down? The favorable result it would produce could not be clearer.”

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“Indeed, but here’s the thing: there are some theories that mention a kind of ‘class warfare’ and other things that, from my point of view, are badly founded. And surprisingly, there are still some groups that defend that and consider that what I was proposing went against their ideas.”

“But now that you, Mr. Mora,” he insists, “tell me that there is genuine interest in improving the situation, in all sincerity I put forward my point of view and I can assure you that as long as each pupil and future fellow citizen is not made to feel the great transcendence of each action, firstly on others and then on each one of them, nothing will advance.”

“And let me go even further. Don’t believe that the developed countries of the world achieved their position by possessing great natural resources, a solid economy or for any other reason. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

They achieved that level because the vast majority of men and women who make up these countries acquired that apparently insignificant social perception.”

To which Gustavo says, “Basically, I completely agree with you. The thing that leads me to understand that the vulnerable situation we now have will not be solved in the short term.”

“Of course not,” Don Alonso replies immediately. “But remember that wise countryside saying: ‘The longer we take to sow, the longer we’ll take to harvest.’”

“Just think, soon two decades will have passed from the frustrating experience I told you about and if we had managed to properly transmit that crucial idea of human inter-relation to all of the then 12-year-old pupils, we would already be in the full process of change. Many 83

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generations of students would have seen things from a more advanced perspective. But we could start now.”

“Furthermore, don’t think that this is some kind of other ‘option.’ I can assure you that there is no other development route. As long as we don’t transmit that social vision, we won’t get anywhere.”

“Don’t let not achieving results in the short term, that is, in the brief period of an administration, mean, Mr. Mora,” Don Alonso says, almost pleadingly, “that it is not given its due importance. Remember that important saying that Jean de La Bruyère described very well: ‘There is an error in politics: thinking only of oneself and in the present.’”

“I tried as hard as I could,” he says, almost pleadingly, “to convince someone in the current government to act as statesmen and not politicians. That phrase ‘The politician thinks about the next election, but the statesman thinks about the next generation’ has just come to mind.”

While all this dialog is taking place in such special surroundings, an unprecedented event seems to occur: the birdsong, that soft breeze that seems to kiss the grass and leaves and the lapping of the waves give the impression of having agreed to show a certain respect for what is being said there, and the particular sound each of them is making is very discreet, as if it doesn’t want to interfere in such a meeting.

Even though we are not certain whether the surroundings are acting in that way out of respect or confusion, since the now submissive witnesses surrounding them might also have an opinion and perhaps pronounce a more severe judgment.

Furthermore, if we add that it is suitable to extend the number of opinions to achieve—humanly speaking—a 84

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superior truth, perhaps it would be a good idea to imagine a hypothetical opinion on the surroundings, and above all, remembering the voice of that poet: “In this treacherous world, / Nothing is truth nor is it a lie, / It all depends on the color, / Of the glass with which it is seen.”

Nor can we forget that there are no colors and glass more diverse that the tones of a spontaneous rainbow, like those that quietly light up the sky after a storm. Therefore, by way of a cheeky experiment, let us give a voice, at least for a moment, to those accompanying us today in this punished planet.

It is very likely that the other participants of that, for now, still scene will carry out their analysis from another surprising point of view. Perhaps they will say that the members of that picturesque group, despite being surrounded by that almost mystical environment, regardless of whether they feel like the owners of a portion of that pale reflection of universal knowledge called human science, and also putting to one side what good will they had, might be judged very harshly.

“What vain attempt is that,” they would loudly say to us, “to want to fix things with your profane hand, when it was the same human that broke it all?”

“Was it really not this vain attitude that put all of nature at great risk, like a fragile boat at the edge of a waterfall?”

“Aren’t you aware of the risk that not only you are running, but that in your insanity you’re dragging all of nature along with you? Have you really not heard the thunderous sound of the water when it falls from a great height and how, without meaning to, it crashes with great force against the rock?”

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“You, who are conceited, who presume to know a lot by trusting your vain science… Don’t you see that in a matter of hours, you change your conclusions like flowers in a field shed their petals? Have you not seen the sad truth that you are leaving behind in your wake?”

“Why do you presume to be able to see, if you do not even start looking, the disaster in your path and the damage you’re causing?”

“Why do you pretend not to see that, by staying on the same path, you’re putting the great project of the world at risk?”

“What you’re proposing, like a great discovery… Is it really not just the same thing that, from the same principle, you were told to suggest? Is it not man with his malice who turns good to bad and whose behavior rebounds on him?”

“Why do you say that you can’t see that the cause of the problem and its solution is not in your inventions or in manufacturing appliances, but rather in harmonizing your world? As much as you raise your voices, if you don’t unite wills, if you don’t join forces, the world and what you admire today will fall from your hands.”

But this possibility of judgment, at least for the moment, must not concern us because each big and small thing, regardless of its size—be they large stars, those tiny bees, or those small flowers—will only follow their course and their original designs.

So, if we have that lesson from nature, let us also create our own, and with a little more patience, let us listen to what we are being told by that group of people.

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Chapter VII Another perspective On that unrepeatable afternoon at the El Encinal Ranch, fate has acted once again in a rather capricious manner, which is noted by the way in which things are coming together: it makes for a very curious combination and within the framework of a fable like scene are a group of people with very different perspectives and motivations, albeit united in the face of a common problem.

Though, on the other hand, we must acknowledge that the sometimes surprising hand of fate, acting as it is, interspersing very different interests, is not being consistent with other behaviors, since that custom of combining different elements seems to be a resource much used by nature.

As proof of that, all that is needed is to look above to see that the clouds, completely ignoring human opinions, merely slide slowly and silently through the sky, as if going in an unknown direction. And to corroborate that divergent behavior, on the other hand, in the same scene, we will see that the sun, without allowing itself the slightest distraction or doubt, continues with chronometric precision along a certain route, regardless of who speaks or who keeps quiet.

This makes us realize that the different views of the group mentioned are perfectly understandable, and only seem to endorse the particular style of that majestic, albeit invisible, score.

Thus we will see the interaction of different perspectives.

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scene, is sufficiently perceptive to realize that this is a different dialog, from which some valuable things could be taken.

And though he becomes silent for a few moments, he does so deliberately because he wants Don Alonso to speak at length and is thinking about the best way to transmit what he thinks is of greater interest.

Something very different is happening to the engineer, since neither the dialog taking place nor the surroundings seems particularly important. Perhaps it is due to the fact that, on the one hand, he is already used to similar conversations with this singular character and on the other, his work as an agronomist obligate him to spend time in similar environments. Ă lvaro had been quite surprised when he learned about that other facet of Don Alonso, since he never would have imagined that years ago he had made that fruitless attempt to improve books on civic awareness.

Furthermore, he had not visualized the extraordinary scope there could be if everyone possessed something that was not only a different sociological approach, but rather that the original perspective, aside from being new was perhaps the only path that humans must have always had, since he immediately understands that this would have led us to a completely different panorama. à lvaro would surely prefer to know much more about the matter, but he prudently thinks it preferable, for the time being, not to delve too deeply into the matter so there can be a greater exchange of ideas with the other guests since, he thinks, what we have here in abundance is time and I’ll have my chance to talk about it.

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But the particular case of Don Alonso is another story.

Such is the amount of things that flows from his mind that both Álvaro and the engineer better understand the reason for his abstraction during his long walks around the ranch: he is thinking deeply with such a degree of introspection that almost nothing can distract him.

Though in a moment like this, when he is incidentally asked about this kind of thing, it seems like a faucet has just been turned on.

“Haven’t I bored you, gentlemen?” Don Alonso says. “Do you want me to tell you about a third suggestion I can make on the matter concerning us today?”

“Well, actually, yes we do.” Gustavo replies. “Before we leave this wonderful place, of course, we’d like to hear more of your views on the forestry issue.”

“Would you prefer to go to another part of the ranch or shall we continue right here?”

“I’d prefer to stay here. I don’t think we’ll find another place like this,” he says, turning to the others. “Is that okay with you all?”

“Of course, here is just perfect.”

“The other idea to improve the area concerning us today,” Don Alonso starts to say, “is also simple, though no less important. However, if I may, I’d first like to describe to you the context, in order to reflect on the background that encouraged some politicians to make several of the mistakes they did. But fear not, I‘ll do it as a very short summary.”

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“In recent centuries, there were some apparently well intentioned socio-economic theories that aimed to benefit the majority and caused more harm than good.”

“Some thinkers, such as Karl Marx and a certain group that followed him, prepared a series of propositions that, from the start, were badly founded, but managed to convince many, given that they were embellished in apparently profound social meaning.”

“These men, among many other things that they said, thought they had to look for equality amongst human beings as one of the basic objectives, but those apparently laudable intentions transformed the economic structure to such an extent that practically all the countries that followed those propositions experienced such disaster that they went radically backwards.”

“For other leaders who have not yet done so, this has not been so much due to an ideological conviction, but rather due to political convenience in order to try to justify their remaining in power for the inherent benefits it gives them.”

“But, excuse me,” the engineer interjects. “The search for equality is perfectly valid and desirable, isn’t it?”

“Of course, but not like that. Because that way all you achieve is breaking everything. Equality must not be sought as the main objective, but rather the demolition of differences in terms of access to certain social satisfiers, and this must be achieved as a mere consequence or secondary objective, that is the product of a successful, harmonious and well planned economy.”

“I can assure you that whoever seeks equality in that way as an essential objective will cause phenomenal damage.

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Nevertheless, we mustn’t blame those who first saw the social issue in such a superficial way. The point is that they didn’t analyze things well.”

“Among many other errors, they assumed that the free enterprise system or ‘capitalism,’ as it is called, was a kind of artificial invention of some to take advantage of others, but the truth was very different.”

“You see, when, in the 18th century, some thinkers such as Adam Smith and others described the market system, they were not ‘inventing’ it, as some naively assumed, but only describing how it operated. It is perfectly demonstrable that this system has existed since the apparition of human civilization, for many millennia.”

“Let me give you an example,” Don Alonso continues.

“Let‘s go back 40 centuries, when a shepherd—let’s give him a name, Simon—looked after his sheep in a lost mountain of Mesopotamia instead of being at a tavern with his friends…”

“Let me tell you that Simon did not behave like this because he was particularly responsible, or because he wanted to bring meat, skin and wool to market to prevent shortages. The reason was very simple. Simon wanted to make a ‘profit’ and moved by that stimulus, without realizing it, he contributed invisibly to adding his modest production to the grand total of goods and services produced, without which the survival of his very society would have been phenomenally damaged.”

“Why do things happen like that? Could it be rather that those seeking a profit or benefit are pursuing a ‘selfish’ goal, as some have superficially stated? A slightly superficial analysis might say so, but if we examine the process in greater depth, we will see that the reality is different: 91

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“Nature, in an incredibly wise way, gifted all the processes it considered vital with a certain ‘primary’ stimulus so that whoever followed it would generate another ‘secondary’ effect, which is the truly important one because it meets other certain important objectives.”

“In other words,” Don Alonso continues, “10,000 years ago there was no kind of council or world congress between tribal chiefs that aimed to find a way to encourage procreation in order to guarantee the survival of the human race. I can assure you that such a hypothetical meeting never took place, not could it have, for many different reasons. What happened in its place?”

“Nature, in a much more intelligent way, placed a certain ‘primary’ stimulus—sexual impulse—and after it produced another ‘secondary’ objective that was truly transcendental: the continuation of the species. Without the achievement of that invisible secondary objective, believe me, nothing in nature would have worked.”

“As an aside, it is logical that in the advanced stages of human development, other kinds of superior values participate in decision making. What I want to note is how absolutely everything was gifted with a certain stimulus— primary objective—and by following it another secondary effect is generated that is much more important, but curiously, most of the time, not even perceptible.”

With that, Don Alonso turns to some trees to his right and, as he points at them, he says, “Do you know why those trees grow?”

They are all thinking, reflecting that they have never been asked such a thing…”

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solar radiation in order to be able to better do their job of photosynthesis. But the majestic thing about who made them is that, without realizing it and like something apparently collateral or ‘secondary,’ they are generating countless benefits for the ecosystem, as we have already mentioned. In other words, that’s exactly what nature was looking for.”

“Also, since I mentioned the trees, observe how, when there is a certain group of them relatively close to each other—though not too close because that would not help them—they all seem to grow taller. Do you know why that happens? Because they’re competing against each other, as if they want to be taller to get more solar radiation.”

“But let’s return to the human example and our imaginary friend Simon, the shepherd from 4,000 years ago.

I can assure you that he worked very hard because, by way of incentive, he pursued a certain benefit or ‘profit,’ if you will, which turned into his objective or primary stimulus. But observe how, without even realizing it, he was meeting other collateral and invisible objectives, which included contributing to bringing meat, skin and wool to market.”

“And you see, the total of goods and services available from those years and before, was made up of all those who behaved like Simon. Were it not for people like him, the market would have practically nothing and with goods scarce, prices would have gone through the roof, or worse, which would have caused an overall catastrophe.”

“Another invisible benefit provided by Simon—and this is important—without realizing it, was that by having made sure that his ‘costs’ did not exceed his ‘income’—a condition for obtaining his desired ‘benefit’ or ‘profit’—he subtly, albeit limited to the area of his own behavior, contributed to the community in which he lives by being able 93

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to optimize the use of all the resources available, since, as all production factors are limited, had that ‘invisible hand’ not participated, the total social damage would have taken on disastrous proportions.”

The rest of the group is silent, listening to Don Alonso’s peculiar analysis, which they think is very interesting, since they have not looked at it that way. Gustavo makes an observation.

“I personally think that it’s as you say, but I had a friend at school, who would tell me that the market system should not work since it was not ‘perfect’. What do you think of that?”

“Nothing’s perfect,” he replies. “Not even marriage or anything that might come to mind. But nor does that mean we must eliminate the ‘imperfect’… The entire sphere of human behavior is imperfect, which is why labor, trade, family, health, tax, penal, transport and many other laws exist, precisely to circumscribe that imperfect human behavior, trying to direct it to the common good.”

“That’s true,” Gustavo replies.

“But,” Don Alonso continues, “returning to human behavior in the economic context, and returning to the motives that were behind the behavior of that shepherd from 40 centuries ago. By way of a cheeky experiment, imagine for a moment that all the Simons of those years had not felt the almost pressing need to look after their ‘costs.’

Do you know what would have happened?”

“A country is not the sum of the Simons, Juans, Pedros, Sofías and Carolinas, and all those who form it. Believe me, if nature, in that very intelligent way, had not placed that invisible mechanism so that each person looked after 94

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his ‘own costs’—in order to obtain a ‘benefit’—such an apparently simple thing would have caused such a waste of resources on a mass scale that the economy of that place would have been practically ruined.”

“That is, esteemed gentlemen, no more and no less, what happens when things happen without understanding them well, even with the best of intentions. Why am I telling you all this? Well, these motivations that incentivize productivity have been altered in some way in the field, and I’ll tell you why.”

“Oh, and not only that, but this element that I’ve mentioned must be interrelated with another perspective that some do not clearly understand at all. I’ll tell you what I mean.”

“I was saying that if one person with a little knowledge of the matter seeks equality as a primary objective, he can cause more harm than good for a very simple reason, which is not only in the economy but in practically everything that surrounds us. You see, things operate based on apparent ‘inequalities.’”

“No kind of activity could be carried out—nothing at all— if those apparent inequalities didn’t exist. I’ll give you a funny example: not even the toilet in your homes would work when flushed. Now it works because there’s an inequality or differential between the atmospheric pressure of the water tank with regard to the lower part, but were these to be ‘equal’ it simply wouldn’t work.”

“But,” he says jokingly, “don’t fear, they’ll keep working.

No equality hunter has intervened there.”

They all smile at that comment. Meanwhile, Don Alonso continues, very convinced of his idea.

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“Do you know how that reservoir we have opposite was filled? By a countless series of differentials or inequalities in a multitude of things. First of all, the heat of the sun on the surface of the ocean caused differentials between the temperature of the water over that of the upper layers, which made a certain amount of them rise through evaporation.”

“When the pressures were stabilized at a certain altitude, the water formed into clouds, and other kinds of differences between the temperatures of the surface of the earth, together with other physical divergences, caused the formation of winds, part of which brought some clouds over here.”

“Other different kinds of inequalities combined with the action of electricity which, in turn, was formed due to similar reasons, made the rain fall in this area, and the differences in the level of topography of the soil along with the atmospheric pressure and other things made the water fall down this hillside and reach this point. A series of more inequalities will carry this water up to the foot of the trees and others will make it penetrate to the root.”

“Let me just tell you that absolutely everything in nature and even in the universe operates as it does because of those apparent inequalities. If in any part of Creation a gullible or absent-minded person, trying to win easy sympathy, manages to eliminate the ‘disparities’ or differences, everything is suddenly automatically ruined.

Even the stars move in the sky for the same reason.”

“So,” the engineer claims, “let’s see if I understand. Are you pondering social inequalities?”

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ity doesn’t want, or rather, we don’t want there to be inequalities. What I’m trying to say is that first we must understand how things work in order not to seek equality for the sake of it.”

“That more egalitarian society must survive as a kind of consequence of the performance of a certain activity or increase in its productivity, so we can help each other have a better community for a common benefit.”

“The ideal is to tend towards a system of equal opportunities, where it is rather the actual performance of each human being that determines personal growth. What, of course, we must safeguard is that our fellow citizens have adequate levels of education and other determining social factors.”

“If we proceed in such a way that productivity, effort and personal development is not stimulated, instead of doing good for the person and the community, they will be harmed in a way you cannot imagine.”

“Why am I telling you all this? Because the erroneous vision or approach of some politicians in our country and in others has led to us adopting practices that have not contributed to ending poverty, but have perpetuated it.”

“Some politicians—not all—have handled poverty as if it were an evil in itself, when this lamentable social issue is merely a consequence of other things. It’s the result of a combination of factors that we have often neglected.”

“It’s a logical and inevitable result of the lack of adequate education, fair employment and family planning on occasion, together with inadequate life habits, family dysfunction, sometimes erratic government policies and other things. To make matters worse, almost as a rule, several 97

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of the elements combine to a greater or lesser extent to form a highly unfair and explosive mix.”

“But getting back to the matter at hand, Don Alonso,” Gustavo interjects, as if fearing that the conversation is going in another direction. “What does that have to do with deforestation?”

“Well,” he replies slowly, “I was getting to that. What I’ve been saying was the preamble or background. The thing is with an approach like the one I’ve just mentioned, the intention is to solve social inequality by providing permanent subsidies and gifts, which will only contribute to perpetuating the situation.”

“Don Alonso,” the engineer claims. “In my work as an agronomist, I have seen that a series of government support programs helps the people in the countryside a lot.”

“Don’t misunderstand me,” Don Alonso replies. “I don’t in any way want farmers not to receive help. On the contrary, I want to go further. It would be healthy to help them in a more decisive way, but with an approach that stimulates production. I like using a lot of examples and, if I may, I’ll give you one now.” “Álvaro, do you remember that man Juan, who once helped us with some building jobs?”

“I remember him well.”

“When he came,” Don Alonso says. “I asked him about his activity in the region and he told me that he worked in the ‘countryside’ and that he had a small plot of corn.

I asked him why he wasn’t tending well to his plot since, if he wasn’t going to take care of it, it wouldn’t produce much, to which he replied:” 98

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“’Well, here’s the thing,’ he said with great conviction, ‘I have a different kind of ‘harvest.’” “’What different kind of harvest?’ I asked, surprised and fearing that he was participating in some kind of illegal activity.” “’The thing is, my harvest is not what the corn produces, but what the government gives me for sowing.’”

“That particular approach,” Don Alonso continues, “apparently harmless and even with a certain intention that the government becomes a kind of great benefactor to the farmer, is what damages agricultural and forest productivity, which is why I risked boring you with the ideological background of that kind of behavior.”

“I can’t deny that there are very specific situations under very particular circumstances where certain groups must occasionally be helped, especially in the case of disasters. But to act like that as the norm or, even worse, for electoral ends, as others do, is harmful, even for those who receive help.”

“As a sample, let’s observe what happened in the example I saw and that I was telling you about. Juan will continue receiving help, regardless of the fact that his productivity level remains much below its true potential.”

“But, you know something? He’s not to blame because Juan or anyone would do the same. The problem really started from when the mechanics of that assistance were designed, which is typical of those who have the superficial mentality I mentioned a while ago, of people who yearn to become great social benefactors and don’t attack the basic causes of the problem, but rather the symptom or external manifestation, which greatly contributes to perpetuating the situation.”

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“What must remain very clear is that the vast majority of our people,” Don Alonso emphasizes, “are good, capable and hard working. Also,” he says, addressing the Engineer, “I’d need to be crazy to say not to help them. Indeed, they should be given more help. You could almost say that aid should be at the level of other countries we trade with, in order to reach much higher production levels and reduce dependency on many things such as corn.”

“But we would never be able to see that using the current approach. Aid must not be subject to political considerations or electoral preferences, or even influenced by pressure groups, but rather conditioned to productivity and individualized results.”

“Now,” he emphasizes, “the specific design of a project in that respect must not be the result of an action or idea of a single person, but rather of a panel of true experts in the field, who leave political aspects and other interests to one side.”

“I can assure you that in our country there are true farming and livestock professionals, who are as good as the best in the world. I would only ask them for one thing, which that they take off the paternalist clothing and in its place look for better aid for farmers that is based on productivity and personal effort.”

“That’s why I risked boring you with the background I gave you a few minutes ago. You see, had the natural stimuli that have motivated millions of Simons of past centuries been removed, not only would the productivity of our hypothetical friend, Simon, and others have been limited, but consumers would have been harmed in passing, and many other things.”

“Believe me, if, with the proper assistance of experts, we can redirect government aid and grant it on the 100

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fundamental basis of results, we can be very pleasantly surprised.”

“And so, yes, I can assure you that in forestry, green industry could reach its true potential, given that it’s highly profitable, but at the moment it’s very under-used.”

“The farming and livestock situation can be improved in many respects by facilitating and simplifying already existing means of financing, and others that can be created, to extend tax stimuli to that area, provide technical support and better varieties for sowing, guidance on appropriate irrigation systems for each case and other things, always maintaining criteria that strive to award effort, hard work and higher proven productivity.”

“Some of those things,” the engineer adds, “are already done.”

“That’s true, but they must be improved a great deal and also, everyone must be informed of the mechanisms and stimuli for helping green industry and, believe me, with a different direction based on productivity, the results could be surprising.”

“Let me warn you of something. This modification I propose could seem somewhat insignificant, but I ask that you move it forward because I’m sure that, were it to be approved and implemented well, it could have a decisive influence on transforming lower productivity that currently exists in some areas. The apparently harmless change of approach can be transformed into one of the keys for the transformation we want.”

“These are, esteemed gentlemen,” Don Alonso states, by way of conclusion, “the three suggestions I would take 101

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the liberty of making, and I think they can help improve the forestry and agricultural situation concerning us.”

“Well, they are definitely interesting contributions,” Gustavo replies. “I can see why my friend Miguel wanted us to come here and talk with you.”

“I can assure you,” Gustavo continues, “that I’m going to communicate them at a later stage and let’s trust that, if not all of them, then a large part can be implemented.

But we’ll see. We’ll put it on the table and it’ll be seriously analyzed.”

And once they are getting ready to leave the place, none of those present notice that something curious is happening to Gustavo’s mood. But this is, in fact, totally understandable. In a very short space of time, he has gone through a huge contrast. Not only has he gone from the hustle and bustle of the big city, but from something even worse—the arid, treacherous atmosphere of politics—to the frank, interesting dialog, accompanied by the oasis of tranquility that only a place like this can provide.

Somehow, Gustavo feels that the almost magical afternoon, contrary to what he thought at the start, has meant for him an extraordinary oasis inside his conflicting activities. But that is about to end, since the sun has predictably followed its set itinerary, acting impassively and indifferently to earthly events.

One has the impression that the king of the sky, with its offhand, determined behavior, is focused on fulfilling its scheduled route and times, rather than on any other profane matter. That impassive solar activity is perceived by human eyes in a slight lowering in the luminosity of the day.

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If the surroundings could externalize any opinion, it would surely interpret it as a subtle reminder that times and hours should be respected accurately and clearly.

It is likely that this also influences that intimate perception of Gustavo since, while they are gathering the little equipment that is still around, he quietly thinks that he may probably never spend another afternoon like this.

But very little, or nothing, can be done about it. On other occasions, when he has wanted to preserve a certain moment, he has taken photos, but in this case he tells himself he has enough. So, he only has one last, albeit fragile, recourse: to tour all his surroundings with his eyes, trying, if possible, not so much to keep, but to almost record that impressive place in his memory.

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Chapter VIII A controversial return That same discreet, quiet behavior that nature usually has to make times and spaces be respected is back once more.

Though on this occasion, it is the sun’s turn to make a slight signal and, as if it were making use of an invisible but effective baton, by means of a slight reduction in luminosity, indicates, with a certain dose of diplomacy, the proximity of the end of what we call day.

That is why not only humans, but animal and even plants, unconsciously perceive that this fixed itinerary has been established to be respected. Nevertheless, some elements of creation are not only limited to faithfully observing rhythms and hours, but give the impression that they are almost celebrating it, as if it were the most splendid party.

They are entirely indifferent to the fact that, in the face of the profane and offhand human gaze, many natural wonders take place totally unnoticed. And, as if not wanting the same to happen, it is welcomed every morning with effusive song from countless birds without the need for a hidden agenda or any suggestion. Something similar happens when the day seems to have stealthily slipped away from the scene, since that behavior has repeated itself.

This explains why, in fulfilling this mysterious protocol— or perhaps only a spontaneous act of gratitude—when the sun is about to quietly slip away from the scene, a large amount of birds, as obedient as the most precise clock, congregate in the leafiest trees, where they break into song that needs no score.

Though, as this small group walks back, first towards the ranch house, it seems that a multitude of birdsong 105

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is not only addressing their special thanks to something or someone on the universe, but also giving the impression that they are accompanying those four people, as if wishing to say goodbye after their visit to this place.

But that only makes the feelings of nostalgia rise in Gustavo, for whom a few hours of isolation at this almost magical natural sanctuary has been enough to realize the extraordinary transformation that can been made with oft forgotten nature.

And in the mood to make the best use of these final moments, Gustavo says to Don Alonso, “We’re grateful for your time and suggestions, Don Alonso, and I’ll make good my promise to put forward these and other opinions I’ve received from well-intentioned people like you.”

“Let’s trust,” he replies, “that something can be done.

And you don’t need to thank me. We’re grateful that you accompanied us and listened to us because I also think that not only us, but each citizen has opinions that must be considered.”

“There’s something I can’t understand,” Gustavo adds. “I don’t understand why some groups objected to the proposals you made to improve the texts on civic awareness.

“I must commend the excellent willingness,” Don Alonso emphasizes, “of the then Minister and Deputy Minister of Public Education in the late 1990s, but it was in other areas that there seemed to be complete dim-wittedness.

However, I think what seemed more incomprehensible can also be explained. The thing is that often we don’t see it.”

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create ‘class struggle’ to the letter in a kind of social confrontation. And in fact, they can believe what they want, but the bad thing is that when they try to impose their criteria on something else, those theories are not only based on conjecture and serious inaccuracies, but are also obsolete due to being useless. But, there’s still a small, albeit radicalized, group that still exists.”

“How do you mean? I don’t understand.”

“It’s unbelievable,” Don Alonso continues, “but true.

Look, let’s remember that when Marx went public with his theories, even though many paid little attention to him, with his very personal interpretation of history, he judged that for social evolution, what was called the ‘dialectic of the class struggle’ should have taken place.”

“And when someone talks about something else, of a kind of integration and complementariness to achieve development in every respect, it automatically, albeit ‘under the table,’ crashes against its theories on ideological or sociological grounds.”

“Let the record show that we are talking about very small, but very radicalized groups that still move in some sectors, including limited areas of education because, let me clarify, the vast majority of people in this union are extremely valuable elements and are convinced of the great transcendence of their work.

“I get the impression,” the engineer interjects, “that you have also analyzed that phenomenon of socialism. Am I right?”

“Well,” Don Alonso replies, “here’s the thing. I, myself, in my faraway youth, was a convinced socialist. At one time I even thought about studying at a Russian university.”

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“Good grief! I would never have imagined that,” Gustavo says. “Then what happened?”

“I started to realize that those theories were not well prepared. But oddly, that doubt made me delve more deeply into the matter.”

“You see, most people who know about the matter have studied two of Marx’s works, one called The Communist Manifesto and the other Das Kapital. My disappointment started when I analyzed other works by him.”

“I have at least 19 works by this man published between 1837 to 1880, as well as six more that he wrote with Frederick Engels, some published posthumously, such as the second and third parts of Das Kapital.”

“And if, as we were saying, many focus on those two works, they are missing out on knowing the full thoughts of this man. He has other facets that are essential to know.”

“The problem is it can happen to anyone,” he assures them. “People discover that these kinds of considerations were not well structured, no matter how profound the social sense, which I thought they had, they superficially seem to have.”

“Among other things, they will discover that this man, though considered by some to be the very same ‘father of the workers’ had absolutely no sympathy for work at all, and this is not a just an assumption, but was expressed by him in his own words.”

“If anyone bothers to read one of his works called Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts from 1844, they will discover his very peculiar opinion on work. I tell you that 108

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this work was unknown by many of his early followers, such as Lenin, because it wasn’t published until 1932 though, in any case, it was almost unknown.”

Don Alonso stops here, as if remembering something, making the others stop too.

“Listen, Álvaro,” he says. “I recall that a short time ago I sent you that text by email. Do you by any chance have that device you carry on your belt?”

“Let me see,” Álvaro replies. “I’ll tell you right away…”

“That thinking, gentlemen,” Don Alonso states, “is totally obsolete, but I’ll tell you something as an interesting tidbit. Hopefully our good friend Álvaro has it there…”

“Here it is, Don Alonso,” Álvaro says. “I kept it because I remember you recommended I read it and actually I’d forgotten.”

“Let’s see if you can find a little paragraph I underlined for you. It’s very short.”

“Here it is! Shall I read it out?”

“Please…” Álvaro reads out the passage word for word.

“So what does the alienation of work consist of? Firstly, that work is external to the worker, that is, it does not belong to its being; that the worker in his job does not state, but denies; he does not feel happy, but wretched; he does not develop a free physical and spiritual energy, but torments his body and ruins his spirit.”

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himself when he does not work and when he works he is not in himself. His work is, thus, not voluntary, but forced; forced work. This is why it is not to satisfy a need, but only a means to satisfy needs outside of work.”

“His odd character is clearly evidenced by the fact that, as soon as a physical or any other kind of coaction does not exist, he flees from work as if from the plague. External work, the work in which man alienates himself, is a work of self-sacrifice, of asceticism.”

“Good grief,” Gustavo says. “So for this man work was harmful or alienating, was it?”

“That is, in fact, how he’s expressing it, with those very same words, as an alienating element. And he doesn’t limit himself to labeling that transcendental part of human life and society thus, but also catalogs as ‘alienating’ issues such as Philosophy, God and the State.

“However,” Don Alonso says, “to fully realize the magnitude of that nonsense and to see how it basically hung in the air, let’s see, superficially, what it led us to in practice.

By focusing on these theories, what happened with regard to the release of the ‘alienation of the State?’”

“When they replaced the ‘pattern’ they didn’t find another more viable formula for the practical operation of an economic entity than this one: that everything was administered by the State. And that led precisely to the opposite point from where they intended to arrive, to the bureaucracy of bureaucracies where everyone becomes a bureaucrat or an employee of a clumsy, inefficient superstate managed by a minority who, to cap it all, will have to drastically restrict freedom in order to guarantee it stays in power.”

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“What a great paradox. By fleeing that imaginary alienation of the State, they fell victim to a true and authentic alienation. But the problem starts here because that brings serious consequences, including the immediate plummeting of productivity, which makes standards of living vertically drop, which is aggravated, as we were saying, by the fact that there’s no more freedom.”

“I don’t understand,” Gustavo states. “Was there no one who declared this at that time to everyone?”

“Of course there were and many from the same principle, but those propositions were especially tempting for some, and it was the same force of the events that, decades later, made them return to reality.”

“But in a few places, mostly underdeveloped countries that have not experienced this, some surprisingly still find this kind of ideology viable.”

“That’s why, coming back to your question,” Don Alonso says, “you’ll see why, without looking for it, there’s an ideological confrontation between the proposed idea of social integration and the theory of the ‘struggle,’ confrontation or divisionism under any pretext.”

“And rather evasively—because they don’t even dare show themselves to be ‘Marxists’ due to the term having been discredited—they keep trying to encourage social divisionism, because of apparent or fabricated issues.”

“So, you’ll see how the attempt has been made to encourage social divisionism, because of the ‘habits and customs’ of supposed differences in terms of skin color, language, religion, or anything that seems credible.”

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by way of a test before those who encourage divisionism, basing themselves on supposed ‘differences’ in skin color or ethnicities, I can tell you that, thanks to recent discoveries on the human genome map, it has been incontrovertibly proven that all humans on the planet are descended from the same genetic ancestor.”

“Let me tell you something that some people have suspected throughout history, as was the case with Aristotle, Hernando de Soto and many others. They thought that all the external characteristics of human beings are no more than the consequences of climate, food, life habits and other circumstantial determining factors.”

“Well, that ‘suspicion,’ thanks to the aforementioned research and discoveries on the human genome map, has become an irrefutable and incontrovertible scientific truth.”

“I mean, once and for all we must open our eyes and realize that we’re on the same team called the human race, since what before was a suspicion of a few has now become a certainty for all.”

“Though in reality, rather than a more evolved posture, we could say that it’s a more real position, and not only that. The ecological, education, food and other challenges we face are so large that we can only be fully victorious if we have a traditionalist perspective.”

“What could be more important to us? Coming back to the case I cited: defending a social ‘catechism’ of someone who is actually hanging in the air? Or the true wellbeing and development of all human beings?”

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there’s a route and it’s the route of authentic integration to favor true development. My only fear is that we can’t take too long to find this path because at this very moment, needs are growing more quickly that the ability to deal with them, and the problems are ever greater.”

With that, everyone is quiet, reflecting on that singular position they never expected to find right in the ‘middle of nowhere,’ as Gustavo jokingly said to his friend Miguel.”

There’s no doubt, Gustavo reflects, that an idea like that in the sociological field could transform countless things, but, he replied, only to himself, how can we implement that from a political point of view? What reaction might there by from other groups and parties? Those ideas are too risky, he concludes. And their cost could be unpredictable.

I’d better not even mention that, Gustavo continues mediating to himself. Let someone else do it. If I arrive in Mexico City with those ideas, they’ll think I’m crazy or gullible. Deep down, he admitted, I think this man is right, but it’s not viable to express that from a political platform. That’s the job of academia or social research.

With that, Don Alonso makes an observation to Álvaro.

“The wind is suddenly blowing from the north, though at this time of year I don’t think we’re going to have a frost.

But look, even the sky wants to clear away the clouds.”

“It’s true, Don Alonso, but I also think that it won’t freeze and, in any case, we’re prepared. Everything is perfectly irrigated and that’ll help it somewhat to protect itself if the cold does come in, but right now I’m going to monitor the thermometers.”

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The engineer, for his part, has another question in mind.

As the ranch house is already in sight, the point of farewell is getting closer. He has had some serious doubts about the population issue for some time, and in truth has not expressed them because his friend Gustavo had asked him not to. But, as it seems they have already gotten all the issues off their chests, he thinks the time is right.

“Don Alonso,” the engineer says. “I have a few questions on the population issue you talked about at the beginning.

Can I talk to you about them?”

“Sure, of course.”

Faced with a look of expectation and surprise from Gustavo and Álvaro, the engineer starts setting out his questions.

“You told us a good while ago something that stayed in my mind, or maybe I didn’t understand it properly. You said that family planning had become essential in order to be able to achieve a better society. Am I right?”

“You’re correct, Miguel,” Don Alonso replies in his typically slow voice. “From my particular point of view, I think that demographic planning will be a kind of necessity in order to access a better society. And as I said a while ago, though the population growth rate has fallen in our country and in the world, it still has to fall a little more because in several rural areas of the country and other places it remains high.”

“You know, I have doubts about that. I regularly attend Bible study courses and a while ago we discussed the topic and the priest leading the class explained that what you say is not possible because family planning using artificial means is prohibited by the Catholic Church.

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“And did he tell you why it’s prohibited?”

“Of course. He explained it was prohibited because it involves an artificial element and that the sexual act should always be open to procreation.”

“You see, Miguel, I mean no offence to anyone, but I’m going to expand a little more on my point of view. The truth is that ‘artificial’ is in almost everything that surrounds us.

Telephones, cars, planes, glasses, houses, radios, tractors, electricity, transport, everything is artificial.”

“And it gets worse. The element that was responsible for population growth taking off in the 20th century was a completely ‘artificial’ element: medical advances that, among other things, enabled the use of antibiotics. In other words, the use of those artificial advances—fortunately—caused the extremely high infant mortality that existed throughout human history and which prevented the population from growing too quickly in previous centuries, changed the panorama completely.”

“In other words, when this ‘artificial,’ albeit transcendental, medical advance came into play, it meant that in order to balance population growth, planning became essential.

If we don’t proceed thus, artificially altering one of the sides of the scales and not the other, the population will grow—as has already happened—at a vertiginous rate, which will cause the growth of more chaotic societies with serious shortages and will put many things on the planet at serious risk.”

“Well, yes, Don Alonso, but this goes against life and that element must take precedence above all others.”

“I repeat, with all due respect, that what goes against life is encouraging the advent of an unstable society because, as I told you at the beginning, if, because of a high growth 115

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rate, the population doubles in a very short period, that same period of time is not enough to double the satisfiers. What we have today would occur in any part of the world, regardless of which party is in government.”

“The thing is, Don Alonso, that there are some very alarmist people. You see, in the mid-1970s, when the country’s population was around 56 million, the then President of Mexico was scared and was told that if he didn’t plan the population, by 2000 it would be over 120 million. This turned out to be a lie because in those years, at the end of the millennium, it barely reached 100 million. Do you see how they calculate wrongly and just scare people?”

“But, Miguel, it’s not that the demographers’ calculations were wrong. Of course, it could have reached that figure and perhaps exceeded it if campaigns had not been implemented in that respect.”

“And,” Don Alonso adds, “the current unstable situation could be much worse, like in some parts of Central America. Because, you see, these campaigns did not reach as many people there as they did in Mexico. If they had not been successful here, we’d have their levels of violence—almost three times as many homicides as here, proportionally speaking, along with very serious social neglect.”

“Observe the contrast, Miguel. Now that we’re talking about Central America, the countries that were left untouched by this chaos were places like Costa Rica because these campaigns worked better there, a factor that greatly helped increase the level of scholarity. And I invite you to analyze the different situation they have there.”

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interjecting because the turn this controversial topic was taking made him feel a little sorry for Don Alonso, but he immediately changed his mind, considering that both had the ability in spades to stand up for their respective, albeit, controversial positions. And something more could even be learned from it so he opts to prudently keep quiet.

“Those who obstruct life,” the engineer states, “are like abortionists who participate in murder…”

“No, Miguel,” Don Alonso argues. “It’s not like that. Abortion, from my particular point of view, clearly constitutes a criminal act, because it is depriving a human being of life, but in the case of prevention, the situation is different, and I’ll tell you why.”

“There are two cells of the organism that each carry half the chromosomes: the male sperm and the female egg.

And it’s precisely both these elements that join or complement each other. That’s something else, and I repeat, it’s a process that, from there, must not be stopped.

“But, Don Alonso…”

“If I may just finish my idea, and you can tell me what you think immediately after.”

“Nor can we not consider,” Don Alonso continues, “that what drives many desperate mothers to go through the false door of abortion which, I insist, is a reprehensible act, is the possiblity of dealing with an unwanted child who is, in most cases, the consequence of a lack of information and family planning.”

“And here comes the great paradox,” Don Alonso underlines. “The indirect causes of the hundreds of thousands of clandestine abortions in our country each year, and of the millions in the world, are mostly attributable to the 117

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‘defenders of life’ because by opposing the diffusion of ideas relating to family planning and the use of methods they consider ‘artificial,’ they have a powerful influence over the growth of this kind of illegal act.”

“I don’t want to create controversy, Don Alonso,” the engineer maintains, “but I‘ll always defend life.”

“Well, those of us who promote responsible paternity aren’t against life. On the contrary, human life is so valuable that it has to be given its due importance and we must create the possibility of a dignified and full life for all children who come into the world.”

“Do you have any idea, Miguel, of the number of dead children in the countries with the highest population growth, where the conditions are very far from ideal?”

“Well, I don’t know, but I imagine it must be high.”

“At the moment, around six million children die each year, a situation that contrasts completely with the segment of the world that is considered to be developed, where the population grows at a stable rate.”

“You can tell me many things, Don Alonso, but I’m already familiar with several countries in the world that have a large population and do very well.”

“We must, Miguel, make a very important distinction.

One thing is high population density, which is not at all dangerous, like in Japan and several other places, and another completely different situation is to have a high population growth rate. The harmful one is the second because population doubles, as I said, in very short periods and not being able to double the satisfiers at this rate brings injustices and very serious problems.”

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“Furthermore, Don Alonso, I’m recalling another problem with what you suggest. If the population is planned, the country ‘gets older.’ What do you say to that?”

“Look, the people opposing demographic planning have opted not to confront arguments such as those I have mentioned, and instead subliminally try to diffuse other ideas with very peculiar focus, effectively managing to confuse many. One of these is the supposed ‘ageing population.’ If I may, I’ll tell you what I think about this.”

“When we talk about the ‘average age of the population,’ that is, a kind of ‘mean’ of ages of all the inhabitants of a country, the desirable and logical thing would be that in a stable society—which we should belong to long-term— ‘average age’ is around half of ‘life expectancy’. And if a country, for instance, has a life expectancy of 82, the normal average age would be around 41, so that one half would be younger than that age and the other half older.”

“That, my esteemed Miguel, would be something completely normal or logical. But the odd thing is how some handle it. Listen to this: “According to the last population census, which is conducted every 10 years, the average age in our country was 26 and, according to other sources, 27, but a decade or so ago that ‘average’ was 24. Headlines were rushed out to show that—presenting it as a negative thing—the country is ‘getting older,’ when the truth is that we are barely getting close to the desirable age.

“Those arguments do not really convince me, Don Alonso, but on the other hand, what does sound logical to me is that when the average age rises, the percentage of dependents or old people increases. And you can’t deny that.”

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“It must be said, Miguel,” Don Alonso says with a smile, “that I’m contradicting you in everything, but look, when the average age rises, even though the number of people in the over-65 segment obviously increases, the total percentage of ‘dependents’ falls because, remember, the total ‘dependent’ percentage of a country is not just made up of people over 65, but also of those from 0 to 15.”

“Let me put these specific cases to you. If we observe the countries or continents with a higher ‘dependent’ population, we’ll discover that they’re surprisingly those with the ‘youngest’ population.”

“Look at what happens,” he continues, “for instance, in Africa, which is the continent with the lowest age, that is, whose population is the youngest on the planet, since its average age barely rises over 20.”

“Only 4% of its population is over 65, but you see, 41% is between 0 and 15, which means that precisely the opposite of what those who promote the ‘ageing population’ theory assume will happen, does indeed happen, since the facts show that where the population is youngest, the ‘dependence’ percentage rises.”

“Now,” says Don Alonso, “observe what happens in the continent where the average age is the highest in the world, which is Europe, since its average age is almost 40. It’s true that it has a greater percentage of population over 65 (16 %) which, if you add it to the percentage of population from 0 to 15 (16 %), gives a ‘dependent’ total in Europe of 32%.”

“Compare, Miguel, a dependent percentage in Africa of 45% with 32% in Europe. I don’t know how you might interpret that, but I think that the arithmetic itself shows us that the desirable thing is what I suggest: have stable growth.”

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“And to return to your question, Miguel, it’s not enough to just be aware that exactly the opposite of what some fear is happening. The truly important thing about the matter is not limited to mere statistical percentages, but rather that this enables, in practice, the use of many more resources in education, research, housing, medical services, infrastructure and countless necessary things.”

“Furthermore, Miguel,” Don Alonso adds, as if remembering another piece of information, “now I’m realizing that my calculation actually falls short because we’re making a mistake by considering the over-65 segment as necessarily ‘dependent.’”

“But, what do you mean? Age takes its toll, Don Alonso…”

“True, but I’m going to suggest it from two points of view.

First, I’ll give you an example of something that happened to us right here and then, if I may, I’ll explain it from a statistical point of view.”

“First the example of what happened here… Do you remember, Álvaro, when we had a problem with the water distribution network in that area behind that hill, where we couldn’t get the pressure we needed?”

“Oh yes, I remember, but we solved it.”

“Yes, of course, we solved it, but what I want to tell Miguel is how we solved it.”

“You see, Miguel, we called two specialists to get and evaluate their suggestions. One was Juan, who was around 30, and the other was Don Jacobo, who at that time was around 75.”

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ting down a new one. By contrast, Jacobo, with much more experience and in a matter of minutes gave us the appropriate solution at less than a tenth of the cost. And it’s not that Juan was not capable, but Jacobo had a whole life’s experience and the solution he proposed ended up being the quickest and most effective.”

“But, do you know what catches my attention now?

That Jacobo, statistically speaking, is already in the ‘dependent’ sector and, believe me, you can’t imagine how valuable his experience is because he’s helped us with other things. Do you agree, Álvaro?”

“Completely. It’s a shame you haven’t met him, Miguel.

He visits us sometimes. Maybe he’ll come when you’re here and I’ll introduce you.”

“Well, yes” the engineer argues, “but I insist, the years weigh down on us.”

“What’s more,” Don Alonso repeats, “I, myself, am already considered to be in that segment and I think I still have a lot to do out there… But, according to what you say, I’m already in that ‘dependent’ sector.”

“Now, let me make a suggestion,” Don Alonso continues, “from a merely statistical perspective.”

“When they established that age as the fateful age ‘limit,’ life expectancy was lower and, you do know what happened? As the years passed, life expectancy fortunately increased, but ‘old age’ or even the retirement age in some countries didn’t change and in others wasn’t adjusted proportionally to the increased life ‘expectancy.’”

“Well, here in our country, they did make some adjustments in this respect.”

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“Some adjustments, as you said, but not in proportion to how life expectancy increases and especially not in all sectors because there are still groups, such as civil servants, whose retirement age wasn’t changed for a number of reasons, which did not happen in every country. Furthermore, let me just tell you this based on the arguments you put forward, so you can see that there’s a certain inaccuracy in terms of the perception of the ‘dependence limit.’”

“What happens, Miguel, is that it projects a false impression that this ‘elderly’ segment is growing abnormally, when what was needed was to appropriately adjust the age limit, according to a changing socio-demographic profile. This has endless consequences, one of which is that each day there will be more people who spend more time retired, than those who keep working.”

“Do you realize, Miguel, the scope of that neglect?”

“Well, yes…”

“I think we should analyze the consequences a little more, not just from a statistical perspective, which can give us all an inaccurate view by producing that false impression that I mentioned of a ‘growing segment of old people.’ That’s the least of it. The most serious thing is the following:” “Mistakenly leaving the retirement age ‘unchanged’—or not adjusting it sufficiently in other countries—means that, on the one hand, an extremely important percentage of the population is being wasted in exactly one of the most valuable stages, when they have accumulated more experience and still have huge potential—as in the case of Don Jacobo. Furthermore, the added burden from pensions will become unsustainable, I can assure you.”

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“It would seem, Miguel, unbelievable to many that everything you mentioned happened due to seemingly insignificant neglect, but if we analyze things a little more, we’ll see that this adjustment was essential… And the fact that ‘old age’ was not gradually and proportionally moved has repercussions in countless things.”

“I mean,” Don Alonso adds in conclusion, “the scope of that which is apparently so simple is three-fold: one: statistically, which is the least serious, though also important; two: a vast human potential still with so much ability and a very valuable accumulated experience is stupidly wasted; and three: the pensions burden will become unpayable. And all because this adjustment was not made at the right time.”

“However, the mistake was not so much from a demographic point of view, and furthermore, a correction— statistically speaking—of this kind cannot feasibly be implemented unilaterally by a single country because international data collection is carried out according to globally determined standardized parameters. The pertinent statistical adjustment must come from a world body.

“But, Don Alonso,” Gustavo interjects, albeit rather quietly, but still very attentive to the topic, “why do you say that the mistake was not primarily demographic?”

“The mistake, or neglect or whatever you want to call it,” he replies, “was made from a political point of view since, in the past, many of the world’s governments, I’m sure, were well aware—they had very capable advisors—of the gradual, albeit, imperceptible variation in the sociodemographic profile, which obligated them to carry out the aforementioned adjustments, but they most likely didn’t want to confront its political cost and preferred to leave it to the next generation, and so on.”

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“But, he continues, “you can’t pass the ball indefinitely.

We’re close to breaking point and though these things are almost never spoken of, it’s a matter we’ll have to face. And if it continues to be deferred, the snowball will keep growing.”

“That,” Don Alonso says, “is what I think is happening.”

Though he has tried to stay out of this discussion, Gustavo realizes perfectly well that Don Alonso is sufficiently involved in the topic and the arguments of his friend, Miguel, are not well structured, so he says, “Excuse me, Miguel, I think Don Alonso’s right. And, what’s more, it’s going to get dark very soon.”

“Okay, that’s fine, Gustavo,” the engineer replies. “Just tell me, Don Alonso. What would you do about the ‘ageing’ issue?”

“You know, Miguel, I’m no good at political questions, but the solution, not only on that topic, but on any topic, will be to tell it like it is. Pertinent adjustments have to be made. ‘Old age’ has to be raised proportionally. First of all, so that it reflects the reality, and I myself at retirement age, according to how life expectancy has increased, don’t see any other alternative.”

“Any country’s government,” Gustavo interjects, “is unlikely to want to face the implementation of a measure like that because, as you say, the mere announcement of it will likely reduce popular acceptance.”

“I disagree slightly,” Don Alonso says. “It all depends on how the matter is implemented. We cannot, gentlemen, keep treating people like children. Citizens react responsibly when we have been able to generate trust and expose them to things as they are, therefore, I’m in 125

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favor of implementing this since, if we don’t proceed thus, the situation will become unsustainable, exposing the full panorama.”

“Come on, Don Alonso!” Gustavo exclaims. “Remember that in politics not everyone plays clean and people are only interested in winning the election. Even if they make promises they know perfectly well aren’t viable, they know that many people are not well informed and will support them.”

“I’m unaware of that phenomenon, but that’s the risk in a democracy. Hence the great importance of having sufficient political skill to implement things clearly and convincingly in order to incentivize citizens to support what is sustainable by making them all see that a prosperous society will favor everyone.”

“That’s precisely why I said,’ Don Alonso told with a smile, “that I’m no good at politics because I think that options must be put on the table and that the population makes the decision by voting. If we sidestep the issue and take the easy path, which is to keep quiet, or even worse, promise the impossible, as demagogues and populists do, society will realize in time and that political price they didn’t want to pay will hit them much harder.”

“Now I’m the one who’s contradicting Don Alonso,” Miguel interjects. “There are ever more people suffering the consequences of chronic degenerative diseases, such as diabetes, arterial hypertension, heart disease, diabetic blindness, renal damage and a whole multitude of things. How can we even think about suggesting that the retirement age be adjusted in this way if health is failing more each day.”

“What you say is true, though that has another cause and solutions that must also be faced before it’s too late.

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‘Industrial’ food and drink manufacturers have for decades been allowed, with the hidden agenda of increasing their sales and profits, to sweeten almost everything they make. And even though they’ve achieved their goal, they saturated citizens with a very high amount of sugar and refined flours, which is creating another terrifying time bomb.”

“But, I insist, that’s another problem with other causes and solutions. Let me tell you that when I had the great honor of forming part of the National Academic Council of a very prestigious scientific and cultural society in Mexico City, I made significant indications in that respect, which were published.”

“However, such are the powers of advertising and persuasion acquired by junk food manufacturers—with consumers’ own money—that they rolled over every medical and scientific argument that was put forward with the force of a steam roller.”

While they are standing discussing this barely 300 feet from the house, Benjamín looks at them strangely from afar. The engineer seems to recognize that the demographic arguments set out by Don Alonso are solid, therefore, still insisting on his theory, he decides to modify his argument.

“You will not dispute, Don Alonso, that we must always be respectful of a certain authority. In this case, I think we should respect the authority of Father Francisco, who leads the Bible study group I belong to and told us what I have said to you. Do you agree?”

“It’s good to be respectful, Miguel,” he states calmly, “but let’s remember that absolutely all human beings, without exception, are subject to errors and, in this case, those 127

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who support the theory you mentioned are wrong and that brings serious consequences for everyone.”

“Perhaps that’s why,” Don Alonso continues, “and this can be verified in the Gospel according to St. Mathew, Chapter 23, Verse 9, Jesus Christ himself warns us about not dominating anyone on earth over others. You’re taking Bible study courses and I’d ask you to read what I’ve just quoted and even mention it to Father Francisco. Of, if you prefer, bring him here to talk with me.”

“And, what’s more, since the Christian movement wasn’t born yesterday, but that been in existence for around 20 centuries, it would be better to analyze what has happened throughout history. What has happened? Have people never made mistakes? Can we have blind trust in people?”

“The truth is that it’s not just the Catholic Church that can make mistakes. Any church can, given that human beings tend to do this. The only one who doesn’t make mistakes is God, and that’s why it’s important to follow his word.”

“And, as you already have to go,” Don Alonso says, “so you can at least be on the highway before nightfall, I’ll quickly tell you just two curious cases that illustrate my point.”

“When the lightning rod was invented in the 18th century, there was no shortage of priests who assured us that this invention was ‘artificial’ and would openly interfere with the will of God. They said that if he wanted lightning to fall on a certain person or thing, this new gadget would impede this, and was in opposition to the Creator.”

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there was no shortage of people who pointed out that this was a direct punishment from God for having installed lightning rods.”

“Nevertheless, a short time ago, lightning struck the Vatican, whose dome fortunately has a lightning rod. Had it not had one, the dome would most likely have fallen from the force of the electrical discharge.”

“Look at this other case,” he adds. “When anesthesia was invented, which was first used in dentistry and later on women in labor, there were plenty of people who pointed out that it was prohibited by God.” “Good grief! Why’s that?”

“Some said that in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God said to Eve: ‘You will give birth to your sons in pain,’ meaning, therefore, that anesthesia was prohibited. But at that time, Queen Victoria of England was about to have another child and ignored that observation, telling her doctors to use it on her. From then on, the priests who opposed it did not make any further objections.”

“This doesn’t mean I’m attacking the Church, I’m just saying, Miguel, that surely for that reason, Jesus Christ himself, knowing that humans can make mistakes, said we shouldn’t let anyone dominate over others.”

With that, Gustavo interjects. He thinks that not only is the position of his friend, Miguel, very fragile, but that in reality, they will barely reach the minivan before nightfall.

“Don Alonso,” Gustavo says. “We are infinitely grateful for such a pleasant and interesting day, but time is pressing.”

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“As I was saying, I’m the one who’s grateful. It’s been a pleasure speaking with you. And Miguel, excuse my different point of view, but it’s what I think and, since I stick to my convictions, I had to express myself.”

“No problem, Don Alonso. We all expressed our own opinion.”

Don Alonso embraces each one and says, “Álvaro, my dear friend, can you escort them to the minivan? Joaquín has gone and the gate is surely closed. Please, take flashlight in case it’s dark when you come back.”

“Of course, Don Alonso.”

“Bye, gentlemen, and thank you. Have a safe journey.”

“Thank you to you and Álvaro for your time and company.

Oh, and tell Doña Ofelia that her food was extraordinary.”

“I’ll tell her…”

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Chapter IX The differences increase In reality, not so many hours have passed since these two unexpected visitors arrived at El Encinal Ranch, and now they are about to leave.

Miguel, due to the difference of opinion he has had with Don Alonso, which caused him to feel a little uncomfortable, is almost pleased to leave. The truth is he never imagined he could have such a difference of opinion with Don Alonso, since he has always considered him very balanced in his opinions.

In contrast, the situation is different for Gustavo. He is sorry to have to leave and he himself cannot explain whether it is due to the intensity of the conversation, Don Alonso’s unique personality, or having been immersed for several hours in those almost magical surroundings, but Gustavo has the feeling that part of him is going to stay there.

And it almost seems that the surroundings are conspiring to accentuate that feeling, since nature, in a kind of invisible but harmless prank, with a simple change in wind direction, has removed the entire white cotton wool rug that was hiding the heavens leaving a magnificent, completely clear sky, which, as the minutes rush by and the day is ending, is changing its color to an ever more intense blue.

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contrary, because they guess that if nature makes that decision, it will have many reasons for doing so, therefore, they feel they only have one viable option: they have to celebrate more loudly.

And while members of an orchestra might be disheartened to play to an almost empty auditorium, the birds do not mind at all that only three pensive people hear their songs. It would not matter if there were no one. Their joyful songs would still be released to the four winds.

And as for the indifferent attitude of the birds to the, at times, disconcerting conduct of those three persons, perhaps they have only become more tolerant, and have gotten used to the ever vain human desires, their coming and going as fast as the wind, only to then return to the same point they occupied earlier. So, it is better to ignore them.

Nevertheless, if mundane desires mean nothing to the other members of nature, we can, as a merely curious observation, delve a little deeper into the dialog that is developing between those three people.

“There’s no doubt, Miguel,” Gustavo says with great conviction, “that coming here has been interesting and, if I’m honest, at the start I thought it would just be a waste of time. What I still can’t find is the way to incorporate everything we talked about into a compact, interesting report and, what’s more, I confess I don’t know up to what point this can be implemented politically.”

“Well, in my case,” Miguel adds, “I don’t think I was very convinced about the demographic issue. I still have my doubts.”

Gustavo and Álvaro look at each other with an expression of amazement at what Miguel is saying.

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“Miguel, while I don’t know up to what point the other opinions he gave us can be applied, the gentleman is right in regard to demographics. If we don’t sort this out, none of the other things will be able to be solved. I know what I’m talking about…”

“Perhaps,” Miguel replies. “But there are other things that are more important.”

“What is your main doubt?” Álvaro interjects.

“My disagreement stems,” he replies quickly, “from the approach you take with the matter. By way of an example, you say that population growth in Europe is reasonable, when I think that this is why they have so many problems at the moment…”

“I think that’s incorrect, Miguel,” Álvaro says. The problems in Europe have other causes. You see, as we have so much more time here, I have spoken a lot about this with Don Alonso and, if you like, I can tell you something about this…”

“Good grief!” Gustavo adds. “Why are you studying that issue?”

“Because,” he adds, “Don Alonso’s successor at the scientific and cultural society he belonged to when he formed part of the National Academic Council calls him regularly by phone and as there is data and internet programs he doesn’t know how to use, he asks me to help him and then we often talk about it.”

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and especially the desire to find out more about these things can do so. So, making use of the little time they have left to get to the minivan, Gustavo says to Álvaro, “Now, Álvaro, what do you think about what Europe is currently experiencing?”

“In my opinion, it’s a product of different factors, and though we don’t have much time left, I could briefly talk to you about some of them.”

“First,” he states, “is the population element, but not in the way that Miguel thinks—that it’s affected by its stable demographic growth—but rather…”

“But of course it is!” Miguel interjects. “There are countries like Germany and others that don’t even grow…”

“If I may, Miguel, it’s not like that. Look, it’s true that in Europe there are some countries that don’t grow. But, as a whole, the European Community has around 5.5 million births and around 5 million deaths a year, in other words, it grows by half a million per year. But the problem doesn’t stem from that.

“The problem is the opposite. Excuse me,” Álvaro says, as he stops a moment to consult an electronic device he carries on his belt. “Let me access some data I have here.

Just a second…”

Gustavo and Miguel observe the technological advances while they wait a little…

“Here it is!” Álvaro says. “Look, though Europe has stable population growth, it is located next to the continent with the highest demographic growth rate in the world, which is Africa, where each year—according to data from 2011—there are around 40 million births and 13 million 134

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deaths, that is, the population grows by 27 million a year.

Plus, a non-quantifiable percentage of the population is crossing the Mediterranean in increasing numbers, since they can’t find opportunities in their countries for the reasons Don Alonso pointed out a while ago.”

“In Asia, let me see,” Álvaro says, “there are around 76 million births and 30 million deaths, which is a net annual growth of 46 million. And a certain percentage, albeit much lower than that of Africa, also ends up in Europe, due to the enormous difference in living standards.”

“But inside this added population segment, many are not even part of the work force of the region and there is endless demand for education, medical and other services, which represents a significant cost for the European Community.”

“That, in addition to everything, is slowly, but inexorably changing the ethnic composition of the region. But that’s the least of it, because at the end of the day, we must all consider ourselves on the same team. However, for the purposes of this analysis, an undeniable related conflict is being created. But, I will continue with what I consider to be the other elements it has against it.”

“European integration has not been carried out in the best possible way, since as an important lady in German politics described: ‘We started to build the house from the top.’ And now it has different economic and social policies, which cause regional conflicts that have repercussions on others, and in most cases it will be very hard to be truly integrated through common rules. I trust they will manage to do it.”

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ago, haven’t adjusted their ‘retirement age’ to the same percentage to fit in with how life expectancy has risen, and now they’re facing astronomical figures for pensions which, by not making the pertinent adjustment, will become unmanageable, an experience from which we must learn.”

“As if that were not enough, there are European countries that surprisingly still have a certain percentage of their economy run by state companies. When those entities don’t create successful partnerships with private companies, their efficiency level is lower, reducing the country’s economic vigor, which then has repercussions on the entire zone of influence.”

“And another thing,” Álvaro continues, “to top it all, their currency level, I feel, is a little high, a factor that contributes to the ‘cheapening’ of imports and makes their exports more expensive, which are elements that do not only drain their economic resources outwards but also increase internal unemployment.”

“That‘s why you’ll understand,” he continues, “why other high exporting countries are more concerned when their currency ‘rises’ than when it ‘falls’, since they realize very well that they lose competitivity.”

“I didn’t think,” Gustavo says, “that currency level was so influential.”

“Of course it’s influential, very much so. I’ll give you a very simple example. On one of my trips to promote avocado sales, I wanted to buy a cap at a German airport, but I didn’t because it cost almost 700 pesos. Conversely, I got a similar one in South East Asia for a little over 100 pesos.”

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the currency itself, and I feel the Euro is a little high, which doesn’t help them either.”

“There are countless other things,” Álvaro says “that are limiting the region, but what you say, Miguel, with all due respect, doesn’t limit it at all. Indeed, stable population growth must become, in the medium term, a reality of all countries in the world, since it will bring a suitable and important increase in human development indices.”

The engineer is pensive and adds, “I don’t agree, Álvaro.

I was told,” Miguel says “that when the number of children per woman drops to 2.1 in a country, the population falls…”

“That was the commonly held belief some time ago, but the facts proved that it doesn’t happen like that. Look at the case of the European Community, with the number of children much lower than what you say, 1.6 on average, the population still grows by almost half a million per year. And even worse, China has an average of 1.5 children per woman and its population keeps growing by around 7 million per year. Let me clarify something: with fewer children per woman than Europe, China’s population grows more because both its population pyramid and the total number of inhabitants are very different.”

“Furthermore,” Álvaro adds, “I don’t know the true cause of your concern, because you see, if at a certain point in the future, in the remote case that it were estimated that the population should rise by a few tenths of a point of the number of children per woman, as has already happened during certain periods, such as after wars, the situation reverses. But right now we face challenges that put the planet at risk, and this is the only way we can move forward, believe me.”

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“An even worse scenario, Miguel,” Álvaro emphasizes.

“Even in the remote case that you didn’t believe it was viable to stabilize the world’s population at 7 billion, we would still have problems, since with respect to the ecological balance we’re near the limit in several senses.”

“But why?” Miguel replies. “If the greatest population growth is taking place in regions where energy needs are lowest. And don’t tell me any more of your stories.”

“But, Miguel,” Álvaro replies, “consider that to be related or temporary, since said lower energy consumption per inhabitant is lower for the time being, but that doesn’t mean that a person from Central Africa pollutes less because he is more responsible than someone in Europe, for example. The thing is that for now, Africans and others don’t have many cars, electrical appliances or countless other things. But, their legitimate aspiration is to have all those things, which will happen as their income rises.”

“To give you a better example, Miguel, “I’ll tell you about another case. In 2010 there were around 14 cars for every 100 inhabitants on average on the planet. But while there are countries that have between 80 and 90 cars for every 100 inhabitants—the most developed—there are others where the average is very low.”

“But this doesn’t happen like that because they are more ecological, but rather because, for now, they can’t do it.

Look at what happened in China once the standard of living rose; many replaced their bicycle with a car and now it’s the country with the most cars on the planet, and if it keeps developing as it is, the number of cars in that nation alone will be unimaginable.”

“That’s why, Miguel, some analysts get confused when they don’t interrelate changing factors. Let me ask you 138

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a question, just as a mental exercise. Let’s assume—and I don’t think this is viable—that we manage to stabilize the population at 7 billion, and now let’s suppose that, as the world economic income level rises, the average number of cars for every 100 inhabitants rises, let’s say to 40. Might we have any idea of the amount of energy required to move them? The amount of pollution generated? The number of highways needed for them?”

“Now, Miguel,” Álvaro continues in his mental exercise, “Let’s imagine these two changing elements interacting jointly. Let’s assume that the population is not stabilized at 7 billion, which is the most likely outcome and, at the same time, the number of cars for every 100 inhabitants keeps rising. What would logically happen? Are we capable of realizing what that means?”

“Well, but there are ecological ways of producing energy.”

“I trust that a change is being produced, but remember that even producing those ecological complements consumes energy, too, and it’s not just the energy needed for cars, but for all other elements of modern life, to which every citizen of the planet has a legitimate right to aspire.”

“Furthermore, Miguel, I repeat that the problems cannot grow more quickly than the ability to solve them.

Remember that most conflicts are born from that. If, at a certain time, we were sufficiently effective in solving the monumental challenges we face, as I was saying, a very slight increase in population growth would fix it.

But to do it the other way round, as you suggest, would put the stability of the planet at risk, and that would be extremely irresponsible.”

“Does that that convince you more, Miguel?” Gustavo says.

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“Well, a little, but don’t forget that each new inhabitant of the word, even though it has a mouth, also has two arms to work…”

“I completely agree,” Álvaro replies. “But don’t forget that any ‘good’ thing can turn into something ‘bad’ if it happens more quickly than we want it to. And with regard to the population, believe me, this is where we mustn’t make mistakes because it affects human life.”

And while the engineer is left thinking, Álvaro adds, “Listen, Miguel. So you have a more complete idea of what it would mean to continue as we are now, I’ll tell you this: on one occasion, with a program I have, I made Don Alonso a mathematical projection up to the year 2200 of the total number of inhabitants that would be living on the planet by that date using exactly the same percentages from 2010: a growth rate of 1.2 per cent and a world average of children per woman of 2.5. Do you know how many people there would be by 2200 if we were to continue growing as we are?”

“Don’t tell me any more of your stories, Álvaro, you know the growth rate is going to fall in the coming decades…”

“Well, yes, it would fall because it is assumed that ever more people will be convinced of what I’m now saying.

But if that were not the case and most thought like you, it would not fall.”

“But, I was saying, Miguel. According to that mathematical projection, if we were to continue at the same growth rate of 2010, the population would go from almost 7 billion to 66 billion by 2200. Obviously, the balance of the planet would be completely broken a long time before, within a few decades.”

“That’s why,” Álvaro continues, “and pardon me for contradicting you, the question isn’t so much whether the 140

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population should be planned or not, but rather whether this will occur whether we still have time to do it.”

“The best way to take care of life, as both you and Father Francisco say, Miguel, is by favoring the advent of harmonious societies that offer for centuries—as long as God allows—the ability for all human beings on the planet to have the satisfiers not only for a dignified life, but also to move forward with their potential. The rest is just words floating in the wind, and are even counterproductive for the life of the planet and its inhabitants.”

With that, they see the minivan with Juan waiting for them, so Gustavo, on noticing that his current interlocuter also had very clear ideas on several things, tries to make the most of his time until the very last minute and says, “Well, I think,” Gustavo says resignedly, “that the day flew by and just for my personal curiosity, I have one final question. You, who have such particular ideas, tell me as concisely as you can, now that you are talking about Europe, what do you think Don Alonso or you could do there to improve things a little?”

“As I have said, this unstable situation is a product of several factors combined, but to answer your question, I will only talk about the economy.”

“Don Alonso says, and I think he’s right, that in all eras of history, though we humans have been at the same pinnacle of knowledge, the truth is that we always, and right now, have a lot to learn about all sciences, including, of course, Economics.”

“And it’s essential,” Álvaro maintains, “and I agree with him, to advance a great deal more, which we’ll only achieve precisely when we can increase general education quite a bit more so that research capacity develops as it 141

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should. This is the only way we’ll advance the extraordinary human potential, which right now, as it always has been, is being wasted.”

“As Don Alonso mentioned a while ago, the people who historically have been able to take advantage of part of their capacity is an insignificant percentage, which constitutes the biggest mistake or crime committed by the human race.”

“And, by way of an example, Economics, due to its limited advance or evolution, is limiting its potential by putting human beings at the service of an economy that has not sufficiently evolved. What should be happening is that the economy is at the service of unmet human needs because, believe me, as long they exist or there is paltry development or unemployment, the economy is not doing its job properly.”

“And, according to you, what could be done?”

“Public investment must be channeled or adjusted in this direction, first to satisfy said shortages and then to give the entire population the work it deserves and the means to support itself.”

“What do you mean, my dear Álvaro?” Gustavo says, intrigued. “That sounds like something one of those economists called Keynes talked about, who mentioned the importance of achieving, among other things, ‘full employment.’”

“Since you mention this economist,” Álvaro says, “allow me to describe what, in my opinion, happened.”

“That economist was good, amongst others that existed such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo and several more.

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Unfortunately, in Latin America, Keynes acquired a bad reputation, given that many of his theories were applied disastrously due to the particular ideology of whoever implemented them.”

“Now, explains that to us.”

“The aim was,” Álvaro adds, “to use those economic theories to make a kind of amalgam with some theories that had been proven not to work. You could say that it was one of the worst possible ways they could have been applied.”

“And how do you know about that?”

“Well, I don’t know if I told you, but my degree is in Economics…” And he continues.

“And, as I said, what some nations did, primarily in Latin America, including unfortunately Mexico from 1970 to 1982, was precisely that. They increased state interventionism in the economy to then increase public spending through the state-owned sector. But, you know, even that gigantic error serves as an extraordinary lesson to evaluate what was done well and badly.”

“That state-owned experience,” he adds, “combined with an attempted increase in ‘demand’ through a terrible application of Keynesianism was one of the best recipes for disaster. Why? The ‘public’ company has shown itself to be inefficient and incapable of even reimbursing the treasure or society with the amount equivalent to what was invested in it. And in Mexico’s case, had we continued along that road, we would have been heading towards a disaster of colossal proportions.”

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disaster, eventually realized that the extremely high levels of internal and external debt were pointing to a ‘public sector’ deficit, unbridled inflation, devaluations and other problems, and decided to change course.”

“Faced with these undeniable results, they realized that those theories didn’t work and faced with the risk of confronting radical groups within their own party, many of whom had even separated from the political group and founded another one, they decided to drastically change the course.”

“But this change couldn’t be made suddenly. It had to be done gradually, and it wasn’t until the early 1990s that state interventionism in Mexico was coming to an end.”

“I’m telling you all this, gentlemen, because, as I was saying, we have here an extremely valuable experience, from which we must take both the good and the bad and learn in order to avoid ending up in similar situations.

And one of the conclusions would be that we can’t have extremes, that is, the State should participate in public investment, but not in the disastrous way it did during that period.” “Álvaro,” Gustavo says, “you mentioned the good part of that experience. What was it?”

“The good part of those decades was that Mexico experienced extremely outstanding economic development a little before 1970, which was recognized world-wide.

For many years we had sustained economic growth of 7 percent, inflation of less than that of our trade partners, almost zero debt and a solid currency. That’s why in the international financial field, they talk about the ‘Mexican miracle.’”

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“I don’t understand,” Gustavo replies. “Why did all that change?”

“Because of a simple wrong diagnosis by the political leaders of that time; it’s that simple. They evaluated—very lightly, and influenced by their particular ideology—that despite this exemplary economic growth, there were still very marginalized sectors and they thought that what was wrong, according to them, was the ‘economic system’ since they stated that ‘it was obsolete’ and replaced it with what I mentioned. It was a total disaster.”

“And why do you think that, despite this exemplary economic development of 1970, there were still very marginalized sectors?”

“For the same reasons we have been talking about. If the population growth rate is now still a little high, back then it was extremely high. We were doubling our population in a matter of 25 years and had a demographic growth rate similar to that which exists in some parts of Africa today. And, believe me, no economy on the planet will be able to double its satisfiers at that rate. I repeat, from 1970 a superficial and erroneous diagnosis was made on the true causes of social backwardness.”

“That’s why,” Álvaro continues, “Don Antonio Ortiz Mena correctly said after 1982, ‘If we had continued with the growth we had before 1970, oil would have appeared, we would have reduced the population growth rate and Mexico would have moved from being an underdeveloped country to being a developed country’. I fully agree with this statement of this extremely distinguished civil servant, known as Don Alonso.”

“And,” he continues, “don’t think that we only lost those twelve years. We were also at least doubly affected by 145

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the negative consequences because there was astronomical debt, state interventionism, inflation, devaluations, capital flight and other things we couldn’t solve in just a few years.”

“But,” Álvaro continues, “I don’t want to stray too far from your question, Mr. Mora. I spoke about this experience because you mentioned ‘Keynesianism’ as something negative. The harmful part was not Keynes’ theories, but their terrible application in relation to state interventionist policies.”

“But, in any case,” Álvaro says, “those two economic policies described—that of success and that of failure—involve a moral: that vast difference stems from something apparently very simple: the question is not whether or not the State intervenes in investment, but rather the key is in how it is done.

“Look,” Álvaro maintains, “the main feature of the channeling of resources before 1970 was that it was done through direct investment into production and, thereafter, an extraordinary amount of resources was channeled through state companies to supposedly stimulate ‘demand.’”

“This explains why the results were like going from day to night. Before 1970 there was order, stability and growth and thereafter came chaos, debt, inflation, devaluation, and there were even shortages of certain products. And there are the facts to corroborate this.”

“It’s your fault, Mr. Mora,” Álvaro says jokingly, “that I’m telling you all this, but it’s very relevant to what you asked me about my opinion of what could be done in Europe.”

“I thought,” he also says jokingly “that I had lost you to the other side.”

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“I talked about this,” Álvaro says, “because it was relevant.”

“I don’t want to bore you too much, Álvaro, but just for my own curiosity, how do you think that public resources can be channeled into a depressed economy like that of Europe or another similar economy?”

“Action must always be taken,” Álvaro says, “according to several basic elements: first, locating the actual social needs, then there must be some guarantee that the funds will be used in the designated area, and with the full possiblity of their recovery.”

“Furthermore, that added investment must redound, at a certain later time, to an increase equal to or greater than the area of goods and services. That way, there is a guarantee that stability is maintained parallel to growth, which will also tend towards a situation of ‘full employment.’”

“Believe me,” Álvaro insists, “when it’s not possible to achieve at least these elements, the economy is not fulfilling its mission properly.”

“Conversely, when state intervention is carried out correctly, these two basic objectives, among others, are fulfilled: one, the objective to meet certain social needs and two, the tendency towards a situation with a low unemployment index, since it’s the only way for a society to accomplish its potential, but under conditions of full stability.”

“That doesn’t sound bad, but lock that idea down in a practical way, or give me an example like you usually do.

What would you do if, for instance, you wanted to stimulate a depressed economy, but in a completely healthy way, applicable to the case of Europe or another one?”

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“In the specific case of Europe,” Álvaro says, “they let the problems I mentioned and several others grow, and you can’t take isolated action in only one area of the economy.

You have to try to improve other things at the same time.”

“However,” he continues, “let’s put aside the other elements for a moment, just for the purposes of an example.

A while ago I told you that the modern economy must serve man and not the other way round.

“Therefore,” Álvaro continues with great conviction, “one of the first steps would be to detect a certain social need and then seek to satisfy it through a correct investment in the active field, operating like a kind of ‘second floor bank.’ And, through the traditional banking system, with the objective of guaranteeing each peso spent, but also, I insist, conditioned to what I have just said, so that a subsequent increase in the field of goods and services can be generated.”

“And, once a legitimate need is detected, this is where resources are channeled and, as you asked me for a specific example, here’s one: green industry. It’s proven that in this field most parts of the world are going backwards.

Forests are being destroyed at a rate almost unquantifiable for every passing minute.”

“Look, for instance, at what’s happening right now in many places: there are unemployed people and, parallely, there are unmet needs, such as the green industry one I mentioned, and others. I think, gentlemen, that there the economy is not doing its job properly.”

“Do you know why I say this? When forestry investment and wood and cellulose production are managed well and in an ecologically responsible way, they become an excellent profitable and environmentally friendly option. Let 148

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me mention the case of the United States and Canada.

These two countries produce around 50% of the world’s wood pulp and, despite this, since this resource is well managed in those countries, their forests keep growing.”

Let’s observe how, despite their significant participation in global wood production, their forests grow more each year.”

“To better illustrate what I’m saying, I’ll give a smallscale, albeit valid, example because a nation is but the sum of all its individualities: on one occasion, to encourage reforestation and with the help of experts, we prepared here at the ranch a pilot study on forestry investment for a surface area of 250 acres sown with trees to obtain wood within a certain time. We proved that it was an excellent investment and beneficial to the environment.”

“Whether it be Europe of anywhere else, if the State does not take on a more participatory role in the face of a specific and clear need, like green industry and others, and ignores the large numbers of unemployed, things will get worse and I’ll tell you what will happen.”

“They will continue to have large numbers of people without work, paying them unemployment benefit, if that scheme exists in their country, instead of having most people working in productive activities. The easy path for the State to take is to cross its arms, but this is usually, counterproductive.”

“I mean, Mr. Mora, it all has to be according to a legitimate and viable human need and on a basis of economic realism in order to guarantee financial stability. In other words, what the State invests should then be projected into something real and tangible, and should result in an increase in ‘goods and services’ since with that we 149

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can successfully solve a problem and keep most people working and producing.”

“Seen from another perspective, Mr. Mora, the problem is not whether a resource is spent or not, but rather it all depends on ‘how’ it is spent, or more correctly, how it is invested. And if a certain expense by the State brings as a consequence an increase equal to or greater than that spent on the production of goods and services, I can assure you that the economy remains perfectly healthy and growing.”

“Playing ‘devil’s advocate’ Álvaro, I think your approach leaves out the ‘social’ cost, a key element of all modern States.”

“Oh, well, of course! These conditions I mention are indispensable, but they only refer to added investments used as ‘accelerators’ of the economy. The other budget items, such as social expenses in a modern State, are other subjects I haven’t even broached because that’s done traditionally by keeping incomings and outgoings balanced.”

“You’ve got me thinking, Álvaro. Of course, I‘m not an economist and I don’t know if you’re right or not, but what I do know is that it sounds interesting.”

With that, while they take a few more steps, Gustavo adds, still a little pensive, “Something has occurred to me.

Let’s say, Álvaro, that that strategy or monetary policy you speak of was implemented and let’s say it worked.

But, if I let my imagination fly, you say that the economy must be directed to social needs. However, if the variables, including population, stabilize, as you suggest, with the passing of the decades, those needs appearing now as urgent will be resolved and, according to what you 150

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propose, once that time comes, where will investment be focused?”

“We’d have to see, Mr. Mora,” Álvaro maintains. “But in that hypothetical moment there’s no need to worry because a true statist would immediately redirect the economy towards the greatest value of all: the human being as a person, seeking to make the most of its great potential. And that is not utopian.”

“Since we talked about assumptions,” Álvaro says, “and as you yourself say, let’s say we manage to get to a point where the needs have been met. At that moment, it will almost be necessary to redirect investment towards nature’s key value, which is man himself. And by proceeding thus, we substantially increase the level of education and research, and human capacity will rise to an unimaginable scale.”

And Álvaro continues, “I think I can explain it better with an example. Do you remember when Don Alonso told us that we should learn about the behavior of trees, which have two opposing phases?”

“In truth, Álvaro, I don’t remember too much about that, but explain it to me now, so I can see exactly what you mean.”

“A tree,” he says, pointing to one, “usually has two stages that, though both important, can’t be carried out at the same time. First is the ‘growth’ stage and then ‘fruiting.’

The second can’t take place until the first has stabilized.

“You see,” Álvaro continues, “if it grew in an unlimited manner, a long series of physical impossibilities would lead the tree itself, at a certain point, to feel that it has to stabilize its development, which is where fruiting takes 151

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place. It happens thus because its vital energy will now be channeled towards that transcendental second stage, which constitutes the main objective of its existence.”

“Something similar,” Álvaro says, “happens in our world.

Humanity’s main strength in the past has been directed, aside from barbarities such as wars, at trying to solve, with little success, countless shortages. But, as these are solved, our vital strength could be directed at the better known valuable element, which is the human being. And that will be the main and true change of civilization.”

“And how, specifically, would that happen?”

“That will be implemented by people of that era. The only thing I can assure you of is that for that next phase, stabilization in growth is required, together with the correct management of the other things by government and society in order to solve countless challenges that afflict us today. What follows will come automatically. I don’t know if we will see it, but I have no doubt at all that it will be thus.”

“Oh, Álvaro! You’ve no idea how sorry I am that the day has ended.”

With that, they finally arrive at the minivan, where Juan, the driver, looks at them expectantly.

“How are you, Juan?” Gustavo says. “I hope you didn’t get bored.”

“I always come prepared with something to read and I also went for a walk nearby. This place is really pretty.

The only bad thing is I have a slight stomachache…”

“Oh, dear! And why’s that?”

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“I ate a second helping. Joaquín brought me some food and then Álvaro, as he didn’t know, sent me some too and I really shouldn’t have kept it, but as it was all so delicious, I ate it all…” Álvaro says jokingly to Miguel: “You see, Miguel, what I was saying?”

Miguel is surprised and doesn’t know what he means…

“Remember, what I told you,” Álvaro says with a smile.

“Anything, no matter how ‘good’ or even how excellent it is, becomes a problem if the capacity to handle it is exceeded…”

“You’re going to start giving dumb examples,” Miguel replies. “But don’t think you can convince me.”

At that moment, when Gustavo look upwards, he can see countless stars filling the sky and there is no explanation of where so many came from. He decides to say goodbye before Miguel and Álvaro start another discussion, and interjects.

“Well, Álvaro, now we really are leaving and believe me, we’re very grateful for your time, the conversation and the company.”

“Delighted to have had a different day thanks to your visit… Oh, and hopefully at least some of what we spoke of will be of use, because there is so much that can and must be done.”

“We’ll pass it on…”

They say their friendly goodbyes and once they leave, Álvaro proceeds to close the gate and returns slowly to the ranch house.

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He can’t help feeling a little surprised, since he feels there has been a marked contrast in everything: just as that splendid afternoon has given way to the darkness of the night, in a similar way, once those unexpected guests have gone, the intense conversation has been replaced by a great silence.

Even the birds contribute to that unexpected stillness, though Ă lvaro knows very well that they do not intentionally behave like that, but as obedient followers of a mysterious protocol, which would surely show that once the sun goes they must be quiet. Only the slight breeze emits a gentle sound that kisses the leaves and grass and is accompanied by the song of some excited crickets.

He thinks to himself as he walks that no sound is needed because the impressive deep blue sky covered in stars seems to accompany it, since he almost feels that they are walking with him. In the same way, the wind that barely touches him brings an aroma of grass, which is like nothing he remembers‌ As he slowly walks, enjoying the exceptional moment, he also remembers the wide range of topics they discussed and something Don Alonso said to him comes to mind: God gifted us all different perspectives for a reason, so that by comparing them we can access a higher truth within the human context.

But, there are some positions, he says to himself, whose particular truth is not compared with that of others. Anyway, things are thus for a reason and surely each part of the world that surrounds us is important.

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that accompany us in the world were given a voice, what would they say about human behavior? How would they judge our actions?

It’s true, he says to himself, the thought is completely absurd. We’re surrounded by inanimate things. However, the bad thing would be, if it could be done, that we wouldn’t like their opinion at all. But here on this night, we exceptionally assume that those accompanying us can somehow express themselves. What would they say? Would their current silence be approval, prudence or even shame?

This is why Álvaro confidently justifies himself. If nature today has surprised everyone with its series of changes, let’s allow ourselves to be infected by its passing craziness and prudently let all those witnesses in the world acquire a voice just for today.

“The entire world will understand how right we are when we completely ignore human stupidity…”

“See what they do in their craziness. They call themselves wise, even say they are ‘homo sapiens’, and they are completely lost… “ “They do not realize that by straying off their path they put the world and all its wonders at risk…”

“The path we take in obedient silence could also be theirs, if they left their arrogance behind…”

“How do those, who in their craziness call themselves wise, act?”

“Some say one thing and others the opposite, and in the meantime the world turns and its creatures suffer…”

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“Oh, if only they would return to the route that was always very well signposted, treating each other like brothers…”

“If they turn to the sky, acknowledging He who made them and following his teachings, the world would stop weeping!”

“Forget that we spoke today! Let it not be recorded in the holy books that we offered our opinion without permission and broke our silence…”

“The stones want to speak, to tell them their truths, but we want to be obedient which is why we impede them…”

“We want to be obedient to what we were told at the start: that when we see mistakes, we only look and keep quiet…”

Alvaro keeps quiet as he gazes at the outline of the trees, also turning upwards, where they seem to look at all the stars. He feels the gentle breeze kiss his face, listens to the persistent song of crickets and ponders: I think it’s best they don’t say anything, that they keep silent, because their judgment, while perhaps just, would be disappointing.

With that, he arrives at the house and decides to have a drink before retiring to his room, when Benjamín and his brother Joaquín quickly come to ask him something.

“What happened to Don Alonso?”

“What are you talking about? Did he say something?”

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to his room, very pensive. I’ve noticed that when someone comes to visit, like those men today, this sometimes happens to him.”

“Why did you let them in, Joaquín?” Benjamín says, reprimanding his brother.

“That’s why I asked you first,” he replies. “And you told me to let them in…”

“Don’t worry too much,” Álvaro interjects. “The thing is that Don Alonso, though he doesn’t show it, quickly perceives others and when he sees something negative it annoys him a little, which is no one’s fault. Please don’t worry. I’ll go up to see if I can talk to him. Do stay calm, have a good night and sleep well.” Álvaro quickly goes upstairs to Don Alonso’s room and before knocking on the door, can hear the music from the opera Nabuco, but that does not abate his concern, quite the contrary, because he remembers that on similar occasions he did the same thing.

Once he enters the room, Álvaro immediately sees that Don Alonso is very concerned and says to him, “What did you think of the visit today?”

“They’re good people,” he says as he turns the volume down. “But I don’t think they’ll do anything that we told them.”

“Why do you think that?”

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is that they’ll sidestep the issue or put it to one side. And also, if they think there’s any risk, they’ll be even less inclined.”

“On the other hand, Álvaro, aside from the fact that, according to them, they might think there’s a political risk, they’ll probably realize that the eventual positive results won’t be reflected in the short term, in other words, during the term of the current administration, and that will have an even greater influence on them not giving it the importance it requires.”

“I’ll tell you this,” he adds, “despite the fact that I think the current administration has good intentions and the ability, I do think that the matter might get stuck with middle management. And remember that, to top it all, there are certain opposing political groups that will systematically oppose almost anything that’s proposed to them.”

“Aside from everything, don’t think that this incorrect attitude of many is limited to the political arena; it extends to all kinds of human behavior overall. A very common way of behaving is to try to impose our own point of view, thinking that we can better see the true scope of things and we try to twist them in a certain direction, depending on our own convenience or opinions.”

“As proof of that,” he continues, “you‘ll see what will happen with the demographic issue: there are sectors, such as the ultra-conservative extreme right, that’ll slyly and automatically oppose anything that looks like population planning and that will be very serious, you’ll see.

Because if the population growth rate doesn’t fall to a more reasonable level, the problems we have today will barely be a prelude to much more instability.”

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“Furthermore, Álvaro, don’t think that this problematic situation is exclusive to our country. It extends to almost three quarters of the world, which is how much of the world is considered to be underdeveloped, and what makes a problem more dangerous is precisely when it’s not identified as such…”

“And as I said a while ago: using the particular methodology used in demographic measurement, annual growth is associated with a base that’s increasingly growing, which produces the false impression that, in percentage terms, we have a true ‘falling’ rate and the majority is convinced that this is a problem that’s already been solved.”

“I was thinking about that,” Don Alonso continues, “and I’m sure that when Mr. Mora, despite his excellent intentions, puts the matter to other people, they’ll simply show him the ‘falling’ percentages I mention and won’t see it from the perspective we set out. Therefore, as Mr. Mora won’t want to get into a conflict with his superiors, the matter will be filed away.”

“Do you know something, Álvaro? I’m not so worried about the issues discussed as such, but rather the attitude many take towards them. It’s true that there are people who realize many things very well, but the vast majority is occupied in other matters.”

“But, okay,” Álvaro replies. “Though you’re right, you mustn’t worry too much either… By the way,” he says, trying to deliberately divert his attention onto something else, “I‘ve sometimes noticed that you listen to that opera Nabuco, which by the way is very good. Is there something in particular about it?”

“I don’t know, my esteemed Álvaro,” he says, “if you’re familiar with the context of its story, but let me describe it…”

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“Of course…” he nods quickly, still wishing to distract him.

“That opera is about a tragedy in a town in Israel, when Jerusalem had been destroyed several centuries before Christ and many of its inhabitants were taken captive to Babylonia. They obviously, according to the author, started yearning for old times. Listen to that part of it where it says:” “Oh, my country, so beautiful and lost! Oh, remembrance, so dear and so fatal! Golden harp of the prophetic seers.

Why dost thou hang mute upon the willow.?”

“Let me tell you honestly, Álvaro. The world’s golden harp has also been forever quiet, hanging uselessly from a tree, when it could be playing extraordinary melodies of love, peace and harmony for all, but human blindness has impeded it.”

“Because look,” he continues, “there are times when I listen to that opera because I make a kind of analogy. Each time the people of Israel strayed off track a tragedy happened, such as being held captive in Babylonia. And do you know what? The world’s golden harp has, of course, remained still and silent during all those centuries and no one even knows of its existence because we assume an attitude that does not allow our eyes to see.”

“I’ve always thought, Álvaro, that human beings were designed differently, so that we were as innocent as children and simply followed a certain established path, because human ability is very limited and we aren’t able to see clearly the true scope and consequence of our actions…”

“Listen,” he says, “shall I tell you what’s worse?”

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“What, Don Alonso?”

“That we think we can see without being able to do so.

Imagine a person who has no sight and can’t or doesn’t want to admit it. What would happen to him? He would be constantly falling over. If we look back at history there is no century that isn’t full of all kinds of mistakes.”

“And now I ask you: how can you ask me not to worry, when we can palpably see that, while many things can be fixed, there are some who don’t put enough effort into this and others who flatly try to impede it?”

“How can someone not worry when we see that human blindness causes physical and human misery, desolation and the world dies of cold?” Álvaro is unable to articulate a response as he admits how right Don Alonso is and, without knowing what to say, just manages to state, “Don Alonso, tomorrow is another day and, as you yourself have told me, each night is followed by day and each storm brings calm. There’s always a solution for everything and tomorrow we’ll keep talking about it.”

“Okay, Álvaro, see you tomorrow and we’ll talk. But I can’t stop thinking how different things could be! Anyway…”

With that they say goodnight and Álvaro also retires to his room, deeply unsettled, not so much because of the almost zero expectations he also has, but because of the concern he see in Don Alonso.

It’s a bad combination in one person, Álvaro says to himself as he heads to his room, when on the one hand a strong perception of problems is combined with a certain 161

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knowledge of the reasons behind them. Someone like that is perfectly aware of mistakes and how they are made, and feels helpless to correct them.

That’s why, he continues meditating as he enters his own room, the great King Solomon said: ‘The greater the knowledge, the greater the desire” since, as a person has a greater level of consciousness about his surroundings, he will be more concerned about problems, and even more so when that greater perception leads him to realize there’s not much he can do.

But well, he said to himself resignedly, I’m going to try not to fall into the same trap and, as I said to Don Alonso: tomorrow is another day.

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Chapter X Night follows day After having stayed up very late reading to ease his restlessness, Álvaro awakens startled some time before dawn wanting to talk again with Don Alonso about many things that were left unresolved…

He suddenly remembers that Don Alonso often likes waiting for dawn on a small hill near the house, known as ‘the hillock,’ where he sits on the eastern side of the hill. And on that day in particular, Álvaro is sure that, due to the anxiety he perceived in him the night before, he will surely be there almost as punctually as the appearance of a new day.

Aside from everything, he says to himself as he gets dressed, Don Alonso is quite right to enjoy that unparalleled spectacle of daybreak as often as he can, since it seem as if nature is forcing itself to gift us something very special.

Once he has put on his poncho to protect himself from the morning cold and as he leaves the house, as is the custom of all those people who are in contact with the countryside, he turns to the sky to see if the weather has changed and sees that everything is pretty much the same, with the same light breeze blowing from the north, though the thermometer has not fallen too much.

Nevertheless, it means that there is no sign of a cloud in the sky and the only thing he can see is that magnificent coverage of stars which, untouched by anything, has moved and is now sitting comfortably facing west.

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How right Benjamín was, he thought when he taught me to tell the time just by looking at the position of the stars. Nature, he also acknowledges, is there to teach us things. It just has to talk. Though, as he also thought last night, it would be better if it didn’t.

As he walks to that small hill known as ‘the hillock,’ feeling that light but pleasant breeze on his face, he sees the moon is now in the east, lit only in its lower part with Venus to one side. But that partial illumination of our natural satellite makes it look like a half moon with its horns facing up, which also makes his imagination fly during that brief journey.

Of course, he thinks, back in the olden days the early observers of the sky were not aware, among other things, that the moon and stars are on two very different planes and the distance between them is vast, since the moon is a few hundred thousand kilometers from them and the stars are light years away. This means that, with a superficial human eye, a very interesting optical illusion is produced when they move in the sky at different speeds, and certainly catch your attention.

The ‘backward’ movement of 45 minutes a day of our satellite in relation to the sky meant that many ancient peoples had the ‘clear’ idea that the stars were coming out of the moon, when what was really happening was that they were only hidden by it.

At that point, Álvaro remembers what Don Alonso once said to him: that many Pagan towns in the olden days under the rule of Isis, Diana, Artemis and others, considered the moon not only a deity, but the very ‘mother of goddesses’ since, visually speaking, those civilizations had in reality the clear perception that many stars, which they also considered gods, ‘were born’ or came from our satellite.

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Of course, it becomes evident that most of the statues of these Pagan gods, due to their association with the moon and the firm establishment of that belief, were considered the ‘mother of the Gods’ or the ‘queen of the sky’ and had a half moon with its horn facing up placed on the soles of its feet.

And what a curious thing, he continues thinking, as he arrived. I think that most people and even some religious leaders, in their eagerness to want to do things in their own way by encouraging the worship of certain images that still attract those symbols of olden times, can’t even imagine where they truly come from.

With that, he arrives at the small hill, but as he has come in from one side, he already knows the path facing east of it, which is where a privileged view can be seen facing the sunrise and where he expected to find Don Alonso.

And as soon as he turns to a large stone, he is presented with a unique spectacle: Don Alonso with his arms raised, surely praying to God. This stops him in his tracks because what he least wants is to interrupt this special moment. He already knows that Don Alonso is a man with very firm convictions about God and surely wants to make good use of this unparalleled moment, believing that he is alone in order to address Him. Therefore, he decides to wait a little and goes back discreetly, taking advantage to enjoy for his part this beautiful spectacle in the sky, knowing that once the sun punctually appears, he will be able to speak with Don Alonso.

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In order not to return home, he sits down and leans his foot against a tree, enjoying everything, including an unparalleled aroma of grass.

Nevertheless, as he has not slept much that night, sleep gets the better of him and without meaning to he falls asleep right there.

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He does not know how much time has passed, but the incipient luminosity of the new day and the enthusiastic bird song wakes him unexpectedly, since he is not expecting so much time to have passed.

He hastily arrives at the place he knows and Don Alonso is no longer there. As he turns to the ground, he sees that he left a book open, in which he has written something.

And since he knows that he sometimes suddenly starts writing things down, he decided to keep his writings, with his consent.

Therefore, he looks at the open book and can read what is written: The true painter.

If we judge by what we see, surely we are wrong, because things exist in the world, that we don’t even perceive from afar…

There is a painter who does things that should amaze us, but as we see them each day, we are perhaps used to them…

Other painters of the world believe that painting is copying things that artists have already done…

Only the true painter is he who made life and canvas, he who drew the stars and made them spin …

Only the true painter knows how to make things so beautiful, striving also to transform and give the gift of life….

He takes life from the same powder, changes the face of things, and on the same day changes embellishments, transforming their colors…

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That is why the blue we see now all full of stars will in a while become clearer, along with the hidden stars…

And all this because he waits for you to take his hand, to always help your brother, thus becoming part of the canvas…

As soon as he has read it, he takes the whole book so he can later ask for his permission to keep it.

He quickly heads to where the workers are gathering, where Benjamín assigns the day’s tasks, trusting he will find him there.

He suddenly sees him from afar, with his now famous poncho, looking to the ground, completely absorbed in countless things. And within a few minutes he reaches him and, trusting his mood to be different on this new day, says to him, “Hi, Don Alonso, good morning!”

“My esteemed Álvaro, good morning! How are you?”

“Don Alonso,” he says, showing him the book he found on ‘the hillock.’ “I found this book there on the ground at ‘the hillock.’ Can I keep it?”

“Of course. Why do you want to keep it?”

“I took the liberty of looking inside and there are a few lines that you wrote. I promised your children that whenever I saw your notes I’d keep them.” And he adds, “Can I tell you something, Don Alonso? I could take notes from it; write some poems, or something…”

“Well, there’s no point, the poem is already written. The problem is that we can’t see it.”

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“The poem is already written? Did you do something I don’t know about?”

“No, it wasn’t me who wrote it, and I don’t mean that.

The true poem is already written and we should instead be thinking about not breaking it.” Álvaro is confused and Don Alonso adds, “The true poem is already in everything, but we can’t even see it. It’s in the laughter of a child, a tree, dawn, the stars in the sky, that flower over there—and he points to it—the wind.

There are teachings and things to admire even in apparent problems, but we can’t see it. And he adds, “The challenge is to discover it and look after it.”

With that, Álvaro realizes that he is back to his old self, and his mood is fortunately already different from that of the day before, so he takes advantage of this and says to him, “You’re calmer now. What did you think of yesterday’s visit?

“Oh, you can tell! I was so foolish to come to such silly conclusions.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look, when we see stubbornness and short-sightedness suddenly appearing in everyone, myself included, we start making judgments and very often are completely mistaken.”

“Yesterday,” he continues, “I was very worried, thinking, in my poor superficial opinion, that things were working, sociologically speaking, in an erratic manner. And the truth is that I came here early today to meditate on ‘the hillock’ right where you found the book and, thank God, now I see things very differently.”

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“So, how do you see them, Don Alonso?”

“The fact that things work like that, apparently erratically, among many other factors and things we don’t even understand, doesn’t mean that they’re wrong, but rather that it’s a manifestation of the vast wisdom and goodness of the person who made everything.”

“You see,” he continues, “once we humans, wanting to look smart, take another path, the Lord, instead of destroying everything he has made and perhaps making it again, as you and I might do, moves things around with a purpose that not even the majority understand, transforming it into an enormous test field to separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“Oh, the wonderful wisdom of he who made everything!

Believe me, my good man, the more I think about it, the more surprised I am by what we see. And how foolish of me not to even see it! How terrible!” Álvaro deliberately decides not to say anything to allow him to keep sharing his always singular perspective.

“It’s true, Álvaro. And there will still be people who follow other things, but, fortunately, we’ll all be judged with an individual opinion. And our obligation is not to judge because we can’t even see anything, nor are we capable of interpreting the slightest similar behavior. Rather, we must focus on doing what has to be done.”

“And, first of all, we humans must trust in He who made everything, who will regenerate things in the best way whenever He wishes. Are we going to become judges?

That would be wrong, the mere idea I think is a mistake.”

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and you have no idea how glad I am to hear this, and I completely agree.”

“And, lastly,” Álvaro adds, “do you think that something will be done about what we spoke about yesterday?”

“I don’t think they’ll do anything at all for the reasons I mentioned,” he replies. I hope I’m wrong, but it’s not their first priority. Look, there’s a North American writer I once read, who said: ‘Do the best you can each day and leave the result to God.’” “If it’s done or not done, or why is it or why isn’t it…

That’s a matter outside our competence. We’ve fulfilled our task by discussing it.”

“I’ll tell you,” he repeats. “For many years I said similar things at the Society I told you about. I said it through all possible channels: radio, television, books. I would have wanted to do much more, but it was impossible. But I can’t get upset. As I say, you have to trust in He who handles everything because He can get things done. The fact that we don’t understand it is another matter. As for the rest… You know what? The rest of us are foolish, and I’m the first of them.”

With that Amarildo arrives from the house to tell him something, “Don Alonso, your friend, the historian Antonio Muñiz, has just called to see if he can come talk to you again.”

“Of course! Where is he now?”

“He’s in Zamora and he’s asking if we can pick him up.

By the way, I have to go there this weekend to see my girlfriend Ana Bertha. If you like, I’ll bring him.”

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“Good idea!” Don Alonso replies. And if you like, Álvaro, go visit your girlfriend Esther because if she doesn’t see you,” he says jokingly, “she’s going to want to kill me, eh! And give her my regards, too. On the way back bring my friend Antonio and his wife. I’m sure they’ll bring me some interesting books.”

“I’m going to take a walk in the high part, Álvaro. If you want to go, just talk with Benjamín about how you’ll organize the fertilizer next week before you leave today, and we’ll see each other soon for breakfast.”

And so they watch Don Alonso walk away at his characteristically slow pace. Who knows what he’s thinking about.

It almost even seems that the wind and the surroundings agree with him and accompany him, though their vote of silence stops them expressing any opinion.

Furthermore, if they could express themselves, or at least be understood, maybe they would say something like this: “How right we were,” the winds would surely say. “We were wise,” the water would also say, “when we were silent…”

“When time is up and those waters swell, damaging everything in their wake, they will return to their riverbeds just in time…”

“And fortunate are those who will be well planted on the river banks, always with leaves, fruiting well and on time…”

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Dedication: This book is dedicated to that small or large part of Don Alonso we all, to some degree, carry inside us, which for many reasons cannot keep its head above water.

Acknowledgements: This book would not exist without the historian Don Antonio Muñiz Pajín’s diligent revision, Ana Sofía Ochoa Ricoux’s cover illustration, Griselda Samaniego Barrón’s economic analysis and Luis Tovar Carrillo’s typography and book binding.

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The SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFÍA Y ESTADÍSTICA, A.C. was founded in 1833

by Valentín Gómez Farías.

Its members have included many of Mexico’s most distinguished intellectuals, scientists and politicians, such as Andrés Quintana Roo, Mariano Otero, Melchor Ocampo, José María la Fragua, Manuel Orozco y Berra, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, Leopoldo Río de la Loza, Ignacio Ramírez (El Nigromante), Gabino Barreda, Santos Degollado, Justo Sierra, Joaquín García Icazbalceta, Luis Bolland Kumackl, Vicente Riva Palacio, Félix Palavicini, Miguel Schultz, Guillermo Prieto, Antonio Caso, Emilio Portes Gil, Jesús Silva Herzog, Jesús Reyes Heroles, Daniel Cosío Villegas, Jaime Torres Bodet, Julio Zamora Bátiz, Ignacio Chávez, Miguel Alemán Valdés, José Clemente Orozco, Alfonso Reyes, Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, Adolfo López Mateos and a large number of distinguished characters, by virtue of which this meritorious institution is considered a precursor to the nation’s cultural independence.

Its founder, the physician Don Valentín Gómez Farías, while Interim President of the Mexican Republic, dedicated part of his free time to attending to the victims of a cholera epidemic that invaded Mexico City.

Gustavo Cruz Santiago

Juan M. Ochoa T.

If you wish to be amazed by discovering the extraordinary potential that lies inside every human being, and if you would also like to do so in an enjoyable, clear way, you must read this book.

It will also help you better understand the true origin of many of the conflicts that at the moment seem inexplicable.

Therefore, we take the liberty of guaranteeing that the perception you have of certain keys matters will change after enjoying every one of its pages.

4 SOCIEDAD MEXICANA DE GEOGRAFĂ?A Y ESTADĂ?STICA, A. C.