ON EMPOWERMENT

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What’s on today: A post on empowerment, inspired by a Writers’ Island prompt. Have you had a go yet? … PLUS … Links to a few recent posts. Can you resist?
YOU KNOW IT’S THE WRITE WAY

ON EMPOWERMENT

We all feel the need. You know, to be empowered. As consumers you feel ‘consumer choice’ empowers you, but this may be an illusion. For the more I look at the ‘system’, the more it seems we are serfs, tied to restrictive lifestyles to afford it.
The whole idea of the ‘west’ could hold a similar illusion. For instance, we are ‘empowered’ by freedom. But freedom is a pretty relative kind of thing. You can be who you want to be, as long as you have mortgage, fat pension plan, two cars, designer clothes, two holidays a year and a predilection towards ‘faddish’ purchasing.

Some are empowered by ‘doing’ good causes.

We class such people as ‘selfless’, but it’s kind of nice to be seen as such. Gives a buzz. But isn’t that rather selfish? Indeed, it seems to me that most people who crave empowerment do so because they are under confident in themselves. Empowerment is more a ‘need’ to bolster self-esteem.
Democracy is seen as the route to empowerment, but this is a route that needs warning signs. The ultimate democracy is ‘direct democracy’, with everyone having a vote on every issue.

The problem with this are minorities.

Would we all be fair and allow minorities to exist? Or would the majority destroy the freedom of minorities to exist? And seeing that we all belong to a ‘minority’ of sorts, the end road of democracy could be power for the State, and none for the individual.
For this reason, we enjoy ‘representative democracy’ in the west, where we loan our ‘freedoms’ to politicians. But sometimes we need to remind them that it is only borrowed. Too many see it as ‘empowerment’ for themselves.

© Anthony North, February 2008

FEEL THE POWER

This is the story of McCall,
a man who had no power at all;
He should have been having a ball,
for a lady he did enthrall;
But this wasn’t enough for McCall,
power he wanted, that’s all;
But eventually he was in for a fall,
as his hold on power did stall;
For another challenged him for it all,
and it ended in a brawl;
It was clearly the end for McCall,
as he laid blooded, hurt and small;
It was then, if I recall,
that his lady offered it all;
Following a kiss, McCall stood tall,
and realised that love was real power,
that’s all

HAVE YOU SEEN MY LATEST POSTS AND POEMS YET?

The Weather - Find out all about the weather, in verse.

Message From the Edge of Death - A poem and short essay about - well, death.

Distant Thoughts - A short short story about apologising

Thirteen Places I’d Like To Be - A list about imagination. Slightly surreal, I suppose.

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TIME CRIME

This is a post inspired by a Sunday Scribblings prompt. Have you had a go yet?

It seemed a straight forward kind of case when I was first called. ‘Detective Inspector Nova,’ the Guv had said. ‘Get over to the Aldridge Estate. I think we’ve got a strange one for you.’

Well, ‘strange’ wasn’t in it.

Normally, missing persons don’t get to me; especially when it’s a sixteen year old from a sink estate. Runaways were frequent there. But as the uniforms advised when I arrived at the address, this was a ‘nice’ girl – even went to school without being chased.
I introduced myself to the mother: ‘DI Cass Nova,’ I said. And for the next hour I found out all about the girl. And I had to admit, there was something in it.

You can smell such cases – that feeling, deep inside.

It was as if a detective is really a time traveller, reliving what happened, working it out. And as I exited the flat, I felt the menace of this place – the gangs, the drugs, the guns. How could people live like this?
There was a typical gang across the street as I approached my car. Five of them, obviously headed by the Hoodie. He was staring at me, but I only saw the arrogance, then. The inquisitiveness – the sense of edginess – was missed.

My destination was a flat at the other end of the estate.

The girl’s mother had talked of Pete – a friend of her daughter’s. Well, not really a friend. More a ‘mission’. And as I knocked on the door, even I was unprepared for what greeted me.
Pete was obviously a paranoid schizophrenic. He peeked, tentatively through the crack in the door – perused my ID for an age.
He was lanky, pasty, and as he sat on his unmade, dirty bed, you couldn’t help notice the tin-foil cap he had fashioned on his head. ‘To keep the aliens out?’ I asked.
He looked at me as if I was stupid. Eventually, he said: ‘No, they come from the future in their time machine. I don’t want to help them, but they make me.’
I mentioned the girl. Pete was immediately on edge. I gave him a moment or two to collect his thoughts. Moved to the window. Looked out. Was that the same gang outside? And this time, I did notice the edginess.
‘So what about the girl?’ I eventually asked ….

Well, Pete told me about the girl, alright.

About how she’d been the only one who’d talk to him, how she’d befriended him, and recently come to him, in trouble, after witnessing a severe beating by a gang.
And then, what the ‘voices’ had told him to do …

My intention had been to race to the old derelict house Pete had mentioned, but as I radiod in the location, I noticed the gang was still outside. The Hoodie wasn’t with them, which I found intriguing. Hence, I drove around the corner and parked – doubled back on foot and watched.
The Hoodie eventually emerged from a back entrance to the flats. When they’d gone, I went in, followed his most likely route, and came across the vacant flat, a tiny hole drilled into a wall, Pete’s flat on the other side.

They found the body of the girl in the derelict house.

She’d been badly beaten. Forensics did their own job going back in time. That’s what forensics did – reconstruct the past, telling a story of what happened before. And Pete’s DNA was all over the girl, and the blooded baseball bat close by. But if only that had been the whole story …

It was the next day I approached a Hoodie as he came out of his parent’s flat. The whole story had been pieced together now, not that I could prove it, though. The girl had seen the Hoodie and his gang beat someone up. They had seen her and followed her – realized who she was friends with.
So he’d worked out the plan – make the hole in the wall to talk through, to give him ‘instructions’, claiming he was from the future, like the other voices. And Pete had done as he was told. After all, the voices knew, didn’t they?
‘You can’t prove nothing,’ the Hoodie said as I grabbed him by the collar – squeezed.

Which was true. There were no witnesses – no forensics in the room.

‘But don’t worry,’ I said, ‘I’ll get you for something. Eventually.’
As for Pete, he was deemed mentally unfit to face trial. And it was doubtful it would be murder, anyway. Which was the real tragedy, here. For she had not died straight away. He had locked her in a room and left. Where she came round, and for twelve hours before she eventually died, she was trapped in her own time machine of hell.

© Anthony North, February 2008

China and Regional Power China wants to join the world. Then change.

History of Philosophy - Introduction - The first short post in my history of philosophy.

Shaking Beds - Reflecting on Britain’s little earthquake.

THIRTEEN PLACES I’D LIKE TO BE

READ MY ULTIMATE MAGAZINE POST - Posted every Mon, Tues & Fri (inc poetry)
What’s on today: Just when I thought I’d found all the good prompt/meme sites, along comes another, Thursday Thirteen … PLUS … a couple of my recent, thoughtful, posts.
YOU KNOW IT’S THE WRITE WAY

THIRTEEN PLACES I’D LIKE TO BE

So this is my first time at Thursday Thirteen. Not sure I’ve grasped all the rules yet, but hope you enjoy my contribution. And I look forward to receiving lots of lovely links in the comments, through which I’ll hopefully meet a few more friends.

13. Holding the singularity in my fist just before the Big Bang - just one squeeze and, hey, I’m God.

12. The top of the Pyramid of Giza - must combat my vertigo.

11. Waiting in the alley close to the Garden of Gethsemane - Judas, I’d say, are you sure you want to do this?

10. Waiting by a tree in the Garden of Eden - Hey, Eve, I’d say, go girl!

9. Waiting in an alley for my bank manager - nuff said.

8. Waiting by a gutter in 1849. Picking up Poe, shaking him and saying: Not yet, man, you’ve much more to write.

7. Catching an apple as it fell from a tree - now where’s your inspiration gonna come from, Newton!

6. On a journey to the Moon, at the centre of the Earth, in a time machine and 20,000 leagues under the sea - because it has been imagined.

5. Everywhere we haven’t imagined yet.

4. The event horizon of a Black Hole - just so I can get a taste of infinity.

3. Having an argument with that idiot guy who directs my dreams.

2. Within the meme creator’s mind just before deciding ‘thirteen’ - seven would be much easier.

1. Where I’m about to go, but two minutes before I get there.

(c) Anthony North, February 2008

HAVE YOU SEEN MY LATEST POSTS YET?

Distant Thoughts - a short short story about apologising.

Message From the Edge of Death - A poem and essay about - well, death.

The Machine Society - a short essay on what tech is doing to society.

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Have you tried my current affairs Blog?
EYE ON THE WORLD
Super short comment on politics, environment,
crime, media, society and more
THOUGHTS FROM A COMMON MAN
From a real voice of Britain, of relevance
to the world
… PLUS …
Introductory pages on cults, conspiracy
theories, paranormal and true crime

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DISTANT THOUGHTS

This is a post inspired by a Three Word Wednesday prompt. Have you had a go yet?

She sat, cross-legged, on the patchwork rug, her face blank.
Thoughts raced within her, as if a torrent of emotion, yet never reaching expression.
‘Maybe I’ll never connect with the world again’, she thought.
But why?
He stood before her, as handsome as ever, as appealing as ever, but somehow distant.
It was as if he was no longer there for her; and she didn’t blame him.
‘I must consider what to do.’
He seemed to smile then – as she thought.
She looked at him, stared at him, wanted to devour him, but …
‘I know you want an apology,’ she said, ‘I know you deserve one, but … ‘
It was so hard.
It was so hard to even focus on what she had done.
To remember what she had done.
To remember …
… him.

He seemed even more distant now, as if there was little time –
as if he might evaporate.
She thought of the raging things going on in her mind.
She knew it had to be as much for her as for him.
We MUST think like that to take the despair of things not said,
Not done,
When it’s too late.
‘I apologise,’ she said as he disappeared, finally, from her view.
She was alone once more, with her rug, his ashes -
and their memories.

© Anthony North, February 2008

OUR FRIENDS FROM OUTER SPACE

What would an alien llfeform be like? And what can we expect them to do about US, should they ever really arrive on planet Earth? As to the reality of alien forms, we should refer to Arthur C Clarke, who advised that if you want to theorise on what they would look like, visit a zoo.
In doing so, the sheer diversity of life-types you will see will tell you it is impossible to speculate on alien-forms unless we actually see them. But what about their motive, and the eventual fate of ourselves?

HOLLYWOOD FUN

Hollywood gives us oodles of scenarios, usually based around the basic idea of malevolence. Words such as ‘invasion’ abound, as if they will be superior beings wiping us out without a second thought.
Whether this is based on reasoned argument, or whether it is a fact that friendly, cuddly aliens wouldn’t make a spectacular movie - ET excepted - I’ll leave to you. However, that they would have superior technology goes without saying.
After all, they’d have got here, wouldn’t they? But to understand alien psychology, perhaps we would be best advised to look at ourselves, our past, and our probable future.

EVOLUTION AND SPACE TRAVEL

During the nervy days of the Cold War, mankind learnt the power of technology. We had to - we could have destroyed ourselves if we hadn’t. And this is perhaps the most important point to realise about any alien forms who had broken out of planetary confinement to explore deep space.
Technology is so powerful that if people don’t learn to live with each other, we’ll destroy ourselves. And as evolution seems to be a constant of life, then we can argue that, to get to the stage of star travel, then the lesson would have to be learnt or any alien form would have wiped itself out before going to the stars.

FRIEND OR FOE OR …

Bearing this point in mind, we can argue that any alien form that reaches us will be benevolent, realising the importance of getting on with others. So the most likely scenario for alien contact should not involve our total destruction by a race of Klingon-like warriors.
However, this does not necessarily mean we will be safe. For there could be a sting in the tail - lf they have one, that is.
It is all to do with sentience. We, as a species, have self-awareness. It is this which makes us human, and our awareness leads to a distinct category of behaviour patterns concerning other animals.
Classifying ourselves as the most sentient beings on planet Earth, we naturally put ourselves at the top of the evolutionary tree. Some other animals, we decide, are not that far behind us. Close runners-up are dolphins, dogs, monkeys and cats.
Due to the degree of sentience we have allowed them, we keep them as cuddly pets or planet-mates and have a distinct dislike for anyone who hurts them.
On the other hand, cows, pigs and sheep are thought to be, in a word - thick. Hence, rather than treating them as near equals we farm them, kill them, chop them up and roast them.
We don’t do it for nasty reasons, but for survival requirements - we need to eat (vegetarians excepted). However, we can argue that any alien form that visits us would have a superior intelligence to us.
Which prompts the question, would they class US as sentient? Let us hope so. For if not, no matter how benevolent they may think they are, we could be dog meat.

(c) Anthony North, February 2008

Click MYSTERIES at top of site for more posts on the unexplained

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Have you tried my current affairs Blog?
EYE ON THE WORLD
Super short comment on politics, environment,
crime, media, society and more
THOUGHTS FROM A COMMON MAN
From a real voice of Britain, of relevance
to the world
… PLUS …
Introductory pages on cults, conspiracy
theories, paranormal and true crime

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MESSAGE FROM THE EDGE OF DEATH

Death is our greatest fear, and our only certainty. Lucky for us that, for the most part, life is so busy and interesting that we rarely contemplate it - for to do so would leave us a miserable species, indeed.
This said, it is quite likely that the first expression of known religion, culture and art came because of death. As long as 30,000 years ago, we left evidence of ritual burial. Indeed, until recently, death was central to our culture.
Also of vital importance was the idea of afterlife. Death simply could not be the end. There had to be more, so we had to have continuance upon death. From the Christian heaven, to mythological lands and palaces, death was transition from one existence to another.

MESSAGE FROM THE EDGE OF DEATH

I think I’m dying, I think I’m done,
so much living, it’s been such fun;
I’m not sure that I deserve to die,
I’ve been good and vibrant, never sly

Life’s for living in all it’s glory,
literature has told its marvellous story;
Musicians and artists; life, they adore,
damn it! I love it! I want more!

Life’s a wonder, to be understood,
I’m not to be snatched through lack of blood;
science and philosophy got it to a tee,
imbuing us all with curiosity

But as I face my final breaths,
I contemplate: will it be the fiery depths?
Please! I can’t take this thing called Hell,
to send me ‘up’ - that’d be swell

Heaven sounds much more to my taste,
but still don’t send with so much haste;
Maybe neither exist at all,
did we create them, ‘cos we feel small?

Life seems just too short to take,
so an afterlife we’d naturally make;
Without it, then what’s it all about?
All that knowledge, of which we shout

Maybe we become universal essence,
that would be so very pleasant;
But not yet, not me, my heart does ache,
for more life, to partake;
So, God,
give me a break!

(c) Anthony North, February 2008

This is a post inspired by Totally Optional Prompts. Have you had a go yet?

A Little Xtra - IMAGES OF AFTERLIFE

From where does our idea of afterlife come from? Many people, today, claim to have near death experiences, where they rise from their body, travel down a tunnel, and meet a bright light that questions whether death should yet come.
Intriguingly, there have been experiments on deep faints, and often similar symbolism can be remembered, usually aping the cultural inheritance of the experiencer. Is this evidence of a form of ‘symbolic’ afterlife deep in our psyche?
Ancient tribal ritual was known to be based on hysterical dancing forms, resulting in the deep faint. It was viewed as a process of death and rebirth, with the adept ‘dying’ and coming back to life.
With such a cultural inheritance, it is hardly surprising we have religions.

(c) Anthony North, February 2008

THE WEATHER

WELCOME TO GREEN SCENE - the Magazine Post on the Environment
What’s on today: A poem inspired by a ReadWritePoem prompt. Have you had a go yet?
… PLUS … a few essays on Green issues from my archives. Enjoy.
SAVE THE PLANET - or you’ll be sorry!

THE WEATHER

We love our weather, it’s no joke,
without it we’d most likely choke;
There’d be no air without the weather,
best to keep it, for our endeavour

In many places, it’s taken for granted,
usually where the same climate’s planted;
but in my Britain, it goes from sunny to bleak,
that’s why about it, we often speak

The atmosphere is the key to it all,
Earth has gravity so it don’t fall;
It orbits the sun, our friendly star,
not too near, and not too far

If closer the air would burn away,
animals and plants wouldn’t be able to stay;
Further away, and the air would freeze,
that would be chilly, if you please

Forecasters tell about the weather each day,
although at times I think they prey;
We’re often suspicious of what they’re selling,
it’s no better than fortune telling

Climate can affect our mood,
when electro-magnetic waves intrude;
they affect our mind, can make us morose,
it’s no coincidence in storms we see ghosts

The weather gets worse as the planet warms,
bringing those evil, vicious storms;
Cars and factories spew carbon out,
of climate change, there’s little doubt

Apocalypse can be our eventual fate,
beware of this before it’s too late,
comets and bombs, those nasty things,
nuclear winter comes on angel’s wings

So know the weather, it’s our friend,
unless we abuse it, for it can lend,
a different world we can’t defend;
We’d have to call it, then,
the end

(c) Anthony North, February 2008

FROM MY ARCHIVES

ECOLOGY

We are aware that we should be Green - that we are polluting the environment and heating up the world, but many people have little understanding of ecology and the science behind many green issues …
… read more …

GREEN REVOLUTION

A lot of people have heard of the Green Revolution, but few know what it is. Even when a person does know of it, it is unlikely they know the implications of the subject. Here, in the raw, are the facts, and the implications …
… read more …

THE MACHINE SOCIETY

READ MY ULTIMATE MAGAZINE POST - Posted every Mon, Tues & Fri (inc poetry)
What’s on today: Prepare yourself for the real Terminator … PLUS … Are we going fanatical on Biofuels? What can the gorillas teach us about African politics?
YOU KNOW IT’S THE WRITE WAY

THE MACHINE SOCIETY

Do you get the feeling that society just isn’t working right any more? I know many do, including me. It almost seems as though we’re just going through the motions, as if we exist in a huge, unfeeling machine.
Well maybe we do. But don’t get me wrong. Some societal ‘machines’ are essential. The armed forces come to mind. I’ve experienced the sense of the ‘machine’ in the forces myself. It is essential for professionalism. But modern society is far more fundamental than this.

Society is supposed to hold a degree of chaos.

And whilst this is quite achieveable in ‘lifestyle’ choices, it has changed in terms of work, travel, education, dealing with authority, and a host more areas.
One easy answer is that society has become much more regulated today. Everything works via the computer, and this little taskmaster is totally unbending. Hence, in order to be as one with the computer, our society becomes machine-like in itself.

But the problem can go deeper than this.

Indeed, it can seep deep into our communal psyche. For instance, society has always been regulated by the view of contemporary intellectuals.
In ancient times of Christendom, society was a reflection of heaven. In the Age of Enlightenment, society became based upon rationality. With the success of science, society became atheist, material and specialized.
Today, we live in the computer age, so it follows that we unconsciously view ourselves as bytes marching to the program’s tune.
Following films such as ‘The Terminator’, we asked ourselves, will the machine take over the world? Well, the reality was maybe far more subtle. I mean, it already has.

© Anthony North, February 2008

COGS

Turning, turning, turning right,
through the day and through the night;
A machine well oiled, it’s purpose true,
task after task, it gets through;
A machine is inanimate, that’s a fact,
from this truth, you can’t detract;
Human beings are of different stock,
they don’t go ‘tick-tock’, like a clock;
So why do we feel like cogs, so rigid,
constantly whirring, making us frigid?
Why do we impose this life so bleak?
Why do we perform, just like a freak?
Why is it we’re afraid to speak?
Big Biz, it seems, has made us meek,
trivia alone, we seem to seek;
Wake up mankind, there’s more to life!
Stop it!
Stop it!
Don’t be so weak.

THE PROBLEM WITH BIOFUELS

A coalition of environmental groups is worried about the growth in the use of biofuels, even suggesting the EU should reject targets of expansion. As biofuels appear to be eco-friendly, is this strange? No, not really …
… read more …

SAVING THE MOUNTAIN GORILLA

Uganda, Rwanda and the Congo have agreed a ten year plan to share information on poachers and mountain gorillas. Hopefully this will be more than simple politics, leading to real co-operation. But a thought …
… read more …

ULTRA-MIND

I’m not going to delve into the ‘machanics’ of a sixth sense such as telepathy or clairvoyance here. Rather, I want to discuss one of the main complaints from the sceptical community. Namely, what is the point of paranormal talents such as cairvoyance?
The point is valid. Unfortunately, they only ask the question and then move on, without waiting for an answer. Yet if we think about it, an answer is there to be found - and an answer that IS valid. A case study.

GONE FISHING

James Clarke went on a fishing trip to Colorado in August 1978. Moving from campsite to campsite, as he went to the Dolores River area he began to feel a foreboding. One particular night it was so strong that he described it as feeling a ‘malevolent force.’ Spending most of the night awake, he eventually went to the nearest town.
There, he found out that five dangerous criminals had escaped from Arizona State Prison
a fortnight earlier. Killing everyone in their path, including a family of four, the possessions of a young couple who they also murdered were eventually found close to where Clarke had been that night.
Episodes such as the above are many. They remain unexplained, but undeniable in terms of experience. It is as if a form of real extrasensory perception seems to be occuring. And such an ability can be placed within scientific feasibility.

EXTRAORDINARY SURVIVAL

Many scientists would disagree with this, but when we attach the term, survival value, it gives an evolutionary slant to the ability. As with instinct - a definite species trait - there could well be a need for such a talent.
This is the thing with science. As well as a phenomenon existing, it must also have purpose. Of course, this misses the obvious problem that, often, a ‘purpose’ is someting devised by the person asking the question.
In effect, ‘purpose’ can be a subjective quality, only shared if there is a consensus that such a purpose is useful. And in terms of the paranormal, this could well apply. For instance, this case study could be useful.

JIM CORBETT

Consider the case of Jim Corbett, a tiger hunter in India who found himself developing a form of sixth sense he called ‘jungle sensitivity.’ Many times he claimed an intuition, often unconscious, had saved his life.
For instance one evening he noticed a strange red dust on his feet. Thinking back to where it came from, he recalled passing a culvert and, for some reason, walking to the other side, where the red dust was.
Why he did it, he didn’t know, so he decided to retrace his steps the next day. He found a tiger’s paw mark in the culvert. He would have walked straight into the beast if he hadn’t diverted.

BEING STARED AT

The above suggests a definite ’survival’ ability within this form of sixth sense. As such, although it may not be needed as much today, the ability does have an evolutionary purpose. Indeed, some researchers claim it is still an extensive talent.
Researcher Rupert Sheldrake has devised a number of tests to see if such a Sixth Sense exists. Using members of the public, his tests check whether a person can tell if they are being stared at.
With over 5,000 case studies behind him, a typical test is for a group of friends to stare at another with a blindfold on, the person advising when he feels he is being stared at. Some groups have had up to 60% success in guessing correctly.
Indeed, Sheldrake advises that about 80% of those questioned said they had sensed they have been stared at on average once a month.

SIXTH SENSE

Writing in an April 2004 issue of New Scientist, Dr Ronald Rensink of the University of British Columbia claims we have evolved, over millenia, an ability to be alerted to wild animals approaching. Coining the term ‘Mindsight’, we still retain this instinctual ability to intuit things. We don’t realise we hear or see these things. We just ‘feel’ them.
If such a survival ability exists, then there is no reason why we couldn’t use such an ability when we truly had a need to do so. Writer Colin Wilson has regularly narrated two examples of such mindreach abilities.
One morning he was driving in the country roads close to his home. When he was about to take a sharp turn into his drive, he thought about the post van. He slowed down, and a moment later the post van braked an inch from his bumper.
On another occasion he was visiting Los Angeles and told his family he would meet them in Disneyland. Only when he arrived there and saw its size did he wish he had been more specific. Eventually, he decided to relax his mind and simply walk where his feet took him. He walked straight to his wife and two children.

RESIDUE OF A TALENT

We can clearly see in the above that, whilst we no longer need a definite form of intuition for day-to-day survival within raw nature, a residue of this talent still seems to be available at certain times - and can still be a life saver.
Hence, the talent qualifies in scientific terms in that it has ‘purpose’, aids ’survival’ and fits into an evolutionary paradigm. And whilst this may say nothing for the ‘mechanisms’ involved, it is incorrect for science to dismiss the talent as purposeless.
Such an ability - a form of ultra-mind - could well be a reality.

(c) Anthony North, February 2008

Click MYSTERIES at top of site for more on the unexplained

****************************************

Have you tried my current affairs Blog?
EYE ON THE WORLD
Super short comment on politics, environment,
crime, media, society and more
THOUGHTS FROM A COMMON MAN
From a real voice of Britain, of relevance
to the world
… PLUS …
Introductory pages on cults, conspiracy
theories, paranormal and true crime

****************************************

SOUTH AMERICA

One final region pre-occupied with the ideological struggles between capitalism and communism was Latin and South America, itself affected by the US need to keep communism at bay.
Following the Mexican-American War of the 1840s, Mexico lost a great deal of territory and was forced to reform. However, during the 1860s the country was briefly occupied by France. Finally withdrawing, Mexico became a dictatorship under Diaz until the Mexican Revolution from 1910-40.

CENTRAL AMERICA

A process of reconciliation brought Mexico into the modern world, bolstered by oil. Although burdened by heavy debt, massive industrialisation followed, and by the 1990s the country moved towards free trade with the US, although much of the country remains underdeveloped.
Further south, following a period of Mexican rule, Central America became a confederation in the 1820s and 30s, but local rivalries led to it falling apart, allowing US, British and French involvement in the region.
The formation of the Organisation of Central American States in 1951 led to more cohesion, but by the late 1970s the US was involving itself in the region clandestinely as left wing movements attempted to steer the region towards communism.
In the main these movement are beaten and Central America is entering free market economics. However, with Colombia to the south, many of these states form the hub of the drug trade.

SOUTH AMERICA

Most of South America was under Spanish control, but by 1825 Simon Bolivar had led a mass independence movement that saw the creation of Colombia, Venezuela, Equador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
Portuguese Brazil also gained independence at this time. Predominantly Catholic, much of the continent flirted with fascism, but in Chile Marxism was democratically endorsed with the rise Allende in 1970.
This was too much for the US, who became hostile, leading to the military coup of General Pinochet in 1973, imposing a dictatorial right wing regime. The Junta was born, remaining until 1988 when democracy returned.
Argentina gained a National Constitution in 1853 following a period of instability, with an agricultural revolution now taking place to bolster its economy of cattle and grain. The Depression badly affected Argentina, leading to military dictatorship in 1930.
Following World War Two a populist movement led to the presidency of Peron until 1955, and briefly again in the 1970s before the country again became a right wing military dictatorship. In the early 1980s internal instability led the Junta to invade the disputed Falkland Islands in an attempt to reunite the country.
The British response caused the Falklands War of 1982. Argentina was defeated, leading to the fall of the Junta and reinstatement of democracy.
Brazil became a federal republic in 1891 but fraudulent elections and the Depression led to military dictatorship in 1930. Under Vargas, this survived until 1915. Brazil then began a period of rapid economic expansion, even building a brand new capital, Brazilia.
However, a number of peasant leagues attempted to force land reform, prompting the landowners to back a right wing military coup in 1964. A number of regimes followed until the establishment of civilian rule in 1978. A new constitution followed in the late 1980s with rapid industrialisation. Today, with Mexico, Brazil is an emerging economy which will no doubt increase in global importance.

(c) Anthony North, February 2008

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