Opinion

The atmosphere, like the skin of any organism, protects and nourishes this living planet. It protects against cosmic radiation, to which life is very sensitive; regulates the surface temperature through the greenhouse effect; allows the circulation of nutrients and other natural elements; is part of the water cycle; and is the layer where we and many other living things live, develop, reproduce, and evolve. Therefore, suddenly, the atmosphere is no longer something that is up there or outside, but it is the medium that keeps us alive. “Let’s go and play outside” is an expression that is used less and …

According to the dictionary Priberam, the soil is defined as: “i) the face or surface of the earth; the ground; ii) the material comprising the thin top layer of much of the earth’s land surface, esp. such material as will support the growth of plants; iii) a piece or stretch of ground, a site.” As someone who has studied biology, I consider the soil to be the connective tissue of this planet’s skin. So, I think that the definition of dead soil that I found in the Oxford dictionary should be replaced by one that expresses the idea of a …

In past cultures, the earth was holy. It was taboo to dig holes in it. Coal, ores and other mineral resources were regarded as organs of Mother Earth. They were honoured; people took no more than they gave, and lived embedded in a cycle of living and dying, and hence in a world of abundance, where everything was provided for. When the taboo was lifted, metal was made into coins, weapons, tools and machines, and, coal and finally oil, were used to drive a new system that could be described with one short word: more. Everyone wanted more of everything: …

If love is the ultimate purpose of the universe, then we should finally invest in learning love. Yes, that’s right, learning! It’s certainly the case that we are all born with hearts that have full potential for love. But we were also born with ten skilful fingers without necessarily being virtuoso pianists. On the contrary: our capacity to love is not merely not fostered at school and during our education, it is systematically trained out of us, and that starts in the kindergarten. My story is just an example. Kindergarten was a nightmare, pure and simple. I was suddenly among …

Walking in Nature is one of our simplest physical unwinders. Our muscles and nervous systems are soothed immeasurably by something we have done as a species for so long. Walking is a forgotten, primeval unwinder. When we stood up and became bipeds, we needed to bring in a lot more spirals to help keep a walking, talking, gregarious tower from falling over. Compared to a dog, we have a whole load more muscles that create rotation in our bodies. The rotator group love the rhythmic rocking of walking and can encourage our whole soft tissue system to soften, releasing stored …

The unconditional basic income is a payment made to every citizen, irrespective of their financial, family or professional situation, and is sufficient to allow a person to live with dignity. I have reflected on this topic with a degree of perplexity because the Unconditional Basic Income seems unrealistic to me. Despite this, it is still an interesting starting point for having a look at life in our society. There is one good aim in the idea of this income, which is that of seeking to enable everyone to lead a dignified life. Socially, it is something that is desirable. But …

The Unconditional Basic Income quite simply proposes the following: living with dignity has no price. There can be no financial excuse at all for a fifth of the population living on the brink of poverty, of whom many hundreds of thousands are genuinely poor, or for many people watching their circumstances change without warning. Without essential goods and services and without a shred of power. There can be no excuse, be it financial, political or any other. Quite simply, it is necessary to divide everything more equitably, or as equitably as necessary, and it is incomprehensible that a country cannot …

In the autumn, a new president of the local council will be elected in my village. It’s now seven years (4+3) since the opposition withdrew into its cave to sleep. It has woken up, bang on time for election year. I never thought that their hibernation would come to an end. Whoever is in charge of a village has no easy task with an opposition that misses everything through oversleeping. When I heard that the plan was to read the president the riot act, I decided to visit the Assembleia Municipal (municipal assembly) The room in the town hall is …