pobres diablos...

Despite the current recession and the cutbacks that many of us have had to make on damn near everything there are undoubtedly man worldwide in much worse situations than many of us. Most of my research, for subject matters that are relevant to painting and for pleasure, deals with the impoverishment face by people in many (third-world) countries. Unlike the United States, their governments cannot simply borrow nor print more money in orer to create scial programs during hard times. 

They suffer, as Miguel Piñero once said, "workin' of time clock sweatin' & swearin' & slavin' for the final dime", voiceless in a world that deifies the rich. Latin America has provided the backdrop for many of my word and the themes and culture run concurrent in many of  aspects of my life. For this reason, it is fitting to share the following in Spanish:

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que no tienen tiempo para perder el tiempo. 

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que no tienen silencio, ni pueden comprarlo. 

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que tienen piernas que se han olvidado de caminar, como las alas de las gallinas se han olvidado de volar. 

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que comen basura y pagan por ella 

como si fuese comida.

 

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que tienen el derecho de respirar mierda, como si fuera aire, sin pagar nada por ella.

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que no tienen más libertad que la libertad de elegir entre uno y otro canal de televisión. 

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que viven dramas pasionales con las máquinas. 

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que son siempre muchos y están solos.

Pobres, lo que se dice pobres, son los que no saben que son pobres.

...And now English

Poor, those that are considered poor, are those who have no time to waste time. 

Poor, those that are considered poor, are those who do not have silence, nor can they buy it. 

Poor, those that are considered poor, have legs that have forgotten to walk, like the wings of the hens have forgotten to fly. 

Poor, those that are considered poor, are those that eat garbage 

and pay for it as if it were food. 

Poor, those that are considered poor, have the right to breathe the shit, as if it were air, without paying anything for it. 

Poor, those that are considered poor, are those who have no more freedom than the freedom to choose between one television channel or another. 

Poor, those that are considered poor, are those who live dramas of passion with machines. 

Poor, those that are considered poor, are those who are many and are always alone. 

Poor, those that are considered poor, are those who do not know they are poor.

-Eduardo Galeano

"Poverty is the worst form of violence"

~Mahatma Gandhi