Ah this touches my heart because it sends me back quite a few years to when I was keenly reading the words and wisdom of Subcomandante Marcos, representative and voice of the Zapatista, the indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico.
There is a collection of readings, letters and excerpts, titled âOur Word is our Weaponâ and within it a reading âTo Plant The Tree of Tomorrowâ. He recounts a very old story as a metaphor to answering the question âWhat the Zapatista Want?â in response to mixed media messages (I have posted a link to the copy of the reading free online at the end, I encourage anyone to read, it is as beautiful as it is profound to the point).
My reason for recounting it in the context of EA and this exercise is what Marcos precedes and follows the story telling with:
===
âNow, it is not going to be easy for the media to understand us. For some strange reason, the Zapatistas speak to the future. I mean our words donât fit in the present, but are made to fit into the puzzle that is yet to be finished.â
âł...And if I am telling you this story, it is not just to give our regards to the first ones, nor is it just to make you a gift of a little piece of that memory that seems lost and forgotten. No, not just for those things, but also to try to answer the question of what the Zapatistas want.
To plant the tree of tomorrow, that is what we want. We know that in these frenetic times of ârealisticâ politics, of fallen banners, of polls substituting for democracy, of neoliberal criminals who call for crusades against what they are hiding and what feeds them, of chameleon-like metamorphoses, saying we want to plant the tree of tomorrow sounds foolish and crazy; but nevertheless, to us it is not a phrase born of drama or obsolete utopianism.
We know all that, and nevertheless, that is what we want. And that is what we are doing. How many people in the worlds that make up the world can say as we do, that they are doing what they want to? We think there are many, that the worlds of the world are filled with crazy and foolish people each planting their trees for each of their tomorrows, and that the day will come when this mountainside of the universe that some call Planet Earth will be filled with trees of all colors, and there will be so many birds and comforts that ⊠yes, it is likely no one will remember the first ones, because all the yesterdays which vex us today will be no more than an old page in the old book of the old history.
The tree of tomorrow is a space where everyone is, where the other knows and respects the other others, and where the false light loses its last battle. If you press me to be precise, I would tell you it is a place with democracy, liberty, and justice: that is the tree of tomorrow.
This is what the Zapatistas want. It might seem Iâve been vague in my answer, but I havenât. I have never spoken so clearly before. In any case, times will come in which these words will fit, and together their embrace will expand, and theyâll be heard and guarded, and theyâll grow. That is what the words are for, and yes, also those who go speak themâ
===
His words âa world in which many worlds fitâ and â⊠worlds of the world are filled with crazy and foolish people each planting their trees for their tomorrowsâ struck me years ago deep in my heart. But I never felt until now I was helping contributing to that tomorrow world I will happily not see, but wish to help ensure has a reality. EA has and is the potential to be that great forest that is discovered in the future and appreciated for that minority of people who planted it knowing they will never see it, but were aware of the importance of ancestry.
âTo the first ones Those who came later understood. Health to you.â
Open Source Link to full reading: 58. Closing Words at the National Encuentro in Defense of the Cultural HeritageâAUGUST 14, 1999 To Plant The Tree of Tomorrow
Ah this touches my heart because it sends me back quite a few years to when I was keenly reading the words and wisdom of Subcomandante Marcos, representative and voice of the Zapatista, the indigenous people of Chiapas, Mexico.
There is a collection of readings, letters and excerpts, titled âOur Word is our Weaponâ and within it a reading âTo Plant The Tree of Tomorrowâ. He recounts a very old story as a metaphor to answering the question âWhat the Zapatista Want?â in response to mixed media messages (I have posted a link to the copy of the reading free online at the end, I encourage anyone to read, it is as beautiful as it is profound to the point).
My reason for recounting it in the context of EA and this exercise is what Marcos precedes and follows the story telling with:
===
âNow, it is not going to be easy for the media to understand us. For some strange reason, the Zapatistas speak to the future. I mean our words donât fit in the present, but are made to fit into the puzzle that is yet to be finished.â
âł...And if I am telling you this story, it is not just to give our regards to the first ones, nor is it just to make you a gift of a little piece of that memory that seems lost and forgotten. No, not just for those things, but also to try to answer the question of what the Zapatistas want.
To plant the tree of tomorrow, that is what we want. We know that in these frenetic times of ârealisticâ politics, of fallen banners, of polls substituting for democracy, of neoliberal criminals who call for crusades against what they are hiding and what feeds them, of chameleon-like metamorphoses, saying we want to plant the tree of tomorrow sounds foolish and crazy; but nevertheless, to us it is not a phrase born of drama or obsolete utopianism.
We know all that, and nevertheless, that is what we want. And that is what we are doing. How many people in the worlds that make up the world can say as we do, that they are doing what they want to? We think there are many, that the worlds of the world are filled with crazy and foolish people each planting their trees for each of their tomorrows, and that the day will come when this mountainside of the universe that some call Planet Earth will be filled with trees of all colors, and there will be so many birds and comforts that ⊠yes, it is likely no one will remember the first ones, because all the yesterdays which vex us today will be no more than an old page in the old book of the old history.
The tree of tomorrow is a space where everyone is, where the other knows and respects the other others, and where the false light loses its last battle. If you press me to be precise, I would tell you it is a place with democracy, liberty, and justice: that is the tree of tomorrow.
This is what the Zapatistas want. It might seem Iâve been vague in my answer, but I havenât. I have never spoken so clearly before. In any case, times will come in which these words will fit, and together their embrace will expand, and theyâll be heard and guarded, and theyâll grow. That is what the words are for, and yes, also those who go speak themâ
===
His words âa world in which many worlds fitâ and â⊠worlds of the world are filled with crazy and foolish people each planting their trees for their tomorrowsâ struck me years ago deep in my heart. But I never felt until now I was helping contributing to that tomorrow world I will happily not see, but wish to help ensure has a reality.
EA has and is the potential to be that great forest that is discovered in the future and appreciated for that minority of people who planted it knowing they will never see it, but were aware of the importance of ancestry.
âTo the first ones Those who came later understood. Health to you.â
Open Source Link to full reading:
58. Closing Words at the National Encuentro in Defense of the Cultural HeritageâAUGUST 14, 1999
To Plant The Tree of Tomorrow