Thursday 21 July 2016

José Mujica, ex-President of Uruguay


This is what a real head of state looks and sounds like.

22 comments:

  1. Presidential jet or rescue helicopter?
    Trident missiles or real helpful jobs?
    Imperialistic frigates or fishing and oil protection vessels?
    Make your own comparisons.
    Fight on and keep dreaming.

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    1. Hi James...sure will.

      It's worth remembering that Cameron ordered himself a private jet Air Farce One. just before he lost his job.

      Tessy will get the benefit of it.

      I know that President Mujica used to drive around in a his own old car. He eschewed the use of the presidential palace and lived on his own small holding, where he and his wife raised hens for eggs.

      He looks like he would understand the needs of the people.

      Cameron looks like he never understood anything except Eton and oxford.

      I wonder if anyone ever told José to stand up straight, wear a tie and sing a song about an old woman with far too much of our money.

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  2. That was excellent, what a fascinating man. Guess he would be classified as 'unelectable' by Westminster.
    It's always annoyed me that having a 'good media presence' rather than having good ideas (policies) is what gets politicians elected. They should just hire actors. Oh wait a minute, just remembered Ronald Reagan & Arnie. Hmmmmm

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    1. Well, given the criticism of Jeremy Corbyn for wearing off-the-peg suits and shirts that come from M&S, I can only agree. My goodness, José wasn't wearing a tie. Whatever next? World war three?

      Actors, hummmm yep. We thought Reagan was a prat but the Americans liked him; likewise Arnie. But we get Eton boys who've never lived in a house that didn't have 10 bedrooms.

      I'd seriously like to see the Queen living in an ordinary house; her family going to work like everyone else (who is lucky enough to have a job) and being paid an average wage.

      Five palaces in London and one in Edinburgh for their exclusive use is a travesty of justice when so many people are homeless, or being charged bedroom tax because there is no suitable accommodation for them.

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  3. Thanks for that. You bring to us Uruguayan Leaders we have never heard of before!

    What a motivational speaker. His years in solitary seem to exceed those of Nelson Mandela.

    Rescue helicopters ahead of presidential jets is the antithesis of our government's (UK) ambitions. Better to fly a PM around the place in luxury than save a life. These are our new values.

    It is Ruritania writ large and as the ego of those that have ascended the slippery slope to peak insensitivity, or 30,000 feet.

    Not that the likes of Theresa May will care, their rather incredible entitlement will rule the roost. For that version of politics knows exactly how to get the best treats for the worst politicians.

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    1. Yes totally. I have a friend who lives in Montevideo and she says that he is a much loved figure. He has been a superb president and they were so sorry to lose him.

      He deserves his retirement with his chickens though. He'll be a hard act to follow.

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  4. I have read about this man before. He is one of the very few national leaders who ever deserved respect. Can you imagine for a moment what the UK would be like if it were run by someone like him? We can only dream..and fight.

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    1. Yes, Alex, and as far as I know that is what he got in Uruguay.

      Here's a passage from his Wikipedia page:

      In 2005, Mujica married Lucía Topolansky, a fellow former Tupamaros member and current senator, after many years of co-habitation. They have no children and live on an austere farm in the outskirts of Montevideo where they cultivate chrysanthemums for sale, having declined to live in the opulent presidential palace or use its staff.[39] His humble lifestyle is reflected by his choice of an ageing Volkswagen Beetle from 1987 as transport.[40] In 2010, the value of the car was $1,800 and represented the entirety of the mandatory annual personal wealth declaration filed by Mujica for that year. In November 2014, the Uruguayan newspaper Búsqueda reported that he had been offered 1 million dollars for the car, which was manufactured in 1987; he said that if he did get 1 million dollars for the car it would be donated to house the homeless through a programme that he supports.[41] His wife owns the farm they live on. He has drawn much attention for his unique personality and lifestyle.[1][42][43][44][45][46] He describes himself as atheist.[47] Also living at the farm is his three-legged dog, Manuela.[48]

      Bit of a difference from all these UK politicians that hide their wealth in the BVI.

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    2. His policies seem to work: Another extract from Wikipedia:

      On 1 March 2015, Mujica's term as president came to a conclusion.[37] According to BBC correspondent Wyre Davies, "Mujica left office with a relatively healthy economy and with social stability those bigger neighbours could only dream of."[38]

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  5. There's a man that knows life's priorities, if only the rest of the world's leaders would see the same sense. Instead of amassing huge wealth and encouraging greed, intolerance, combined with a large dose of state controlled fear.

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    1. The thing is that so many of them go into it just for the the "legacy" adn the cash. He certainly didn't. He went into it to change things for the better, and according to Wiki, he did just that.

      In the end his legacy is that he is relatively poor financially, but has the love and respect of his nation, whereas Blair's legacy is that he is stinking rich and roundly hated by most of us.

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  6. If we gain our independence in the near future, can we have this gentleman as our first President?

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    1. Well, that would be nice. I suspect, though, his heart would be in Uruguay and the happy society he has created.

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    2. How true, he seems a very contented man. We'll do fine with Alex Salmond.

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    3. Aye, he'll do... and he's a mate of Munguins!

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  7. Absolutely brilliant.
    We all need to get back to basics now and then just to keep things in perspective.
    From what I can gather the worst thing that can befall many young people these days,worse even than losing their job,is being blocked on Facebook!
    He is so right about happiness not being achieved by the constant pursuit of wealth (at least for most people) but likewise cannot be experienced through poverty.
    We need a middle road.

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    1. The thing, it seems to me, about collecting money, is that you are never satisfied. Rather like a drug, you always need more. Thus people like Philip Green is not satisfied with one yacht; he needs two.

      I remember once seeing a documentary about a tribe in the Amazon.

      They had no fixed place to live, because they hunted and picked berries from the trees, so they needed to move about to where the new fruit was, and where they could find animals.

      They had no possessions. They lived in huts which the women built while the men hunted. They were made of the massive leaves of Amazonian plants. NO electricity, no gas, no money. They smiled all the time. They had no stress. There was always plenty to eat and plenty of leaves for their shelter. They wore no clothes. It was always hot.

      And the documentary kept talking about them being far from civilisation. I rather thought they had it sewn up and we could have learned a lot from them.

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  8. Now this is something I would put my pension to a crowdfund for! I didn't time it (I was too engrossed) but could this be put onto STV/C4? How much would it cost? Would it be do-able?

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    1. I'm not sure that they would be interested in doing it.

      But here is the site from which it came. There are many other interesting pieces on it.

      https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJy4nUo1D4R3hlcP8XCLX9Q

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    2. I was thinking more along the lines of a rather long advert, hence the need to crowdfund it. However I have no idea of the kind of costs involved, or if it would be possible.

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    3. I think it would be up to the owners of the material Anon.

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