Jan
19
The people?
Posted by: Brian | January 19, 2009 | Comments Off on The people?
These two articles give us two different representations of "the people" . What is the people? Who are the masses? These questions are somewhat tumultuous but continually fascinating and thought provoking.
Evas, "My Message" was full of emotion and created a sense of national identity. Eva has the persona of a caretaker and mother figure of the exploited, under represented and basically the majority of Argentina. She says multiple times that she loves them, the "descamisados, the women, the workers…the world’s exploited people, condemned to death by imperialisms…" Evas charismatic manner enabled her to mobilize the masses. It is interesting to question who the people are that she is seemingly representing. It seems as though there are two groups, "the workers/the people" and "the elite". Eva was hated by the elite. Political and military members hated her power she had with the people and what she could do with it. One thing that made her a great partner to Peron was that she unlike him, came from a modest background and could directly identify with "the people". The working people saw her as an almost spiritual leader. She identified her people and in turn took action for them where they could not. She was highly invested in workers rights especially for women in labor, and supported unionization. Ultimately within "My Message" Eva speaks of the many evils she came face to face with in her position of power and gives instruction to her people about what they must do and be aware of in order to liberate themselves. Eva and Peron worked as a team under the Argentine political movement of Peronism, which was basically a social justice party. Eva was beautiful and a great public speaker, which combined allowed her to capture the support of ‘the people", "her people". It seems to me that the problems that Eva wishes to abolish are still around today, all over the world. The hope to erase social lines and borders between people is very difficult, and perhaps unrealistic. The idea that a politician or leader of any sort really can be on the exact same level or page as "the people" is nice to imagine and hope for but rarely found in "real life".
The next article is about (I think) a man in the Argentine military. It seems that Eva’s speech did not have a positive effect on all people. I found this article a bit harder to follow. The man tells of "the monster", the gang or group that he is part of. They seem unorganized and chaotic, as well as dangerous. This is very different description of Argentine people. Perhaps both articles need to be looked at for exactly what they are, just one side of a story. Eva was seen by many as a saint, but there were also many discrepancies regarding her principals and then her actions. Some people say that she was indeed a social climber despite her statements against that very thing.. she did end up in a pretty good spot at the end of the day. For the second article, we get just another point of view, and a much harsher one at that. It could be that this is a more realistic point of view on the Argentine army/people.
