A reminder to join fhe Afterparty Kickstarter campaign to fund the Europe, Middle East and Asian legs of the project.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wartheafterparty/war-the-afterparty

I visited the storied campus of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala and spoke with prominent professor and historian Dr. Oscar Pelaez Almengor. The campus, the fourth founded in the Americas, was the scene of intense and sometimes violent protests against both the 1954 CIA overthrow and the subsequent civil war. Director of the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, Almengor organized a historic conference on the Arbenz coup last year.

Why was Jacobo Arbenz overthrown?

There were four principal causes. He was promoting the industrialization of the country, and the highway to the north, to the Atlantic. He was intent on doing his best for the common people. The people who opposed him were the people from Guatemala, not the U.S. The U.S. participation was three million dollars. They created the mercenary force. They wasted that money. It was nothing. What was really important was the people who opposed him here in Guatemala.

If the U.S. did not intervene, would they have overthrown him anyway?

I think so. The army coming from Honduras was defeated. We as Guatemalans like to blame the U.S. But it wasn”t true. The people who overthrew him were the Guatemalans. That is my point of view after studying the issue for many years. We want to see sins and culpability in people other than Guatemalans. The U.S. paid the salaries of the military officers who were close to Arbenz. Two thousand dollars each for three or four years. They immediately took power. They started that with the U.S. ambassador. He went with the junta to San Salvador, flying there and making a deal with Castillo Armas.

I asked whether the same 25-30 families have been in control since the Spanish conquest.

It”s a myth. The economic forces of the country are constantly changing in terms of political and economic elites. You can”t say that nothing has changed from the conquest to today. The elite are changing. If you look at the statistics, you will see that the landowners are no longer the most important people in the country. You have industrialists fighting against them. The landowners are now the third or fourth. We have people in (other forms of) commerce who are the most important. And they are not necessarily former landowners. The country is changing constantly.

I asked about the political evolution of the Catholic Church during the civil war.

The church became more left wing. You had one kind of church in 1954, another kind of church in the 60″s. The communists were not so important in 1954. They were a small group of people.

But somehow threatening to the United States?

In what way? What happens is you have to justify your actions.

You”re saying the Dulleses really didn”t care about communism but just wanted to support United Fruit and American economic interests.

They didn”t care about the communists. They used to say there were ten politically important people on the left in Guatemala. They said they were dangerous people. But in what way? They (Arbenz government) were working with the mass organizations, student and women”s organizations, things that happen in any democracy. They were dangerous to Guatemalan power. They used a word to describe what they wanted to do with those people. Disposal. They don”t say we are going to kill them.

You said Arbenz may have been overthrown anyway. U.S. Author Stephen Schlesinger suggests that if Arbenz continued, there could have been the first modern capitalist liberal democracy in Central America. Which would have created more regional stability and less cause for guerrilla activity.

The agrarian reform program was solving one of the huge, more dangerous problems in the country. The land is a problem even today. There are a lot of people asking for land. In Guatemala, El Salvador. Nicaragua. The way they proposed agrarian reform is the way Mexico did it. If you look at Mexico, you will see Guatemala if it did agrarian reform. Cardenas did it in the 1930″s. It happened in Taiwan, Mexico, Ecuador, Cuba.

Could a deal have been made with United Fruit?

I think there were some radicals in the Arbenz government who said the law is the law. During WWII, many Germans lived in Guatemala and the government took over their land. The biggest pieces of land to be redistributed came from the Germans.

Guatemala was asked to do that by the United States government during the war.

That is where the agrarian reform started. In WWI and WWII, both, they took the German citizens” land and they started the agrarian reform with this land.

On anti-communism as the reason for the coup.

It”s mostly fantasy. They used that as a justification. “I am fighting against the communists”. But who were the communists? University students, high school students, professors. They didn”t represent a real problem, a real power to take over the government of Arbenz. After the overthrow of Arbenz, many took to the mountains and became guerrillas.

Everyone talks about social justice but then, it was cause to be called a communist. You have to justify what you are doing. In the case of Central American governments, the military became rich controlling the government. On the other side, you have people looking for human rights, justice, agrarian reform. And you start looking at them as a collection of communists. You don”t make any distinction between a social democrat, a Christian democrat, you have only communists. You see the social democratic people in Costa Rica, they built a strong state, schools, education for everyone, social security. They are linked with social democrats in Europe.

On the state of Guatemala today.

The loss of the hegemony of the land owners is changing Guatemala. You have social democratic people, Christian democrats, center left, center right, right people. The radical left is no more. It is a very small group of people. The same in the U.S. I saw them in Boston, giving papers and selling socialist literature, (laughing) all 2 or 3 of them.

What is the reason for the mass migration of young Guatemalans to the United States?

The lack of opportunities here in Guatemala. There is not enough economic growth to give jobs to these people. But on the other side, when you do work in Guatemala, your salary is low. If you are going to find a job here, you will get a very small amount of money, but if you go to the United States you are going to get much more.

Asked about the charge that young Guatemalans are coming to the U.S. due to proposed change in immigration policy.

No, I don”t think so. I think it is the American dream to become rich, very soon. To have enough money to buy a car, to buy things, a house.

Welcome to the age of constant re-invention. An era that our educational systems likely have not prepared for us. In fact, quite the opposite, with a set of expectations, beliefs and skills that may lead to a perpetual state of high anxiety.

I came across a recent report by EU and Latin America telecom powerhouse Telefonica that explores “the re-invention era.” The 2013 trends report predicts “a new context where people will re-invent and re-think every aspect of society.” The research is a great read, particularly the 6 typologies developed by the Global Trends team. I reached out to the face and voice of the report, Ariane van de Ven, Global Trends Expert, Telefonica PDI.  We had an expansive conversation, highlights of which are below. Along with a link to get the pdf of the report. And a YouTube video of Ariane summing up the six profiles.

A Conversation with Ariane van de Ven, Global Trends Expert with Telefonica Digital

The Opportunity to Reinvent

“I work for Telefonica and we are a big tech company. I work with one of our biggest innovation labs. I am surrounded by technologists, scientists, researchers. What’s amazing about this environment is you realize the opportunities for technology are  limitless. As humans, we have this opportunity to redirect what technology could be doing for ourselves. I have a very optimistic vision of what technology can do for us. I think technology is doing a lot more good than bad and so I am an advocate for technology.

“It is not so much about inventing new things anymore. I remember a time where having knowledge on its own was a skill.  Nobody really cares about where the idea comes from, it matters what you actually do with it.

“With technology, we have this really big opportunity to reinvent many aspects of society. But then you need to have the motivation. Why would you want to reinvent things?   Most people are realizing that the way that things have been working is not working any more. For some people, it’s because it’s not environmentally friendly, for some people it’s because there is a lot of unfairness in the world. What I want to say about the reinvention era is that the tools are in our hands and it’s up to us to decide what to do with them.

“For my company, we have a duty to enable people’s ability to reinvent themselves and the future they want for themselves.”

Why does your company feel it has that duty?

“Since the iPhone, technology is really embedded into everybody’s lives. We have to shift the way we think of technology. It’s not just about network efficiency. It is about adding services that can help improve the lives of our customers. We are in Europe and also in Latin America, and very often if you go to Brazil or Colombia, mobile is often the only connectivity that people have access to. We are then in this privileged position to be the only communications channel that people use. So we need to help people to better their lives.”

How did you come up with the six categories of reinvention?

“I go through a lot of content, academic and business, but also, I am very connected with pop culture. I consume an incredible amount of media. I travel a lot in my job. It’s really about being close to people. Building empathy for different types of people is very important. I don’t work for a company that has a very narrow target. Rich people, poor people, old people, young people. It’s really everyone.

“I try to understand the emerging behaviors that start to happen. I make notes throughout the year and a couple of times a year I revisit my observations and start digging. Trying to see if there’s more to it to it than meets the eyes. Is it part of a bigger movement? What are the reasons behind those emerging behaviors?  A big part of my job is to try to uncover the motivation, the drivers. I always work with emotional drivers. As human beings, I think we are driven by emotions. Going back to what is the emotional value that I am trying to bring to my project is a very good way of refining what the proposition is about. Mapping the emotional dimensions is part of my methodology.

“Then I do trends along those emotional dimensions. To make them more actionable, I create typologies related to these trends. So when you read the reports, you find that you are a little bit of an explorer, but also a specialist, a little bit of a utopian. It is meant to be like that.

“Segmentation is very useful but it should not be an end in itself. Mindsets to me are a lot more powerful.

“It is also not dependent on generations. I can talk about every trend and make it relevant for every age group. The personal odyssey is not just for young people. You actually see more and more retired people taking time to explore to see what the world has to offer, in this later phase of their lives.”

Are we in an age where, in order to prosper, one has to count on being in an almost constant process of reinvention?

“I think, yes. We are going to live a lot older and stay professionally active until we are quite a lot older. If you view your life in phases instead of a linear journey, it is going to be a lot easier for people.

“Cutting some slack for yourself, like when you are not succeeding at something and a phase of your life is fading, to accept that that is part of the process will help just people, will help our wellbeing.

“Children’s tales are becoming obsolete. We need to create new tales for children so they don’t put unrealistic pressure and goals on themselves for what their life should be like.”

What tools are people using or need to develop to become at peace with this whole idea of reinvention?

“To be able to reinvent yourself, you need to have a point of view about what you want to become. And to have that you need confidence, in you, in the environment you are or in the support system you have that this reinvention can happen and have a positive effect in you. And that is a very personal thing. How do you find confidence?

“We can go back to the educational piece, which is a part of it.

“In terms of tools, what we are as people, we relate to other families of ideas, I think having beliefs, being an advocate for something is very important, even if you change your mind. To have beliefs that you are passionate about is very important. How do you do that? You have to be curious. I feel very sorry for people who are not curious. It’s not something you can instigate, it’s something you have in you.

“I think what is really great now, no matter what you are into, you have access to communities of people that are interested in similar things, you are exposed to way more points of view. You can see how threads of content happen. You are interested in something, you read a post, you comment, your interests broaden and become richer and deeper.”

Isn’t all this bewildering for some people? Doesn’t this require a whole new set of tools?

“For non-digital natives, yes. If you look at countries like North Korea and Saudi Arabia, they have a massive problem with digital. For us, we learn how to cope with this mountain of information.  For digital natives, they have been brought up with this tsunami of information as you say. They are a very tough audience when I present. When I talk, they are on their computer, and they check everything I say.

“Knowledge is not static, it’s dynamic. It’s not about the knowledge that you have been taught, it’s the knowledge you are creating. People want to create the future, they want to create a new truth, and a new knowledge.”

The Six Typologies (Reposted in Full From the Global Trends report)

Explorers are the risk learners  – they will adopt technologies that allow them to access experiences as a means to explore themselves and the world around them.  They will be active contributors to the Re-invention Era, applying their wisdom to discover new possibilities.

Specialists will help reshape organisations and identify new opportunities, push the boundaries of knowledge and innovation in their fields. Getting them into the right places will be key to effect change. Organisations that call themselves ‘forward-thinking’ will need to hire more niche specialists and look beyond the classic CV/résumé.

Modern Utopians are motivated by kind-heartedness and will share their knowledge to create tangible change. Digital technology will be the core enabler for creating sustainable utopias, as it will create transparent and collaborative ways for people and organisations to improve society as whole, ultimately helping to create kinder systems and communities.

Solvers are everyday people, hackers, tinkers, artists, activists…anyone who is involved in trying to approach issues and fix problems in a different way. They’re often part of the Intelligent Disobedience trend (see below), which will lead people to turn themselves into individuals who are looking for alternative solutions in order to mend a desperately broken system.

Makers will embrace hyper-personalisation and instant prototyping. From 3D printing to small scale fabrication laboratories, they will reinvent technologies so that it feels more tangible and better for people, everywhere.

Perceivers will embrace technology to improve their perception of everything from themselves to the environment to each other. They will aspire to experience an Enriched Reality whereby human and machine interaction is more empathic and frictionless.

For the full report, visit:

http://blog.digital.telefonica.com/2013/08/21/trends-report-reinvention-era/

I met Spike while hunting for the world’s coolest clubs for ShowGo.tv. Wherever I went, his club Smalls was named as a pioneer in livestreaming video, in his relationship with artists and in his emerging revenue model.  I first went to Smalls with my friend Nancy on a Sunday afternoon, I believe, with Spike at the pain, rain pouring down, and some drops falling perilously close to his Steinway B piano.

At Smalls, you don’t watch a concert–you feel it because it’s SO intimate. 60 people tops, down a staircase, past the bar, sit too close and, you might have your teeth knocked out by a trombone player. My favorite time to go was past midnight. Every night, Spike’s club does what NY jazz clubs used to do: go all night, with session artists and musicians fresh off other gigs stopping by with their hardware. I’ve gone to hundreds of concerts, but Smalls remains one of my very favorite places to go.

Spike is currently doing an Indiegogo crowd funding campaign to underwrite his bold, imaginative new concept in streaming, recording and distributing the music of the hundreds of artists who play the club.  More than 7,000 recordings and 500 artists have been recorded for the archive ,with a growing library of video recordings as well.  Here is Spike and company telling the story:

Find out more about the campaign at http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/the-smalls-jazz-club-musician-revenue-sharing-project. Or read about it in a recent feature story in the New York Times.  From the Indiegogo site: “Our goal is to build a website for our subscription-based revenue sharing system. For a small subscription fee, fans will have unlimited access to an ever growing library of audio & video (approximately 21 shows per week).  Revenue will be pooled and distributed to all of the artists in the archive based on the number of minutes they get listened to quarterly.  All musicians on a date get credited – in this way popular sidemen can earn as much as leaders.  Direct download of specific dates will also be available.  If a fan chooses to directly download a date then the revenue will go directly to the artist rather than the pool.  As long as the artist’s content stays in the archive then the artist will continue to collect revenue.  The Smalls nightly live-video stream will be made available for free with a valid email registration.”

Spike has an office around the corner from the club and we stopped by there late one afternoon.  We talked about the Smalls brand (quality NYC jazz) and the tradition of jam sessions all over the city every night, all night, even 24 hours a day. The history of the club, the origin of its name, the early days with Mitch Borden (BYOB) and how musicians cultivated a subculture there. Spike was one of the first clubs to livestream shows and he is raising money now to upgrade production systems, among other things. Spike believes the Internet is giving us a tremendous opportunity to document huge amounts of music and make it available to worldwide audiences inexpensively. A new model with artists and club having a symbiotic relationship and copyright regime. His 5 desert island choices for must have music: Art Tatum, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington and Fats Waller.

It’s all Pura Vida. The man who popularized the term “ecotourism” in beautiful Costa Rica talks about the influence of spirituality, family, and business philosophy on his unique vision. The Vision Project’s Brian Gruber interviews Bary Roberts at the San Jose, Costa Rica airport after spending time at Roberts’ home and Chachagua Rain Forest Hotel and Resort.