Paradise¡¡¡§

Philosophy of Slums: Slums of Brazil such as favelas of Sao Paulo are a world of competition, where an atmosphere of tension, fear and harshness prevails all the time. To help and support the slums, some volunteers may come. Among them, however, those Japanese who are at their initial stages cannot contribute anything, because they are not familiar with this world. Instead, they are simply burdens or nuisances who are always assisted and looked after by others. The slums also have rules which, although completely different from Japan, seem to be quite sound. Brazilians lead intense, vivid and dazzlingly brilliant lives, which include varieties as well. Any life is a complete entity--an existence that are not to be characterized as right or wrong. For these people, careers destined for the elite or jobs well organized and respected are but a constraint; they all feel that since there are all sorts of lives, "there is no such thing as the best life." Even human "effort" and "pride", regarded as pluses in Japan, are taken to be "overworking" and "arrogant", if anything, and valued negatively in Brazil. People in Japan, for example, do not think of dying if they are in good health, though in fact they idle their days without knowing how many are left, only to die some day. On the contrary, people in the slums of Brazil, where AIDS is more common, keep their eyes open to face death at all times and live a life of survival every day. (1988/02/Aug)

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