Time and time again history has shown not everyone is given their fair share in life. It could mean people are not given the right to vote for their country’s leader. It could mean people are not allowed the rights other people are given. It could mean people face violence against themselves and others like them. These are all problems history has seen forced upon low income residents of countries worldwide.
Another problem similar to these is the unfair distribution of land. This might seem like a minor problem at first glance. If someone were to reflect on how important land is in the distribution of power and wealth it might seem like a bigger problem. There is such a problem in the South American nation of Brazil. The country has been in and out of many military dictatorships since it’s independence in 1822. These authoritarian governments are much more likely to unfairly distribute land than a democratic nation would. Military regimes often give out the business and land to those that support their forceful oppression of a nation with money, business deals, and other various means of supporting a government. (wikipedia)
Brazil was freed from its last dictatorship in 1985. With the collapse of such a regime came an era of democracy under the form of a republic state. The nation also adopted a constitution and began operating democratic elections, as most republics tend to do. This granted the oppressed poor to further organize and implement plans to gain their wealth and piece of the land.
The Landless Workers Movement (MST) also known as Moviemento Dos Trabalhadores Rurias Sem Terra had been started in 1980 in small grassroots political networks in the most southern state of Brazil, Rio Grande Do Sul. The movement began simply by farming families occupying land that was not being used to cultivate food by the overwhelming small minority that owned approximately two thirds of the land. In the first two years of the 1980s an estimated six thousand families joined the movement and began cultivating food on unused land. These families banded together too stand against the unfairly practiced laws about the occupation of unused land for agriculture development. They were the beginning sounds of a nation’s voice against unfair land laws and for the opportunity to provide food and shelter for themselves and their family. (wikipedia) (mstbrazil)
These families slowly spread to more states in the newly founded republic and gathered more supporters until in the mid-nineteen eighties when the last military dictatorship fell from power. Once the new republic’s government was organized and a constitution was written, the MST officially declared itself an organization. It was not allowed to declare itself under the oppression of the military’s strong hold over the government. Since then there have been numerous MST settlements declaring themselves in twenty-three of twenty-eight Brazilian states. (mstbrazil) (wikipedia)
They have found legal protection in many cases against landowners looking to evict them from their land. In many cases not only are the evictions rejected but the people begin to expropriate the pieces of unproductive land the MST families have settled on. The constitution declares land use must be used in rational and adequate sense, managed for the use of the natural resources and fair use for owners and laborers of the area. These laws in the constitution are one of the stepping stones that allow the MST to occupy land that is not in use and in turn provide for their communities. (mstbrazil)
The MST finds much of its legal help to battle the expropriating of land in court through family relations of MST families in law the progressive branch of the Catholic Church, and civil rights interested law firms in Brazil. The most frequent enemy of the MST in the legal since would be the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian reform (INCRA). INCRA evaluates and deems the land MST settlements have occupied as productive or unproductive for its current owners. The expropriating of land is not an easy process and any given settlement can take up to two years to be granted to the MST families. (mstbrazil) (wikipedia)
(Bibliography)
Website "Landless Workers Movement of Brazil", Laura Carlsen, 09/10/07,
http://mstbrazil.org/
Website: "Landless Workers Movement", 09/08/07,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landless_Workers%27_Movement
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Persuasive Essay
Over the centuries there have been few who stood against the many. Few who stood against what all knew to be wrong and unjust. Few who would do anything for everything in a situation where they had nothing….? Attila Ambrus is one of those few, and undoubtedly in Eastern Europe the most renown and publicly liked of those few. As a man that grew up under the oppression of a communist regime who’s only destiny was to grow up to face to economic disadvantages of a free market under capitalism in an under developed country. He rose to meet the challenge that society burdened upon him and become an international folk hero and genuine badass. Despite these disadvantages of his birth place and childhood Attila was a success in his own standards and would grow up to become a Professional Ice Hockey Player, pelt smuggler, bank and post office robber, ladies man, alcoholic, womanizer, and excessive gambler; not to mention a genuine adrenaline addict, criminal mastermind, and world traveler. His reputation is that of a Ghangis Kahn, Attila the hun, or either Butch Cassidy or the Sundance Kid. All of whom are highly honored in their respective cultures and seen as icons by Attila.
He was born in the region of Transylvania, whose populace had the disadvantage of being minorities, in the communist territory of Romania, which I think developed his distinct and individual personality as a "lone wolf"(one of his many nick names given to him by the press as a bank robber). In a town called Fitod, located on the outskirts of Csikszereda, which eventually had it’s name changed to that of the then in power communist dictator, Miercurea Ciuc. Disowned by his father and mother at a young age of seven, he was adopted by his grandmother who faced death a few short years afterwards. His grandmother’s death stirred a great reflection of great sadness; despite being a tough guy, this showed a sincere humane side of Attila, that some journalist would argue about because they saw him as a terrorist. Soon after he was taken in by his aunt and uncle who raised him through his early teens and were even able to send him to a boarding school where he played hockey briefly. Later on in his teens a string of juvenile crimes located him in a detention center for youngsters for two years. This could easily be seen as a tell tell sign of a criminal to be, but would eventually be his foundation of learning to manifest his own destiny, a trait which very few have ever truly embraced. While in juvenile jail he got into many fights and also learned to speak Romanian with no trace of an accent, a very handy vice in communist Romania, where the secret police roamed the street in a not so secret fashion; armed with machine guns and possibly drunk which made Atilla’s nerves all the more stout and daring in the face of danger, which he would have to be in his line of work!
After briefly serving in the Romanian army and finding work as a church painter, he planned his escape from Romania. He had no hesitation of committing such an act due to his rebellious nature and unflinching amount of nerve. He fled his job and fellow workers at a church painting site near the border of Hungary, the least communist territory in Eastern Europe. To cross the border "safely" Attila Ambrus ran along side a train and wrenched himself onto on of the connectors between cars. To even further camouflage his hiding spot he latched himself to the bottom of the train using the most convenient latching devices at his disposal, his arms and legs! This is one of the many testimonies of Attila’s physical endurance and bravery. Once arriving in Hungary he was met by an only slightly less communist government, and an equally poverty ridden economy. Even though the odds stacked against him he would not be turned down to the future that nations of capitalism such as America promised to bring to communistic areas of the world. This gave Attila hope and ambition to pursue a career and blaze a trail on which he could set his feet to trek forward onto his glorious destiny.
After a series of odd jobs and various living arrangements Attila Ambrus was given a place on a Professional Hockey Team Újpesti Torna Egylet, though not given the job for his skill but the high level of determination and motivation he displayed at his try out. He was so tough and enduring during this tryout that even after being told to go home after half way through the try out he demanded to stay and continue his display of "skills." His official position was Janitor and lived in the stadium in a closet. Such a setting did not bother a man who had come to his "dreamland" under such extreme conditions, and only added the fuel to his fire. This was his foot in the door for his life in Hungary. He eventually found a second job as a building supervisor and lived free for little pay. After two years of living with a meager income Attila decided to find money in the way that most of the wealthy people in Hungary did, through crime. This at first bothered him but he eventually came to realize that he had to make his own way and that no communist or a falling Berlin wall were going to make it for him.
His criminal career spanned ten years and involved mass publication on television, news papers, and a whole department of the fledgling police department assigned to catch him. His first part of his career was spent smuggling animal pelts from Transylvania to Austria, this gig created enough money for Attila to buy fancy cars, liquor, and gamble the rest away, but his thirst was not yet satisfied. After a complication with the border guards he bribed and a their bosses finding a dead truck driver at the border Attilla passed through for his pelt smuggling operation, his career as a pelt smuggler came to an end. He then used his instincts to again come into a higher income pool than he was supposed to belonged in. Attila’s next ten years were his best, girlfriends, fancy vacations, cars, brothels, casinos, and wealth that he had never known. He was dubbed the "Whiskey Robber" due to his habit of holding up banks and post offices while drunk, He was so bold that he even sent the police department empty bottles of wine by leaving them at the scene of the crime in a direct sign of defiance to the police assigned to catch him, only something a true criminal mastermind could pull off. He usually did his drinking at the nearest pub to his heist location. He went on drinking and robbing for a decade which can only testify to his genius in the field of robbery and theft. It took ten years, and a three month period on the lam after escaping from a jail to land Attila in a security prison for fifteen years. This man was in my opinion the most profound figure of the late 20th century in his bold and self made fame and wealth in a world where no opportunities were given to him. This man was a genuine self made man who was given the worst possible scenario to live life with and despite that, he made his way to what he saw as the top!
He was born in the region of Transylvania, whose populace had the disadvantage of being minorities, in the communist territory of Romania, which I think developed his distinct and individual personality as a "lone wolf"(one of his many nick names given to him by the press as a bank robber). In a town called Fitod, located on the outskirts of Csikszereda, which eventually had it’s name changed to that of the then in power communist dictator, Miercurea Ciuc. Disowned by his father and mother at a young age of seven, he was adopted by his grandmother who faced death a few short years afterwards. His grandmother’s death stirred a great reflection of great sadness; despite being a tough guy, this showed a sincere humane side of Attila, that some journalist would argue about because they saw him as a terrorist. Soon after he was taken in by his aunt and uncle who raised him through his early teens and were even able to send him to a boarding school where he played hockey briefly. Later on in his teens a string of juvenile crimes located him in a detention center for youngsters for two years. This could easily be seen as a tell tell sign of a criminal to be, but would eventually be his foundation of learning to manifest his own destiny, a trait which very few have ever truly embraced. While in juvenile jail he got into many fights and also learned to speak Romanian with no trace of an accent, a very handy vice in communist Romania, where the secret police roamed the street in a not so secret fashion; armed with machine guns and possibly drunk which made Atilla’s nerves all the more stout and daring in the face of danger, which he would have to be in his line of work!
After briefly serving in the Romanian army and finding work as a church painter, he planned his escape from Romania. He had no hesitation of committing such an act due to his rebellious nature and unflinching amount of nerve. He fled his job and fellow workers at a church painting site near the border of Hungary, the least communist territory in Eastern Europe. To cross the border "safely" Attila Ambrus ran along side a train and wrenched himself onto on of the connectors between cars. To even further camouflage his hiding spot he latched himself to the bottom of the train using the most convenient latching devices at his disposal, his arms and legs! This is one of the many testimonies of Attila’s physical endurance and bravery. Once arriving in Hungary he was met by an only slightly less communist government, and an equally poverty ridden economy. Even though the odds stacked against him he would not be turned down to the future that nations of capitalism such as America promised to bring to communistic areas of the world. This gave Attila hope and ambition to pursue a career and blaze a trail on which he could set his feet to trek forward onto his glorious destiny.
After a series of odd jobs and various living arrangements Attila Ambrus was given a place on a Professional Hockey Team Újpesti Torna Egylet, though not given the job for his skill but the high level of determination and motivation he displayed at his try out. He was so tough and enduring during this tryout that even after being told to go home after half way through the try out he demanded to stay and continue his display of "skills." His official position was Janitor and lived in the stadium in a closet. Such a setting did not bother a man who had come to his "dreamland" under such extreme conditions, and only added the fuel to his fire. This was his foot in the door for his life in Hungary. He eventually found a second job as a building supervisor and lived free for little pay. After two years of living with a meager income Attila decided to find money in the way that most of the wealthy people in Hungary did, through crime. This at first bothered him but he eventually came to realize that he had to make his own way and that no communist or a falling Berlin wall were going to make it for him.
His criminal career spanned ten years and involved mass publication on television, news papers, and a whole department of the fledgling police department assigned to catch him. His first part of his career was spent smuggling animal pelts from Transylvania to Austria, this gig created enough money for Attila to buy fancy cars, liquor, and gamble the rest away, but his thirst was not yet satisfied. After a complication with the border guards he bribed and a their bosses finding a dead truck driver at the border Attilla passed through for his pelt smuggling operation, his career as a pelt smuggler came to an end. He then used his instincts to again come into a higher income pool than he was supposed to belonged in. Attila’s next ten years were his best, girlfriends, fancy vacations, cars, brothels, casinos, and wealth that he had never known. He was dubbed the "Whiskey Robber" due to his habit of holding up banks and post offices while drunk, He was so bold that he even sent the police department empty bottles of wine by leaving them at the scene of the crime in a direct sign of defiance to the police assigned to catch him, only something a true criminal mastermind could pull off. He usually did his drinking at the nearest pub to his heist location. He went on drinking and robbing for a decade which can only testify to his genius in the field of robbery and theft. It took ten years, and a three month period on the lam after escaping from a jail to land Attila in a security prison for fifteen years. This man was in my opinion the most profound figure of the late 20th century in his bold and self made fame and wealth in a world where no opportunities were given to him. This man was a genuine self made man who was given the worst possible scenario to live life with and despite that, he made his way to what he saw as the top!
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