The New Seven Wonders of the World
The new is but the old yet unknown, I like to say. And now that we dealt with the Mysticism associated to that day of the year, let’s move on to the actual events that took place during it.
Apparently José Saramago, the Nobel prized Portuguese and self-exiled in the island of Lanzarote, was wasting his time while writing the novel Baltasar and Blimunda [1]. By using the example of how the Convent of Mafra was built, the story illustrates the contempt for lost human lives when the building of monuments for dubious purposes is in question.
Talking about dubious purposes, what was the criteria behind this election of the new seven wonders of the world, an event that took place in Benfica’s stadium here in Lisbon?
According to Wikipedia [2], a Canadian (who else?) by the name of Bernard Weber launched the project in… 9/1999… which conclusion was set to… 07-07-07... Even though some UNESCO members were involved, they were so as individuals. As such, the whole initiative is of the Swiss-based New Open World Corporation (NOWC) [3].
Still according to Wikipedia, NOWC claims more than 100 million votes were cast [we’re how many billions by now?]. Because of the election method, these votes reflected only the opinions of those with access to the Internet or telephones, and included multiple votes that could be bought from NOWC by any individual, organization or government [Right! Now we’re talking business!]. In its Terms and Conditions, NOWC reserved "the right at its absolute discretion to exclude [any] votes" that were cast [I figure that that way the ones elected could have had already been chosen back in 1999... or that if any terrorist government decided to buy millions of votes for elusive Osama bin Laden as one of the wonders of the world then they could be easily checked].
So what exactly was that event all about? Only money? Let’s have a closer look at the wonders that were the most voted to see what else we can find:
1. The Great Wall, China – A few million of slave labourers killed. A wink to the unstoppable rising power of China. And if NOWC couldn’t exclude any vote and all the Chinese voted for it…
2. Petra, Jordan – A few hundreds or thousands of slave labourers killed. A wink to the Muslim world in turbulent times while some more are getting killed.
3. Christ Redeemer, Brazil – All dead labourers redeemed, hopefully also redeeming all the other wonders’ labourers, their employers and NOWC. A wink to the emerging power of Brazil or a veiled request not to cut down the rest of the Amazon forest.
4. Machu Picchu, Peru – All labourers, employers and inhabitants slain.
5. Chichén Itzá, Mexico – Thousands of slave labourers killed or, rather, sacrificed. A veiled request to stop crossing the border to the USA, “You’ve a wonderful country! Stay there! We don’t want to have to teach Spanish to all our children! We just wanna go down there, rape some girls, murder them and get back up here safe and sound under the protection of our land of freedom.”
6. The Roman Colosseum, Italy – Thousands of slave labourers killed for fun, and a few Christians as well. You can’t blame the Romans. By the time they were also redeemed. A wink to the empire that inspired the USA.
7. The Taj Mahal, India – Thousands of slave labourers killed by sexual exhaustion. A wink to the rising power of India, without which hotmail would be most likely called coolmail. And if NOWC couldn’t exclude any vote and all the Indians voted for it…
NOWC says it next wants to develop a new list of seven wonders of nature, with nominations through August 8, 2008. Well, why not eight wonders instead? Or why not wait until July 7, 7777 for that event?
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[1] Memorial do Convento in the original, which can be directly translated to The Convent’s Memorial.
[2] Wikipedia contributors, "New Seven Wonders of the World," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Seven_Wonders_of_the_World&oldid=143581734 (accessed July 9, 2007).
[3] “Now see”? What? What?— New Open World Corporation... Doesn't it sound like a corporation aimed at ruling the world?
