SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
The BBC reports:
The clock on the facade of the building housing the Bolivian congress in La Paz has been reversed. Its hands turn left and the numbers have been inverted to go from one to 12 anti-clockwise.
Bolivian Foreign Minister David Choquehuanca dubbed it the "clock of the south". He said the change had been made to get Bolivians to treasure their heritage and show them that they could question established norms and think creatively.
"Who says that the clock always has to turn one way? Why do we always have to obey? Why can't we be creative?", he asked at a news conference on Tuesday. "We don't have to complicate matters, we just have to be conscious that we live in the south, not in the north," Mr Choquehuanca added.
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
Bolivia Congress Clock Altered to Turn Anti-Clockwise
|
Log In/Create an Account
| Top
| 29 comments
| Search Discussion
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Operator, please trace this call and tell me where I am.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 27 2014, @10:35AM
It's not news because someone built a counter-clockwise clock. It's news because it's an "official government clock" and because they have a highly placed government official actively encouraging the people to question authority. Can you imagine Big Ben being rebuilt to run counter clockwise? I think it's refreshing to see an actual, physical demonstration not to assume "the way things are" is the way they have to be. Considering that much of government function seems to be getting people to shut up and go along with the crowd, having someone encourage the "sheeple" to think for themselves is even a little shocking.
I suppose you could take the cynical view that it's really just some local official demonstrating his tyrannical power using a sophomoric prank, but I rather prefer the "Question Everything" explanation.