23 Dec [Horror] Stories of “Cuculis” and Economics
In fact, the title should be written as: Stories of Cuculis® and Economics, since the word in question comes from a Bolivian comic I just bought. After a meeting was delayed by over an hour, I decided to stroll through the streets of La Paz, revisiting (once again) the city’s shop windows in an attempt to align myself with the Christmas season surrounding us. Given the location of my meeting, I ended up at the V Centenario Gallery, one of the most picturesque spots in La Paz, known for its truly excellent alternative shops.
The thing is, I entered a comic bookstore and asked about Bolivian artists. I was genuinely intrigued to discover what kind of homegrown stories could compete with Batman, the Joker, and Superman. The salesperson immediately showed me a suggestive title, Furious Elementary School, while explaining that the author’s first work, Stories of Cuculis, had already sold out. It was part of a collectible series, with a reprint planned in Spain.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t buy a copy of Stories of Cuculis, but I lingered over a poster they had for sale. It depicted a character who, beneath a costume of a traditional Bolivian dance, hides horns shaped like braids, and instead of feet, reveals claws belonging to a monster I can’t quite describe. Truly remarkable—both the author’s story and the images I was able to see.
What does this have to do with economics? You may ask, curious reader. Here’s my take. For many years, I taught a course at the Bolivian Catholic University called Welfare Economics, or as my good friend Alex Mercado calls it, The Economics of Magical Realism. In essence, this course revolves around a central question in economics: What is distributive justice? When is society more just? As you can imagine, the answer is not straightforward. Equalizing income, assets, rights, opportunities, etc., are just parts of the extensive literature I used to torment my beloved students for years.
However, my favorite author is Amartya Sen. This brilliant Nobel laureate in economics (1998) argues that justice is tied to freedom—the freedom to choose the future life one wants for oneself. For instance, who is poor? Is it the German citizen who came to Latin America to live in extreme poverty, or rather the person born in a slum who lives in the same impoverished conditions? According to Professor Sen, the German citizen is not poor, despite being classified as such (given his low income and lack of access to basic living conditions), because he was able to choose his destiny.
This is how the great Bolivian artist Álvaro Ruilova, creator of Stories of Cuculis, perfectly embodies Professor Sen’s thinking. Since he is doing what he loves, it’s highly likely his financial problems are fewer (than before), and perhaps he is even happy. Personally, when given a choice between a society where people work in a factory (think “industry”) like in Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times and another where there are more “Álvaro Ruilovas” in cinema, soccer, politics, art, economics, etc., I would definitely choose the latter—a society where people can choose their future and live off that choice.
On December 23rd, I think I rediscovered why I love economics, and art too, but above all, I love freedom.
S. Mauricio Medinaceli Monrroy
La Paz
December 23th 2010.
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