forces would enter our apartments; they would persecute us. I grew up watching the confrontations between the urban guerrillas and the police and the military. They were always harassing us. The least they would do is ask you for your identity card. They would teach you to get used to getting clobbered. At one point in my life I had a full head of hair like you [referring to Jeff's hair]. I had a huge Afro. The military would grab us by the hair and beat us. They would chase us into the elevators and beat us with their helmets. With this kind of treatment, it is no wonder that the resentment of young people like me would grow. Eventually, this resentment would harden anyone's character and force him or her to rebel. When the military would come we would prepare Molotov cocktails to throw at them because, well, because otherwise they would beat us, throw things at us, and put us in jail. All of the idealism of my youth -- the desire to study, to be an athlete -- was channelled instead into this path of rebellion. So, this is the context in which I learned about politics. I come from a very humble household. My mother was from a family that migrated from the country to the city, looking for what? Education. Health. Housing. Work. Recreation. Looking for those five things that any human being on any part of the planet needs to live well, in Asia,