Modernity, an age that spans the last four centuries, is in crisis. The beginning of this period coincides with the Renaissance, the discovery of America and Brasil, and the passing of the medieval and feudal ages up until capitalism. In the new millennium we have something which has been vaguely named post-modernity, but will be different from all that we currently have in terms of reference and paradigms. In the Middle Ages, all culture revolved around the divine figure, centered on the idea of God. Meanwhile, in modernity, culture is centered around the human being. One symbol that best expresses this is the painting of Michelangelo, "The Creation of Adam," on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel: Father God all covered with mantles and with a long beard, representing the theocentrism of the age, before a naked man, strongly attracted towards Earth. In spite of this, the man extends his finger so as not to lose contact with the transcendental, with the divine. The nudity of Adam in the Sistine Chapel communicates well the advent of anthropocentrism and the revolution that modernity represents in our culture and concepts. Another occurrence that is characteristic of modernity was when Mr. Halley, in 1682, based exclusively on mathematic calculations – since there was no technology available like what we have today – predicted that a comet would appear again in 76 years. At that moment, many considered him mad. Halley died in 1742, before those 76 years were complete. Nonetheless, many remained attentive, and exactly on the predicted date, in 1758, the comet that bears his name passed through the skies of London. It was the glory of reason! "If so," he said, "if reason is capable of predicting the movements of the stars like Copernicus and Galileo demonstrated – and later Newton, one of the pillars of our culture – then reason is going to solve all human dramas! It is going to end suffering, pain, hunger and slavery. It is going to create a world of light, of progress, of abundance, of joy." The problem is that, after four centuries, the result is not a positive one. The facts are from the World Food Program: there are six billion people on the planet, of which 1.1 billion suffer from hunger. Some say the problem of starvation is the result of an excess of mouths, and they propose to control the world birth rate. While I support family planning, I do not accept this argument. What exists is a concentration of wealth. The planet currently produces enough food to satisfy the stomachs of ten billion people, almost double the current world population. Therefore, the problem is found in the unfair distribution of wealth. The crisis of modernity culminates in the moment when we see the capitalist system reach hegemony with the end of socialism in Eastern Europe, and acquire a new character called neoliberalism. What are the key words of this transition from liberalism to neoliberalism? Under liberalism, "development" was often mentioned. In the 1960's the theory of development appeared, which also included the notion of underdevelopment; the Alliance for Progress was created, destined to "develop" Latin America. The very word "development" has a certain ethical component, because at least one can imagine that every person should benefit through it. On the other hand, "modernization" is a word that has no human content, but it does have a strong technological connotation. To modernize is to equip oneself technologically, to compete, to assure that my business, my city, or my country are next in the First-World paradigm, although this may mean a sacrifice for millions of people. Once we heard talk of work. Remember when we would feel pride to say, "Look, my father educated the family by working for thirty years on the train tracks." Work was a factor of identity. I knew a generation that had the privilege to speak of "vocation." It was common for adults to ask an adolescent, "What is your vocation?" Later on, vocation was not discussed. "Profession" was talked about: Today "employment" is discussed. How about that! Whoever finds a job gives thanks to God. Work is no longer mentioned, because unfortunately the factor of social identity is not work, it is being within the market. The market is a new religious fetish of the society in which we live. Historically, our grandparents consulted the Bible, the word of God, when asking about the facts of life. Today the market is consulted: "Will the dollar be devalued? Did the stocks rise?" The great drama of people today is how to enter into the market. They need to be in the market, they have to be competitive, they must innovate and dispute spaces without taking into account ethical connotations. Today the market is international and globalized. It moves according to its own rules and not according to human necessities.