Attacks, military coup attempts, wars, economic battles, fascism growing in Europe and elsewhere, human madness, despair, politicians’ cynicism, the violence of society, repressions, democracy or what we thought was democracy, etc … they all overwhelm our daily lives.
What is the colour of the world? Do I perceive it as dull or brightly colourful, luminous or dark? How to live with all this? How can we exist in our daily lives?
We are at a particular moment in which two worlds touch, one which is ending and another being born, pointing to a new world. The first one is a world of violence in all its forms (economic, racial, religious, physical, psychological, sexual) and supported by a minority. Representatives and builders of this world do not want to let go of anything, they reject transformation and use all forms of violence to resist change. They have the weapons in both the real and the figurative senses.
The other world, whose breathing we perceive, is called attempt, hope, joy, tolerance, solidarity, social justice, distribution. Does it seem simplistic to you? It is not. All these terms have been dematerialized, they have been somehow ridiculed, certainly, and yet they may be the basis for a deeper questioning about who we are, as human beings.
In recent years the need we feel to live differently and together has been expressed in the streets and together we have built a common picture of the world we wish for. There has been neither reverie nor daydreaming. This collective image, accompanied by a strong emotional charge has produced concrete actions all over the world. In the same historical moment a wave was created and spread, a connection between human beings, regardless of their geographical locations. Was it perhaps an awareness born from the need to end all this suffering and violence? We can “see”, “feel” collectively the world to which we aspire and many positive actions arise from this every day.
So, which of these worlds can be said that has failed? This world coming to an end or the one being born? Or both?
The world that ends, yes, it is an indisputable failure: We all know that it was built for and by some at the expense of a greater number of people, causing violence and suffering in all the stages of its development. Corruption and all the paraphernalia of infamy guide its actions. It has no future even if otherwise stated.
This new world that is being born is a failure to learn from; a failure experienced when being together in the street, without a flag that differentiates us outside of our humanity. It is a stage rather than an end, in which we do not receive. But the drive of the Meaning never stops, as a search present since the beginning of our human history.
The struggle will be difficult, there is still violence and it will continue, in all its forms. We must prepare ourselves internally and also with others. To do this, we must clearly understand and integrate what is violence, prepare our actions, our discussions, our lifestyles, in order to understand how it is expressed in each of us and outside us; but also understand what is nonviolence, simply because we have not experienced it. Without this personal and collective work we shall always be repeating the same patterns. Nonviolence and solidarity, two elements that cannot be dissociated if we are to fight against all forms of violence.
How do we do it in our daily lives? You may answer the question by necessity. What do I really need? What gives me hope or makes me suffer? What gives me joy or makes me sad? How do I want to work, for whom, for what? Who I am? Where am I going?
The attempt has nothing to do with naivety or ridicule, as all those violent ones who minimize the power of collective action want us to believe, but rather with courage, dignity and kindness. Thank you for giving again colour to our world!
