Néstor Galarraga - The Power of the Warrior

When people were living in small villages, each person had an identity of their own: they were “the offspring of someone”, and they would later follow the footsteps of their father, grandfather or a referent from the village. This feeling of belonging disappeared when small villages became big cities. This identity, this being that was built in conjunction with others, this having a path in line with the family history, disappeared little by little. Thus, a new history in connection with individualism began, and it became one of the great diseases of the present society, the fundamental ideology of which is “your worth is measured by what you have”, “you are alone and it is solely up to you” and “divide and conquer” … An individual is always weaker and a society based on individualism generates indifference, envy, arrogance, overconfidence, excessive protagonism, and an absence of personal encounters, bonds, intimacy and love. The ability of thinking collectively is a strength. Thus, it is necessary to build a stronger us, since the opposite of individualism is solidarity…

We live today challenged by the necessity of constructing our own identity and history, of making our own path, in a society that changes compulsively. We witness the frenzied development of a world filled with uncertainties. Apparently, life within a society offers us an endless number of possibilities, activities of all kinds —artistic, recreational, cultural, sporting—, dream places to visit, among others. From an educational and instructional point of view, many are the carriers and the job opportunities. But, if we look closely, the potential to choose is quite relative and reduced. What we can do is very limited and in order to do everything we would need many lives.

In that sense, society is clearly divided into two parts. One part wants to reach and conquer everything; all at once, if possible. The great majority tries to learn languages, to paint, to take music lessons, dance lessons; they go to the gym, play sports and —as soon as they graduate— they start studying something new. This part of our society is the most competitive and aggressive. All these people, no matter where they are, they always feel like they are losing something.

The other part goes nowhere; it is completely lost. It tries to live in the moment and it does not know where to go or what to do. Both sides of society show the clear imbalance under which we live; some cannot find the time because they are always running, and some go nowhere because they do not know where to go or what to do with their lives. It is difficult to find well-balanced people in the world that we live in. At the same time, we are always on the move, pursuing money, prestige, fame, sex and power. We spend the most important part of our lives trying to obtain, to acquire, to achieve and, then, we spend another great part of our lives caring or sustaining the things we were able to get. Thus, with time, we achieve the opposite goal: instead of becoming freer and wiser, we become custodians of our own accomplishments and acquisitions. Many become ill while building a fortune and, then, they spend all that fortune trying to heal themselves… What an irony! In the model for happiness, society puts wealth and power first; it focuses on the having and not the being part. Of course, these “values” are framed outside ourselves. Bliss lasts only a few days, since it is built on the will to have, on desire, and —therefore— it is not happiness. It is a satisfaction which does not suffice and does not last because desire does not stop changing. We are always after something and, when we get it, it always becomes something else, a new desire; when we accomplish our objective, we are back at the beginning and we soon realize that this is definitely not what we wanted. The passion to have has been imposed as a model for social happiness, yet the pursuit of desire does not make us happy but thirsty for more and more.

Furthermore, and contrary to what it should happen, the concentration of wealth is getting bigger and bigger. We live in a world where the majority has serious needs to survive and endures poverty, according to socioeconomic levels, which is something terrible. The concept of decent poverty ceased to exist; someone poor being happy is unconceivable. Dignified poverty does not longer exist; a poor person being happy is out of the question. In the past, it was said that poverty dignified the soul and that humility and solidarity are values found in the poor. Besides, people owned their words, which meant that they would never dishonor a compromise. These values were inherited from previous generations and the poor struggled to move forward, the concept of poverty being dignified existed, where parents would work extremely hard for their children to afford going to college. “My son, the MD” was the main challenge for decades, for thousands of immigrants who came to our territory, escaping from war and poverty, encouraged by a fundamental idea: the education of their children. Today, however, the places to which the poor can access are more and more restricted —education, work, healthcare systems and safety—, justice has become more precarious and limited, and the most unprotected classes are more tied to delinquency.

Those who have a little more think that these groups cannot go back and have nothing to lose. They act accordingly. Having no possibilities, no escape; they steal and kill because life is worthless to them and because they want to get, no matter how, whatever it is that they cannot have. Their lives have no meaning whatsoever; they are unhappy and unappreciated, but mainly by themselves. Children, teenagers and youngsters are submerged in the world of the cheapest and most deadly drugs. They do not try to live new experiences but to kill themselves a little bit, day in and day out. If you are part of this, you lack options. The only choice is to live trying to escape from these places and from spaces which are practically deadlock. These people are held by the culture of being and staying poor, by hardship, by their families and friends and by their own fear. They struggle to exit from a reality and go into another where they are faced with resistance, hostility, disqualification, and rejection, because those who are one step above do not want them as their peers. Society is, then, divided and confronted into different levels of acquisition and this generates, among the less fortunate, resentment, frustration, anger, hatred and violence of all kinds and, one step above, you may hear the famous yet sad joke that “we should set a bomb and blow them all up to pieces”.

Thus, many are the “yes, we can” stories. Probably, this ideology was adopted for people not to lose faith, hope. Yet it is wicked. With this idea that “you can do whatever you set your mind to”, we manage to disengage ourselves from the social responsibility of handling the issue, and those who live a more comfortable life find the excuse they need to keep a clear conscience by donating a used mattress that they were about to dispose anyways for those who, in this occasion, are under water. This is the way they have found to justify their inaction and tremendous lack of solidarity, by thinking that those who are unprotected actually want to live this was because, if you really want to progress, you can do it on your own. It is true that a few among many can surpass difficulties and move forward. Many times, by relying on their particular talents, they can surpass harsh life circumstances, fight against all odds, change history and move on. “Yes, we can” is a romantic concept and many are the examples that support it, but not as many as the examples of human beings that have no chance of living a dignified existence. This might be why I always dream of a society that is fairer, more equitable, more distributive and, fundamentally, more balanced and sympathetic, where there are no stories of superhuman capabilities to overcome poverty. So much talent for so little. Society loves the myth of the urban hero; the more sacrificed and morbid, the better.