Néstor Galarraga - The Power of the Warrior

Following the line of those who have a little bit more, the differences widen the gap, divide and separate society due to irreconcilable differences and people become confronted by different levels of acquisition. It is a sort of ladder with steps that have different names: destitution, poverty, low middle, middle, upper-middle, upper or high class, and so on. To these classifications, we may add other forms of disqualification: among the low classes, we find the red necks (villeros), immigrants, blackheads (cabezas negras); among the middle class, white trash (grasas); among the upper middle class, gold diggers or new rich. This list, made up by a classist world, forces people to climb up the ladder of a completely fragmented society.

The middle class struggles with all its might not to fall down. They are trapped by the financial system and they dance to the rhythm of credit cards, bank accounts, personal loans, and so on. The established system forces them to spend more, thus, work even more, so as to be able to consume more, which ultimately puts them in a very slippery situation. Their mind is set to go after two fundamental goals: not to become or go back to being poor and to progress into the upper-middle class; they are like kids trying to climb a greasy pole. And, once they manage to climb, those above reject them; they are deemed ordinary (grasas) by the upper-middle class and let’s not bring into the discussion what happens with the upper class, since it is even worse.

Unfortunately for those who have the will to climb up the ladder, you are born into the upper class and, if you are not, something will always be missing: culture, personal history, a last name to back you up. The only advantage is that the upper class does not directly discriminate; it bluntly ignores and, therefore, the discrimination is self-inflicted. If you were not born into that class, you cannot enter; it is as simple as that. People will chase the carrot attached to the stick (social classes) like donkeys. Power is always unattainable and the energy spent after that unattainable something is huge. We will find drugs here as well, yet better ones —off course— and organized crime like a matrix of corruption penetrating all classes and using the skills of those who have special and very particular talents. An organized band that is built stagedly and with a level of sophistication that is quite striking. The jobs are executed by delinquents who live in slums or in the most deprived neighborhoods, who are generally members of some group or gang (hooligans), including young burglars, with murderers and abusers breaking into houses, organized groups that kidnap, steal armored flow trucks, banks and conduct operations of a certain level of criminal sophistication, scams of all kinds and who change the course of the operations as they receive new information from their informants that are generally women working as household workers for the upper-middle and high classes. Intelligence is organized with the chiefs of police of each zone and the zones are liberated by those who lead these chiefs of police. Those in charge of reducing the loots are members of cooperatives, generally working for municipalities. Political power looks the other way and the judge guarantees the discharges… Victims are encouraged not to report the criminal actions and to stay away from the procedures and, if they insist, they will be threatened, themselves and their families, and sometimes those threats will be honored… and they will kill you… because their nature is perverse and being evil makes them feel good. What a world we live in! What a lever of wickedness!

Today, we invest a considerable amount of energy in body care and in the search of eternal youth. We speak of body, mind and spirit. We only speak of it; we have not incorporated the concept yet. We are infatuated with the power of the mind, our ego and body. However, it is necessary to clarify that one thing is the balance between body, mind and spirit —which leads us to love and accept ourselves— and something very different is to be in love with our own ego and body. As a result of this last conduct, we see disorders connected with the sustainment of youth and with being accepted by third parties, no matter the cost.

The body is no longer the faithful dog that will accompany us forever. The concept healthy body healthy mind, as a point of balance between good nutrition and periodic exercise to promote health and a better quality of life, was modified due to matters which were exclusively esthetic. Gyms, surgeries, sunbeds, hair care, cosmetic and dental treatments, and many others, are focused on esthetics and they obey the same end: the search for eternal youth, so as to be chosen or demanded by others. I would like to name this concept the esthetics that kills.

We need to be pursued all the time, otherwise we fill abandoned and, thus, unappreciated and lonely. We do not belong anywhere. Today, more than ever, we need to have the appropriate height, haircut, skin color, thinness, and so on, everything that the social stereotype demands. Based on this model, we will have more or less value, more or less money, more or less physical intercourse, more or less power, always in comparison with others. We are always seeking to be demanded and accepted by others.

In this case, power rests always on the standpoint of others, and we become slaves of the opinion of the others. Everything serves the same purpose: to be liked, to please, to conform. Of course, this entails a great effort, which increases as time goes by. Acceptance cannot otherwise be sustained. This effort does not ever lead us to real power since it always depends on the reflection or point of view of others. Trying to stay young indefinitely is pure void and marketing, but we live in a world where adulthood is totally undervalued and power, always outside.

Technology at the service of communications has created a world that is in permanent interconnection. The way to connect, meet and treat people has been transformed. The world has never been so communicated; however, people suffer more than ever the consequences of miscommunication and the feeling of loneliness… What a great contradiction! Virtual communications do not make us feel a sense of belonging to anyone or anything, at the time being. There is no place for conversation; individualism has chewed our brain and submerged us into a constant monologue. We stopped listening to each other and we only speak of ourselves all the time. Even the way we are as friends, as a couple or as a partner has changed. People stopped meeting each other through daily spontaneous events, at a coffee shop, at the gym or supermarket. Any attempt of personal approach makes that person a suspicious individual and, no matter the technique, it makes us insecure. How can we know for sure who that person really is! People nowadays meet through the Internet and, contrary to what one may think, it seems that this method makes us feel a certain amount of safety.

We are more connected to the world than to the people that are close to ourselves. Anyone can connect with alleged friends, simultaneously, in the five Continents and instantly —from a cellphone or a notebook— from their bed, in their room, and not know what is happening to the rest of the family that is in the kitchen of their house. We have lost the bonds with our closest people; we have broken the connections that linked us to them and we have gained that connection with the world. It is common to see friends or couples in bars, apparently sharing a drink together. One, on the Internet and, the other, sending text messages.

I have observed people for hours that have sat there, without exchanging two words together. It is like a new way of being close, yet each person is submerged in their own world. It is a new way of being friends, of being a couple. Also, these globalized internet-based communications have no content and no sense. Many people chose a nickname to interact with others. Users depict themselves in a totally frivolous manner, without showing who they really are. Nothing is personal, interesting. These types of communications, for now, do not touch the soul, do not enrich ourselves; they only give us the illusion of having many friends but the feeling is that of solitude. All these forms alienate individuals away from their core, their center, and they lead the way towards the solicitation from unknown people. We need to receive thousands of e-mails, of friend requests, either from China or Japan, even if we do not speak the language. It does not matter; we wish to receive many text messages and to acquire thousands of friends from Facebook, that big showcase displaying, many times, nonexistent lives. This is a digital place where you are publicly insulted, yet they will ask for you forgiveness privately. They have public opinions of people they do not know or have not ever seen.