When crisis ends, we have each other
WHEN everything is over, let us remember who risked their lives to save ours and contain the infection. And let us remember that if there is money to be found to fix public budgets, health is the last place to look for it. When everything is over, let us remember how much we needed one another. Each of us fulfilling a task, each of us making a contribution, all indispensable. And how the categories with which we divide ourselves lose all their meaning in the face of the tragedies of life. We are all fellow human beings, so putting one against the other is only convenient for those who want to manipulate us. When everything is over, let us remember how the politicians who represent us behaved. Those who humbly started to work, those who put aside their ego. Only by learning to select the most deserving politicians can we improve our democracy and manage to better cope with emergencies. When everything is over, let us remember how we have discovered that we are interdependent with the whole world. We are a global community, willingly or not. And the more time passes, the more all the borders and mental barriers that divide us appear as obstacles to our evolution. When everything is over, let us remember how futile the financial casino looked in the face of this terrible pandemic. When everything is over, let us remember those who have been close to us, those who have ignored us and those who treated us as infected to avoid. But not for vain revenge, but to unite and integrate us even more. Starting from Europe, whose dream arose following the great tragedy of World War II, we can find the strength to start again. When everything is over, let us remember how vulnerable and helpless we felt in the face of this global tragedy. We can’t control and plan everything in our life. Modernity intoxicates us with futile virtual distractions and material illusions. If only we can remember all this, one day we will be better.
TOMMASO MERLO, Milan, Italy.