We are now living through possibly the hardest period mankind as a whole has experienced since the World War II. A period that might define the years 2020 for centuries to come – unless something even harsher comes at its wake. The Coronavirus pandemic unravelled, like the Pandora Box myth, many shades of emotions that were dormant for years: from compassionate actions by financial hawks to unbelievable displays of contempt for fellow grieving citizens by popular figures.
Now, this should be a time of union, and in many senses it is: never have so many people stayed locked in their homes at the same time; and never has the global economy been halted for so long. Such is the power of compassion, empathy, and sense of survival. Staying home – experts tell us and experience shows – is the only means we have at this moment to save lives.
Nevertheless, while most of the world is collectively mourning the victims of this plague under a (very important at such times) leadership usually empathetic to the situation of their people, Brazilians are being showered with a constellation of the most insane lunacies from the man whose job was to lead us through this as smoothly as possible. I do not know what agenda lies under this erratic behaviour – though, given the frequency of my posts, I might have an answer in the next entry –, but it is certainly shattering the solidarity that binds our people together. A country widely known for its joyful spirit – a sunshine that many times helped warming up the gloomy seriousness of the Old World – is being showcased internationally as the epicenter of paranoia, negacionism and nationalism. Internally, we, the messengers of samba and happiness, are transforming into the pall-bearers of hate. People who were always kind and generous are now offending others without hesitation: even my grandmother recently wished in a Facebook post that our President would soon go down and meet the Devil in person. I (very) often catch myself counting my breath after reading the news these days, and cannot resist lowering my vocabulary when commenting on them.
I do not know exactly when all this started, but the recent upheaval in our politics (which culminated in an impeached president) and the ocean of corruption unveiled by then played a central role in that. It is impressive to witness the emotional power of corruption; how it is able to evoke strong responses and stir people up. Narratives also played a major role there, of course: in the blink of an eye, the whole political left became the culprits of the money-laundering scandals and the targets of a tsunami of hate — even though most beneficiaries of the unfolded schemes were old politicians from centre-right parties and big sharks of the construction industry. Eventually, this hatred gained momentum and led to the election of our current president.
Anyway, the rift has been deepening ever since he came to power (January 2019), but it feels like this separation is becoming an insurmountable abyss at an exponential rate recently. Maybe the social isolation is playing a role here: staying at home is psychologically challenging, and it contributes to pushing us deeper and deeper into our own bubbles. As a consequence, bubbles grow larger and move further from each other, and conflicts are strengthened. However, none of this needed to happen now: this should be a time of union! Most leaders have seized this moment to unite their countries and heal old wounds. Our President, instead, keeps sending controversial and hateful messages every single week since the start of the outbreak around here. And, with every single message, a wave of supporters descend to carry around his poison all over the internet. People horrified at his out-worldily remarks become understandably angry, and eventually lash out at his supporters; who then move ahead to defend him furiously. There seems to be no common values shared among them anymore. This, like a huge bowl of fresh dough waiting to be baked, hatred keeps on inflating.
Society is bound together by solidarity: in its absence, we move towards an unruly world – a state of anomie. Hatred, often fomented by misinformation and distrust, is a key ingredient to fuel an anomic state, where society cannot find common values and live in harmony. It seems crystal clear that we are moving in that direction, but where is the limit? Where is (or was?) the point of no return?
"Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; but only by non-hatred: this is the eternal rule."
This has never been so relevant; and yet, so hard to practise. We could all benefit from some effort here.
#StayHomeStaySafe
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