she was three years old. when her school asked us for some old toys to give to poor children. after reflecting upon it for an hour or two. with a serious look on her face she asked me. why? you told me Santa Claus brings gifts to all the children in the world. but now the teacher says that he doesn’t bring gifts to poor children. that we are supposed to give gifts to them. does Santa only bring gifts to rich children? (she never wanted to take a gift from Santa’s hands. she made me do it. you go. she used to tell me. I wait here.)
indeed. that’s exactly the way it is. Santa was the first to forget he had to bring gifts to all children. yes. but only to those who have been good during the year. those who haven’t told lies to their moms. who have done their homework. who have been good at their schoolmates. and here we are watching the news. between mouthfuls. showing men who got the power thanks to ignorance. and money. men who can do anything. whether right or wrong. and no one can stop them. hundreds of people disagree. thousands are the victims. but no one can do anything to stop them. as if justice didn’t exist. as if divine law didn’t exist. as if no one ever taught us history.
every day we strive to become better people. to make better people out of our children. well-fed. wearing technical clothes to improve our physical performances. dealing with lifelong training since our birth. graduate and postgraduate. provided with the best technologies. always seeking to optimise the resources. to be the best of the best.
we. living in a world that wants us to keep silent. and not to get angry. because this is the way it is. and there’s nothing we can do. it tells us that heroes. existed. maybe. but a long time ago. we live in a world that teaches us not to violate established rules. even if they are unfair. it teaches us that we are too little and unimportant. to go against the power. we are too little and unimportant even to say our opinion. except through anonymous, secure posts shared on social networks full of more little and unimportant people. just like us. David, the one who defeated Goliath. anyone remembering about him?
maybe. to be a hero. should one have been hibernated during the last seventy years. in order to avoid contemporary contamination?
we. who have learnt to ignore the voice of our soul. our heart. our good heart. in this mad world. on the one hand asking us to feel compassion for poor whales. poor polar bears. hungry African children. and on the other hand teaching us to move on. to ask for strawberries in December. to eat the thighs of that beautiful rabbit we like so much to stroke. how cute! how tasty...
we. coming out of a movie excited because we faced the big dinosaurs and survived. well. no. not anymore. dinosaurs have conquered the world this time. our world is changing. and nobody knows the history yet to come. we have gone far. too far.
this issue is dedicated to us. an invitation. starting from the book by Le Clézio. starting from reading and feeling compassion. from crying for injustices. starting from the whales we have killed. or we have watched helplessly while others killed them. an invitation to regret our destroyed heaven. to feel sorry for the slaughtered mothers. along with their puppies. our puppies. I wish to invite you to find again that love and that sense of justice and injustice which make us better. and to believe again we can still decide about our lives.
am I wrong. or someone said. somewhere. YES WE CAN.?