As they say on the south side of Trump’s wall, “Vivir con miedo es como vivir a medias”
Fear is a powerful emotion that’s helped the human race survive for over 70 million years. But that same instinct which has kept us alive throughout our evolution now risks to compromise our very existence. Fear has stopped society dead in its tracks and we now seem to be sliding backwards on a global scale. I’m a firm believer in the motto “Who dares, wins”. My company became successful by challenging the status quo, asking “is this really the best way?” or “what if?”. Answering similar questions is what has moved mankind from cave dwellers to space explorers. Fear has never contributed to progress. It suppresses the ideas of those who often through personal sacrifice have driven society forward. It breaks my heart to see so much division in the world today and how many opportunities to benefit mankind have been lost. Technology has led to polarisation and extremist beliefs. It is ironic that connectivity and access to information has produced so much ignorance and social unrest. Just a few years ago mothers in third world countries lived with the tragedy of watching their children die. Others endured persecution and abuse. For them it was the reality of life in the world they knew. The internet changed all that. Through it they discovered that a few people in the world had won the geographic lottery and had been born in the right place. They saw beautiful houses with electricity, running water and healthy children. Evidently not all men are created equal. I look at America now and I am ashamed at what I see. For generations they were a beacon of freedom. They exported liberalism and promoted globalism and even if often for the wrong reasons contributed to making the world a better place. Although their wealth was established initially on the backs of slaves, their society grew and prospered with the energy of desperate souls that had the courage to emigrate, leaving everything they knew behind to build a better life and contribute to the American dream. Now that same place puts up walls. Walls of fear, ignorance and intolerance. The rest of the world is following their example. Many people don’t even know they are racist. Political correctness has hidden it like a new coat of paint on a rusty car. No white person in America would ever dare pronounce the “N” word but they still say equally offensive things like “them” or “those people”. Perhaps the worst is “I’m not a racist but…” The only thing worse than a racist is a hypocrite. I used to park my car at the train station in Porta Genova. Ahmed, the attendant there was a humble, polite young man from Morocco with a PhD in English literature. How could anyone living in a free, prosperous nation not feel a bit of shame asking a doctor to park his car? If America, the land of the free has been overwhelmed by fear and hatred, what chance is there for the rest of the world? I guess that’s the way it’s always been and the cynicism that accompanies age makes me think that it always will be. Perhaps our children will help to make the world a better place but we have left them with a big mess. I only hope they will learn from our mistakes and go forward unafraid.
