Times of fear (Anna Maria Cossiga)

We live in times of fear. Totally justified fear, everybody will say. Or is it?

The world is in chaos, crime is and endemic disease and terrorism works havoc. Who would disagree? And yet.

Fear is an instinctive, positive reaction to peril; it can prevent one from getting killed, it contributes to make the environment safe. Man wants to feel safe and secure. Indeed, fear can turn into cowardice, if not adequately overcome. Because one certainly can overcome fear and become a hero, although not everybody succeeds in becoming a hero. People without fear are often reckless, which does not mean being a hero.

In our times, though, fear has turned into panic and psychosis, which are altogether different. They are the real demons. They prevent rational reaction to peril and make our lives a never-ending nightmare where everyone turns into the Enemy and nobody can be trusted anymore. Especially those who are somewhat different from the majority. Panic and psychosis are champions in othering people. With them, comes the obsession with security which brings along, in turn, a serious threat to what we call our most cherished values. We do not even realize it, yet in time, and especially after 9/11, those values have been fading away, slowly but inexorably. Constitutional liberties are “temporarily” abolished for citizens, while aliens are subjects to extraordinary renditions of various kinds. Democracy takes on new and contradictory meanings for the sake of security; and the majority agrees.

Terrorism is real, no doubt; and so are the panic and psychosis we are contaminated by, which are leading our values to certain death. This is how terrorists are winning. This how they are proving our society is in total decay.

We fill our mouths with talk of democracy, human rights, equality, freedom of speech, and movement, and religion. And then we are willing to renounce them all in exchange for security, any security, at any cost.

Does security exist? Can governments, intelligence or police really protect us from Evil? They are men, as we are. Infected by the same panic and psychosis.

Something is wrong with the world, East and West, North and South. We are aghast in front of those who choose to use their bodies as weapons to murder fellow men. We cannot explain why a boy kills innocent people because he was bullied in school. “Why?” we keep asking.

We think something is wrong with “them”, islamists and the mentally disturbed alike. In fact, we are convinced they are equally deranged, evil people who want to destroy “us” and our pure, perfect, incomparable civilization. The only civilization based on universal and true values.

We should think again. Let’s ask ourselves what our values really are. Let’s face it, the West, the Rich North (or whatever you want to call the bunch of prosperous, so-called democratic countries which are the target of terror) believes it has a right to everything: youth, beauty, health, wealth and, most of all, security. These seems to be the only things our great civilization cares for. Not democracy, nor human rights, not equality, nor freedom of any kind. Most of us are more than willing to bargain democracy and liberties for security: the security of being free from terror, of course, but also from old age, ugliness, disease, poverty and, ultimately, death. This is what our great civilization is all about.

And this is why a bullied kid kills others and himself. This is why terrorists might win.