La Voz de Galicia – November 19, 2021 →
There are forty-two days remaining before the end of the year, and one can’t stop thinking about how much out of this year we will carry on to the next. This false normal in which we find ourselves helps us forge ahead without having to think much about what we have been through, but perhaps that is our problem as a society. In this accelerated way we have of consuming news, food and our lives, we don’t always observe the time necessary to reflect.
The pandemic is still there, present, around us. With the increase in cases, we see the way restrictions are placed on neighboring communities, and I suppose that in brief, we will again accept those placed on us because, really, we can’t help but accept them. But what does this new stage mean when we remain afraid even though we are vaccinated? At what moment do we decide that all is over, and that we can continue on as if nothing has happened?
Last week, when the Climate Summit concluded in Glasgow, the American press talked about the disappointing way they had of changing the language that impacted one of the most serious problems related to climate change: carbon dioxide emissions. They spoke about the difference between «phase out» and «phase down,» that is to say, of the difference between «gradually eliminating» and «gradually reducing.» And ironically, I thought that at least they had the dignity of not lying to us when it came time to say that in fact they were not going to do much to improve the world. The language around the pandemic has also changed, and with it we have too. But I only wish for us to think about what we have been through, and act so that these next forty days remaining in the year do not turn into one more quarantine.
