A question of metaphors. Choosing between the military and the collaborative.

    It is X time in the morning, or afternoon, or evening, and everytime I switch on the TV there is one or two men in full military atire behind a stand giving information about the Covid-19 crisis. I understand that the point is social control. Nothing new under the sun. In a situation of unprecedented crisis there is a lack of language or metaphors that we can use, so fear and control come handy. Let’s draw on our previous experience, centuries of warfare, of peoples fighting each other, a world of frontiers that had to be defended against physical enemies coming from all sides. History books are rife with battles, massacres, attackers and defenders, victories and defeats. That is the language that we have been taught and the language that makes the world understandable.

    On the other side, people do not trust politicians anymore, that’s what polls say. The causes for this may be too long to discuss now but we can just jot down those of political corruption and the interests of an economic elite of generating distrust and a sense of chaos so as to play more freely in an unmonitored ground. Governments, then,  choose a soldier and not a scientist when they want to create security and the sense that everything is under control, even when they talk about a pandemic caused by a virus that will have consequences not only on our health but also on our economy. The military connects easily with our previous experience and with innate fear; all they need to keep us locked down and obedient. It is easy to understand in a situation of stress when quick solutions have to be generated, but at the same time it shows a lack of imagination.  When we feel more relaxed and gain perpective, we will have to sit down and reassess our oldfashioned metaphors.

    In a crisis with the characteristics of the present one people might be at a loss. I see it around me, friends and relatives in whatsap groups sharing fake news against the government generated by who knows what groups and interests. Their minds trapped in the loop of misinformation and fear, they try to get hold of something solid: family, property, race, nation, everything that asserts our humanity as something built apart from nature and against it. When all we want is to survive from a menace coming from the outside, the military metaphor comes handy because it is inspired by our past responses to dangerous situations. But we have just discovered that viruses, do not play by the same rules, and where we see frontiers they see fertile ground to grow.

    The same that see the military metaphor as oldfashioned, may suggest the necessity for implementing new ones. A new world is confronting the old one and Covid-19 seems to draw a line and show the way. It is probably too soon to be conclusive about anything but by the facts it seems more clear now that we should take directions towards a more collaborative stance. All the money invested in arms will not save us from this crisis. Instead, our efforts should be directed towards education and research to generates creativity and new ideas to be developed in a new world order in which collaboration both with other humans and with nature should be the basis. 

Andreu Torregrosa   

1. Make a list with the words in bold and their translation.
2. Make a summary of the text. How many ideas can you identify? Do you have a personal opinion? What do you think?