Goodbye freedom, goodbye
It has always been said that whoever wants something, something costs him, that nothing is free, everything has a price, or at least a toll or fee to pay however small. This is a simple reasoning based on the observation of facts that happen with certain frequency, although, in recent times, these tolls have been more serious, more personal, affecting us all and most of our individual and collective relationships.
Tolls, which many times translate into real restrictions; which can be imposed by the authorities, the application of the Law, society, the environment in which we move and, even sometimes, we impose them ourselves as a correction of what happened or in anticipation that what happened will not happen again, or, at least, if it does happen, it will do so with less intensity and seriousness than recently.
We tend to think that, as society grows in knowledge, development and technology, we become freer, we have more time to devote to ourselves, to family and friends, to our preferences and hobbies, but I am sorry to disappoint you because, if analysed critically, this is not true.
Many times those personal, social and political 'freedoms' that they try to sell us can become yokes that we not only drag along forever or for a long period of time, even in most cases, they can even change the ways and forms for the development and outcome of our daily or habitual life.
The legislator, who is the one who really holds the bag, has the fundamental mission of seeking our well-being, or at least trying to achieve it. That is the theory, which as a principle is not bad at all; but it turns out that in the exercise of such leadership and authority, it is sometimes confused or transformed into something else that can easily be defined as the abuse of authority.
Hiding or taking refuge behind this apparent role of protector of society and, sometimes, even wrapped up or supported by a bigger halo with the seal of the association of states with an international character, those who command and govern the designs of localities, regions, states or universal life legislate or agree to do something that, because it is thought and presented as something of general interest, for our own good and that of all the others, we cannot resist or refuse to comply with. Compliance may be voluntary or for fear of being subject to a fine or punishment of a personal or general nature.
There are many examples in life; far away, intermediate or closer and of very varied origin, such as those due to changes or impositions in social customs; those derived from the interpretation, development or application of religion; the appearance and implementation of new political trends or ideas; invasions and wars between peoples; revolutions; the spread of diseases; the discovery of new parts of the world, improvements in technologies, modes and means of travel; communications and, in short, all kinds of developments that although they were born and presented and even accepted as consistent improvements to our lives; in a way, they have been changing or imposing new rules of behavior or obligations, which come to stay forever among us and imprint their distinct and peculiar stamp.
Of all the possible cases, I would like to highlight only three of them and not because they are the most important; but because they created a certain type of consequences or printed a very significant seal, although each one with different application and intensity. To begin with, it is convenient to talk about the famous Dry Law in the United States in 1920 brought by Andrew J. Volstead, Republican Senator from Minnesota, who promoted the so-called Prohibition Act, a law that implemented the 18th amendment to the American Constitution. The prohibition meant the impossibility of selling, producing, importing or even transporting alcohol in the country; in short, the radical abolition of all types of alcohol (beer, wine, high-proof distillates), with certain exceptions, such as wine used for liturgical purposes.
The movement was dragged along by a series of religious and social initiatives in both Canada and the United States during the last quarter of the 19th century among Protestants and certain feminist movements (women themselves), who claimed their rights to achieve the improvement of the personal or conjugal behaviour of men, usually great drinkers at that time.
After years of tension, for and against, this initiative was finally achieved, which, as has already been mentioned, was presented as something very healthy and a step forward for the improvement of social behaviour and women's rights. So much so that it was even stated that "All men will walk upright again, all women will smile and all children will laugh. The gates of hell are closed forever. On January 16, 1920, the Reverend Billy Sunday addressed a crowd of about 10,000 people who were celebrating John Barleycorn's funeral with him (the name given to whiskey in American slang).
The reality was quite different and such prohibition gave rise and fueled the rapid production of totally adverse effects such as the illegal and rapid enrichment of certain sectors of society and the economy; the smuggling of whisky with all its connotations, the expansion and development of crime, the mafias and the start of the drug business. Thousands of broken families, businesses on the ground and a whole series of major legal conflicts.
The real consequences of that 'noble and healthy' initiative that affected a nation were quite dire; criminal gangs, almost immediately, emerged or multiplied to take control of the alcohol industry and many other legal or illegal businesses. Clandestine bars sprang up all over the country to sell illegal liquor, prostitution, organized crime and extortion increased; tens of millions of people disobeyed the legislation and the objectives intended with such initiative were never achieved. In 1933, after the failure of the law, it was repealed, the only time a constitutional amendment had been annulled in that country.
Another example of a much more general and global nature, driven by the consequences of a terrible terrorist attack, is the restrictions on flights after the infamous 11-S in 2001 over the United States. This attack, perfectly calculated and prepared by Al-Qaeda, caused some 3,000 deaths and more than 6,000 wounded.
Specifically, the terrorists hijacked four passenger planes in which they previously introduced jihadist personnel, half trained in the United States itself, so that, finally, two of them hit the skyscrapers known as the Twin Towers. As a result of the impact, a little later and without giving time to their evacuation, they fell wrapped in clouds of smoke and debris. Another of the planes hit the Pentagon and the fourth, which missed its target, crashed into a field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
As a result of this terrible attack, which was broadcast live by all the world's televisions, the ways and means of travelling, security and control at airports, the handling, type and capacity of hand luggage, the few liquid and solid elements to be transported, the utensils to be handled for meals on board and a whole series of direct and indirect control measures over personnel and material to be embarked on or during the flight have changed completely and with it our way of travelling. The worst thing of all is that all these inconveniences, and perhaps some more, have remained with us for eternity and we all accept them without complaint as a canon in favor or benefit of our personal safety.
However, other attacks, such as the one we suffered in Madrid on 11 March 2004, which was terrible, although less serious than 9/11, have not been the subject of major changes in the special security measures for public transport in large cities in Spain, as well as in the rest of the world. This is a strange fact that few people stop to analyse; perhaps it is because its authorship was not very clear, because as a result of that there was a great electoral change and perhaps the party that benefited from it was not very interested in revealing the fact and its real reason for being, or because after the trial of the alleged authors, as much as the judge himself wanted to show off and even obtained certain personal gains, the truth is that almost nothing could be extracted and there was much left to be clarified. The point is that a page was soon turned, and no change in behavior, security or travel in the media used to kill was appreciated then or is appreciated today.
Having said that, we arrive at the latest and most recent event that has served as an alarm, pressure and change of course in the social, economic, health and relationship aspects throughout the world and of which we are still in the distant stages of being able to say that it has been overcome and that the consequences and actions can be magnified; I am clearly referring to the pandemic caused by a virus baptised COVID-19.
A pandemic that, due to political or economic pressures or spurious political or personal interests, has been slow to identify publicly, despite having the means and agencies well able to detect and alarm it early. Fatally, when there was no other choice, it was tried to be hidden at various levels; but, above all, by countries governed or in the hands of bizarre, incompetent and false rulers such as Spain, the United Kingdom, the USA, Iran and Brazil, mainly.
Governments that have tried to belittle and ridicule the depth of the pandemic; to look the other way; not to follow international recommendations on isolation; to delay opportunities for transmission or mass infection; to implement late the necessary border control, preparation and training of health personnel, stockpiling of material and provision of sufficient safe and well-equipped places to fight the more than predictable and serious deadly infection of recent times.
Finally, despite so much discovery, progress and new technology, we have had to combat infection with similar weapons as centuries ago, isolation in homes and the abandonment of our loved ones, the elderly and the sick, in the hands of health personnel - more or less qualified - or at their free will, good luck and good will.
We have been forbidden for weeks to visit our loved ones, to take them out of the spotlight of death, to accompany them minimally in beds of pain, to keep vigil over them when they have already died and to bury them with the slightest dignity and family intimacy.
With the excuse of avoiding greater calamities and other types of contagion, everything has been justified and even permitted without almost any complaints. Now, when the time comes to start asking for responsibility, nobody wants to take charge of theirs, even if it is partial or in its entirety.
There is no sincerity, we all know that in many countries, things could not have been worse, and on top of always arriving late and badly, the political leaders, although they continue disorienting and bullying the population with bombardments of false data and hiding from them situations that are unlikely to be reached, appear before the media with messianic, cloying proclamations and false words, notably self-evaluating the management of this evil.
The serious and long-lasting embers of this long agony are not only focused on the many tens of thousands of deaths that are left behind; we must keep in mind the work opportunities truncated by a bad political foresight, by reacting late and/or exaggeratedly to avoid falling into extreme situations again. In the thousands of companies that have closed down or gone bankrupt forever, the millions of unemployed, the forced changes in the way of working. The limitations during months or years to enjoy the solace or the leisure, the vacations in the sea, the calm trips or in group beyond borders and without limiting, the multitudinous celebrations, the kisses and embraces and the not being able to remove us that sensation of panic that forever will accompany us with an exorbitant fear towards that neighbor or friend to whom we no longer like to greet and with whom we maintain a prudential distance or even much more.
The measures of control of the population based on geolocation and other more sophisticated means, the follow-ups and various tests in search of the least symptom or when a relapse returns even if it is minimally threatening, the difficulties of passage for the embarkation and disembarkation in the airports and ports, the new inconveniences of pleasant trips in small boats, on trains or buses, temporary border closures, forced quarantines and the obligation to pay with a mobile phone or card, even if it is a minimum amount or because of age, we do not know or we do not want to use it.
That social distance and the use of teleworking for many acts of life that have always been face-to-face, warm and friendly, will lead us to be served by the Internet or compulsorily tied to machines with recorded tapes that answer you what they want, offer you everything but what you need and you end up abjuring them after half an hour of trying and trying.
Fears of hospitals or of being operated on for what they can infect you with, the obligatory use of the mask for many acts in life, the implemented social distancing, the less and less use of money and of nothing that can be touched, will undoubtedly lead us to a situation of hysteria, of separation between friends, neighbours and even family and, without doubt, to a suspicion and denunciation of everything and everyone that we will see how it can end.
To make matters worse, and as someone who does not want the thing, many governments and even international organizations, take advantage and will take advantage of this situation of chaos and widespread panic to legislate in their image and likeness, under or for the excuse of our collective and personal protection and we will end up much more controlled in all acts and even in what was once our privacy. There are already governments, such as the British one, which advise or prohibit sexual relations between couples who do not live in the same home.
We will see, if finally governments and society in general decide to apply the necessary remedy to the greatest lesson learned from all this disaster and evil; to change the rules of the game and of care for our elderly, who have given everything and yet, in most parts of the world, because they live in homes or in their homes alone, they have been classified as disposable material and the first not to care.
Let us hope and wish that this will not happen again, because life is very short, hard and tenacious; so everything that now seems necessary, convenient and even distant, in a few years, will also be applicable to those who today defend - even if only by stealth - their need; and then, it will be the moment for those to think, that if they had done it as it should have been, it would never have happened to them.