Us

Who are we?

at ems th al, e s t i s e se day to rev In the is difficult s’ cue, this ‘U to res r o d l to bui

nly he o since t s us sa oot anying r r ou ur omp es in ity acc wards o v i l t it iden s and to e u r t in orig our on. z hori

But today there’s so much that divides us that it’s difficult for us to find something in common.

是他妈的什什么 Que carajo?

e differ e v a h we , cre eds

nt What the fuck?

Ma che cazzo?

we spe a langu k different ages,

We’r diff e from ere nt r aces

y r dail u o d an e sts ar intere et one s often the t agains . r othe

In this crossroads of history, plagued by contradictions,

! ! ? we often feel alone, divided and helpless to such an extent that it ends up impossible to talk about an ‘Us’.

Perhaps if we were to look in the depths within us we could evoke the moments in which we were together.

That’s what we were when we managed to sow and reap, to extract and build, when we created writing and poetry, the arts and sciences,

That’s what we were

when we discovered the laws of the universe, the cure for illnesses, when we invented everything.

That’s what we were when we had to organise ourselves into a society. And although time and time again we fell into the contradictions of war, violence and injustice,

time and time again we were also capable of seeking peace, tolerance and solidarity in order to continue moving forward.

Today we’re in front of a new crossroads, and this is a greater challenge than previous ones because it involves the whole planet.

???

And in front of this complexity arise discomfort and impotence, ‘Us’ is forgotten, a void gains ground within every human being, and we feel increasingly alone, helpless and lacking in meaning.

where are we going?

The time has come to ask ourselves, to ask from within, “Where do we come from, and where are we going?�

Where do we come from?

Maybe in the answer we’ll recover meaning, we’ll re-find the ‘Us’,

and the turning to take at the crossroads will become illuminated.

But we can only start from our own existence.

No one asked us if we wanted to be born.

No one asked our parents either,

or those who came before them.

And yet here we are in a situation of living without anyone looking out for our destiny.

Once we sought out the gods in order to not feel alone,

in order to believe ourselves to be protected.

GOD

We endowed them with infinite powers so that they’d be able to shelter us, illuminate us and even decide for us.

But today we’re alone.

Perhaps in the future, or maybe never, we’ll know if the gods really existed, and if they’re interested in us.

Today, on this planet, we’re alone, and we’re the only constructors of our future.

Once we were told that the kings were descended from the gods,

and maybe that’s why we put our trust in them and made them responsible for our lives.

Perhaps that’s why today we believe that our present and our future are in the hands of those who govern or the powerful.

But we can no longer continue to look for people to blame, so the time has come to take charge.

Everything’s collapsing, and the names of those responsible matter little.

It matters little if those who should have looked after our present and our future have been wicked, weak or inept.

The thing t nt a a h t t r o w p o im o kn ing . h t t s y is u r e n ev ds o en p e d

We’re not talking about a society which someone else will have to transform,

it’s us who must transform ourselves in order to live differently.

We aren’t talking about saving our planet as if it were an inanimate vessel on the point of sinking.

We are the planet, we’re its life, its mind and its spirit.

We’re i fe the l rged eme that the from r. wate

We’re , tion evolu ’re e and w y. r histo

We’re ish the f ted wan that se e to un. the s We’re te rima the p ood up st that o fe et on tw ted to an and w ink. th

We’ the re l that izard want ed to f e el

We’re th e first hu man being wh o conquer ed fear, approach ed t and lear he fire ned to dominat e it.

We’re the ts of n a d n desce se who, o in, th e aga s m i t e and i r li v e time h t ed d chang hange c d n a orld. the w

We’re the sons and daughters of the human species.

We could do it before, and we can do it now.

Text: "At the Crossroads of Humanity's Future"

guillermo sullings

Encrucijadayfuturo.org

Illustrations : Kokou no Hito /sakamoto Adaptation: m. garcia