The 'kit' and survival

While we watch what the so-called world leaders—now egomaniacs with ulterior motives, obsessed with dividing up the international pie—are doing, we witness, almost numb, an obscene spectacle. Some countries are attacked, others threatened, and genocides are committed in broad daylight, like the one in Gaza. This all happens with international law being arrogantly trampled upon, while those most interested in violating it begin, obviously, by discrediting it before microphones with global reach. Yes, all this is happening before our eyes, broadcast, commented on, trivialized to the point of absurdity.

Meanwhile, the more "fortunate" among us, the citizens of those European countries not directly under the bombs, also regard each other with a mixture of skepticism and mistrust. kit The survival kit that the European Union recommended to us more than six months ago: drinking water for 72 hours, basic medications, flashlights, batteries, and food for three days. They remind us of it from time to time, like someone taking roll call. But no one tells us exactly what threat makes this kit so necessary. kit

Is it in case Trump, Putin, Netanyahu, or Xi Jinping decide to take sides and you get caught in the crossfire? Is it in case the conflicts we see as distant today decide to draw closer? Or is it in case a US nuclear aircraft carrier, like the Gerald R. Ford, the same one that led the naval attack on Venezuela after spending six days anchored in Palma Bay in October with thousands of soldiers strolling, shopping, and partying instead of continuing on to another destination?

Palma has already experienced all of this. It wasn't so long ago that US troops were part of the urban landscape, soldiers went down to the Barrio Chino (Chinatown) looking for prostitutes—as Christer Strömholm depicted—the summit of Puig Major—the island's highest peak—was occupied by Americans, and aircraft carriers were a common sight in the bay. Militarization is not fiction; it's recent history.

The recommendation to have the kitWhat do I do with it? kit Survival in Llucmajor? What's the point, really? It's useless for Berliners to have one kit Emergency lighting when days and days have passed without electricity, freezing to death in the middle of the blackout? Is it for survival or just to avoid panicking?

The truth is, we know very little about what's really happening, and nothing about what's going to happen. And yet, we continue consuming, celebrating, traveling, living like a generation Belle ÉpoqueConvinced that the party will never end. This also suits the powers that be. And that's perhaps why they don't explain to us what the main threat is among the many we see, but they give us a list of things to put in a backpack. They don't talk to us about causes, but they recommend batteries. They don't offer us peace, but they ask us to be prepared. And so, between ignorance and fear, we carry on. Of course, with the kit survival prepared.