Menu
header photo

Project Vision 21

Transforming lives, renewing minds, cocreating the future

Blog Search

Blog Archive

Comments

There are currently no blog comments.

The overlapping images of monsters and politicians is terrifying

I don’t know what’s more terrifying, if the senseless horror movies ceaselessly being broadcast during this time of the year because of Halloween, or the senseless political ads where one candidate attacks his or her opponent, also ceaselessly being broadcast during this time of the year because of the November 2, 2010 elections.

Even worst, this year, monsters and politicians appear together on television, to the point that it’s difficult to separate true horror from fantasy. There is, however, a big difference: horror movie monsters don’t call me at all hours asking me to vote for them.

It goes without saying I am all for democracy and liberty. I am deeply grateful for living in a country where I can vote and where I am free to express my opinions, even if that means a respectful disagreement with the opinions of others.

But I think it’s terrifying to see that democracy and freedom of expression are now reduced to personal attacks, half-truths, ambiguous statements, empty promises, and ceaseless manipulation.

Those monsters we only see in Halloween are a product of our imagination. In many cases, I am reminded of those monsters in Japanese movies in the 50’s and 60’s, when it was clear that the monster was just a person inside a custom. You could even see the zipper on the back of the “monster.”

At the end of the movie, the “monster” removed his costume, in the same way that at the end of the Halloween party you remove your mask.

Perhaps politics is also just a creation of our own imagination. However, when I listen to some politicians being interviewed or when I read their platforms, I’m not sure if it is people pretending to be a monster, or a monster pretending to be a person. I think there are politicians, regardless of political affiliation, who never remove their masks.

However, if you want to see true horror, don’t look at the monster or at the politicians. Look around you.

Many people, when they are watching a horror movie, instinctively cover their eyes when the images are too graphic. Unfortunately, they use the same defense mechanism when the horrors of reality are too graphic.

For example, last week I met Ricardo Vega, 39. He has been married with Nikki, 28, for several years. They have two boys, 4 and 3 years old. They were all born in the United States. Ricardo and Nikki speak only English. And since 2008, the whole family lives on the streets somewhere near Denver.

The Vegas are just four of the more than 16.000 homeless people around Denver. Most of them are families where at least one of the parents has a permanent job, but they can’t pay for housing. Now, that’s true horror.

Rudy Gonzales, director of Servicios de la Raza in Denver, told me, “Where there is poverty, there is no justice. That’s why our struggle continues.” Closing our eyes to injustice and not fighting for justice, now that’s truly terrifying

Go Back