There was a day when Lisbon became very ill.
First it shivered. Then it was drenched in waves of cold sweat.
Then the fever, as hot as many fires burning simultaneously.
Then the delirium: "Pray, for we are sinners! That's why God is punishing us!"
It was so shaken up on that 1st of November 1755 that it had to be injected blood from Brazil.
Brazil was so drained out that it started to feel a malaise towards Lisbon.
Lisbon convalesced for some years until it was discharged. A different Lisbon emerged.
So we emerge different persons after each illness. Our antibodies much wiser.
Our Lisbon looking differently. Our drained out Brazil filling up an Ocean in between us.
I tend to choose a humorous or saucy revelation when it comes to this day of the year which sees my namesake saint being worshipped in the Christian world. But the massacre in Orlando plus the political exploitation of it, in particularly by Trump's campaign, bled my intentions out.
The world is not more violent than it was in the past but extremism is visibly on the rise. A few weeks ago we almost saw a far-right president take office in Austria, right in the heart of the well educated western world. In France, Marine Le Pen's party is still gathering momentum. The soon to be held Brexit referendum has deep notes of the rise of nationalism and the closing of borders that entails it, and could potentially lead to a disaggregation of the European Union---a union which was thought of, first and foremost, as a way to end the possibility of more events similar to the two world wars to erupt. And it's predictable that the continuous flow of migrants on to the eastern borders of Europe will take a toll in the the popularity of more moderate visions of the world.
To add to that, demented individuals killing in the name of Islam will only help to swell the ranks of extremism, to recruit paradoxically more enemies and thus self-defeating their purpose: if life in the western world was any tough for a Muslim before it will only get worse. Curiously, if there was a time when Islam was great it was when it was the most tolerant of cultures; when Jews, Christians, Hindus, Nogodians were non-persecuted subjects in the Muslim world. Medieval Europe, by then, was a cesspool of religious fanatics in comparison.
So it's not the time to shun political correctness in every day language, specially if we're talking of public figures as Mr Trump got to become. It's by language first that we dehumanise our fellow human beings and thus make it mentally possible to proceed to wish for their death, or to kill them ourselves. And it's also by language that perpetrators such as the one in Orlando will be shunned or deemed as heroes. Therefore it's not the time to attach other labels to that murderer other than demented individual. That should be inscribed in his tomb. Whether he adhered to ISIS or to Lunar Defenders is just a way of finding a group to blame, and the murderer a channel for his insanity.
It's in times like these that cool brains are precious commodities, when the whipping up of emotion towards blame and hatred blinds. And if you're inclined to think of apparently strong leaders, as Mr Trump views himself, as the way to fight a perceived threat to the world you hold precious, it's funny but it's exactly the insecure who will fill out that role of strong leaders. The way Mr Trump reacts to comments on his small hands or sexual apparatus, the way he responds to personal criticism, are hints on how insecure he is. An assured person would most probably smile or laugh at similar comments. The strong, and tough, and aggressive stances are a cover under which the insecure person hides. And I invite you to look for those characteristics in historical figures. It's a fun exercise.
Even more curious is that America was much greater when the likes of Mr Trump could never go past the intention of becoming a presidential candidate. The smallness of Mr Trump's world lies in the self-delusion that he can make a society greater out of subtracting those whom he deems that should not be a part of it.
This is a time to be politically aware and to keep all our democratic cards close at hand. Our every day stance and speech within our social circles counts; our vote is likely to have too much importance on our collective near future not to be cast.
