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Javier Blázquez Ruiz, Professor of Law Philosophy

Facing the crisis

"Einstein warned, several decades ago, that we cannot aspire to change things if we continue to think and do the same thing over and over again."

Wed, 07 Aug 2013 08:19:00 +0000 Published in El Norte de Castilla

Faced with the intense and pressing crisis we are currently suffering, both in economic, political and institutional terms, what can we do as citizens? Should we remain with our arms folded, waiting for political representatives, banking leaders or the sacrosanct market to resolve the critical situation status that we have been dragging along for years, trusting in their words and expectations?

Obviously, this does not seem to be the most appropriate attitude. We should rather bear in mind the words of A. Einstein when he warned, several decades ago, that we cannot aspire to change things if we keep thinking and doing the same things.In fact, regardless of who have been the main architects and responsible, the crisis is not a distant reality or alien to us, before which we can do nothing, just waiting for the status that we suffer to change.

Life is really a daily chore, a project always unfinished and therefore in a constant process of creation and realization, as José Ortega y Gasset insisted. And this permanent chore forces us to consider different options, urges us to get out of the routine and requires us to flee from laziness to look for satisfactory solutions and solutions.
Probably in this difficult and complex process, full of uneasiness and uncertainty, we will not find immediate and viable answers from entrance because in that case we would not be talking about such a critical status as the one we are living.

However, instead of waiting inactive, sometimes increasing the Degree of restlessness and uneasiness, we must begin to look for and probe for possible paths, starting first of all by investigating within ourselves, in our own inner self in order to extract willpower and provide us with those personal capabilities that allow us to try to turn the course of things around us.

As the German physicist insisted, "it is in the crisis where the best of each one of us comes to the surface". A. Einstein went so far as to argue that the crisis that should concern us most is "the crisis of incompetence", referring to the negative attitude of those who, having possibilities, do not make an effort, do not struggle and do not take initiatives to try to reverse the situation status.

In the face of this behavior, on the contrary, it is a matter of changing our disposition when facing and confronting the problems that surround us, instead of allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed by pessimism. sample In fact, experience has shown us that it is precisely in times of crisis that innovative projects, new companies, new models of economic growth and different forms of human relationships that have not been explored before emerge.

Incidentally, we can note that the personal relationships that nourish the dynamism of an advanced society should not be limited only to commercial relationships. Among other things because people are not exactly merchandise. Because if we reduce all the possibilities of relationships to a single dimension: money, and encourage only individualism, then we will end up impoverishing ourselves, sacrificing ethical values as necessary as coexistence, care and solidarity. Values that will end up dissolving in the economic storms that periodically burst in unexpectedly. And then poverty will be double: economic and moral.

For all these reasons, we must not forget that crises can also be overcome. They are not forever. It is then when merits emerge, aptitudes emerge and qualities that sometimes remained hidden and dormant shine. In fact, creativity is often born out of necessity and distressing situations, just as the day emerges bright after the dusk and darkness of the night.

The fact is that approaching the crisis and confronting it with a proactive mentality is already a way of facing it that moves away from silence and conformism. For there really is among us "a driving force more powerful than steam, electricity and atomic energy: the will".

No one doubts that economic or family circumstances indisputably condition our choices and decisions. But it should also be emphasized that determinism does not deserve credit and even less should it be given the last word. Under no circumstances.

Therefore, to conclude, let us appeal once again to the words of A. Einstein when he said: whoever works hard at the task, whoever does not stop but mobilizes and whoever strives to overcome the crisis, ends up surpassing himself. Therefore, if we want to achieve a change of course and direction, "let us put an end to the only threatening crisis, which is the tragedy of not wanting to fight to overcome them.