This is the first post of March, which is dedicated to security.
The decision to reflect on security in March has two reasons:
In this second part of the year, we are going backward - starting with tech and ending with inclusion in June - and security falls in March.
The second reason is a little less obvious: the name March derives from Mars, that in ancient Rome was worshipped as the god of war. Mars not only gave its name to a planet but, mythologically, was also the father of Romulus and Remus - the twins that founded the town of Rome.
Now, what has their story to do with nowadays security issues? Maybe nothing, maybe a lot.
We will try to look for answers from our past for current and future issues in this post.
To facilitate your reading, this time I decided to organize the post into sections:
1. The sons of Mars: A history of brotherhood and betrayal
2. When brotherhood is broken: The wall
3. The "Bruderkuss": Brotherhood in the Cold War
4. Present: Walls and war
5. A future of beauty and unity: The story of Julius Caesar
You can read the sections separately or read them all. However, to find out why the future is beautiful, you will have to get to the fifth part, which is the last one.
The sons of Mars: A history of brotherhood and betrayal
According to the legend, Romulus and Remus were born from the union of Rhea Silvia and Mars. Their union was, however, a turbulent and traumatic one as the woman - who vowed to remain a virgin - had been raped by Mars. Rhea's father used to be the king of Alba Longa, but he had been deposed by his brother - who also did not want Rhea to give birth to any heir.
For this reason, after the birth of Romulus and Remus, the ruling king threw them into the river - in an attempt to kill the legitimate heirs. Nonetheless, the boys remained alive and re-emerged from the water in a place that is now Rome.
There, a wolf took care of them until they grew up. Once adults, the twins built Rome right where the wolf had rescued them.
Unfortunately, the war and turbulence that ran in the twins' blood had eventually the best of them: when they could not get along anymore, they had to build a wall to divide Rome into two. Still, this was not enough and, when Remus once crossed the line that had been drawn by him and his brother, Romulus killed him.
2. When brotherhood is broken: The wall
The story of Romulus and Remus is one of a broken brotherhood. The core concept behind brotherhood is unity, so when brotherhood is broken all that is left is division. The quintessential symbol of division is the wall: they aim at separating, rather than unifying. Historically there have been many walls built, with different purposes, but the basic idea behind it has always been the same: to remain isolated.
The need to stay isolated is not wrong per se: indeed, for power relations to work, there needs to be a healthy dichotomy of isolation and communication. The first allows a person, a group, or a society to understand and solidify their own identity. The second allows them to share this identity with others - those who have developed a different identity.
The dangers of this process are in its imbalances: when there is too much or too little isolation. When society is too open, the risk is that cultures might become impoverished - especially local ones. A good example is my hometown of Venice, which is flooded by people from all over the world, and yet is losing its historical identity.
When society is too closed, ironically, the risk is the same: the culture will become impoverished. The reason for the impoverishment, however, is different: it is not due to an over-exposition to diversity, but to an under-exposition.
Walls can be not only physical, but also mental: labelling those who are different from us isolates them like a wall would do. It also impoverished our understanding of the world, by preventing us from seeing from another perspective.
The one of Romulus and Remus might be a myth, but it holds a deep truth: when we fail to see the beauty of diversity, brotherhood is broken and walls are put up.
3. The "Bruderkuss": Brotherhood in the Cold War
One of the most famous walls in history is the wall of Berlin and, one of the most famous paintings on it is the "Bruderkuss" between Brezhnev and Honecker. The graffiti is titled "My God, help me to survive this deadly love", and was painted by Russian artist Dimitri Vrubel.
This piece of art is interesting for two reasons: not only it is depicted on a wall, but it also represents what is German called a "Bruderkuss" - a fraternal kiss.
The gesture, captured in the picture, was part of a larger Socialist greeting ritual, and it shows the closeness of the two leaders - Brezhnev and Honecker - who indulge in a kiss on the mouth. The graffiti became rapidly famous as it displays unity, in a city scarred by a wall.
One could argue that these two leaders - "Socialist brothers" - are very different from Romulus and Remus: they are close, and they did not kill each other. The reality is, however, that the price of these two leaders - and states - to remain close, was paid by thousands of Berliners and Germans who were separated for decades.
Therefore, if from the Roman myth, we understand that a broken brotherhood generates walls, from the history of Berlin we see that walls can be maintained by a sick brotherhood. It is indeed the unwillingness to face diversity, to face change, by only looking at who is similar to us that prevents us from pushing ourselves beyond that wall.
The Berlin Wall with the graffiti by Dimitri Vrubel "My God, help me survive this deadly love", Picture on Pexels
4. Present: Walls and war
Now that we looked at history, what can be said about the present day? Objectively speaking, walls are still in place nowadays and not too far from Europe - in Belfast or Jerusalem, for instance, we see divisions and tensions due to religion. Subjectively speaking, instead, many people are still not fully included in society and are left out due to different characteristics - not only race, sexual orientation, or gender but also age and health status.
The needs of young people - who went through 2 "once in a lifetime" economic crises, a pandemic, and now a war - is chronically overlooked, to the point that we got accustomed to the increase in youth suicide rates in the Western world.
Similarly, although there was a pandemic, our society still seems to be unable to react to include people with health conditions in their workforce. This might sound like a restricted group but, in a lifespan of an average of 50 years of work, almost everyone will get sick at some point - or will have a relative to take care of. Not having the flexibility to accommodate these needs at the workplace, even after the COVID-19 pandemic, is simply myopic and shows a lack of understanding of where our society is heading.
Our society is going towards a more compassionate and inclusive reality, where diversity will be regarded as beautiful and not problematic. Of course, tragedies like the war in Ukraine can make us wonder if this is the right path that we are walking as humans, as brothers.
The answer is simple: there is no right answer. We, the western world, cannot know if our moves right now will be judged positively by history since we cannot control them. What we can control, instead, is the motives of our actions: as long as we act moved by knowing who we are and defending it with courage, we are on the right side. As long as we act from a place of internal unity and strength, not one of brokenness and fear of what is different, then we are at peace with ourselves. And, if we are at peace with ourselves, perhaps we will finally make peace also with others.
5. A future of beauty and unity: The story of Julius Caesar
Finally, what is in store for the future? I think here, Roman history can be useful again. Indeed, though the town of Rome was born from conflict - given that Romulus, after killing his brother, became also the first king - the Roman Empire was born out of beauty.
The person that led the transition from republic - "Res Publica" - to the empire was Julius Caesar, whose family claimed to descend from Venus - the goddess of beauty. The transition led by Caesar was turbulent and difficult: Julius himself was eventually killed in a plot, backstabbed even by his best friend Brutus on the Ides of March.
Nonetheless, the change that Caesar had brought was irrevocable, and it was completed by his adopted son - Octavian - who later became known as Augustus. The Augustan Age brought peace, prosperity, and beauty - as it marked the Golden Age of Latin literature.
Today, I see in society an interest - especially in young people - to understand diversity and to see its beauty. If this continues to be the trend, despite the hardships, the future cannot be other than beautiful.
Love,
Elena
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