by José Luis Mendoza Aubert

After two crowded, overwhelming weeks of religious festivities, yesterday, I went to enjoy some peace and quiet at Parque Juárez. Watching people interact with strangers there, I realized how weak empathy is among us humans. My inner voice, which never leaves me, brought up for my review a very old concept, the "clan".

Indeed, we are far from those loving times when we were truly a clan, a united and compact group with a firm conviction to survive elegantly and in the best way possible.

I believe it is essential for us as human beings to return to the feeling of a group or clan, in which everyone is important and cares for each other. Throughout much of human history, survival and prosperity were directly related to our ability to cooperate and work as a team. In primitive groups, all members were important and cared for the well-being of others. They shared goods, services, food, and safety equally and fairly, ensuring the survival of all.

However, savage capitalism and consumerism have transformed the way humans interact with each other. The capitalist system has driven extreme individualism, where each person selfishly focuses on their own needs and goals, and this has generated a lack of empathy and solidarity towards others.

Modern society has taught us to value individual success. Having more and consuming more, we forget the importance of cooperation and teamwork. This has created a culture of limitless production and consumption, which has reduced the sense of community and solidarity.

The dehumanization caused by savage capitalism and consumerism is reflected in many aspects of modern society. For example, cut-throat competition between companies and labor exploitation has created a growing economic and social inequality gap, and has reduced the sense of community and solidarity.

In this context, I believe that we need a change in our way of life and thinking. We must recover the values of community, collective well-being, and mutual care. We must recognize that happiness and well-being do not depend on individual success, but on the quality of relationships and the sense of belonging to a group.

Returning to the feeling of a group or clan where everyone is important and cares for each other could have a significant impact on how we live our lives and how we relate to others. It would allow us to regain empathy, solidarity, cooperation, and mutual care, values that have been left aside in a society where individual success is all that matters.

Returning to the feeling of a group or clan could have a positive impact on society and our way of life. It is important that we recognize that happiness and well-being do not depend on individual success, but on the quality of relationships and the sense of belonging to a group. We must work as a team to build a more just, supportive, human, and happy society.

Lokkal, our local internet platform, fostering community communication, promotes that collective spirit.

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José Luis Mendoza Aubert: actor, director and theater technician; teacher and writer of Theater and Plastic Arts; founder and director of the Comedia del Universo theater company and school, operating in San Miguel for the last 20 years; musicologist and cinephile, judge of the En Corto Film Festival now GIFF for 8 years; Director of Art and Culture of the Public Library for 15 years; member of the board of directors of El Sindicato Centro Cultural Comunitario.

José Luis gives talks and workshops on environmental awareness in schools and communities. He is a founding member of the Allende la Cultura Collective. He plays Veracruz music and writes poetry and is a founding member of the music group Jarocha "Soledad".

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