The Unexpected

In the solar system over there, there was a planet where reality went beyond appearances. Even though it was called Chaos, everything in that land was organized to perfection. So it seemed. Society was founded on rights and duties, on a widespread sense of egalitarianism. In fact, however, the tribes prevailed. Formally they didn't see each other, they weren't so influencing. Yet, they had roots. Sure they had them. There were all kinds. Professional tribes, each with its own code, its own language, its own sphere of interests, relationships and pressures. Other tribes were secret, cliques that managed power behind the scenes, dividing it among themselves, according to the logic of friends of friends. The religious tribes were apparently the most crystalline and unassailable. Those who were part of it felt they were custodians of the truth to be proclaimed and defended, to be used as a club if necessary. Ready to talk in ways, yet so distant. No less were the political tribes united for a time by ideologies and ideals, later replaced by lower interests, in some cases by the pursuit of personal profits.

Alongside the larger tribes, there are others that are smaller and noisier. Some based on emotional and sexual orientation, on the defense of human rights and also animal rights, on skin colour. The "green" tribe, on the other hand, had the climate future of Caos at heart, at the forefront of a sustainable development model. On the contrary, the tribe of "us and them", also called "kontro", was made up of those who shared the same enemy, real or imaginary: once it was the foreigner, another time the taxman, another time the "system ”.

The logic of the tribes was curious: some were stable, well-rooted, in some respects invincible. Others were absolutely fluid, emerging every now and then and then sinking, or becoming fashionable and then returning to the cone of shadow. Now people didn't even pay attention to it anymore. The script was known as the logic of confrontation and even controversy. The tribes were the pawns in a party game that ultimately suited everyone. Until that day, when Caos' life was turned upside down by the Unexpected. No one was able to define it precisely, but that event broke the bank, made us see first-hand the fragility of personal and community life. The categories used up to that point were no longer enough. Each tribe tried to have its say, to offer a solution, but it was as if it was of no use. Words in the wind, total lack of communication. Caos' life became even more tangled, a vortex of problems, fears and loneliness. To such an extent that everyone began not to exclude the hypothesis of a definitive drift of the Planet. Faced with danger, however, the tribes decided to play one last card, to each choose a representative to face each other. So it happened.

The tribal council met in an atmosphere of general perplexity, as a last resort. But as sometimes happens, thanks to certain twists in history, those faces chosen in the emergency decided to shine with their own light. It was one in particular who spoke up to indicate a path. «It's true, we went to war with each other, for a long time we were a rubber wall for each other, we sacrificed our commitment to the common good in the name of one party. We made everything special nuances. But we still have time! Let's put aside labels and definitions, let's share the treasure that can unite us, let's start again from the essence that makes us similar: the human being who lives there!». Those who listened agreed to experience a new beginning. The tribes took a step back, in the name of an "us" that over time managed to fight the Unexpected, to no longer make anyone feel alone. Chaos thus became a garden.


Matteo Spicuglia
NP August / September 2023