There is a filth that cannot be cleaned with water and soap. It is not found in the streets, but in the darkest corner of certain minds. We have all sensed that 'stench' at some point: it is the trail left by people who enjoy intimidation, feed on others' fear, and believe respect is earned through blows or threats. They are the sewers of our society, and sometimes, they walk in broad daylight among us.
In many places, especially small communities, these 'dirty minds' feel like kings of the board. Their power does not come from success or effort, but from the silence of others. They move in impunity they have built through 'schemes' and by intimidating anyone who dares to look them in the eye. When someone believes they have the right to shoot an animal in a park or chase a neighbor over a simple word, we are not facing a 'bad day', we are facing an absolute moral short circuit.
In survival literature, like in Metro 2033, monsters are easy to identify: they have claws and live in the dark. But in our reality, the true mutants dress like us. They are those who have lost the capacity for empathy, replaced words with violence, and live in an almost mafia-like structure, protected by an environment that allows them to remain cruel. They are beings who, although they breathe clean air, mentally live in the sludge of a sewer.
The real tragedy is not that these cruel minds exist - they always have - but that the system sometimes seems designed so that the victim feels like the problem. Frustration arises when the body relaxes after the aggression and the mind rebels upon seeing the executioner still parading his arrogance down the same street. However, silence is their greatest ally. Every complaint, every voice raised, every 'microphone' turned on in the midst of their fog, is a step toward cleaning that sewer.
We cannot afford to fall into the hamster trap, running in fear. The cruelty of a few cannot define the lives of the many. Though today our mouths hurt from so much silence or accumulated tension, tomorrow our voice will be clearer. Because in the end, light always ends up revealing what lies at the bottom of the sewer.
With this, I want to say: do not be afraid to report. They rely on the fact that only very few of us report, and that way they escape the system. If we were many, they would be marked by many fingers and could not even walk the streets. If you liked the article, please consider leaving me a tip.
