Faced with a catastrophe like the one we are currently experiencing, many responses are possible. There are those who roll up their sleeves, take a shovel and dig into the mud. There are those who offer their tractor to help clear the debris. There are those who open their homes to those who have lost everything, so that they can take a shower, rest, recharge their cell phones. There are those who prepare sandwiches for the volunteers. There are those who have a business and offer what they have left in their warehouse, whether it is food, tools or blankets. There are essential workers who live far away but come to volunteer, including firefighters and psychologists. There are those who broadcast a special radio program and open the microphones so that people can ask for help or locate their missing. There are those who organize a collection of food and basic necessities. All of them are today in Valencia, multiplied.
There are also those who take advantage of the confusion to entangle, manipulate, gain political advantage or cause further damage. There are those who, from the first minute, spread hoaxes that provoke more fear and anger: hoaxes about prisoners, those about immigrants, those about shortages; lies that crash vital phones, create chaos, distract from what is urgent or obstruct the work of emergency services. There are those who take advantage of the pain and confusion to sneak in their agenda, with insinuations and false accusations. There are those who, in a moment like this, have nothing better to do than to receive the president of the government by booing him. There are those who take advantage of the misfortune to obtain a political advantage by blaming the central government, which amounts to overthrowing it: “DANA, pork government”. We’re seeing all of this these days too, no surprise. Disasters bring out the best in most and the worst in some.
