The summer of Atlantis has arrived. Not in some remote legendary past, but here and now, in the heart of a civilization that believed it had tamed the gods and nature. The ancient myth, with its cruel beauty, invites us to look into the abyss of our own time, to recognize the symptoms of an unstoppable decline. We are shipwrecked on a sinking island, unable to see beyond our own navels, blinded by lies and the illusion of progress.
The nihilism of a godless civilization
Nietzsche was right. God is dead, and with him the values that supported our civilization. The void left by transcendence has been filled by a pervasive nihilism, an inability to give life meaning beyond fleeting pleasure and material success. Contemporary man, like the Atlantean, has exchanged gold for his soul, power for wisdom. The fall of Atlantis was not an accident, but the tragic end of a civilization that had forgotten its roots.
Body and soul in ruin
The body, the temple of the soul, is now sick and tormented. The obsession with appearance, disordered eating, sedentary lifestyles, and chronic stress have generated an epidemic of psychosomatic illnesses. The soul, deprived of a deeper meaning, wanders in the void, searching for an identity that eludes it. Social networks, powerful tools of manipulation, amplify insecurity and isolation, creating generations of young people who are lonely and disoriented.
The poison of individualism
The roots of our malaise are rooted in the fertile soil of unbridled individualism. Contemporary man, atomized and self-referential, has forgotten the value of community, solidarity, and the common good. Rampant consumerism, fueled by a predatory economic system, has transformed our desires into urgent needs, generating a vicious cycle of dissatisfaction and dependence.
A beacon in the darkness
Not all is lost. Even today, in a world dominated by frenzy and noise, there are voices that invite reflection and action. Reconnecting deeply with nature, cultivating authentic relationships, rethinking our development model: these are just a few of the possible ways out of this crisis. Education, understood as the integral formation of the person, has a fundamental role to play. We must teach young people to think critically, to discern truth from falsehood, and to build a more just and sustainable future.
The courage to be different
We are at the dawn of a new era. In this summer of Atlantis, the so called West could sink into the abyss, or be reborn from its ashes. The choice is ours. We can continue to barter our souls for a handful of coins, or rebel against a system that wants us to be slaves. We are called to be the protagonists of our destiny, to build a better world, a new world where man is at the center and not just a cog in a machine.