There is no doubt that we find ourselves in a period of authentic crisis of a worldwide scale. We are not referring to the economic crisis which "we are beginning to emerge from" and which affects the U.S.A. as well as the European Community; it is the crisis which will logically result in the devastation of our planet to a greater or lesser degree.

The 'Reason' of man, so praised by the first Greek illustration, the Renaissance, the German illustration, etc., has manifested itself only as very limited techno-scientific reason. How many triumphs has man gained in such field, and how many more he would have obtained if his techno-scientific reason had been accompanied by 'Reason'?

That 'Reason' would be no more than the acquisition by man of: (a) A clear conscience of his individual responsibility; (b) Respect, as the basis of any relationship; and (c) His responsible participation in the world which surrounds him.

What happened to religion? Could it have been a vehicle, among other possible ones, to obtain this awareness? (1) Yes, it could have been if man would have had a clear comprehension of the religious phenomena. However, the confusion into which the world continues to submerge itself, in the religious and other aspects, is painfully obvious. Precisely this has impeded the natural progression toward 'Reason'.

We find ourselves in a moment in which all society's sustaining structures are swaying: Everywhere serious and terrifying conflicts erupt. It is not necessary to mention all of them. The memory of the bulldozers gathering and burying thousands of corpses in common graves in Rwanda suffices to remind us of the, obviously failed words of Adorno: "Act in such a way that Auschwitz does not repeat itself".

These philosophers of the School of Frankfurt thought that, after the brutal Second World War, the decadent structures which had, up to then, sustained the world would collapse and give way to a new system in which justice and equality would be evident. History, once again, demolished the dreams.

Why do we function in a a macro system which only has limited value for a small part of the world, and which ruins the rest and is of an obvious short term validity?

Who has the power to change this system? Who has the power to establish Utopia, regardless of its characteristics?

Only a man-made, and God allowed, cataclysm of global proportions which would force society to stop and take stock of how far off the right path it has deviated. Isn't it always a catastrophe or crisis that unites a family, a town, a nation?

However, that is the most dangerous time since the masses will be aimlessly seeking for "that one leader" that will pull the world out of chaos.

What if a Hitler-like mind avails himself to be "that one leader"? What if that was precisely the plan of a Hitler-like mind who is already walking amongst us?

---