As in a post-apocalyptic world, there are still traces of a surprising and painful pandemic. Social distancing signs on sidewalks and building floors, empty and abandoned alcohol containers attached to walls, and faint signs of mask use.

The pandemic that brought us to closure where we had time to think about ourselves as individuals and society. A closure that suggested that in the same way that ecological environments have recovered in surprising ways, human nature can also improve.

But no, months passed, we got out of the quarantine caused by COVID-19 and now we live in a new captivity, kidnapped by the fear of insecurity.

We live exposing ourselves as little as possible, terrified, locked in a vicious circle of experiences, stories, news, videos and harsh statistics of violence and crime.

We have returned to primitive animals, careful, suspicious, avoiding predators that can appear threatening at any time and in any place.

Fear as an emotion turns into opportunities for action, and given the evidence that things are out of control, people have looked for other ways to deal with it, other than the conventional ones, by applying “neighborly justice”. “Extortionist or thief, alert, if we catch you, we will not hand you over to the police, we will lynch you,” reads a sign posted by residents of one sector, which appeared in the news of this newspaper. It explores how several neighborhoods in Guayaquil and other communities in the country are organizing to fight crime by installing cameras, panic buttons, community alarms and chat rooms.

If we don’t question ourselves enough in quarantine due to COVID-19, maybe now is the time to ask ourselves other questions…

Alba Luz Robles, professor at UNAM, distinguishes between two approaches to fear and insecurity. Fear of crime refers to the population’s fear of being personally a victim of crime, while citizens’ insecurity can be understood as fear of crime in general, as a social problem. In other words, citizen insecurity is a set of concerns that pervade the “risk society” discourse, which includes not only traditional crime, but also other problems such as terrorism and drug trafficking.

Insecurity affects the entire social fabric in a complex way, so it should not be viewed only as a police problem. Poverty, lack of opportunity and social exclusion are factors that contribute to crime.

Although there is an urgent need to work on public policies and apply all rigor in the fight against crime, there is also a need for a new education that deals with the root problem, which is capable of forming social empathy, at all levels, which promotes the building of a complete and supportive community.

If we don’t question ourselves enough in the captivity of COVID-19, maybe this is the time to ask ourselves other questions and start a change that is fundamental. (OR)