The Winner
Stands Alone by Paulo
Coelho (Pages 8 and 9)
Fashion. Whatever
can be people be thinking? Do they think fashion is something that changes
according to the season of the year? Did they really come from all corners of
the world to show off their dresses, their jewelry and their collection of
shoes? They don’t understand. “Fashion” is merely a way of saying” “I belong to
your world. I’m wearing the same uniform as your army, so don’t shoot.”
Ever since groups
of men and women first started living together in caves,” fashion” has been the
only language everyone can understand, even complete strangers. “We dress in
the same way; I belong to your tribe. Let’s gang up on the weaklings as a way
of surviving”.
But some people
believe that fashion is everything. Every six months they spend a fortune
changing some tiny detail in order to keep up their membership in the very
exclusive tribe of the rich. If
they were to visit Silicone Valley, where the billionaires of the IT industry
wear plastic watches and beat up jeans, they would understand that the world
has changed; everyone now seems to belong to the same social class; no one
cares anymore about the size of a diamond or the make of a tie or a leather
briefcase.
In fact, ties and leather briefcases don’t even exist in that part of the world; nearby, however, is Hollywood, a relatively more powerful machine –albeit in decline- which still manages to convince the innocent to believe in haute-couture dresses, emerald necklaces, and stretch limos. And since this is what still appears in all the magazines, who would dare destroy a billion-dollar industry involving advertisements, the sale of useless objects, the invention of entirely unnecessary new trends, and the creation of identical face creams all bearing different labels?
In fact, ties and leather briefcases don’t even exist in that part of the world; nearby, however, is Hollywood, a relatively more powerful machine –albeit in decline- which still manages to convince the innocent to believe in haute-couture dresses, emerald necklaces, and stretch limos. And since this is what still appears in all the magazines, who would dare destroy a billion-dollar industry involving advertisements, the sale of useless objects, the invention of entirely unnecessary new trends, and the creation of identical face creams all bearing different labels?
How ridiculous!
Igor cannot conceal his loathing for those whose decisions affect the lives of
millions of honest, hardworking men and women leading dignified lives and glad
to have their health, a home and the love of their family.
How perverse!
Just when everything seems to be in order and as families gather round the
table to have supper, the phantom of the Superclass appears, selling impossible
dreams: luxury, beauty, power. And the family falls apart.
The father works
overtime to be able to buy his son the latest sneakers because if his son
doesn’t have a pair, he’ll be ostracized at school. The wife weeps in silence
because her friends have designer clothes and she has no money. Their
adolescent children, instead of learning the real values of faith and hope, dream
only of becoming singers or movie stars. Girls in provincial towns lose any
real sense of themselves and start to think of going to the big city, prepared
to do anything, absolutely anything, to get a particular piece of jewelry. A
world that should be directed toward justice begins instead to focus on
material things, which, in six months’ time, will be worthless and have to be
replaced, and that is how the whole circus ensures that the despicable
creatures gathered together in Cannes remain at the top of the heap.
Music : Oskar Schuster - Sneeuwland
The Winner Stands Alone Book Image
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