THE VIEW BELONGS TO THE BRAVE
by KATARINA VISINTIN
We live in a time when courage is measured differently than it used to be. In the mountains, we test it with every step uphill, and in life with the decision not to look away. Courage is no longer just about overcoming a steep slope, but about daring to face the truth. Courage means persevering where it is easier to turn your back, it means naming things as they are. It means asking what most people prefer to keep silent, and it means standing up, even when you know you might be standing alone.
It’s comfortable to live as if nothing is happening. But just as in the mountains we can’t get to the view if we sit halfway, there is no change in society if we stay quiet and calm. That is why it is important to say out loud enough to those who exploit power to demand accountability from politicians who talk about peace but invest in arms. As in the mountains, where the reward is not effortless, there is no true freedom in life without risk.
Of course, it’s easier to look away and believe that this doesn’t concern us. It is as if on the way to the mountains we would stand in the valley, in a warm hut, and at the first steep gorge we would say: it is comfortable enough here. But there is no vistas in the valley, just as there is no justice in silence. Courage today means saying loud and clear: war is not the solution. It means demanding that life be respected before power, man before capital, truth before propaganda. If we want true peace, we must have the courage to climb forward, even when the road is arduous, and not settle for a false sense of security.
At the same time, we continue to live an everyday life in which everything seems to be taken for granted: a warm bed, a cup of coffee, a book in the library, laughter with friends. But it is precisely these tiny things that we barely notice that are just unattainable dreams for many elsewhere. And here is the danger of forgetting how fragile they are, of starting to take them for granted, until we lose them. That’s why apathy is so dangerous. It is like a mist that covers the path and obscures the top. Anyone can see the inhumane, unacceptable happenings on the screen, and everyone has a choice: to look away or dare to look the truth in the eye. But just looking is not enough. Courage also means reacting, raising our voices when others are silent, stepping into the square when others retreat into silence, standing by those who are marginalized by society. If we do not do this, we become complicit in the silence that allows the violence to continue. Apathy is not neutral; It is the active side of passivity, which gives way to wars, lies and abuses of power.
Hope is written in the eyes of those who dare, in the people who go to the markets and demand with their voices an end to wars and violence, in the students who do not allow themselves to be silenced and courageously draw attention to the injustices of society, in the journalists who risk their lives to make others aware of the truth, and in the volunteers who step into danger, to help those who have been left without everything. They are like hikers who, despite the fog, persistently step towards the top, because they know that the horizon will brighten sooner or later. Their route is proof that the view exists, but only if we dare to look for it. And that is why today courage is more than a personal virtue, it is a common task. If we remain silent, we are part of the problem. But if we choose to stand up, speak up and persevere, we become part of the solution. Just like in the mountains, where the view belongs only to those who dare to reach the top, in life the future belongs to those who dare more. Courage today is not a choice, it is a duty.