At the last location he noticed why he had felt the feeling of war earlier today.
In his mind, there were really only two types of politics: one that tried to include other people and one that tried to exclude others. Exclusion was happening on a big scale in society. Exclusion came in waves. It struck anytime hardships were beginning to take hold of society. As it were, society was always quick to seek out someone who was responsible. Someone to blame. Someone whom it could exclude, to solve the problem. Just by doing the easy thing and getting rid of them. Surely once that was done, all the hardships would vanish into thin air. But that’s not how hardships work. They were complex, fickle things and they were best solved together. What he’d noticed, during his time as an emperor, was that problems arose through exclusion and could usually be solved, when one involved a couple of more brains – different people, with different backgrounds, that would think in different ways. That way, one was bound to find a solution even to the most persistent and entangled problems.
And still, all over the world and all over time, rulers and governments did exactly the opposite. One particular moment was this city in the 1940s. First the government excluded just a few, blaming them for everything that was wrong in society. But, as time went on, and the problems weren’t solved, they started to blame others. More and more people became the enemy. Neighbours, friends, colleagues. See, exclusion doesn’t stop with one person. As soon as it becomes evident it hasn’t solved the problem, it needs someone else to blame. Maybe it was another person’s fault, because of the colour of their skin, or what they believed in, or who they loved. So they made signs to exclude these unwanted entities. First was the yellow star, blaming the jews. Then came others, a red triangle for those who spoke out against the government’s exclusion and destruction. A pink triangle for those who loved someone the government didn’t approve of. And there were others, of course, because once you start exclusion, you need to find new victims to blame regularly. Because your exclusion doesn’t solve the problem. And if you go down the path of thinking bad things about others, even when they’re lies, it’s hard to go back and pull the society together, rather than divide it. This system killed millions of people, and it started with words, then came the signs and it often ended in death. While two whole nations stood by and didn’t stop it. It would have been easy too – just include others, no matter who they were. Be curious towards others. Stand up whenever you see someone be excluded.
He understood now that this was one monster that would keep coming back. People started to forget the horrible things that had happened. And they started to listen to those again, who wanted to exclude people, promising an easy solution for a complex problem.
This was truly the location of the lost gate of Vindobona. A landslide had taken it into the river. But other things had been lost here too – most precious amongst them was hope. Lost hope in the face of one of the strongest enemies humans could face: division and exclusion.
He looked at the red triangle and he made a promise to himself: No matter how hard it is, no matter how many people want me to do the opposite, I will shape society together. I will include others in the decision making. I will try and listen and remain curious and open minded. I will not fall into the trap of quick solutions that attack others. I will not forget and I will not stay silent, if I see others fall for that trap.
