The Theater of Indifference
This moment, captured from the window of the restaurant overlooking the heart of Brussels, is a portrait of a society in silent and prolonged collapse, where indifference has been normalized and nihilism has become an underlying current in daily interactions. From above, we observe an elderly woman, already hunched over and with an apathetic expression, bending down to rummage through the trash, ironically located in front of the Royal Passage. Her gloved hands, due to the cold, search among the scraps and crumbs for something to eat. Beside her, a sign points to short, walkable distances to the city’s tourist landmarks—places of beauty and history, and yet, in this central spot, her suffering goes unnoticed.
The irony is devastating. Through the well-maintained streets of the European capital, tourists and passersby continue their hurried lives, absorbed in their own journeys, whether in search of consumption, distraction, or pleasure. The wealth, pomp, and palaces are all around, but what remains invisible is the brutal loneliness of this woman, sunk into her own invisibility. In the end, no one cares. No one looks. No one wonders about her story. And if there is anything in common between this woman and everyone else, it is precisely this indifference: no one cares about anyone.
The dignity of this woman has already been dissolved by time and neglect. Her body, perhaps already accustomed to misery and oblivion, bears the mark of a society leveled down, where the value of human life is lost amidst an overload of material stimuli. The presence of the royal palace just a few minutes' walk from there, almost like a silent shadow, further highlights the discrepancy between the ostentatious luxury and the human degradation unfolding just meters away.
The conformism stamped on the woman’s face reflects the burden of a life that no longer asks for anything. She may no longer need to be seen, no longer expect compassion or even the recognition of her existence. Perhaps, for her, indifference has been offered so many times that it has become her only wealth. There is no indignation or revolt. There is only the cold resignation in the face of failed human beings, who inhabit a world where human relationships have become transient and where suffering is disposable.
In this scenario, the normalization of indifference is revealed. This feeling of emptiness and insignificance permeates the landscape. Life, surrounded by material wealth and tourist attractions, loses its deeper meaning. And those on the fringes of society, like the woman on the sidewalk, are relegated to the role of invisible shadows, a stark reminder that, at the center of the world, true abandonment is present, even if no one notices anymore.
It is as if the passage echoed in Leonard Cohen's verses:
"You strike my side by accident As you go down for your gold The cripple here that you clothe and feed Is neither starved nor cold He does not ask for your company Not at the center, the center of the world"
served as the soundtrack for this grand theater of indifference.