The reasons for the flood

Last night I dreamt of an allegory I heard on a stone counter in a bar at a dockworker's in the port of Castro Urdiales, Cantabria, Spain, in the 1980s.

It is a short – albeit cruel – account that deals with the demonization and recklessness of the left and the arrogance and "cunning" of the old opportunism of the right – which repeats itself several times in history – in its path, at any cost, to power.

That's how I heard it from an old fisherman, a former anarchist combatant in the Spanish Civil War, named Manolo Ouriges.

And this is how I'm passing it on to you now, with some minor – and forgivable – adaptations:

They say that, days after giving Noah the famous – and precise – instructions for building the Ark, God was distracted, standing on a rock atop the highest mountain, watching the work of his old follower – now a carpenter – and his sons, in a constant sawing, cutting, hammering, gluing, when he sensed a strange presence.

"It might appear. I already know you're there, behind the rock," he said, alerting himself to the demon's approach by a faint, characteristic smell of sulfur.

In response, the other lowered the red hood that covered his face and beard so they could talk. And he stood beside him to also observe the coming and going of the figures moving below, small as ants.

"So you're really going to do this crazy thing," the demon said after a while.

"I will," said God, fearless, his stiff chin pointed forward, "I will destroy everything that exists. Or almost everything."

"But you're going to destroy everything," said the Fallen Angel. "Does that make any sense?" And he began to count, stamping his foot on the ground:

With large companies...

"I know, but that's beside the point..." God replied, looking down at him, impassive and indifferent.

- With thousands of jobs....

I know, but that's beside the point...

- With the value of large companies and their shares....

I know, but that's beside the point...

- With the assets and future of shareholders and investors...

"I know, but that's beside the point..." the Lord continued.

- With the business of hundreds of small and medium-sized suppliers...

I know, but that's beside the point...

With the large infrastructure, energy, and defense projects that are underway...

I know, but that's beside the point...

Given the reputation of politicians and all parties...

I know, but that's beside the point...

- Even with his followers...

I know, but that's beside the point...

And with the lives of millions of people.

"And that's not...relevant either," the Divine One finally pointed out, conclusively and emphatically.

"Well..." exclaimed the demon, thoughtfully, "this is going to be something hellish!"

But isn't that precisely the idea? I want you to take the blame for everything, or rather, for almost everything.

"But if it was I who multiplied the GDP, per capita income, and the minimum wage in these last 13 years, reduced the gross and net debt, paid off the debt to the IMF, saved 370 billion dollars in international reserves, built almost 3 million low-cost houses, platforms, ships, refineries and hydroelectric plants, submarines, military cargo ships, missiles, fighter jets and assault rifles, discovered oil on the seabed, tripled automobile production and doubled the agricultural harvest... even the World Cup and the Olympics – sighed Lucifer sadly – ​​I brought them here..."

"But you didn't know how to 'sell' or explain any of that," the man interrupted abruptly. "Consequently, don't come to me with victimhood, whining, or complaints. You know that now nobody remembers what you did or knows what you're talking about."

"But why do that?" repeated the poor devil, displaying all his astonishment and dismay, pointing to the mountains and cities on the horizon as if he already saw them covered by an ocean. "That way, everything will go down the drain, everything that exists..."

Not everything.

What will remain is the ark, the animals, Noah's family, and water, lots of water, which will later flow back towards the poles, turning into ice.

And marketing, lots of marketing too, of course.

"Marketing? I don't understand," the other wondered, puzzled, "if afterwards it won't be practically left standing..."

Marketing, my dear. Don't be stupid. Have you ever heard of Louis XV?

Are you referring to a French king who will be born many centuries from now?

Exactly. They say that, among other things, he will become known for a famous expression.

"What kind of expression is that?" asked the devil.

- "Aprés moi, le Delúge" – After me, the Flood – continued the Lord, in a professorial tone – wanting to affirm, this great sovereign, that, after his death, it could rain cats and dogs and it wouldn't interest or worry him for even a moment.

Well, in my case, the basis of the plan is exactly the opposite.

"What do you mean?" asked the devil, trying to understand the meaning of what the Almighty wanted to say.

"Since I don't intend to die, quite the contrary, Avant moi, le Déluge – Before me, the Flood…" said God, with an imperial gesture, gathering the hem of his black cloak, his hair whipped by the wind. "I will blame you for corruption and corruption for unemployment and the crisis, regardless of problems in the world's largest economies or the fall in the price of oil, or the billion-dollar fines that will fall like a meteor on the largest companies, and I will transform everyone who exists now, without exception, into filthy, perverse, debauched, and thieving sinners, so that everyone understands that there is no salvation in Politics."

There is no salvation except through me, the Almighty!

And I will transform myself into the avenging knight who will deliver thunderbolts to the "wrong" and the "right," and who will drown and imprison everything and everyone—except those who fulfill my plan—in an overwhelming and purifying tsunami of justice!

"But there are others," the devil said, stroking his beard again, "who are using the same rhetoric as you, don't be fooled..."

"Don't worry," said the omnipotent one, "undaunted and resplendent. They too will be destroyed when the time comes."

And, raising his arms toward the horizon, he proclaimed:

There can only be one "Myth"!

Myself!

And his voice throbbed and throbbed, reverberating through the valleys and mountains.