“Beauty will save the world.” This powerful affirmation has inspired several of the initiatives that we have developed in Trabajo y Persona; however, a great friend pointed out to me that this quote by Fyodor Dostoyevsky falls short in the face of the challenges we face as humanity. In this dialogue he made me notice how the beauty (aesthetics) with which the Nazi officers lived during World War II continues to be verified: from the works of art they owned, the music they listened to, and even the design of the uniforms. On the contrary, the beauty that surrounded them did not move one millimeter all the death and terror that they caused.
 
Continuing the conversation, he put on the table an essential element that is missing in the statement of the great Russian poet: charity. Because beauty runs the risk of being reduced to a simple aesthetic if it does not include love. In fact, things made with love are usually beautiful; it is especially evident when someone works with love, taking care of details, serving the customer properly and not pretending kindness just to provide a good service.
 
In fact, the attempt to “save the world”, although it is a positive and authentic desire, in practical terms seems utopian; and the same happens with SDGs when they consider the “end of poverty” or “zero hunger”. However, even though no one disputes the value of sharing these goals and working to achieve them, the “charity” category introduces another look at the same problems. Hence, therefore, the need, not only for no one to be “left behind”, but for no one to be “left alone”; loneliness is only cured with a charitable presence.

That is why programs and projects responding to the needs of the most vulnerable and being well designed, implemented, measurable, and technically and financially sustainable must include these two factors: beauty and charity. Human beings need not only to cover their basic needs and rights to be respected but also to be treated with affection and to be able to breathe a beauty that communicates living hope.

Because even if we resolve all social problems and reduce the inequalities to which we are witnesses, it is essential to take into account Benedict XVI’s statement in the encyclical Deus Caritas Est, stating that “love — caritas — will always be necessary, even in the fairest of societies.”