Juan Milián just released Liberaos! The failure of the anger policy and the return of responsibility (Ed. Deusto, 2023), an important book to understand the current situation “The failure of resentment is a fact,” he says of Spanish politics, “but the return of responsibility is just a wish for now.” Between these two poles, from populism to the State, lies the gap between failed policies and successful policies, or a country’s moral bankruptcy and empowerment. It is also the distance that separates the spirit of national harmony present in the Transition Period as a step before the consolidation of a new cultural substrate characterized by the rejection of any cultural structure, without disturbing the structure that has been tried to be imposed in recent years. manifestation of true plurality from citizens and perhaps -even worse-, because of the emphasis on infantilization these same citizens who are said to have defended too much.
“He points out that this is happening in our country, while hand in hand with a party that is part of the constitutional pact,” Milián said. populism and nationalism, resentment and identity politics They infiltrated the Government of the State to weaken the State itself and to culturally destroy the democratic Transition”. The analysis could not have been more equitable and shows the extent to which the rhetoric of anger – promoted by the media and the political class – serves to weaken the concept of common citizenship and hasten the loss of responsibility for one’s duty. When the culprit is always the other There is little room left for what makes a country truly fairer, namely the personal will to improve itself.
Among the mutations characteristic of our time, there are those that specifically refer to currents of identity that tend to replace the complex ambiguity of the human condition with a single guiding principle that reduces the richness of pluralism to the narrowness of one-sidedness. Quoting Milián, Friedrich Hayek, Benjamin Barber or Maurizio Viroli, he recalls what the novelist Joseph Roth already stated at the beginning of the 20th century, which was undoubtedly part of the cultural climate of that period: patriotism is not nationalism and conversely nationalism is not patriotic. “The language of patriotism, as Maurizio Viroli observes in Per amore della patria, has for centuries been based on political institutions and the way of life that advocated the common freedom of the people, that is, republic love; The language of nationalism was created in Europe at the end of the 18th century to defend or strengthen the unity and cultural, linguistic and ethnic homogeneity of a people. While the enemies of republican patriotism are tyranny, despotism and corruption, the enemies of nationalism are cultural pollution, heterogeneity, racial pollution…». No wonder that The return of exclusionary identities has led to populisms of indignation and anger. in the politics of irresponsibility. Democracy is another thing, of course, and its success depends only on us.
Source: Informacion
Dolores Johnson is a voice of reason at “Social Bites”. As an opinion writer, she provides her readers with insightful commentary on the most pressing issues of the day. With her well-informed perspectives and clear writing style, Dolores helps readers navigate the complex world of news and politics, providing a balanced and thoughtful view on the most important topics of the moment.