Federico Reyes Heroles
It is easier to fool people than convince them they have been fooled.
Mark Twain
Days of wishes, of resolutions. The idea of an awakening is around. But it is not the natural act of coming out of sleep; many expect a national jolt that would not be gentle. The natural awakening is an illusion. But the jolt to prevent Mexico from falling into the abyss is a real possibility. It depends on the will of many.
A dear friend, a notary by profession, asks us and asks himself with despair how they do not realize -he refers to an abstract called citizens- that their liberties are at risk. How can they continue to believe him if his lies are counted in the thousands, and now the disappeared no longer exist? And so it goes on, and the mega-pharmacy, but there are the photos, empty shelves, no medicines, or the new airline invented overnight. My friend is having a hard time; his love for Mexico demands common sense from the citizens. He is not a man of party or political passions. He simply cannot understand the deception of an entire country and that this deception could have an endorsement in 2024.
We must distinguish. According to the accounts of M. A. Casar, those who receive pensions or other support in 60% of the households -20.8 million- there is at least one person benefiting from some social program; they are not the prototype of the deceived. Neither are they an example of citizen ethics; there is some conscience buying. If we add that 36.3% of workers receive a minimum wage -around 6.4 million (STPS)- and that this has increased in real terms by 190% on the border and 93% in the rest of the country (IMCO), then there are concrete benefits for an important group of Mexicans. They would have rational reasons to wish for continuity. But the simple arithmetic does not add up; of the 21 million workers registered with the IMSS, less than 50 thousand reported earning only a minimum wage. About 12 million are between one and two salaries.
A vast spectrum of potential voters -100 million- have not benefited; on the contrary, erratic public policies have harmed many. For example, the systematic destruction of the healthcare system has caused millions of families to be forced to spend a more significant portion of their income on private medical services and… medicines. The COVID-19 left 700,000 graves. Tens of millions of middle-class members have seen their aspirations held back by the lack of growth, inflation, the weakening of budgets, and support for education. Nearly 70% of women feel insecure, and rightly so. All of them are candidates for the national awakening.
The 4T script -everything in the past was darkness- collapses today; it does not work for a de facto reelection. Where did contemporary Mexico come from? The electrified, communicated country, with vast educational infrastructure, the fifteenth power, the exporting champion, awarded for its vaccination campaigns -will polio come back?-, for the quality of its National Health Institutes, the country that reduced infant and maternal mortality, raised life expectancy and educational level. The Mexico of democratic institutions is threatened today. Reality makes a mockery of the script. There are no spontaneously generated countries. Those harmed by the destruction are many more than the beneficiaries.
Mexico arrives in 2024 intimidated; that has been the strategy, intimidating journalists, media, business people, universities, and everyone. This intimidation can only be compensated with a tidal wave of citizen anger. What they say is false. Neither the unsustainable AIFA nor the pieces of the destructive train nor the refinery have improved Mexico. Fuel oil makes us sick. Pemex is a world champion in losses and endless falsehoods.
The shake-up is an act of individual and collective will. Let’s take action.
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