Federico Reyes Heroles
The effects of a spider’s poison are immediate, and what to say about a viper? But when societies are poisoned or are being poisoned, the perverse effects are not announced in this way; they take time to appear. The reflexive -they are poisoned- is relevant because centuries-old prejudices, the mental capture of a faith, or simple ignorance, can cause devastating effects in human beings. In his most recent book, The Art of Being Human, Rob Riemen recounts the traces of fascist poison circulating in postwar Holland. That fascism – Nazism at the center, though not the only one -, like dampness, penetrated vertically and horizontally into many societies. Today, it is reemerging.
After six years of daily cultivation of hatred from power, it would be abnormal if there were no effects. A PAN legislator, in the heat of the discussion on the reform of the Judicial Power, launched the sentence that if a senator -a colleague of hers- voted in favor “he deserved to be lynched” and to be “beaten to a pulp”. This is a popular representative of the highest level. This is what we have come to, zero political pedagogy! The country is poisoned, just look at the presidential disqualifications against judges, magistrates, and ministers—rotten, cretins, shameless, part of the mafia, and so on. There are certain highly poisonous words: privileged, caste, enemies of the people -whatever this may be-, “coup plotters”. Mexican society has normalized what should be a cause for scandal. As the classic would say, the only valid intolerance is against the intolerant.
In 2023, Michael Ignatieff’s most recent book appeared in Mexico. It is an invaluable essay with the telling title In Search of Consolation. Living with Hope in Dark Times. For those who doubt any religious connection because of the title, it is worth remembering that Ignatieff, a solid philosopher, was the leader of the Canadian Liberal Party and even competed for Prime Minister. He is also a great disseminator of Isaiah Berlin. In this text, Ignatieff explores authors from the classical world such as Cicero or Marcus Aurelius, and from there to Marx, Camus, Mahler, and Anna Akhmatova. The common thread is apparently simple: What meaning does consolation have for each one of us? It is passionate and beautifully written.
Fears surround Mexican society; some are real and terrible, unquestionable, violence, disappearances, and femicides. Others come and go, like the presidential attacks or the blockades that affect hundreds of thousands, or the extortion that has provoked a very serious internal migration phenomenon, rupture of family ties, and much more. But there is another series of fears that those in power have sown in society. For example, what did Mexico gain by modifying the concept of property in the Constitution of its capital city? As if that were not enough, since February we have been threatened with a misguided reform to the federal Judiciary, which has nothing to do with local justice, which is what affects more than 90% of the judicial cases being heard today.
Today, the votes in the Senate are counted one by one to find the “traitor.” Implementing this reform is practically unfeasible and would affect millions. The world is on edge. The members of the Judiciary themselves, seeing their rights and professional development affected, are victims.
“At all times,” says Ignatieff, ”especially when history is incomprehensible, people cling to the illusions of continuity, especially those fabricated by their rulers. Tension is not a good counselor, for some will call for “lynchings” and let us remember that the masses before public bonfires come and go: today they persecute an opponent, and tomorrow the one who was the spiritual guide… of the crime.
Mexico needs consolation, but, as Ignatieff reminds us, finding relief together can only be achieved by listening and being listened to.
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