Federico Reyes Heroles
Don’t you know that recklessness is not courage? Cervantes
La Aurora de México, a new bastion of freedom that is now under threat.
Paradox: today’s terrible threat to world order has a noble side. Cervantes imagined a character, embraced by a certain madness, willing to give his life to pursue ideals, a kind of benevolent madness. But history reveals another interpretation: the horrors that madness has brought to the world. The Royal Spanish Academy makes no concessions, defining madness as “deprivation of judgment or use of reason (synonymous with dementia, alienation, insanity)… Nonsense… extreme fanaticism…”. But social usage is very tolerant: “He’s crazy about his wife,” “he’s an adorable madman.” We grant madness the possibility of being beneficial. But that leniency should not extend to those in power. We must demand sanity from them, without exception: “…The quality of being sane, that is, having prudence, good sense, and sound judgment,” the very opposite of madness. There have been many rulers dominated by madness. Thinking “outside the box” generates illusions that sensible people do not entertain. Madness is popular. Milei is one of the most recent cases.
Not everything goes wrong for madmen; they are not doomed to failure, and therein lies the risk. A certain dose of madness broadens the spectrum of ideas. But, clearly, these “successes” are only short-term. Foolishness does not bring lasting benefits. So, what is the limit? Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Pol Pot, Franco, Perón, and many others led their nations into the abyss. But in a democracy, that possibility, a ruler, is included.
In recent days, the world has witnessed acts that expose the folly that governs the US: decapitation in Venezuela in violation of all norms and receiving applause; threats to the European Union and Russia; to Iran with attacks “like never before”; to Cuba; to Mexico by land; Greenland “by hook or by crook”; capture or destruction of ships in international waters. But perhaps the least spectacular action, yet the most damaging to humanity, is the United States’ withdrawal from a wide range of global programs—around 60—within the UN system; these range from care for children at risk of HIV to climate change. The central argument is cost: the entire system will cost the United States around $20 billion. Military spending in the United States in 2026 will be around $900 billion, or 45 times the 2021 level.
The United States is governed by a madman who is putting the world order at risk. The checks and balances of one of the great democracies are not working. The risks of this folly include his own country. For example, if we are unable to stop global warming, the consequences for both coasts will be devastating. The same holds for the possibility of new pandemic types. Cutting support for universities and research centers with the most significant human capacity in these areas is suicidal. What good is being very rich if you can’t go out on the street or see friends or fear for your life?
Trump’s madness has been laid bare. Although some of his actions may bring him applause in the short term, he is condemning his country to live in an unstable and hostile world—bad business. The comparison is inevitable: how is it possible that one of the most educated nations in the world—Germany, which brought Hitler to power—is today a prisoner of madness: “My own morality. My own conscience. That’s the only thing that can stop me.” A dramatic self-portrait for history. ICE is setting dozens of cities on fire. Asking Corina Machado to give him the Nobel Prize. Madness with consequences: the persecution of migrants is already making food more expensive. The hatred he is unleashing could lead to terrorist acts, endangering passengers on planes, ships, or subways in the United States. It could also lead to attacks on its citizens around the world.
Trump is not brave; he is reckless, and the world is shaking.
Further Reading: