Antonio Navalón
America is on fire. From North to South and East to West, the crisis is generalized and has one element in common: the loss of faith in its ruling classes. In politics, it is well known that dictators or disruptive elements are always the product of a collective failure that sweeps away those who govern and embodies the inability of governments to solve the problems of societies.
We are at a moment in the history of the world in which, due to the concentration of problems and the crisis of representation, it is not only democracy that is in danger but world stability itself. As for the American continent, we must analyze where the useless elements that have governed it, especially in the last 25 years, have led us. However, the reality is that neither Europe nor the rest of the world can be excluded from this analysis.
Since 1930, since the interwar period, we have never had so many simultaneous problems and crises. The main common element that surrounds and characterizes these crises is the failure of the ruling classes and the emergence or birth of extreme political and social phenomena. Some examples of this are last Sunday’s triumph of the ultra-right-wing candidate Javier Milei in Argentina, the crisis in Ukraine, the appearance and demonstration of the “trans” around the world, and what is happening in Ecuador. In this last case, it is worth emphasizing that, bearing the burden of the death of the presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, today, an election was held in which they demonstrated the complete loss of their ability to defend themselves. With the assassination of Villavicencio, Ecuador has become a country that has lost the ability to protect its people and those who aspire to be its leaders, leaving its destiny in the air.
On the other hand, Milei’s triumph is the consequence and effect of the clear nonconformity on the part of Argentineans, not only against the current regime but with the whole context and reality that surrounds them. Before Milei, there was a similar radical systemic change in 2016 when Donald Trump came to the White House. Before Trump, countless leaders and rulers came to power because of everything that was not being done well or was not seen as proper by society. Will Milei be the next Argentine president? It is possible. In any case, whether he is or not, what is evident is the failure of the Argentinian system.
Politicians are in decline. Ideologies no longer matter. Naturally, no one wants to repeat failed experiences. If there is a choice between living in a system, for example, after sixty years, one does not even have chicken to eat or another method that guarantees to fill one’s stomach; the answer is simple. Regardless of ideologies, everyone prefers to live under a system that guarantees survival and freedom, giving them even the slightest glimmer of hope for the future. Moreover, there is the fact that the politicians who have governed the world for the last hundred years under the labels of belonging to right-wing or left-wing regimes are, at this moment, the witnesses and administrators of a failed system.
I do not know how long it will take to be able to measure the consequences and effects caused by the communications revolution. I do not know the consequences that the following generations will have due to the overwhelming intrusion of this limitless force that is cell phones, new technologies, and total interconnectivity at all times. What I know is that this revolution has completely changed the ideology and ways of acting of societies. I can also say that I am sure that today, ideologies are in crisis, and, what is worse, administrations and governments are bankrupt.
Why do we pay taxes? Why do we wear ourselves out trying to be good citizens and follow the rules? It could be a matter of ethics or mere survival because if we do not do the minimum and fulfill our civic duties and responsibilities, I doubt that the rulers or anyone else would do it for us. However, there are cases in which, even though societies comply with what they have to comply with, it is not enough motivation for those who lead them to do what they have to do. Argentina is a clear case of this. We have been trying to understand what moves and how Argentina works since the 1940s. Since Juan Domingo Perón and his Peronism came to power, it has been challenging to accurately decipher and explain everything that happens in the country, even with the remnants still visible today.
Looking at the current state of Argentina, it is undeniable to accept that things have been done badly and that, beyond the visible economic crisis, there is a structural crisis of leadership and development. Looking at the nation it has become, it is incredible to think that there was a time when Argentina even became one of the world’s richest countries and could feed a large part of the world after the Second World War.
In any case, although Peronism can be considered as philofascist or philocommunist or where there was room for everything from the shadowy Triple-A of José López Rega, General Perón’s favorite minister, to the montoneros who fought battles in the middle of Avenida de Mayo after Perón’s death and the administration of his widow Isabel, the truth is that Peronism has done and continues to do a lot of damage to the country.
The fact that politics demand a renewal of leadership is something normal. What is also normal is that we have reached a point where it is necessary to evaluate and reckon – an exercise that applies not only to Argentineans but to all of us – what we have done since the end of World War II.
Nowadays, talking to our children, who already talk so much to themselves – especially with their cell phones through their selfies and the use of many diverse social networks – has become a real odyssey. The real question arising from this type of dynamics is whether so many technological tools have actually become, God forbid, barriers to traditional communication. However, the real challenge lies in deciphering how we can explain to them the reason(s) that have brought us to this point.
Today there is a clear and real systemic catastrophe around the world. Although it is not only the fact that the systems have failed, it is not clear what will come from here. Why was it possible for a character like Donald Trump to come to power? Because failure, abuse, and, above all, the loss of the moral references that made and built the best and most prosperous democracy in the history of the world had already been installed in power.
In Italy, a few months ago, something unprecedented also happened when Giorgia Meloni, belonging to the Brothers of Italy party, which is considered far-right, was appointed President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic. A leader who, despite her extreme right-wing façade, has shown herself to be a conservative when she came to power.
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