Opinion Sur
They fish in choppy waters. Desperation, the absence of expectations, or anger towards the infamous life that has fallen to their lot are the ideal breeding ground for ultra messages to penetrate[i].
The disinherited voting the far-right make up one of the most lacerating paradoxes of the times we are living in. If we add to this a generation of young people with as much desire for strong emotions and adventure as they are lacking in culture, then we find the perfect cocktail. A time bomb at the service of the regression in both Europe and America that has been wreaking havoc for a couple of decades now. There, we have phenomena such as those of Bolsonaro, Milei, Orban, Meloni… or Donald Trump, whose return seems increasingly inevitable.
The European elections do not augur well and neither here in our country, where we are wondering what the hell, we could have done so badly that there are so many young people and so many poor people abducted by the siren songs of an ultra-right heir to the worst uses and customs of the most sinister Francoism.
Among the varied typology of patients that some psychologist friends of mine see are, according to what I am told, a profile that does not stop growing: that of young people who vote for Vox because they are uncomfortable with feminism or are convinced that immigrants take their jobs. Maybe all their lives have been the same, only they did not go to the psychologist before. They are part of the essential cannon fodder for totalitarian projects to succeed if they do not first realize the scam of which they are victims. They put their bodies, their futures, and even their lives at the service of interests that are not their own, and by the time they realize it, it is too late. That they decide to go to the psychologist may be a good sign, but it is certainly not enough.
The history of humanity has always been built on the blood of naïve people who unquestionably believe the lies of those who do with them what they want. Politicians, intellectuals, and money have always needed a fourth leg to achieve their goals: that of the disinherited willing to demonstrate their unwavering adherence to those who know how to strike a nerve, that of those who happily shout outdated hymns that they learn by heart, that of those who wear bracelets, wrap themselves in flags, or use profiles on networks crying out for an “indivisible Spain”… Cannon fodder, as we said, for the far right, because the left in our country does not seem to find a way to explain to them that they are being deceived, that they are supporting those who will leave them stranded at the first sign of change while the judges continue to pardon corrupt people and punish leftists.
The left, whose raison d’être is to increase social rights and improve people’s lives, are letting themselves eat their toast and are not reacting. The socialists because they were never in it, and now that they are fighting to resurrect the two-party system even less. And to the left of the PSOE because, especially in recent times, most of their energy goes down the sewers while they do not stop stoning each other.
Citizens have been left without newspapers, without radios, without televisions to tell them about the dirty tricks that the powerful spend on them. They lie to them with the greatest of impudence, they repeat torturous slogans that they end up internalizing without anyone giving them the opportunity to contrast what they are told. They know that the reality they live in is far from what they are told, but the messages of those who have the upper hand are too repetitive and end up sinking in.
Hence, the bewilderment and disorientation of many of those who come to psychologists’ offices, especially among young people. Some politicians talk a lot about mental health, but when it comes down to it, the staff are alone and out of place trying to manage their anxieties and depressions as best they can.
The percentage of suicides among those under thirty years of age is increasing, the number of those who only see uncertainty in their future and those who, determined to seek strong emotions, end up seduced by the message and the violent behavior of the fascists. Psychologists’ offices are full of people looking for answers they cannot find in their day-to-day lives, while politicians debate the sex of angels, and the media manipulate as if there were not a tomorrow. That’s what it is.
Published in Other News, 8 January 2024
[i] “Caladero” in the original, Spain. Appropriate environment to achieve something in large quantity.
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