Opinion Sur
Most actors act based on feelings and observing the factors that affect their immediate and some mediate circumstances. Few manage to understand, much less influence, the factors and circumstances of the context that encompasses them (international, national, and even local). However, there are hard links between the problems faced by the “parts” and the context of each “whole”, which conditions the actions of the collective of actors and the solutions that are imposed.
When facing the international, national, or local reality, it is necessary to discern the dynamics of these “wholes”. How they exist and function, what powers and interests are imposed or decay, what founding criteria prevail, the evolution of convergences and contradictions, syntheses and antagonisms. The same happens when we discern the various constituent areas of each space, the “parts”.
Each “part” presents a complex tidal wave of actors and circumstances, disconcerted by the constant changes in the various factors that intertwine, struggle, or reinforce each other. When we go up to the “whole”, the tidal wave of factors increases, as well as the complexity of power relations and confrontation.
In this way, the functioning of the economy, the environment, health, education and countless other areas that are “parts” is recognized. Each of them has specific dynamics of reproduction and functioning. Within them, certain actors impose trajectories from their perspectives and the relative power they hold.
The parts in the context of the whole
We choose one “part” to exemplify this dynamic, that of health and, within it, what is related to mental health. When trying to address mental health, various factors are identified, such as genetics and family behavior, the type of work, their social insertion, the ability to satisfy basic needs, fear of becoming unemployed or being already in that situation. These and other factors generate anxiety and dysfunctions in everyday life. Those who work in this field know better than this author the causes and singularities of mental health. We only point out that in the field of health it is necessary to distinguish between different types of factors, those that can be addressed from the perspective of health, and other factors that are impossible to solve from the perspective of health, such as unemployment or meager incomes that do not cover basic needs.
Thus, mental health conditions can be addressed by defining treatments with a greater or lesser degree of effectiveness. Health personnel recognize causal factors and can alert other “parts” and the “whole” to take other measures beyond their reach. In any case, at the time of operating they are forced to use the services of the field in which they operate.
More effective solutions would need to be implemented with other “parts”, which is possible if the circumstances of the “whole” allow it. If, on the other hand, the local, national, or global context undermines the existence of acceptable degrees of certainty and security, of jobs and decent incomes, even of appropriate equipment and medicines, it would be very difficult to provide solutions capable of overcoming the factors that over condition what this “part” would be able to do.
What is described in this example is repeated with variants and singularities in all the “parts” that make up the local or national reality. Although the number of factors specific to a “part” is very large, by including the contextual factors (other “parts” and the “whole”) the number of factors and the complexity of actors and interrelations largely increases. This marks serious limits to the discretion of operating in a “part” detached from the rest, although it does not prevent the best efforts to be made to channel one’s own energies even if they involve more far-reaching challenges that condition one’s own effort. This is of critical importance because it calls for putting aside the indifference or cynicism of acting in one’s own business without considering and much less advocate for the most far-reaching changes that are identified from the perspective of the “part”.
Facing the “whole” that encompasses
The “whole” it encompasses can subdue or, instead, liberate the diversity of social action. These “wholes” are very different. Some repress and punish; others protect and encourage. Today, a “whole” prevails in almost the entire world which concentrates more and more wealth and decision-making power in a few hands guided by a sinister founding criterion, going just for profit. To maximize profit at the expense of anyone, even if it affects the whole of humanity and the planet it shelters. Aligned with this ordering criterion, the others emerge.
This “whole” corrodes the search for general wellbeing and environmental care. It does so through controlling hegemonic media that manipulate social will and co-opting certain judges and prosecutors that it places in strategic nodes of the judicial system. They protect those who dominate and ensure them impunity for the looting and outrages they commit.
They impose a dynamic that stuns people with an intense and rapid information overload; they fragment societies by promoting discrimination, fears, and loneliness. They try to annul critical thinking, they devalue politics. They make us believe that this “whole” and the values proclaimed are universal; that beyond them, there is nothing but emptiness and uncertainty.
A huge lie, an opprobrious deception. It is time to stand up building what is different, with another ordering criterion that prioritizes caring for the immense humanity and the planet. There are other better “wholes” and such search nestles at the heart of the existential challenge of these times. It implies embracing human coexistence, peace, social equity, deconcentrating appropriated wealth, dismantling fears, impotence. Imagining another horizon and trajectory is, at the same time, a collective right and also a responsibility.
Hence, when it operates in a “part” that we believe is condemned to subsist because resources do not go down but go up to enrich a few, it is not enough to lament or point out what is missing. With this concrete and singular knowledge, we can enter into the nature of the “whole” and the need to alter the fundamental factors of the functioning that has been imposed on us.
It will be necessary to recognize the fragmented social power, the interests and desires of the diversity of sectors and organizations. It will be time to work so that the currently very dispersed groups and organizations converge, aligning interests and energies. A hard, essential effort to assert another vision and perspective. The chain of problems and solutions requires going from each “part” to the “whole” and from the “whole” to the “parts”. A long-standing path resumed with prudence and determination; it relates with the care and significance of action, the permanent clarification that is constantly renewed.
If you liked this text, you can subscribe by filling out the form that appears on this page to receive once a month a brief summary of the English Edition of Opinion Sur
