How many times have we heard that the current generation of politicians is not up to the task. This is a disqualification that extends to all areas, from city councils to the international sphere. It is often nostalgia wielded in an insidious way, which seeks to disqualify today’s leader by placing him before the distorting mirror of contemporary complexity, while yesterday’s leader is reflected impeccably in the glass of all life.
The supposed moral stature of the politicians who emerged from the democratic transition, just like that of those who governed the prosperous Europe of the late 20th century, is projected like a shadow that hopelessly darkens those of today. Those were honest, they were smart, they knew how to make decisions.
The dramatic thing about the current situation is that the general discredit of the political class, paradoxically, encourages the same negative behaviors that have led to this discredit over the last few decades.
To understand it, we have to do an exercise in political fiction and ask ourselves if, if social networks and their supervisory and distorting potential had existed 30 or 40 years ago, some mayors, presidents of the Generalitat, heads of government or leaders of great world powers who continue to be admired today.
If we add to this the intensification of administrative controls to avoid corruption, we will conclude that today’s politicians have much less capacity for maneuver and run many more risks than their predecessors. And, to make matters worse, they have much more precarious majorities than before, since the screen society and economic inequality have led to rampant polarization.
It is not surprising, for all this, that many valid people prefer to stay on the periphery of politics (advisors, commissioners, leaders of public companies, union members…) before getting on an electoral list and blowing up their private life.
It is in this context that it is possible to interpret the often disconcerting comings and goings of today’s rulers, politicians who by the mere fact of being such should already be considered brave and generous citizens. Today it is Pedro Sánchez who is called to explain himself. Then others will come. And others.
