A bubble is like straw, one always sees it in the eyes of others, but not in one’s own. We live in bubbles and that has the consequences of marrying, or partnering, with one’s own, to losing elections without knowing why. It happened to the right on 23J, but it had just happened to the left on 28M. Esteban Hernández (Madrid, 1965) has been exploring economic and technological changes, geopolitics and policies for years in titles such as Perverted Time. Right and left in the 21st century (Akal) or The resentment of the upper middle class and the end of an era (Foca). Now, in this The Heart of the Present (Círculo de Tiza), he focuses on how the lack of response, almost more than the wrong responses, to these transformations has translated into a worsening of the living conditions of the majority and in how the lack of perspectives distills a nihilism and pessimism that filter through all strata of society. Elections included.
It seems obvious that to change reality you have to start from it, but that is not the case. One of the obstacles that explain the entrenchment of conflicts consists of addressing them from a moral perspective, which leads to the impossibility of dialogue, because “evil cannot be agreed upon or agreed upon, it is only fought against.” You don’t have to work hard to recognize this discourse in the hegemonic parties, but, Hernández points out, “the damage caused by this conception of politics is perceived daily.”
And it is logical that this happens, because by observing “through lenses tinted with values, everything that shapes society is avoided: its structures, its tensions and its contradictions, as well as human drives.” And without taking all these aspects into consideration, “society is unknown and, therefore, it becomes much more difficult to operate politically on it, but also to solve its daily problems.”
Another obstacle is the bubbles. The author analyzes different Spanish cities, from Madrid to the medium-sized ones, and the worlds they contain. It draws attention to details that usually go unnoticed but that say a lot about the moment we are in: to carry out any activity you have to plan, reserve a restaurant, shows… The only activity given to impulse is shopping, shopping centers are available for the walk and the relationship.
Through leisure, we can observe the distancing between classes and groups that do not interrelate, a sign of our time that facilitates the formation of prejudices and a social mentality that has the effect of “reaffirming previous positions in every sense,” which then they will have their political translation, again also electoral: the upper-middle class bubbles caused the electoral stupefaction of the PP on February 23, when they realized that reality was going the other way, but it is not a fact that it occurs only on one side of the political spectrum, because it also happens to the Madrid progressive bubble.
A specific case through which many more are explained are the lower class neighborhoods in the southern districts of Madrid, built to house emigration and which represented an improvement in living conditions for many of its inhabitants, but now lacking care and investments and unknown by the classes with more resources and training, which leads to the projects that are forged for them having very little to do with their needs. These communities are of concern but only politically: “the possibility that security and anti-immigration discourses take root in them is very disturbing, much more than their material living conditions.”
The translation of this situation into politics is that the focus of the left, which was very established in these areas, has moved to the marginality, especially that of the groups to the left of the PSOE: “from their vision, the working classes nationals are lost for the left and perhaps, ultimately for democracy.” A tough analysis, which should make you think.
Also that of the so-called aspirational ones and how they are caricatured by the classes with more resources, both on the right and on the left. Aspiring is perhaps the only thing left for broad social strata that have been educated, have worked hard and now see themselves with no possibility of progress. Aspiring to live better is a desire of most people, at what point did it begin to be considered pejorative? Perhaps at the same time when, from being so forced to leave the comfort zone and offer a better version of ourselves every day, we began to long for stability, tired of running to not arrive. And that race is imposed by people and corporations thousands of miles away, a fundamental issue that, paradoxically, is not questioned. At this point, what to do? To start, read Esteban Hernández, without glasses. Because if you want, there is a game.
Esteban Hernández The heart of the present Chalk Circle 225 pages 20 euros