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Unfortunately, hate is a constant in the history of Spain. We have addressed it in other writings: Tragic Spain, Spain without forgiveness, Spain of amnesty. In this, we will address the nature of hate, and the campaign of those who incite and encourage it to make it impossible. As always, we will resort to priceless testimonies from journalists and columnists of La Vanguardia, which will be the basis on which we will build the psychoanalytic interpretation. Finally, we will resort to a sense of humor, not to trivialize, but to de-dramatize, on a topic that distresses us.
Laura Ramis (15-XI-23 Hate gives laziness) says: “…because it wastes, it wears out, and it leads nowhere. (…) Tireless and exhausting. It intoxicates with the classic mixture of ignorance and fear. A formula developed by those who They know that haters are the best instrument. Blinded, euphoric, thoughtless, they blindly obey without considering what the final objective is. (…..) The hater becomes bitter, grotesque, geek, meme. A monster who sees monstrous everything that he “He doesn’t understand.(…..) Hate is stupid and idiotic.”
Gabriel Magalhäes (30´XI-23. The mirrors of evil) writes: “The notion of evil and evil, attributing it to the other, does not serve to understand, but rather to inflame conflicts.(…..) There is another way of presenting it ( …..) and it is the dialogue with evil within the person (…) the lack of awareness of the evil dimension in oneself and in our culture, attributing all evil to the other, had terrible consequences in Germany (…. “Today, aware of the presence of evil in its history, it has transformed into a nation that makes positive contributions to humanity.”
Ignacio Sánchez Cuenca (30-XI-23. Psychopathology of the amnesty) points out that “after the 1977 elections, the pact and the agreement dominated. The first law enacted was precisely that of the amnesty (….) the crisis of 2017 was the denial of the spirit of the transition, resolved without dialogue by unilateral means, by both parties (….) what both amnesties have in common is the need to overcome a dictatorship in 1977, and a systemic failure in our democracy , in 2017 (….) Spanish nationalism denies this, calling it a coup d’état (….) and intends to set the country on fire with this slogan, with manifest irresponsibility.”
Let us now examine the question from a psychoanalytic perspective. As the aforementioned representatives state, we are witnessing an insane hate campaign, in which the population is excited and incited, although fortunately, only in one sector of it does the flame catch fire. “He intends to set the country on fire…”, says I. Sánchez Cuenca.
But what is hate? Hatred is a derivative of the Death Instinct. As we explain in other writings (Psychoanalysis of Tragic Spain, of Oedipal Spain) Freud taught us that instincts are grouped into two large groups:
And that the future of the human being and of humanity depends on the fact that throughout evolution and development, Eros merges Thanatos, like a Good Bank with a Bad Bank to clean up finances, and assumes control, the command, and the direction of the ship, both the individual, the family, and the National Family.
Now, in the development of the Spanish Dysfunctional Family, the Genital or Adult Maturity phase has not been completely reached, stuck in the oral and anal phases. And the Oedipus Complex has not been resolved normally, so the love-hate ambivalence that characterizes it has not been resolved normally either.
Therefore, Eros has not completely merged Thanatos, the Good Bank has not completely merged the Bad Bank, and the “finances”, that is, the mental and emotional health of the country have not been completely healed. Thanatos is struggling too much, and threatens to set the country on fire. We explain it in previous writings such as those referenced, and in the book that includes them, Psychoanalysis of Dysfunctional Spain (Ed. Pensódromo, Barcelona, ??2023).
Perversions, the perverse, constitute an important chapter in all manuals and treatises on Psychiatry and Psychology. Not only Psychoanalysis. We are witnessing a clinically perverse performance where the maxim of perversions prevails: “The end justifies the means.” If you have to lie, you lie. If you have to falsify, you falsify. If you have to slander, you slander (“slander, slander, something remains”). This is the irresponsible attitude of the Opposition, which claims, for example, that the current Government is a fraud.
They know it’s not. It is nothing more than a political coalition. But they lie blatantly, without any remorse, which is what characterizes the psychopath.
It should be noted, however, that not all critical opposition to Amnesty suffers from this moral turpitude. There are decent people (for example Juan José López Burniol, columnist for La Vanguardia) who legitimately believe that Amnesty is not convenient. But they present it with respect, reasoning and arguments. With honesty, and without that criminal attitude of promoting hatred. Nothing to do with this.
Now, let’s resort to a sense of humor, to relieve ourselves of so much environmental toxicity caused by the irresponsible Opposition.
In November I was invited by the universities of Santiago de Compostela and Vigo to present the book to which I previously referred. I was interviewed by the local newspaper, El Correo Gallego, which broadcast the event. I had been unpleasantly surprised by the absence of students among the audience. In gratitude for his hospitality, I subsequently confided the following reflections to him:
First of all, I am pleased with the extraordinary love of knowledge that the students of both universities demonstrated. They reminded me of a conversation overheard on a bus ride. Two passengers were talking, and one asked the other, are you with Juan out of love or interest? And the other, after a few seconds of reflection, responded: “it must be for love, because what is interest, interest, the truth is that I am not interested in anything.” Well that. The students surely profess a great Love of knowledge. That must undoubtedly be your motivation when enrolling. But interest, as they say, interest, none, like the Mrs. on the bus. I conclude that this must be the reason why there was not a single student, neither in the Philosophy Classroom of Santiago, nor in the one in Pontevedra (Vigo Campus) among the audience. It is sad and worrying.
Secondly, I heard that someone from the Faculty of the Pontevedra Campus commented to a colleague that he was surprised because the University’s communications did not reach the students. From the overheard conversation, in which I was not involved, it was clear that no one had done anything to solve this. And, therefore, this remained the same until now. Apparently, the students had not responded to the call for the event because they were deaf.
This reminded me of an article in a magazine that I will call scientific for the sake of humor, which reported on the research that a thoughtful researcher was carrying out on spiders. He had trained them, and at the command of “Spider, come!” accompanied by the sound of a bell, the spider went where the wise researcher had arranged. Every time he cut off a leg. But the spider kept coming. Until cutting off the last leg, the spider remained motionless and did not come. Then, the wise researcher drew this luminous conclusion: “By losing legs, the spider becomes deaf.”
Let’s not do like this eminent wise man: the students are not deaf. It’s just that the messages are not reaching him. And apparently, those that reach them, if any reach them, are not motivators. We are doing something wrong.
The professor of Business Organization at the University of Granada, Pfr. Daniel Arias Aranda, interviewed in La Vanguardia in Barcelona on November 24, says that absenteeism and disinterest among students is worrying. That the students are not in the classroom. They are on Instagram. And the latest legislation is highly demotivating for students and teachers: no one fails.
Everyone moves on to higher education believing they know something and everyone is happy eating partridges. He is the author of an open letter: Dear gado university student: we are deceiving you (Ed. Temas de Hoy).
Thirdly, knowing about lack of communication and doing nothing to solve it makes us worthy, not of the Nobel Prize, but of the Cloud Prize. If in the competitive world we live in we continue in the cloud, we are going to crash.
The “happy man eating partridges” reminds me of that parish priest of a town who received an inspection visit from the Bishop of the Diocese who asked him how he was carrying out his pastoral mission. The priest, very plump, responded: “I live in peace. With my peace and my rosary, I do not desire anything else. I am in glory.” And turning his head towards the interior of the house, he called: “Maripaz, Rosario, Gloria, bring Mr. Obispo a coffee!”
I would take them a coffee to the Cloister of the Universities. And I would invite you to break down the rosary of current difficulties in the world of teaching by listening to Daniel Arias and many like him. And here peace, and then glory, as it was said before.
In short, let’s hope to react, and make things change. Looking at the sky. Because a toast looking at heaven is a prayer.
