Opinion

Divided societies

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The world has been in crisis for too long. Even since its creation because ambition, selfishness, greed and arrogance have marked the actions of human beings in their quest to conquer and control territories, cultures and religions with the aim of wielding power, managing money and enjoying natural resources. It is not a question of recalling treatises on the History of Humanity, but of highlighting the foolishness and stupidity of human beings who seem to have learned almost nothing from centuries of violence, suffering, death and destruction.  Injustices and inequalities must be included in order to contextualise how it is possible in the 21st century, with everything we are supposed to know, with the accumulated experience and the demonstration that the only way to live together in peace, freedom, progress and social well-being is through respect for the rule of law and its institutions, which represent the division of powers and their independence, and compliance with the laws with the control mechanisms provided for.  

All this theory has been written and demonstrated in many countries over time, but, incredibly, we find ourselves at a point where the economic and social crisis, the product of a crisis of principles and values, allows unscrupulous characters to manipulate with impunity the levers of power with the support of new technologies and their tools such as social networks that greatly amplify messages due to their reach and speed. These authoritarian populist characters take advantage of the precarious economic situation of part of the population and the frustration created by the inefficiency and corruption of many traditional parties in their exercise of government. The fact is that we are currently under the violent dictatorship of a Russian president who is threatening the international community, especially Europe, with his invasion of Ukraine, which is causing enormous economic, energy and food instability. And under the threat of serious confrontations in countries as important as the United States and Brazil. Many others in Europe, America, Africa and Asia are suffering the effects of political and social polarisation.  

Populisms are creating a serious division in many societies, taking advantage of the enormous confusion they have created by mixing half-truths with perverse lies and promises that are impossible to keep, but which many citizens want to hear and, above all, need to believe in order to avoid total frustration and deep melancholy. This confusion leads to enormous manipulation and a very serious erosion of democratic systems. We are seeing it now in the case of Twitter control. The problem is not just Trump.