Narrow-track policies
The more serious the problems, the more unbearable the tendency of political leaders to steer everything toward simplification becomes, ultimately generating grotesque attacks on the adversary that often leave the attacker in a worse position than the target.
In fact, the two axes of politics are the patriotic (us and them, locals and foreigners) and the economic and social, also called "class" (right and left, conservatives and progressives). The first, in the case of Catalonia, has a duality: Catalans and Spaniards, natives and immigrants, which often serves to give way to base passions, the idealization of homelands, and the labeling of immigrants as a threat, despite the precarious conditions in which they arrive and our need for their contribution to fill jobs we don't do ourselves.
Political regimes, including liberal democracies, are built upon the myth of the nation, a function still performed by religions in some countries, such as the Muslim world. And we all know that transcendental truths, whether nation or belief, have been at the heart of all great disputes. Although in democracies they have a more symbolic value, they remain objects of targeting and the construction of the enemy, serving to maintain the logic of good versus evil that society seems to need and that political leaders too often encourage.
These days, examples of this pervasive and despicable side of politics abound. It is always ridiculous how automatically, in any debate, opponents jump directly to personal attacks. And it must be acknowledged that the Spanish right, with Feijóo at its head, has hardly any other repertoire. But it is the constant calculation of "how I will throw the opponent off balance" that is shameful. We have a classic example of how the opportunistic logic of exposing the adversary can backfire on those who practice it. It's certainly difficult to understand why parties like Junts voted with the right against the pension increase because the package included other measures they disagreed with, leaving them with an uncomfortable burden. But it's also true that if pensions were a priority, President Sánchez could have presented the increase with a single decree that at least part of the right wing could have embraced and passed. The result of their political maneuvering: everyone looks bad, and politics suffers along with them.
It's the same old story: exposing the adversary is more important than solving problems. And so, the entire system is discredited. And public distrust grows. These days, most media outlets fall into the trap of good guys and bad guys, us and them. And yet, good journalism is and will be that which adopts a unique, independent, and unbiased perspective, preventing political debate from becoming trapped in the most banal forms of confrontation: the disqualification of the adversary before any substantive discussion. Power belongs to whoever has the majority, but collective interests concern everyone. And it is very impoverishing to reduce everything to a game of good versus evil, something that nationalisms have always so deeply ingrained, as if the homeland were the source of truth. Democracies should be heirs to the Enlightenment, and yet they often get bogged down in the sordidness of essences, a recourse of the mediocre. And yet, great statesmen are those who have forged a path above petty politicking.