The absent left

In this era where the spectacle revolves around Trump, his patrons, and his epigones, the question is rarely asked: what about the left? The rightward shift of the right, which brazenly shirks the responsibilities demanded by a democratic society, is generating a conservative radicalization that blurs democratic right-wing politics and brings veritable phantoms to power. But at the same time, another reality that threatens the left-right dialectic upon which European democracies rely seems to go unnoticed: the erosion of social democracy, a cry no one wants to hear. Sánchez's PSOE is one of the last holdouts, at least in its outward appearance, and yet its practice is often closer to the demands of economic liberalism than to the values ​​of classical social democracy. And if we look at the rest of the left, the erosion is becoming increasingly evident.

The old left, the various offshoots of communism, disappeared long ago. Here, during Rajoy's years, groups emerged to the left of the PSOE, with extremely presumptuous leaders—Pablo Iglesias being the most emblematic example—who seemed destined to conquer the world. But once in power, they fell into the trap of egos and the psychopathology of petty differences, and gradually faded away, becoming mired in clashes, splits, and the proliferation of splinter groups—each ego driven by its own ego—until they were condemned to irrelevance. And they have long since ceased to be felt, despite a few holding positions in the cabinet. They occasionally make an appearance, but the initial illusions and ideas have faded, and the political space has been shattered, confirming the splinter group tradition that breeds the struggle between inflated egos.

But this blurring of lines is not foreign to social democratic parties, which are becoming increasingly faded, with economic and social policies scarcely differentiated from those of the right. Pedro Sánchez has still managed to maintain some of his own lines, and the right has turned him into public enemy number one and a corrupt traitor in Spain. He is fortunate that the incompetence of Feijóo and company gives him room to cultivate a distinct profile. But the fact is that current European social democracies are far from having—and effectively implementing—their own discourse on housing, immigration, the empowerment of an increasingly smaller sector of the economic elite that holds sway, and the welfare policies that once distinguished them. This reality is described by Lea Ypi in Class boundaries This has a tragic consequence: those who capitalize on discontent everywhere are the far right. It's not enough to govern without aggression and offer empty words; if the left wants to survive, it must articulate a sufficiently distinct project. Being merely the backup option when the right has become unbearable is a harbinger of decline, because it ultimately suggests a high degree of impotence. Either the left finds the right tone and opportunities, or Europe's shift toward the far right is unstoppable.