Together, the PSOE and the erosion of democracy

Politics has become performative. Content, objectives and representation of interests are not in the first layer of politics. The concept of staging predominates, of the construction of a story, not so much one that supports a rationalizing vision as one that appeals to the emotional dimension. It is not so much about "doing" or acting to achieve something, but about demonstrating that "one is" for the consumption and reinforcement of acolytes, to mark the perimeter and, in the process, weaken rivals who have become "the other." Some political scientists claim that this language of polarity, of continued denial and defiance is now necessary to be in the game of winning or dislodging the occupation of power at a given moment. There are those who like to talk in a pompous way about the spin doctors, a kind of Machiavellian characters more typical of Game of Thrones They seem to be the ones whispering in the ears of the political leaders who count. A kind of magicians, lacking a project, ideas or morals, who promise to carry you to power on their shoulders and who have appropriated all the dignity that might remain in politics to turn it into a zero-sum game with absolutely destructive social and cultural effects. People without principles who have not been taught that, in democracy, forms constitute the substance of projects. That setting fire to the forest for a temporary heat gives you many years of scorched earth.

The strategy of tension that Junts has installed in Madrid, in fact the only place where it does politics, has a lot of that. A display of disqualifications, threats, contempt for, after having accumulated significant costs for the consideration of politics, ending up giving in. The possible collective benefit of what was agreed has been worn down and consumed along the way. What the citizen sees is a display of arrogance, supremacism, stale Catalanism and no kind of concern for what it is really about. The political cost of these stagings is brutal, and not only for the PSOE, but for the confidence and reputation of the political system. In the current times, a erosion of democratic culture and credibility is experienced everywhere, comparable to what was suffered in the 1930s of the twentieth century. Influencing actions that make this culture more vulnerable and despised is truly irresponsible. Juntos had the right to contribute to the configuration of a progressive government in Spain. It could have said no. If he did, it was because of an amnesty law in whose drafting he participated, with the political difficulties for a large part of Spanish and Catalan society to understand it. The Catalan and Spanish left made a commitment to conciliation with Catalonia, as well as to governability. And, nevertheless, it did not support the first vote of the amnesty law. It was about wearing down and displaying a political strategy that gives the impression that everything is extracted with forceps and paying "a high price" and in advance. Disloyalty has become a way of practicing politics. There are no agreements or pacts that are worth anything, much less what the country needs. What it is about is attracting attention, even if in reality there is little to say. It will be good if one day Miriam Nogueras evaluates the reputational damage that has been caused to the democratic health and the consideration of Catalonia, since the temptation to confuse the (small) part is evident for both sides.

The approval of the omnibus decree, which basically included social measures (revaluation of pensions, transport bonuses, etc.), was rejected, justifying it with the falsehood that it included a rise in food prices. A falsehood and an immorality that the PP also resorted to. The citizens, whatever they vote for, cannot understand it if in the end and after an avalanche of botched jobs and staging to exalt themselves they end up voting in favour. It is neither a reasonable nor an understandable political strategy. It is not that there is a different vision or an attempt to overthrow the government. They want to weaken the system, the State and the citizens in good faith. Basically, it is done "because it can be done", to claim attention and pretend to be what it is not. No matter how much arithmetic we put in, 7 out of 350 deputies give what they give. Making yourself count is fine, doing the thousand men, not so much. It will be very difficult to recover the credibility of politics as long as the leaders and political groups are not stable and reliable, as long as they are dependent on continuous action, script changes and a sickly tendency to predominate actions typical of egocentric and narcissistic cadres rather than politicians exercising an activity that requires it. With the failure of the Process strategy, I see commentators and politicians stating that now the old Convergence is returning. It had to go far away, because at the moment it is nowhere to be seen.