As a child, my mother would say “sorry, but bear with me” when I asked for forgiveness and did the same thing again. Today politics does the same: quick apologies, absolute continuity. Politicians ask us for forgiveness like someone who changes a light bulb while the building collapses. And the worst part: they don’t even expect us to get angry anymore. Impunity has become routine; anger, a wasted luxury. Responsibility has become a procedure. Apologies are requested for damages that have victims, but never culprits. A commission opens that commissions nothing and we wait 72 hours for the algorithm to turn the page. Politics at the cusp of the 21st century begins where the euphemisms end: with reparation. Saying “I assume” should mean returning what was broken: contracts, services, trust. Without consequences, forgiveness is an alibi. I don’t want any more excuses for Teflon. I want it to hurt where it should hurt and repair where it should heal: real responsibilities and public dignity. Democracy is not supported by excuses, but by truth and care. The rest is noise.
Elsa Arnaiz Chico. Madrid
The exercise of doubt as a parent
As a parent, it’s hard for me, but I have to, convince myself that my children may not be telling me the whole truth about what happens at school. Maybe they misunderstand something, maybe they knowingly lie. As a teacher, I ask parents to admit it: Teenagers lie. They lie to escape, to soften the bad news, to be cooler. We do them a disservice if the first reaction to any negative information coming from the education center – “he talks a lot in class, he hasn’t done his homework, he’s late, he’s disrespectful” – is to deny it, before even talking to the boy or girl. This, which used to be anecdotal, is becoming increasingly common. The consequences: more and more teenagers loaded and teachers are increasingly considering whether to change their professional path.
Jordi Camarasa Medes. Mislata (Valencia)
Defending the language
On three consecutive pages of this newspaper I read various terms in English that we gradually assume are untranslatable into Spanish: newsletter, big data, path. But there are more and more borrowed words that we give up and find replacements in our own language. I don’t know if the cause lies in the crisis of journalistic language, in some linguistic inferiority complex or in the triumph of a certain literary snobbery, but each of these expressions has its correlation in Spanish and refusing to use it does nothing but impoverish our language.
Manuel Domínguez Ferro. Pontedeume (La Coruña)
Culture without ideology
After the abstention of the PSOE from the elaboration of the IPL on bullfighting, I see an ideological debate that I do not understand. Liking bulls is not at odds with being left-wing; Tell it to Sabina, Lorca, Hemingway… Even Che attended a bullfight at Las Ventas. There are thousands of progressive voters in this country who love bullfighting and that doesn’t make them any less left-wing. There can be a debate of any kind, but I don’t think this is an ideological debate.
Adrian Cruz Tendeiro. Oñoro Fountains (Salamanca)
