In whom do we place our hope?

I confess that I discovered the philosophy of Byung Chul Han (Seoul, 1959) recently, at the end of 2020, during the pandemic. The books of this academic from the University of Berlin are short, deep, disruptive and stimulating. Among them, three stand out that in my opinion synthesize the breadth of his thought: The society of fatigue, The expulsion of the different and The agony of eros. At the center of his arguments is a strong criticism of neoliberalism, “We voluntarily and passionately exploit ourselves, figuring that we are realizing ourselves,” he points out.

In a recent article, Han states: “Today we live in a survival society. We move forward by swinging from one crisis to the next, from one apocalypse to the next, from one problem to the next. Thus life atrophies and is reduced to solving problems. We have given up hope. Life is sacrificed on the altar of anguish. We have resigned ourselves to survival. The panting society of survival resembles a patient who only cherishes the weak wish that the pain cease soon. Hope is the only thing that will allow us to recover that life that is more than a miserable survival”.

I cite Han and the importance of hope in the context of the increasingly acute confrontation that we are experiencing in the country as a result of the marches of November 13 and 27. At the heart of both mobilizations is the electoral contest towards 2024. Week by week, there is more polarization and the strident cancellation of one and the other grows. We are suffocating the political space to understand each other. It is easy to say, but this context has serious implications for the functioning of our democracy.

Each one of the sides deposits that “hope” that would allow us to recover another atmosphere in the country, in radically different proposals. For the millions of people who support President López Obrador, he represents that hope. Hence, his role in Morena is irreplaceable. On the other hand, on the side of the opponents there is no one on stage, at least today, who unites that spirit. No one who, following Han, shows us a country model that goes beyond “miserable survival.” As long as the opposition leaders continue to do politics in the pre-2018 style, it will not be possible for them to succeed. In this sense, those who affirm that the program comes first are mistaken: before and more urgent, is the process. They need a genuine, innovative, transparent and democratic mechanism to select their candidacies. But will they be able to do something whose outcome is not controlled by the presidents of the political parties? Are they up to a new paradigm? Without a process of this nature, they will not be able to generate the attention and enthusiasm of the citizenry that they require when all the polls give a 30-point advantage to any Morena candidacy.