On the battlefields, the Romans possessed several basic strategies to confront their enemies. Thus, for example, General Epaminondas developed an option used in cases of inferiority or when an enemy sector was revealed to be composed of inexperienced soldiers, without enough troops or ill-armed to withstand a direct attack, slightly delaying the left wing and overtaking the right with respect to the front line. As they advanced toward the enemy, the right wing entered combat earlier, supported by strong contingents of heavy infantry and auxiliary cavalry, who have normally strayed from the left wing because they later joined the combat.
If the maneuver was carried out properly, the forces on the right wiped out the enemies before those on the left had to act, quickly surrounding their opponents down that flank to attack them from behind and gain victory.
The formation of the swingline was very similar, although only one sector was advanced in it, without delaying any other. Bascular is, for these purposes, excessively spreading to one side. In this way, for example, the bulk of the troops are concentrated on the right flank, which will try to break the opponent’s left and then “swing” the line to attack the enemy from the rear.
In ideological conflicts, such as those we particularly appreciate in media disputes between extreme presidential candidates and other public area figures, go head-to-head and start our opinion based on the debate and ideology of the opponent involves moving to his ground and questioning the things he has said and how he has said them. We arrived, in good colloquial Chilean, “to the tail”.
We are no longer debating whether we should have public or private education, whether wages are insufficient, why people die waiting for an hour of care in public hospitals, or whether our democracy is healthy. Now, the debate rests on responding to the candidate’s claims or denials, even though those claims have been as vulgar as arguing that “The Moon is green.” If the candidate said so, the entire country is automatically sentenced to a whole week of covers with scientists, mornings and experts investigating whether the Moon is green or not. The sterile takes the public agenda.
Publicly questioning the things that candidates say of extreme ideologies suggests that we lose the ability to talk about something different. Being an extremist in these terms usually entails dogmatic in itself. And you can’t be dogmatic and rational at the same time. Both issues are fully incompatible. This is so marked that no expert disputes this distinction today.
Then, if our public agenda depends on what irrational subjects say, that is, if they set the agenda of the “Green Moon” and we are locked by their own margin of debate, the truth is that there is not much space for critical thinking left for Chile. Roman strategies teach a lesson to the political and public agenda of today’s Chile: there are battles that are won by “swinging” the enemy. To save this problem and swing the enemy, we must take care of our weaknesses. In particular, hatred and euphoria. Both feelings strongly rooted in Chilean culture.
A lover of the green color will become euphoric if a candidate poses an aberration as large as the Moon is green. “My favorite color, used for this!” the lover will think. Someone who hates the ignorance of the stars resting in heaven will hold, for his part: “Wow, and this guy wants to be President of the Republic.” The next chapter of the story always continues in the same way, a bombardment of information that will overwhelm us the next 24 hours of the day, every day of the week.
To recover the public agenda, such figures and their statements must be tilted until they are surrounded and, once there, overcome them with rationality and content. Green moon of public agenda doesn’t win by screwing the candidate on Twitter
that the Moon is not green and that all serious studies prove it. The less attention and mention is made of the statement, the better. Bascular is now, in this sense, to purge the green moon by giving space to the certainty of science and empirical verification. In the end, rationality requires a continuous overhaul so as not to fall asleep in speculative lethargy. A speculation that can cost very expensive.
The content poured into this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.
