Political importance of fears

When voting Approve or Reject, fears will be of great importance.
Our decisions are often made out of fear. Fearful of the health of the population, governments have protected it with sanitary measures. Not bad. A friend never dared to ask his partner for marriage and ended up losing her. Not good. Teams that play not to lose, not to score goals, can not aspire to top the table. Not good.
Fears are dominated by the reasons with which decisions are made. In any healthy person, I say. For it is pathological not to be afraid of anything. What if the lion comes?
It is also pathological to decide in a purely rational way. Those who act without empathy will never understand that the motivations of others can be reasonable and, therefore, that it is urgent to present them to talk with them until they agree on a peaceful coexistence. There are performances driven exclusively by the traumas of the past. It weighs, in the Chilean case, the break of September 11, seventy-three. It is normal for it to weigh. But its evocation should not cloud the judgment as to avoid another historical disaster in a bad way.
Intuiting the political motivations of others is fundamental. Guessing them prepares understanding with other people. Thinking about The day after the plebiscite in an empathetic way would have to moderate anxiety about the future. The same, an exercise in introspection, analyzing in us the conjunction of emotions and reasons will help to get it right. Let us start from the basis that no one has an absolute point of view, neither do we, to know exactly what is in our interest as a country. The fan thinks he has it. Sensible people know that their optics are relative. We judge from the place in the world where life put us. Biographies are always unique sources of knowledge, and therefore limited. It is essential to understand, therefore, that the same thing happens to the rest of the citizens. And that their gazes are indispensable to us. Certainly their positions are relative, but they too may have some good reason to assert in a political discussion.
Campaigns help to defend a point of view with enthusiasm. Campaigns of terror, on the other hand, turn fear into panic, fanaticize and transform adversaries into enemies.
I’m not neutral. My opinion, evidently based on my own life, is that it is necessary to take risks. In the current situation I have faith in the elan of the younger generations, and I bet on profound changes. I tune into the long history of oppressed human collectives; indigenous peoples and women. I make gender differences my own and that various ways of being family are recognized. I would regret if we missed the opportunity to end this discrimination. Can I assume that young people, in times of individualism, will be in solidarity with the excluded? Hopefully they are.

Audentes fortuna iuvat: fortune helps the bold, the ancients said. It would be painful if my generation were to be seized by the fear of making a misstep. We elders become with the most conservative years. We can, therefore, close the future to those who come after us in the name of our experiences. If our young people, even though they lack experience, throw themselves into the pool without more, may they themselves help us to complete our serious discernments with some courage. “Let the old go and let a clean and strong youth come, with eyes illuminated with enthusiasm and hope,” Huidobro proclaimed in his Patriotic Balance. It will be good if we pass the reins to the youth and gallop better to the anchor.

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The content expressed in this opinion column is the sole responsibility of its author, and does not necessarily reflect the editorial line or position of El Mostrador.

Original source in Spanish