Is this fixed? When we ask ourselves about the world, the question is not rhetorical. It occupies the thinkers, the analysts, the rulers, everyone, exposed as we are to volumes of information that overwhelm us.
No one doubts that the world has become complicated to the point of making us witnesses and actors in a time of crisis and conflict, insurmountable for some, surmountable and promising a new, more stable order for others. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has only accelerated them. Food shortages, shortages of raw materials to maintain the dynamism of the economy, inflation, slowdown in growth. The economic imbalances have revealed profound changes in the world political order, marked, for some, by the announcement of a growing Chinese hegemony, for others by a recovery and strengthening of the United States and the European Union. The unknown will continue to be Russia, strengthened or weakened, more dependent on China or more integrated into the West.
I noted in a previous article that, despite their indisputable real power and their adherence to democratic principles, Europe and the United States perceive the need for a profound restructuring of the quality of their institutions and the improvement of an economic model fundamentally committed to well-being of the citizen. In the case of the United States, the risk of internal weaknesses and contradictions should be noted in particular. Moisés Naím talks about the great American problems: inequality, racism, terrorism, difficulty in reaching political agreements, diminished international influence, to which he adds the sale of weapons, the abuse of opiates, the price of medicines and climate change . He could also point out some decisions of the Judiciary that sharpen the internal confrontation and threaten the necessary national unity around fundamental principles and values. Having overcome large-scale crises in the past, however, now fuels confidence in the US capacity to overcome the current one.
Looking at what happens outside our borders enriches our judgment and our contact with reality, but in no way should it relieve us of the obligation to look within and think about the country, not only because of the consequences of that other global reality, but very especially due to the data of our own reality, our urgencies, our needs, the state of our institutions. Without neglecting our condition as citizens of the world, looking within, towards Venezuela, and thinking about policies, actions and solutions is an unavoidable imperative. Our own condition and the nature of our own crisis should become a matter of priority attention for all citizens. Nobody will do it for us. Lack of interest, discouragement or the mistaken perception that things can naturally return to their place will in no way contribute to activating solutions.
The only acceptable position, if you want to think of a country with a destiny, with a future, is to start working on strengthening what is substantial: education, health, coexistence, building trust. It is necessary to think, for example, how the school year ends in Venezuela and how the country prepares for the next one. To do so requires, of course, reliable statistics. In the absence of them, the experience of students and their families, universities and vocational training centers is enough and more than enough to measure the degree of abandonment, regression and the desperate lack of vision about the value of education. education for any nation-building effort with dignity.
And like the topic of education there are so many others: health, security, basic services, agriculture, industrialization and marketing. And, of course, that of freedoms, that of citizen rights, the recovery of the possibilities of doing and growing. The concern of this hour could be summed up in the urgency of looking inward, towards Venezuela.
