Rolando Cordera Campos: Do we have time left?

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war in Ukraine and the Middle East, plus climate change: How much time do we have left? I was attacked by a worried and restless student in the first semester of economics. Seeing the current state of the world in this way, it is impossible to avoid the big question: do we have time? Can the flags be raised and sailing again?

Although it is impossible to know, the truth is that we try to keep our bets on the capacity for attention and action that states and nations, civil society organizations and, with all hope, the great powers that are vying for command in and of the world.

However, what is increasingly clear is that if we have miserably lost something, it is time to acquire awareness and education; to learn to organize and act in defense of nature and understand that we are part of it; the most harmful, but indissoluble part of the world in which we have lived. To assume that, with the current economic, productive and commercial, financial and mental organization there is no remedy.

In fact, similar uncertainties and questions accompanied the Popular Student Movement of 1968, when we lived and suffered the irrationality implanted in the power of the State and with the other powers subjected to the crazy dictates of those in charge. A young and fresh movement that sought elementary changes, defense and respect for human rights, political freedoms, compliance with the Constitution, came across the political realism prevailing, which, for some, particularly the young and very young, turned out to be an unequivocal sign that the paths to democratic coexistence had been closed and it was necessary to act immediately with all the courage and firmness of arms. Desperation that was met with brutal repression, a government that imprisoned, disappeared and killed hundreds of boys; breeding ground for the call dirty wara painful, dark episode that marked generations of Mexicans, spectators, actors and relatives.

There, in effect, there were no greater possibilities of recovering time, but, honoring the democratic and liberal call of ’68, many others did not give up in their demands for democracy and respect for rights, and the rulers had no space left. no time to continue kicking the can and continue postponing the reflection and discussion of new rules of coexistence and public exchanges, with a society that no longer fit into the molds used until then.

Thus, we arrive at the transition to democracy; long pilgrimage that started from dismantling an authoritarian and monochrome regime, from adding voices, wills and resources to build a modern electoral building, where equity, cleanliness and impartiality would no longer be the center of claims and debates… Until it arrived President López Obrador and under the pretext of a fourth transformation ordered to stop. Representative democracy went on pause and many were stunned.

It is a wise virtue, the great Renato Leduc reminds us, of knowing the time, advice that among us still does not find receptive ears and, apathetic, we continue to allow time to slip through our hands, losing time and time again opportunities and unable to put ourselves into action. agree, to give politics its dignity as a flask, in which the conflict is resolved and society is summoned, a crucial task that we continue to renounce. Forgetting that the responsibility of governing a republic, especially if it is democratic and representative, corresponds to the three powers that, furthermore, are always constituted and renewed in and from plurality.

The tasks are many and go beyond the grotesque litigation over the inheritance of ’68. Without forgetting or despising our history, let us assume the present as the inventory of our great, enormous challenges. Mexico urgently needs a change in social consciousness that can only be achieved through good education, citizen participation, and a daily recreation of democracy as a living regime, with connections with history and reality. Towards a concerted change aimed at what is fundamental, which is collective well-being and equity, as a firm foundation for our basic cohesion.

So it is and it will be: October 2 is not forgotten, but the here and now of our coexistence has been put into play. Let us not continue ignoring that, as the poet says, time is money and let us heed the advice of Ifigenia Martínez, president of the Chamber of Deputies, who calls us to: “May our differences not divide us, but rather be the source of proposals and of shared solutions to the different challenges we face (…), we need to build bridges between all political forces, dialogue about our differences and build, together, a more just and supportive country. It’s time for high-mindedness. It is time to build new horizons and realities. It’s women’s time. Let’s continue leaving our mark.”