Javier Marías interesting article on the culture of complaint so well entrenched in our society. It reads:
On more than one occasion I have complained to this newspaper his timidity on certain issues, especially in the fearfulness of repressive law enforcement "politically correct" to use a term ignoble but dedicated. Each time that the country is accused of inventing or insert an ad that bothers some collective the newspaper was quick to remove and chest banging, with or without reason protesters. So do the advertisers, editors, Reader's Advocate, in an area and wider society as a whole. For some time now susceptible individuals and groups fussy discovered the enormous efficiency to the outcry, with or without cause. People like this is not new or surprising: people watchers, police-minded, defensive, daily newspaper that tracks the search for "infractions", prone to chipping and complain and indignant, to detect or phrases allegedly sexist attitudes, sexist, racist, xenophobic, degrading, immoral, anti-nationalistic, harassing, homophobic, misogynist or Islamophobic, it matters. These people tend to be literal and gross: they want to see removed from the language expressions like "there is the coast clear" or "black tea", not realizing that those who employ naturally and in the figurative sense that is theirs we are not just racists, but rather those of us who criticize their use: they are the ones that give to these expressions of such content, and, as in his lips and his conscience would indeed be racist, they claim that nobody used.
What is striking and relatively new is that reasonable people are cowering rather hysterical so easily to the old trick of putting the fuss. I miss the ability to stand before the hype and the bellows and distortions. I would like this newspaper, and society at large, could sometimes react by saying, "No, you have no reason, and things are getting crazy. Are extreme susceptibility and suspicious, and I will not resign, because his wound looks vulnerabilísima sensitivity, to say what I think or express with all the variety and richness of language that makes my power. " Anyone can disturb or offend some, but here we enter a field not possible, the subjectivity of each, and can not be doing case-less obedience-even to the infinite subjectivity of the world, especially those as a permanent guard dissatisfaction and always considered few concessions that will make them cowering. "Do not try to appease those who are never going to make for happy," was an old saying of my late father which I think is right. And yet our societies are determined to desoírlo and do the opposite, knowing that there are individuals or groups, or nationalism, or religion (most of the latter two are shown), which never seem quite nothing.
few weeks ago the Pope quoted a Byzantine Emperor of the fifteenth century, without itself by force those ancient words. Poorly measured, given the flammable world we live in, did not see the beam in our own eye and screwed, but then apologized, lamented the interpretation of what he said and he was meek and contrite. That was not enough to Islamists who had taken to put the fuss: they wanted more, but not quite know why. I was not even enough disproportionate actions of some of them, were charged to a poor nun in Somalia, perhaps an Italian in Morocco, burned Christian churches in Palestine and they burned puppets of the Pope do not know if in Pakistan, Indonesia or both . Sometimes it is so obvious that people just looking for a pretext to build anger and complaining (ie Camorra), is not understood how the imaginary "provocative" fall into the trap. It was so obvious, for example, that Bush and Cheney went in his day by inventing pretexts to invade Iraq, you do not understand how the international community and was paid to listen. We could go to infinity, exposing cases.
Too many people are now convinced that if enough gun noise and behaves unreasonably, you end up getting away with it, that these attitudes frighten timid and fearful societies to which dreads being labeled anything wrong view, although accusations come of individuals with no moral authority and nothing even-handed, if not halters. That's one of our problems are no longer takes into account who is accused, nor his ability or inability to do so, objectivity or subjectivity, impartiality or bias as possible. What our world most fears is being "vociferous" by whom, when we all know that some rants, as those who come, honoring and would only confirm our track. This journal, and our societies, before start trembling every time they are accused of something shameful or "bad", should take a look at the tachadores and judge accordingly. On many occasions and would be reassured that the only sensible thing would be to do what almost never do: ignore.
JAVIER MARIAS THE COUNTRY WEEKLY - 15/10/2006
------------- Back the wisdom, please.
