By: Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated by: Bajram Karabolli
Democracy must be learned, because it is not natural, because it goes against deep human inclinations. What is natural is not equality, but the domination of the strong over the weak. What is natural is the family clan and tribe, blood ties, suspicion of everyone, attachment to the known, rejection of those who speak differently. The tendency to put one's own desires above all else, without regard to the consequences for others. What is natural is demanding limitations from others and not accepting them in oneself. To believe that you are the center of the world, that you are the center of the universe and that the Sun revolves around you. Prejudice is much more natural than a sincere desire for knowledge. To believe that what is natural is barbarism, not civilization; to believe in shouting and fists, not convincing argument; to seek immediate gratification, not long-term commitment; to believe that it is natural to have obedient people and not subjects, not true citizens; to exercise rule and not administration of the common good; to believe that ignorance is natural and necessary.
If democracy is not exercised with patience and dedication in daily practice, its great principles remain empty or serve as a smokescreen for corruption and demagogy.
The purpose of continuous lying is not to make people believe a lie, but to make sure that no one ever believes anything again.
A people that can no longer distinguish between truth and falsehood cannot distinguish between good and evil.
And such a people, deprived of the power to think and judge, is, without knowing it or loving it, completely subject to the rule of lies.
With people like that, you can do whatever you want.
The scream or the fist, rather than a convincing argument, are the delight of the tyrant and the autocrat.
- Read also by Antonio Muñoz Molina: Living from literature
