Editorial of the Razón de Estado program number 262

The dogmas of the French Revolution, Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, inspired constitutions, governments, and forms of organization that would eventually evolve into what we now know as "Democracy" – that political system that continues to strive, albeit without the success we would hope for, to be the means of achieving the ideals of the 18th-century revolution.

Interposed between these ideals are politics and human nature – a pair that, when harnessed, can work wonders, but also, when allowed, possess an enormous capacity for destruction.

It's because of this potential for destruction that politics has become one of the most disliked professions. The issue is that, whether we like it or not, and for better or worse, politics determines the well-being or ruin of nations.

Examples abound. That's why it's worth paying more attention to it.

As for human nature, what can I tell you that you don't already know?

To function optimally, experts say, democracy must go beyond merely emancipating uneducated and ignorant citizens. Despots and criminals take advantage of this to seize power or, from a position of power, to manipulate and divert the meaning and purpose of guarantees, rights, and freedoms – especially the freedom of expression and the freedom to choose, the foundations of democracy.

We live in exceptional times in a world that changes, evolves, or devolves faster than humans can adapt.

We are in a cycle where justice became politicized, and politics became subject to judicial interpretation.

We live in an era of inept, criminal, authoritarian states.

History and statistics confirm that Liberty and Equality are incompatible because the Creator, the Universe, Nature, or whatever you believe in, made us unequal. This is why, in the pursuit of our freedom, we always return to the source of our inequality.

This becomes more evident when we see that today's world is not able to provide the opportunities that a species like ours, with its differences, flaws, and virtues, needs. And perhaps, we are not up to the challenge either in making use of our talents and freedoms.

Fraternity is a beautiful dream, but, for the moment, unrealizable on the scale it should be. We live in a time dominated by mistrust, lies, corruption, and violence. We are killing each other.

We hope that this time of exception is merely a bridge of learning that leads us to the next stage, where we can reunite and embrace each other as a species – in democracies built on institutions, laws, and the separation of powers, respecting property, the market; respecting human beings and the values that develop nations. Respecting freedom, the most precious gift bestowed upon men and women by the heavens.