The Spanish version of Trumpism is that of commissions and dealings. The one with the stadium boxes and the ‘ventorrillos’. It is the Francoism of ‘Cuéntame’ with pretenses of postmodernity
This Tuesday, when Paul Krugman put an end to more than 20 years of collaboration with The New York Times With an article titled ‘My last column: finding hope in an era of resentment’, social networks erupted in attacks against the Nobel Prize in Economics. One of the comments on Much of the criticism focused on that: that Krugman has dedicated his entire existence to talking and not doing. Why, if you know so much about economics, don’t you demonstrate it by setting up a successful company, eh? They came to tell him. Something similar to what is often sarcastically commented by fortune tellers on TV: If they know the future, why don’t they win the lottery?
Krugman is a professor at Princeton University and the London School of Economics and Political Science. In 2008 he won the Nobel Prize for his contributions to “New Trade Theory and New Economic Geography.” His works are studied in economics faculties around the world. But for those X commentators he is a vulgar charlatan who, on top of that, is never right in his predictions. Which is not true: on some occasions he has made mistakes, yes, but to his benefit it must be recognized that economics is not the exact science that some would expect. Hundreds of failed predictions from distinguished economists sleep in the newspaper archives. One of the most famous cases is that of Karl Marx, who predicted that the proletarian revolution would begin in the most developed capitalist countries and it turns out that where it caught on was in semi-feudal Russia. Despite this, who with minimal economic training would think of disregarding the intellectual contribution of Marxist analysis, even if only to argue with its approaches?
No. The attacks on Krugman are not because he is a charlatan, but because for years he has been one of the most implacable critics of neoliberalism, even at a time when numerous self-proclaimed progressive colleagues of his praised the model that has led the planet to a borderline situation of inequality. The attack against Krugman is a portrait of our time: the thinker, the academic, the intellectual is despised, especially if he challenges the dominant thought, and those who manage to accumulate billions of dollars are idolized, even more so if they accompany it with a speech aggressive against those who question his obscene riches. In appointing some of the future members of his government team, Donald Trump has not taken the trouble to highlight their intellectual virtues, but has instead emphasized their business success (even lying, as in the case of his father-in-law Massad Boulos, planned advisor for the Middle East, who was presented as a tycoon, but whose company made a profit of only $66,000 last year, he has revealed The New York Times). Trump and Musk are the idols to imitate. Both have built emporiums. They are billionaires. The owner of Tesla and X is the richest man in the world. Send rockets to Mars. They are not like the failed Krugman, who only serves to chatter. Who lives off his teacher’s salary. And, as they repeat, he has not created a job in his life.
Part of the Spanish right fervently admires Trump and what he represents. And try to imitate his speech. The peculiarity of our vernacular Trumpists is that they look more like the online caricature of Krugman than the idol they seek to emulate. Her main political references are a ruler whose greatest achievement before coming to office was running the Twitter account of a predecessor’s dog and an ultra leader better known for setting up beach bars than multinationals. Of course: you have to see how they fill their mouths glorifying economic liberalism, attacking the “lefties” and urging young people to magically become entrepreneurs.
These so-called liberals have no idea what it means to fight for survival in the capitalist jungle that fascinates them so much. On the contrary, they relentlessly squeeze the State that they disdain. The same can be said of certain businessmen who are fanatical about “freedom” and have built their emporiums through public procurement. By the way, what has resulted in the “highest fine in history” (204 million euros) for the six largest construction companies for having arranged thousands of public works tenders for 25 years? Why was an ex officio judicial investigation by some of those not added to the CNMC sanction? hairstyles who pride themselves on fighting corruption?
Hispanic Trumpism is that of commissions and dealings. The same with the same. That of privatizations that become placement agencies for family members and friends. That of deals agreed in stadium boxes and reserved areas. ventorrillos. The one from dumping tax to fish for foreign investment, wherever it comes from, we don’t mind money and we need to look like Miami. The one who has adopted the cry “Long live freedom, damn it!”, without understanding a damn the harsh competitive freedom of authentic liberalism, much less the freedom with collective responsibility of social democracy and the old Christian democracy.
No matter how hard they try, this is not Trumpism, which does not imply a moral judgment about the difference between the two: both are despicable to the extent that they destroy any semblance of social cohesion. This is ‘Cuéntame’ Francoism with pretenses of postmodernity. Here we are as usual: public budgets and contacts. And freedom to drink beer on the terraces.
#Hispanic #Trumpists
