Capitalism and democracy seem to be suffering from a strong crisis of identity, of declining importance and decadency. The once upon a time happy existence of a system considered the de facto approach in Western countries seems to be at the end of a cycle. In what direction should capitalism and democracy be redefined?
We are reaching the end of ideologies. Keynesianism or neoliberalism, left-wing and right-wing politics, public and private, there is no one single system or approach that has proven superior over a sustained period of time in the aftermath of World War II. There is light on the other side of the transition that will discover new venues for the policy-making process. But a necessary transition shall be undertaken, a transition that requires a rupturist evolution, a transition that necessitates a revolution, the Elegant Revolution.
The United States and Europe lack strong leadership that China imposes by default. The best rule in China according to a strong pro-economic growth agenda. Americans and Europeans stand divided, and before their eyes a backward-looking approach emerges that is exclusive and not inclusive, that seeks to build barriers and perpetuate differences, that emphasizes competition and abandons cooperation and coordination. The game of non-cooperation we continue to play on both sides of the Atlantic represents a zero sum game and a race to the bottom that is harming our social and environmental fabric and that of the developing world.
We must understand our moment of truth. We must identify the unique window of opportunity the current crisis of global capitalism and democracy grants. We must recuperate the ambition and the vision of the great men and women of the twentieth century in order to imagine, ambition and materialize the best world we could have ever dreamt with, a world of supranational cooperation, international law, global redistribution and welfare state, and world government, a new understanding that prioritizes human dignity and environmental sustainability above everything and anything else.
We must become ambitious not based on past fears but on future possibilities. We do not need yet another Global War to redefine the international architecture to avoid past pitfalls. We can redefine the international architecture if we become fully aware of our possibilities as a global society, provided that we work together. The benefits of cooperation can easily outweigh those of competition.
I believe the current economic and political elites in the United States and Europe rule to maintain a system that perpetuates undeserved privileges for a sleeping society. I believe the current economic and political elites are afraid to transition from a world of national priorities to a world of global priorities. I have lost faith in our political elites, unable to undertake ambitious reform, accustomed to two-party systems that mimic a de-facto oligopoly that civil society perceives as a dictatorship of parties. The world of bipartisan politics must come to an end. However, an alternative system must be determined before we begin the journey of our lifetime. The alternative system is on the other side of the transition. The alternative system is the world of post-politics.
José Ortega y Gasset and Joaquín Costa were two intellectuals of early twentieth-century Spain, visionaries of their time, who anticipated the major changes Spain would have to experiment to avoid the perpetuation of caciquism and a culture of folklore based on short-sighted priorities and maintenance of a status-quo that rewards the mediocre rather than the capable. The immaturity of Spanish society in the aftermath of the Disaster of 1898, when Spain lost Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines to the United States in the Spanish American War, along with the ideological division in the traditional left and right wing politics of the time exacerbated by income inequality and the intrusion of trade unions, the church and the military in national politics, precipitated a civil war that opened up a 36 year dictatorship in 1939. Spain never had a Revolution, which condemned the country to a century and a half of isolationism, widened the gap with Europe and kept the Illustration away.
Ortega y Gasset proposed a platform of between 150 and 200 intellectuals representing the major sectors of Spanish society. He denominated this platform Junta Magna de Reorganización del Estado Español, a platform of intellectuals that would redefine priorities and rule to reorganize Spain in the interest of the common good. Years later Spain precipitated into a bloody three year Civil War that still today causes division because of an irresponsible political elite.
Joaquín Costa is the father of Regenerationism, a political movement well needed at the time, well needed in today's environment. I praise Ortega y Gasset and Costa. I embrace their vision and incorporate their lessons to an ambitious plan of action able to reorganize Spain and revitalize its political and economic life.
I believe the Spanish society is mature enough to undertake a serious reform agenda. The world of post-politics is about engaging and conquering the electorate, is about inviting the average citizen to get on a train that will take us to the best world we have ever imagined. The electorate must understand why we need to change trains to travel faster and further. We must explain what the new destination is all about. We must be prepared to deliver the message.
Contrary to the world of politics, the world of post-politics does not adapt the message to the demands of the electorate with unfulfilled promises. Contrary to the world of politics, the world of post-politics is not short-sighted and seeks short-term return. The world of post-politics is about setting ambitious goals and invite the electorate to understand the difference between the feasible and the possible. The world of post-politics uses all ideologies and tools to build the most robust and ambitious long-term vision based on realism, pragmatism, through an engineering approach.
If civil society is conquered, a strong leadership is feasible, similar to that of a benevolent dictatorship without the need of imposition. If civil society falls in love with its leadership, we could be speaking of the beginning of a long-term relationship. We must maintain the love, the dream, the enthusiasm capable of building a strong union that will survive in spite of turmoil and difficulties. We must understand that the challenges we face require a strong leadership and a long-term vision. Risk and reward go along each other. Sacrifice is well needed if we are determined to reach further faster.
I am ready to lead a necessary change. I am ready to deliver the new message. There remains no doubt in my mind. Our approach is superior to any other political agenda on Spanish soil. The world of post-politics can beat the current establishment, incapable yet unwilling to move forward with the reform agenda.
That is why I have decided to run for office in Spain. That is why I have put together the best Presidential Team that could implement the contemporary dream. I have had a dream. I have a plan. It is time to move ahead and ambition a better society, a better world. This is the world of post-politics.
The Revolution is elegant because it is non-violent. The Revolution is elegant because it is perfectly synchronized and organized, not improvised. The Revolution is elegant because it is intellectually structured, attractive, appealing, capable of conquest. After all it was Spanish Journalist Rafael Sánchez Mazas and future Minister under Dictator Francisco Franco Bahamonde who used the term elegant to label Ortega y Gasset's Junta Magna on December 9, 1930. Sánchez Matas suggested Ortega y Gasset's vision was utopic and unrealistic. He might have been right at the time. He might be simply wrong in today's environment.
That is why I have decided to fight the status quo, in order to defeat an old-fashioned establishment incapable of looking ahead and moving forward. I challenge the political establishment, I ask them to justify their maintenance in power, their perpetuation. The world of post-politics takes form in Spain under the name of Reypública.
Never underestimate the enthusiasm of a dreamer who loves and a lover who dreams. It is time. It is our time. Let's move ahead.
REYPÚBLICA is Jaime Pozuelo-Monfort's Second Book