"The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions."
- Confucius
Today I had the misfortune of running into the SME´s manifestation across Insurgentes, and although thankfully I wasn't one of the thousands of unfortunate drivers that were cut off by them, I still had a chance to see tons of policemen, dressed head to toe in black, with protective shields and masks, creating a barrier in front of the SENER (Ministry of Energy) building. Those policemen looked scared out of their minds, pering behind their shields at the SME guys like they were bringing on the apocalypse. That got me back on a trail of thought that's been mulling around my head lately, concerning the country and our society. In most of my classes, people rant on and on about our poor social, economic and political conditions, and on what they believe will be the magical solutions to all our problems. I've seen intelligent people talk passionately about their beliefs, and not so intelligent people expose their stupidity and ignorance of the matter. And yet, whether I agree or diasgree with what they say, I always end up thinking: 'do they really show their concern for our country in their day to day actions? or do they simply put on a patriotic, concerned front in the classroom and then leave and walk all over their previous speech?' Because really, if you start to think about it, if these people actually did what they said, this would be a completely different country.
The main problem with what we call our intellectual , political and economical elites (these elites are all those people that through their last name, bank account or academic achievements and opportunities can influence public opinion in one way or another) today is that they are are hypocrites. Big, fat hypocrites, that can write a beautiful prose on what we need to change and can deliver amazing speeches on the solutions to all our problems, but in reality never translate those ideas to actions, not even in their personal lives. How can we complain about corruption when we tip off policemen even though we know we committed an infraction? Why do we say it is the politicians that are ruining Mexico, when we don't separate our organic and inorganic garbage, when we cheat on tests, when we throw our trash in the street, when we completely disregard other drivers in traffic, and when in general we just don't give a rat's ass about anyone other than ourselves?
If we are so selfish in our daily lives, why do we expect politicians to be any different? Like the father of a dear old friend pointed out wisely: every single bureaucrat emerged from our ranks, from our society. They weren't trained in Mars and then just happened to land here out of the blue to govern us. They received the exact same education we did, so why do we treat them like they belong to a completely different specie? If they act the way they do when in power, why do we think we would act any differently? The only difference between their actions and ours is that we don't have enough vision to see the long term, social impact of our actions, whereas a politician's actions has an instant impact on society that can be clearly seen by everyone.
That being said, I think it is time to stop with all the fancy speeches, all the wonderful essays on how we can improve our country, and start linking those ideas to our personal life. It's time to make smart choices, to imagine the true consequences of our actions and refrain from falling into the same vicious cycle that's been consuming us for more than 200 years. Become a life example for others, instead of trying to predicate with words, do so with your own actions. Try to be the model citizen that truly deserves a transparent, perfectly functional democracy, and then point fingers at the government. No matter how small an action is, it will still have an impact, so try to make it the best it can be. Sounds corny and overused, but bit by bit all those small actions can make a big change, from the bottom up. If what we call civil society changes, then our bureaucrats will eventually change too.
Inspire the change you want through your own life, and believe me, it will have a greater impact than any grand speech could ever foster.
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