After the replies of Riccardo Noury, Laura Quagliolo, Giovanna Procacci, Giovanna Pagani, Guido Viale, Andreas Formiconi and Jorida Dervishi, it’s time to talk to Pia Figueroa, one of Pressenza’s editor.
Now that we’re almost out of the Covid 19 emergency, many people say “we don’t want to get back to normality, because normality was the problem”. This might as well be a big opportunity for a change.
In your opinion, what needs to be urgently changed right now? And what would you do to change it?
In Chile we don’t actually feel to be out of the emergency, in fact the situation is getting worse every day of every week. Not only the poor health condition of many people and so many dead reflect the failure of our health service, but there is also massive unemployment which is spreading even among basic social working categories, like primary school teachers; as well as the poverty of a great deal of people who don’t even have enough to eat. Our establishment has failed and it will take more than little individual changes to fix it.
If we want to escape this inhuman “normality”, we will have to change our political system by leaving the capitalism for good. We certainly don’t want to come back to political and social systems already failed, like the communism and the fascism, although there are still supporters of these movements.
I am thinking about a brand-new humanistic idea: a decentralized system based on real democracy, with a social justice standard never experienced before and a grassroot involvement, able to carry out this new process. I would be willing to think, write, suggest, participate at all levels: in the neighbourhood, town, county, nation and even worldwide, because if you want to build a new model you will need the action of a large number of people. And I want to be one of them.
What would it take to support this change, either individually or socially?
Individually, you have to be persuaded about it, putting this huge present need on top, above any other minor changes, spending one’s time, energy and passion on it. Socially, this process still requires to be explained, thought over and organized. Also, it takes to give to young people and women the role of leading players: new social players who can see things more clearly because they have been experiencing the brutality of the existing system more than anyone else.
