“Lonely people are more manipulated at the political level”

The writer Juan Gomez Barcena He has published his first book of essays, ‘Map of loneliness’ (Seix Barral), where he recognizes that the experience of solitude “is necessary” to cultivate oneself but if that solitude is not chosen, it generates people who are more “manipulable” at a political level. Both, has claimed that it is “okay” to say that humans need each other.

“Very lonely people are more manipulated at a political level. I’m talking, for example, about populism, especially on the right. In general, The voters of their parties have those very lonely people who are easier to manipulate, precisely because they do not have many referencesor because the political party is committed to being your family. Loneliness can also be a way of manipulatingit is a very complex relationship between the social and freedom,” the author explained in a meeting with the media this Wednesday, October 9.

In this meeting, the author cited the example of Donald Trump in the United States and regretted that, currently, there is a “crisis of community ideas” and a rejection of the “collective” in speeches such as that of the MEP. Alvise Pérez, which he has described as “dangerous” because it generates populations that live with “suspicion” about other ideas that are not their own.

“There is an idea that the collective does not work, that the collective or the State does not pay attention to your particular case. That other groups are threatening mine or that there is a migration that is coming. These ideas, effectively, feed our ego, they give us the idea that we have the secret of the truth about what is happening in the world (…) In the end, we are increasingly locked in bubbles of ideas, worldviews, impressions about the world, which are separating us further from each other.. They make us look with more suspicion at what surrounds us and is fueling these populisms,” added Gómez Bárcena.

“THE IDEA THAT DEPENDENCE IS BAD PUTS PRESSURE ON THE INDIVIDUAL”

‘Map of loneliness’ explores, among many other ideas, the dependence between individuals, something that the writer sees as “natural” of human beings. although he believes that he is dynamited by discourses that assure that each person’s happiness depends on their own will and the domination of circumstances.

“We are being instilled with the idea that we have to be autonomous, independent. It is clear that dependence can be negative in many cases, but human beings are dependent. From the moment we are born until we die, and especially at our birth and in our death (…) The idea that dependency is bad, that we have to be independent and we also have to be happy and therefore we are responsible if we are not happy, puts a lot of pressure on the individual.“, he reflected.

Thus, the writer has recognized that this latest work has allowed him to be more introspective and better understand his own loneliness, which has led him to realize that this experience is, to a large extent, chosen.

“Recognize that The experience of loneliness is necessary and essential but it does not have to be negativethat in solitude we can find the most life-giving experiences and that we can cultivate who we are – not discover -. Going through loneliness makes us human, but we have to get away from unwanted loneliness a little. It is important to recognize that we need others, the self-made man is a person condemned to dissatisfaction,” he concluded.