He who achieves something in life, or he who triumphs professionally is privileged, though there are certainly exceptions.
By Javier Marias / If there is one thing that is adding to our times, it is opportunism. Among those who write - we write - in the press, the number of those who are fashionable and equivalent to the anonymous criterion of social networks is decreasing more and more. People who get paid to think for themselves - presumably - who quickly give up on themselves to jump into a new tide. After all it is easier to give someone something to chew on, they climb on the wheel that brings applause and it does not matter that after a month it will be on the opposite wheel: they climb anyway, take advantage of the fact that no one uses memory and no one will not offend. To illustrate with an example, when I read Woody Allen's memoirs, I read how those who had recently condemned him now praised him.
Some of those opinionists deliberately confuse the concepts, to wear their current postures. 153 intellectuals defending freedom of thought were published in Harper´s magazine some of them (Chomsky, Anne Applebaum, Atwood, Rushdie, Martin Amis) opportunists on the other hand have put on the scales whether you are interested in being for or against. Since the latter is more populist and demagogic, many made this choice based their critique on something false and protracted. No matter how liberal and progressive the signatories are, they will always be considered "privileged" to rebel against the people and defend their "privileges" and "high prestige and social power". We have reached an extreme point where every achievement is considered a privilege, which is a deviation and an injustice. If someone is famous, rich, successful, they are automatically labeled "privileged", words with a negative connotation. Not so, do well to go back to the dictionary sometimes.
He who achieves something in life, who triumphs in his profession, has almost never been a privileged one, though there are certainly exceptions. Are such Joaquin Sabina, Ana Belen, Almodovar, or the novelists: Cercas, Molina, Landero? Absolutely not! None of them had it easy. Landero reveals this wonderfully in his book allThe Balcony in Winter¨ if I do not remember correctly. If they now have a position of privilege, they have it because they have won it themselves through many sacrifices. Am I a privileged one? It depends on which angle you look at it. I am lucky because I was born in a family where books were read to me I never missed, unlike many others. But my father was persecuted by frankism, he forbade you to teach in Spain and publish in the press until the fifties, and had to sign collaborations with names that were not his name, despite being the author. Emilio Lledo who knew my parents, told me how they spent the day with 2, 5 pesetas a day, how could they, with a lot of work.
Nuk është aspak e rëndësishme origjina e 153 individëve që firmosën në Harpers, ata janë ata që janë për shkak të punës së tyre, kanë shfrytëzuar momentin e duhur dhe kontaktet e duhura por jo për shkak të prejardhjes së tyre. Lexova në këtë gazetë një artikull nga një shkrimtar i mirë, relativisht i ri, që ka fituar disa cmime; i quante ata që kishin firmosur ¨të privilegjuar¨. Veten sigurisht nuk e fut në të njëjtin thes ose ekziston një alternativë më e keqe akoma, artikulli i tij ishte një demonstrim më shumë i oportunizmit, duhet të vihemi në vendin e atyre që ju mungon ¨prestigji intelektual¨. Jemi përpara një absurdi të krahasueshëm me këtë shembull: Në një ligë futbolli, gjykohen ata që janë në krye sepse janë ¨të privilegjuar ¨ dhe ata që janë në fund të hierarkisë janë ¨viktima¨. Buxhetet e klubeve të futbollit janë të pakrahasueshme mes tyre, e saktë, por ky fakt pranohet dhe nuk ndahen për këtë arsye. Privilegj do ishte nëse përpara lojës, ti dhurohej pikë njërës skuadër. Po arrihet një ujdi konceptuale mendimi, që nuk ka rëndësi se cfare ka bërë secili përgjatë jetës, dhe sikur dikush të ketë pasur talent, meritë, vazhdimësi, fat, qoftë dhe dinakëri, ti vishet mbiemri ¨i privilegjuar¨ elitar. Si do ti dukej Sabinës, Ana Belen dhe njerëzve të këtij soji ky mbiemër?
Javier Marias is a Spanish writer, translator and editor. This article was translated into Albanian by Albana Murra.
* Tiranapost.al.
