By Gustavo Borges
Mexico City (EFE).- The Uruguayan-Mexican philosopher Carlos Pereda, editor of the “Dictionary of injustices”, assured this Sunday in Mexico that, despite the unfair world, humanity must have some optimism because otherwise it will will extinguish.
Pereda is the editor and the most visible figure among the Spanish-speaking researchers who wrote the 146 entries in the dictionary, presented this Saturday at the Book and Rose Festival in Mexico City.
“The problem is not that injustices have always appeared, it is that they seem to walk along with humanity. They will never end because in each era we not only collect those from the past, but new ones are added, ”he lamented.
Published by the Siglo XXI publishing house, the book explores the lack of justice in the world with concise essays about old burdens of humanity, such as racism, authoritarianism, selfishness, femenicide and xenophobia, and others recently identified, social atomism, ageism and noise pollution, among them.
“There are injustices that we never perceive as such, for example, the destruction of the environment. We did not see throwing out the garbage as injustice and it is because we are destroying the planet. We also do not think that it is an injustice, social atomism, belief that society is an addition of individuals, ”she commented.
Beyond the egos
Pereda, author of the book “Los aprendimientos del exilio”, winner of the Siglo XXI essay prize in 2008, accepts that egos are one of the causes of unfair attitudes, but not the only one.
“Injustices do not have a root; one is the ego, but there are others; for example when a group thinks that non-white people should be destroyed or at least given the worst jobs. There is also xenophobia, sexism and others, ”she acknowledges.
The “Dictionary of injustices” is a kind of second part of the justice, also edited by Pereda. This time the academic and his colleagues did not start from the positive but from negative experiences.
Born in Florida, Uruguay, in 1944, Pereda is the author of 50 articles and has written a dozen books, with topics as sensitive as the exile that he lived in his own flesh, the art of conversation and trust.
“I recently read that in Tijuana there was an attitude of condemnation of migrants and the protagonists were migrants. We tend to forget ourselves and the forgetfulness of our own history is a root of injustices, ”she opined.
A hug to children and the elderly
The “Dictionary of injustices” is also a hug to children, whose rights are ignored by society, and to the elderly, who in some cultures are respected for their wisdom, but in others they are abused.
“Discrimination against the poor has been recognized since the 19th century; The focus has been placed on this problem, which does not mean that it has been solved, but the injustices with children and the elderly are also important”, explains Pereda, referring to two of the concepts exposed in the book.
The 809-page volume also talks about the political tension that divides peoples and the tendency to show little empathy for others.
“We think that we are the good guys and the others are the bad guys. Today the good-bad, friend-enemy scheme has been transported to all human societies”, laments the philosopher.
It is one of the hot topics in today’s world in which there are real victims, but also a tendency towards victimhood to attack others.
“I don’t think anyone can have a solution to the world’s problems. The solution will be all of us or there will be no solution, ”she added.
Are there reasons for hope?
-Of course. We need some hope, some light; we are entangled in problems, in injustices but we must move on; a little that is life.