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By Luis Britto García
Doctor of law, playwright, historian,
university professor
I
We’re all coffee with milk. There’s no social difference. He who studies, succeeds. Don’t study if you don’t want to. This is the land of opportunity. We’re all family. There’s no prejudice here. There’s no discrimination here. There’s no distance here. Everyone treats you like a friend. Everyone can make themselves rich. People are happy with what they have. There’s no inequality here. The masters love their slaves like their children. The slaves love their masters like parents. The discourse of privilege is egalitarian.
II
Us. What makes us different from the others. The people. The thinking people. The few. The few and select ones. We, the few, who are understood by even fewer. We, who are not understood. We, who don’t try to make ourselves understood to everyone. We, who don’t let anyone tell us what to do. We, who don’t have worthy listeners. We, who know how to speak. We, who know how to speak English. The meritocracy. The cream. The last Coca-Cola in the desert. We, who are published in the right places. We, who capture all of the moments of legitimacy. We, who manage the instruments of discourse. We, who carry out the verdicts. We, who dominate the science of language. We, who monopolize the terms. We, who do not need words. We, who express ourselves properly. We, who express ourselves with property. The people of the media. The people with means. We, the only ones able to speak. We, the only ones who should speak. The only ones. The discourse on privilege monopolizes the privilege of discourse.
III
The nation’s people are quiet. Calm and sound of mind. Here we all love each other. No one holds grudges. There are no motives for conflict. Here nothing ever happens. No scandal ever lasts even three days. When the party’s over, everyone goes home. We’re all noise. Everything is negotiable. The Venezuelan forgets. There is no evil that lasts a hundred years. As the rod comes and goes, the backs can rest. This is a healthy nation. Everything is pardoned. Conflictiveness is invented by agitators. The discourse on privilege is imperturbable.
IV
To the poor: economize. To the exploited: produce. To the hungry: fast. To the tyrannized: obey. To the oppressed: give up. To the illiterate: ignore. To the humilliated: humilliate yourself. To the gagged: shut up. To the tame: be a coward. To the dispossessed: sacrifice yourself. To the chained: quiet down. To the forgotten: erase yourself. To the incomunicado: isolate yourself. To the alienated: globalize yourself. To the marginalized: exclude yourself. To the infirm: die. To the dispossessed, defend what you don’t have. To the victim: immolate yourself. To the sacrificed: share the sacrifice. To those without land: deterritorialize yourself. To the hopeless: don’t fall for the temptation of hoping. The discourse on privilege discourages those who have nothing except hope, in favor of those who have everything except hope.
V
Afterward. Later. Further on ahead. A posteriori. Tomorrow. In the next life. There’s no hurry. Great projects should be undertaken calmly. There’s no need to skip steps. After the development of citizens. After the civilizing process. After the formulation of the project. After the creation of the enlightened vanguard. After the necessary capital accumulation. After industrialization. After the formation of the true working class. After modernization. After development. After the integration of the elites. After globalization. After the integrated application of the economic plans. After the insertion in the international market. After the renunciation of hope. The discourse on privilege is the discourse of postponement.
VI
There will always be rich and poor. There will always be a privileged class. Property will always be inherited. Political power will always be inherited. The laws of the market economy. The laws of evolution. The laws of genetics. The laws of life. The law of the triumph of civilization over barbarism. The law of the triumph of the superior race. The law of Talion. The law of the revolver. The law of the strongest. The discourse on privilege is confused with natural law. The discourse on privilege gets confused.
VII
Venezuelans are weak. Venezuelans are disorganized. Venezuelans are never on time. Venezuelans are extravagant wastrels. Venezuelans are backwards. Venezuelans never do what they say they will. Venezuelans are machistas. Venezuelans are authoritarians. Venezuelans are vulgar. Venezuelans are financiers. The motherland smells like chiggers. This is a country of mixed-race people [mestizos]. Negros. Indios. Zambos. Bembúos. Haversack shirts. Riff-raff. Toothless. Ragamuffins. Sandal makers. Feet in the dirt. Scoundrels. Vandals. Beasts. Monkeys. Primates. Little monkeys. Macacos. Chimpanzees. Bad hair. Tierrúos. Mob. Scum. Horde. Rabble. Specimens. Breed. Pack of dogs. Gangs. No sooner than the discourse on privilege makes qualifications, it disqualifies itself.
VIII
We shouldn’t speak up, but I speak up. We should renounce opinions, but I have opinions. It sounds hollow to condemn or to absolve, but I condemn. We should wrap ourselves in silence while I scream. We should abstain from the debate while I debate. We shouldn’t be militant, while at the same time I’m militant. We shouldn’t take sides, but I take sides. Let’s stay away from all groups, but join mine. Let’s not participate, but I participate. Let’s not judge, but I sentence. Let’s not speak up, but I reproach. Let’s not adhere to ideologies, but I stand firm. I don’t protest, but I censure. I don’t problematize, but I veto. I don’t put myself ahead, but I get advances. Let’s protect ourselves within legality and carry out a coup. I didn’t call the work stoppage, it wasn’t in my hands. It wasn’t me, but it has always been me. I’m not either one or the other, but always the opposite. The discourse on privilege throws the stone then hides its hands.
IX
We’re all guilty. We all know each other here. Here no one is innocent. No one can throw the first stone. We all have straw tails. We all live in glass houses. Even the shark makes a splash when it’s swimming. We are a society of accomplices. The discourse on privilege is a blackmailer.
X
My unique verse. My unique story. My unique essay. My unique perfume only sold in microscopic bottles. My unique study on Mengano’s study of the study of Zutano about Octavio Paz. My unique talent that doesn’t settle for conforming to the imperfection of the genre. My unique work that will never lower itself to let itself be seen. My unique silence, carefully administered. My unique silence that should not be only interpreted as silence. The discourse on privilege is sterile.
XI
My scholarship. My subsidy. My institute. My ascent. My deaconhood. My presidency. My senatorial term. My spot in Congress. My museum. My ruling. My accumulating. My embassy. My ministership. My pension. My dividend. My National Endowment for Democracy. My Club. My literary group. My roll of fat. My circle. My newspaper. My TV channel. My program. My last name. My family. My inheritance. My class. My whiskey. My favorite restaurant in Paris. My recipe. My chef. My stylist. My tailor. The discourse on privilege is taxed. If everyone tolerated privilege, we wouldn’t have to spend so much time extolling it. If no one threatened privilege, there’d be no need to defend it. The discourse on privilege arises from the threats against privilege, and its intensity is directly proportional to that threat. The only fruit of privilege is its discourse. Its victims produce all the rest.
Translated from Spanish original at:
www.voltairenet.org/article122183.html
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