Idiot.

ἰδιώτης ἰδιώτης . idiṓtēsThis is the original Greek word for citizens who kept out of public life, i.e., who did not value their civic participation in politics.

In classical Greece, to live only a private life was not to be fully human.

For the Greeks, democracy could only be sustained when the citizens were interested in public affairsThe fact that staying out of politics showed ignorance, lack of education and laziness.

For Pericleswhoever did not contribute to public debates was considered to be "not as lacking in ambition but as absolutely useless".

"If a man's conduct and speech ceased to be political, they became idiots: self-centered, indifferent to the needs of their fellow man, inconsequential in themselves."

Christopher Berry in his book "The Idea of a Democratic Community".

In this way, the original term, which designated those who renounced to participate in the politics that affected them, evolved to serve as a name for someone ignorant, basic and uneducated.

A private life, a social life and a public life.

The Aristotle of 2,000 years ago used to define an idiot as one whose private life was his only concern, someone who took no initiative in politics. The Greek philosopher understood that there were three branches in a person's life. A private life, a social life and a public life. To be a flourishing individual and to prosper one needed all three. And a public life was a political life.

And this thought stemmed from the Greek ideal by which people's participation was the basis for democracyThis participation in government made it possible to create the rules according to which citizens could live together and defend themselves from the kind of public life they did not want.

The Athenian philosopher Platoin his work "The Republic"he argued that the idiot refused to participate in public life, shutting himself up in his private and social life: "With what risks us being governed by those we least want.".

And why is it important to develop a political life in today's world where the term "political life" is used to mean politician is practically an insult?

The fact that someone is a politician or acts in a political manner in the resolution of a problem is seen today as something negative, as if he or she deserves a certain distrust or discredit.

The answer to the above question may lie, according to Walter C. Parker, professor emeritus of the University of Washington, in "Whether you like or dislike someone's opinions is important in social life, but not in public life, where we have to connecting and relating and talking and listening to other people regardless of whether they agree with you.

The main problem of democracy, its Achilles' heel, is, as it was already seen 2,000 years ago in classical Greece, the passivity of citizens in the face of what is happening around them. The strength and weakness of democracy lies in its citizens.. By giving them the ability to decide the future of their own existence, we are giving them the ability to decide the future of their own existence, we are giving them the ability to decide the future of their own existence. obligates to the task. When they delegate that task to others, they become ἰδιώτης. idiṓtēsidiots.

The digital revolution focused on the social but neglected the public.

The latest revolution of humanity, the digital revolution, where the Internet has intensified social participation, has not done the same for public participation.

The latest generations, and we are not only referring to today's young people, have become detached from current affairs and have stopped paying attention to their real environment, devoting more attention to the virtual one.

This self-isolation from what is happening in public life is used by some to achieve political power by appealing to prejudices, emotions, fears and hopes in the public when gaining popular supportoften through the use of rhetoric and misinformation.

This strategy is defined by a word that, like the word idiot, comes from classical Greek: δῆμος dēmos, 'people' and ἄγω, ago, 'to lead'. To lead the people, demagogy.

This is why for decades we have been seeing a rise of populist, demagogic movements. Although they have always existed, their relevance today, in most countries, is worrying. Many of them use the crutches of conspiracy theories.

The land is flat. Vaccines are bad. Humanity did not reach the moon. Aircraft contrails The lack of critical thinking based on communication, participation and training is the basis of the omnipresent conspiracy global.

Politics, the public life of which Pericles, Aristotle and Plato spoke, seeks that there is a dialogue, an understanding. It pursues that citizens participate in the global discussion, and not isolate themselves in their own rhetoric, ideas and closed social sphere. Because when this occurs, the ἰδιώτης idiṓtēsThe idiots are easier to manipulate, to be directed towards an immutable thought: The earth. is flat. Vaccines are bad. Humanity did not reach the moon. Aircraft contrails seek to make us sick.

Politics, public life, teaches you to deal with strangers with different ideologies from different cultures. And this is necessary, as Professor Walter C. Parker comments, to make it possible for us to live together in society with our differences intact.

"The purpose is to develop a modus vivendiFrom the Latin, a way of living that allows us to prosper together without killing each other. We have to cultivate the public self and, to achieve this, we can't be idiots."

Walter C. Parker, professor emeritus at the University of Washington

Let us be political. Let us love and encourage politics, the exchange of ideas, conversation, dialogue, peaceful linguistic interaction. Let us take time to listen, to reflect. Let us return to pubic life.

Cover image by Mika Baumeister