A recent faux pas by Mexico’s top presidential hopeful unleashes people’s intolerance of public embarrassment.
SCHADENFREUDE: (from the German language) Enjoyment obtained from the troubles of others.
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| Enrique Peña Nieto |
During the most recent edition of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL, for its acronym in Spanish), “pretty boy” presidential hopeful Enrique Peña Nieto was asked which readings had been most influential in his life. The guy gave an answer that made it quite clear that he is not a reader. People forget that politicians lie all the time though this guy ventured to wing it instead. I believe the real faux pas was the fact that neither Peña Nieto himself nor his staff had the foresight of guessing that at a large book fair, he would surely be asked about his affinity for reading. Now, that is lack of vision right there!
A great number of people in Mexico reacted quite passionately, making great fun of the episode. In the almost five years that I have lived here have I seldom seen Mexicans become so fervently united for a particular cause. But Peña Nieto’s gaffe somehow became a good reason for people to flood the social media networks to incessantly ridicule the politician. I don’t know much about him. There’s something about him that I just don’t like. I am aware, however, that part of his potential as future president of Mexico lies in his sex appeal. By the way, I also agree that it is important for a presidential hopeful to be well-read but can anyone accurately prove something of that sort?
It seems people have realized that what is in fact embarrassing is for Peña Nieto to have made it this far presumably just based on his good looks. It was the people of Mexico who got him this far. The embarrassment of making him the top presidential contender must be squashed or camouflaged by all means! That is how the endless, mean, and downright cruel jokes have grabbed hold of the Mexican cyber-psyche. Have we got nothing better to do with our time? Pena Nieto’s blunder is bad for him but good for Mexicans because now voters have the opportunity, prior to the July 2012 elections, of finding a “more cultured” top contender.
This situation also points out to another purported “embarrassment” that can remain in the shadows as long as there is someone else to crucify: the average Mexican reads 1 to 3 books per year. There’s no need to feel ashamed of that. Everyone has a right to do with their time as they please. It is questionable though for non-readers to malign another non-reader. Please malign him for his lack of tangible political accomplishments.
What I really find baffling about this goes in contrast with an unrelated recent event. The lovely city of Guadalajara has managed to stay relatively safe despite the drug-related bloodshed that the country has experienced in the last few years. Recently, the city hosted what to date have been the most successful Pan American and Parapan American Games ever as well as the FIL, which is a massively successful event year after year. However on November 24, the bodies of 26 people were dumped in a main artery of the city in a gruesome, highly symbolic message from organized crime to the local government. I didn’t hear one single person talk about this. There was zero outrage, no tweets, and no Facebook updates. The people of the city remained indifferent. And I remain perplexed.
Back to Peña Nieto’s unfortunate blunder, a canned answer (i.e., a blatant but eloquent lie) would have done the trick and everyone else (myself included) could’ve continued with our superficial pursuits instead of actually paying enough attention to which politicians may be viable candidates for bringing Mexico out of this bloody and painful war against drugs.
Related links:
- FIL Press Conference (YouTube)
- Mexico Top Presidential Contender Can't Name Books (NY Times)
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