Philosophy | Portugal painted dark by a philosopher

José Gil

Ten years after he published the acclaimed “Portugal, Hoje: O Medo de Existir” (Portugal Today: The Fear of Existence), philosopher José Gil was in Macau earlier this week to talk about some of the factors that shape Portuguese society.
In a well-attended lecture, titled “Desire and Fear of Existence” and held at the Macau Science Center, Mr Gil explained his belief that “envy is stronger than individuals in Portugal,” creating a system that is hostile to change.
“Envy is a way to prevent the group from disintegrating, preventing its members from distinguishing themselves…leading to a leveling-down of society. (…) The envy web is a clandestine system that circumvents laws and restrains individuals, killing the desire and establishing a perverse equilibrium in mediocrity.”
The philosopher said that a fear of change makes reform of public administration difficult. “Why, after so much talking, wasn’t the Portuguese state reformed? That is a fundamental question,” he said, adding that the financial crisis heralded the return of practices that were common during the “New State” (the Portuguese dictatorship led by Salazar).
Needing financial assistance, Portugal has been monitored by a troika consisting of the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. The country’s dire economic straits brought with them a dark outlook, Gil says. “Factors like massive emigration and people’s impoverishment changed the way that the Portuguese see their own country. The troika brought with it the real with ‘r’ in capital letters. The expectation for the future has disappeared. People take each day at a time, in a precarious and uncertain way,” he said, before concluding that “if a territory is a place where the desire is fed, then the troika cut the link that united the Portuguese and their territory, excluding them from work and forcing them to leave their homes.”
One of the main factors Mr Gil discussed is fear and what it means to a society. The philosopher argues that Portugal lives in a state of fear and stagnation, because “there isn’t a single plan or idea of what the country will be in 2020 or 2030.
Generalized fear is becoming an element that threatens freedom and democracy. (…) To obey is becoming voluntary servitude. Fear overcomes desire,” he said.
The event was included in a series of “Masters of Culture Lectures,” launched last year by the Cultural Affairs Bureau, aiming at bringing renowned literary, artistic and cultural personalities to Macau.