Chinese vases

PalmaThe ruling by José Luis Calama against former president Zapatero is forceful enough that, at least, his supporters' message should be only what Justice itself dictates: to wait for the investigation to prove the facts imputed to him. That one is innocent until proven otherwise. The public defense by Patxi López and Mercedes Milá is blind faith and putting their hand in the fire for a figure who is everything among socialists. The fall of a totem, a moral compass, and all those cheesy and grandiloquent expressions, which are, on the other hand, true.

Pedro Sánchez is devastated (not just from accumulation, although that too), but because ZP in the stocks is much more than José Luis Ábalos, Santos Cerdán, and Koldo García combined. A symbol. He is the man who, ignoring the disasters of the second term and invoking the achievements of the first, came to Sánchez's rescue in the last elections and mobilized the left-wing voter. Faced with the possibility that he may be convicted of corruption, even the most recurrent question for any disbelief of these times is not useful: will it be AI? No, it is not artificial intelligence, but, even if there were no criminal offenses in Zapatero's case, it forces us to rethink the ethical limits of the activity of former Government presidents. It should be regulated by law, because power, like energy, once exercised, does not disappear, it transforms.

Institutional value circulates in a market where reputation is quoted, contracted, and paid for in interventions for which companies and multimillionaire conglomerates with interests and influence pay thousands of euros. A conference, a talk, sitting down to explain what you already know, and money in your pocket. A walk, if you have dealt with the future of an entire country.

The global market of ideas (what a bubble to burst) is also monetized in boards of directors and international forums, a revolving door business from which no one abstains. I don't know if it's greed, ego, or a psychological disorder that prevents them from feeling like ordinary citizens again, but they forget that they profit thanks to a position that emerged from democracy. The lifetime pension should be enough payment for them. For pure ethics, aesthetics, and decency, they should stay at home like 'Chinese vases', as Felipe González coined. When he said it, perhaps no one knew what to do with a former president, but they have found the path. The path of money.