For Emma, ​​​​11, politics is “a way of seeing things that aims to change and protect them, to do the right thing.” Kevin, 12, says of politics that “if you do it right, the world is healed and saved.” These children’s vision of political action is instructive since they appreciate politics as a deep dimension that has the ability to positively influence groups and communities. But political practice, in the reality of adults, is the opposite: politics does evil, persecutes the innocent, profits lucratively and serves corruption and corruption.

Perhaps our National Assembly is one of the most notorious scenarios where politics is perverted on a daily basis. If the country is going through a general institutional crisis, it is also because of one of the worst assemblies in history, the one that, breaking the rules and common sense, tried to destabilize the country on several occasions and only its ineffectiveness ended because of the death on the cross. The distribution of today’s National Assembly shamelessly continues, and disqualified politicians, whose trials are ongoing, lead us in the task of legislation and supervision.

Division, sectarianism, fanaticism and blind allegiance to one party are part of the legislature. But what kind of preparation do our congregation members actually have? What does it really take to qualify as an agent? Do our MPs read books on politics, economics, art, ecology and popular science? Shouldn’t they publicly declare every three months which authors they have read? Aren’t legislators supposed to be people interested in quality information? Or is it enough for them to get involved in everyday assembly events to make it seem like they are performing a role that has long since ceased to be honorable?

Daniele Aristarco was a language teacher in secondary schools in Italy and disseminates topics of interest to children and young people; He has just published his Little Dictionary of Politics (Madrid, Siruela, 2023), intended for young people who already understand the importance of public service and who are building social awareness based on reasonable ideas. This book explains terms – alienation, authority, commitment, trust, public discourse, avoidance, equality, majority and minority, neutrality, patriotism, poverty, populism, privilege, responsibility, silence, voting – to understand democratic life.

Our failures in democracy are also due to the shameless ignorance of the vast majority of professional politicians who want to win positions of power for their own benefit. According to Aristarchus, “democracy is a place that must be defended… A place where our freedom is safe, but which without our active presence will remain empty and lifeless.” What are those who edit and monitor the reading? Do the assembly members have a personal library? The vocabulary of many of them, in the past, includes delirium, impudence, ignorance, foolishness, falsehood, distribution, theft, fraud… (OR)