Monthly Archives: March 2024
To Succeed at Life
Luis Rubio A legend relates that, on being part of the academic advisory committee of a student thesis, the great teacher Gabino Fraga found himself with a student whose work did not merit approval but whose capacity to be a successful professional was evident, were he just to propose it to himself. The committee members debated and, […]
Incompatibilities
Luis Rubio “To be or not to be, that is the question” spoke Hamlet in his famous and introspective monologue. Presidential campaigns tend to lapse into contradictions and incompatibilities -to be or not to be- because they have of necessity to reconcile interests, groups and projects that are not compatible or coherent among themselves; they […]
Today’s Play
Luis Rubio Sarajevo 1914. Gavrilo Princip shoots Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife. One more assassination, except that this one would have indescribable consequences, starting with dozens of millions of deaths. An apparently insignificant event unleashes forces that after it nothing or no one could contain. Thus begin the great changes: with small things that […]
On Their Way
Luis Rubio In his novel on Argentina entitled Zama, Antonio Di Benedetto speaks of the “victims of expectation,” which Michael Reid, the Latin-American expert, interprets as the victims of waiting, a metaphor on the permanent expectancy of achieving the progress and prosperity that in Mexico would seem to be an interminable struggle to reach the […]
On the campaign trail, expect the unexpected
Luis Rubio March 4, 2024 Electoral contests are akin to military campaigns: an objective is contested, weapons and tools of combat are deployed, and the aim is to defeat the enemy — in this case, the contender. In his biography of Napoleon, Andrew Roberts states, “It was a measure of Napoleon’s resilience and ingenuity — and […]
The Big Race
Luis Rubio Electoral contests are a little like military campaigns: an objective is disputed, arms and instruments of combat are deployed, and the defeat of the enemy is sought, in this case the contender. In his biography on Napoleon, Andrew Roberts states that it was “a measure of Napoleon’s resilience and resourcefulness –and of the […]