A Complicated Term - Aporophobia
The Coronavirus Pandemic, instead of making us reflect and see life from a different perspective, has caused so many injustices and incongruities to arise, that is why we feel it is necessary to bring this subject up and speak without censorship.
It is no secret that in recent years, many countries have entered into economic and political crises, for that reason its citizens have had to emigrate, leave everything aside, and seek a better quality of life, however they have encountered a wave of rejection by the fellow citizens of that country that they have as a destination, that is where a well-known term arises worldwide called Xenophobia and the question arises: What is Xenophobia? It can be summarized as the fear or perhaps rejection of all foreigners, and according to expert figures, we have seen a worrying increase in xenophobia in several countries around the world.
Now, that fear or rejection can turn into hatred, which results in an attempt against the physical integrity of that immigrant who arrives looking for what he/she could not find in his/her country, because let's be honest, nowadays, not everyone emigrates for pleasure, on the contrary it is for necessity, we see it in African countries, as many people prefer to risk their lives at sea, to get to another country, than to stay in theirs where violence, scarcity and bad public policies, lead them to look for opportunity in another place. The same happens in Latin America, many want to live the American dream, because they feel that in their countries they will not be able to have the economic stability that perhaps in the USA they can. However there is a very particular case, and it is Venezuela, since 2018 began a massive migration of Venezuelans to other South American countries, in search of a better life, escaping from a serious economic, social and political crisis, because it is not only emigrate because perhaps they do not have to cover the basic food basket, It is also living in the dark because of an energy crisis, electricity rationing up to 12 hours daily, it is having to cook with firewood, because the gas has not arrived for 6 months, it is also living without water, because for 6 years, a pipe broke and no one came to repair it, or simply having the lowest minimum wage in the region of less than $ 1 per month. The thing is, dear readers, that sometimes we judge everyone who makes such an important and strong decision as emigrating, and we forget to think about, what would lead him to leave his country?.
Returning to the term Xenophobia, we see that it is somewhat contradictory, because there is rejection against immigrants, but those who arrive without many resources, those who go in search of jobs, and perhaps even with children, quite the opposite with those immigrants who have a better social and economic position, thanks to the Spanish Philosopher and Writer Adela Cortina, another term arises, perhaps more in line with what is happening in the world, which explains in a better way, because this wave of rejection arises. Born in Spain in 1947, exactly in the city of Valencia. Adela Cortina, made a great contribution to Spanish, exactly to the Royal Academy of Language, creating a word called Aporophobia, and this is nothing more than rejection of disadvantaged people, with limited economic resources, in short, poor people.
In the Greek word, "Aporos" means the Poor and "Fobéo" means to fear, hate or reject. So we already have two words with some similarity, Xenophobia, rejection of the immigrant, and Aporophobia, rejection of the poor for the simple fact of being poor. Reading an interview that this incredible woman gave to the BBC she answered how Aporophobia manifests itself in society: "Immigrants and refugees are unwelcome in all countries, even some political parties win votes when they promise to close the doors to them. We treat with great care the people who can do us favors, help us find a job, help us win an election, support us to get a prize, and we abandon those who cannot give us any of that. Folk wisdom says to exchange favors in sayings like "today for you, tomorrow for me". and parents often advise their children to approach the better-off children".
Then we ask ourselves, if these immigrants arrive to these countries, with a good economic position, Would the treatment given to them change? We know that this is a very delicate issue, because each case is different, and everything is relative, however it is never too much to analyze the current context, we know that this pandemic gave a hard blow to the world economy, and when problems begin to arise, lack of employment, crime, etc. It is easier to blame the foreigner, and generate that division, in order to generate that division, so that the immigrants will be able to find a job, it is easier to blame the foreigner, and generate that division, in order to divert attention from the real situation that we are living, what can we say dear readers, to emigrate is for the brave, we admire and respect those who decide to take such a difficult situation, and we can't imagine what many must be living today. We are left with these words of Adela Cortina: "We do not reject foreigners if they are tourists, singers or famous athletes, we reject them if they are poor".
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