Andrés Oppenheimer Presents His New Book ‘How to Get Out of the Well’ in Exclusive Infobae México Interview

Andrés Oppenheimer in an exclusive interview for Infobae México presents his new book ‘How to Get Out of the Well’.

The political pendulum moved quickly and what at the end of the nineties represented the prediction of a Pink Tide or turn to the left that would spread in Latin America, now, faced with unmet expectations, the citizens of the region have shown signs of wanting to look for other options that can lead them to be happier.

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In his new book How to get out of the well!, which this week became the best-seller on the Amazon list, the writer and journalist Andrés Oppenheimer takes a twist on his usual topics to delve into a topic that is little analyzed, but fundamental in Today’s world: happiness and how to achieve it.

But it also makes it very clear what the difference is between being happy and the use of happiness that some politicians in the region make to justify the failure of their efforts and lack of growth in their countries.

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“What some populist politicians are doing, like the president of Mexico and the president of Argentina, is trying to justify their economic failures by saying that happiness is more important than economic growth, that is, Andrés Manuel López Obrador in Mexico has said several Sometimes ‘well, economic growth is not so important, the important thing is that we are happy’, that is an excuse to justify an economic failure because he had promised in his campaign, an economic growth of 4% (in 2022 it was 3%)” , he expressed in an interview with Infobae in Mexico City.

Andrés Oppenheimer in an exclusive interview for Infobae México presents his new book ‘How to Get Out of the Well’.

He warned that economic growth must also be accompanied by public policies that raise people’s happiness rates, that encourage community, interaction and tolerance for failure.

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In the case of Mexico, it “fell asleep” even though it has the “opportunity of the Millennium” thanks to the nearshoring phenomenon in which multinationals seek to distance themselves further and further from China and set up their factories in other countries. “Instead of going to look for these investments, the president spends his time putting flower hats on his head, like Carmen Miranda, it is frustrating for those who see the opportunities that the country could have,” such as sharing a border with the United States. But other countries such as South Korea, India, Thailand or Vietnam are the ones that are benefiting.

“The frustrating thing about Mexico: López Obrador has not made a disaster like Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, the frustrating thing about Mexico is what it has stopped doing, not what it has done. He has not destroyed the country’s economy, but he is wasting all the opportunities he has to become a world economic power,” he pointed out.

Andrés Oppenheimer spoke about the current situation of the presidents of Colombia, Mexico and Chile.

During the talk with Infobae, Oppenheimer analyzed not only the case of Mexico, but that of other countries in the region where the leaders who emerged from the left are not going through their best moment, despite the fact that a couple of years ago there was talk of a “ Pink Tide that Latin America was condemned to several years of populist governments and, however, the pendulum is moving very quickly, the most likely thing is that in Argentina a center-right or right-wing candidate will win, in Ecuador perhaps also ” .

Regarding Gustavo Petro, the first left-wing president in Colombia, about whom there were great expectations, “his level of popularity has fallen enormously, the political scandals of his son who has said that he would have accepted money from drug trafficking for his father’s campaign, “They are not helping him.” Not counting his absences or delays in the meetings to which he is summoned.

In Chile, Gabriel Boric had his first failure a few months after becoming president in his attempt to reform the constitution, which was rejected by the population in a plebiscite. “It also doesn’t have high levels of popularity.”

Andrés Oppenheimer in an exclusive interview for Infobae México presents his new book ‘How to Get Out of the Well’.

Andrés Oppenheimer pointed out one of the most important points of his book and made it clear that the reasons for unhappiness in the world are not exclusive to the left or the right, but are also related to other aspects such as corruption, since The happiest countries in the world are the Nordic ones, where corruption rates are lowest and among the unhappiest, like Venezuela, corruption rates are high.

He noted that “the good thing about all this” and “the greatest contribution” of his book is to say that “there are solutions and ways out, there are things that are being done to reverse all these calamities in a relatively easy way.”

He recalled several examples, in which he delves into How to get out of the hole!, such as that of Nigeria, one of the most corrupt countries, where public schools are trying to adopt private school models, with the aim of including subjects on Ethics and of Anti-Corruption Policies, to teach children concepts such as conflict of interest or bribery through narratives that are familiar and easy to understand.

Andrés Oppenheimer in an exclusive interview for Infobae México presents his new book ‘How to Get Out of the Well’.

Something similar is happening in New Delhi, as schools have taken the lead in teaching the little ones to understand social decomposition, while also including Happiness classes, in which they sit next to the teacher, close their eyes and They begin to meditate, helping them to be calm and focused on their activities of the day. They teach them to work as a team, to find a purpose in life, as well as to accept setbacks.

Another aspect of the Scandinavian countries that the author considered could be useful in countries with low happiness rates is the implementation of public policies, green spaces, reduced work hours, which allow people to dedicate part of their day to recreational activities. , spend quality time in your community, among others.

“Politicians must understand that economic growth is essential, but not sufficient.” […] What politicians have to do is grow the economy in their countries and at the same time adopt public policies that increase people’s happiness,” Oppenheimer stated.

Andrés Oppenheimer in an exclusive interview for Infobae México presents his new book ‘How to Get Out of the Well’.

The writer stressed that it is scientifically proven that there are public policies that can increase people’s happiness. “Policies focused on improving people’s lives, community and emotional relationships seem trivial, but they can save countries billions of dollars in hospital costs and antidepressant pills.”

“That is what it says in the book when traveling through all these countries, seeing these practices and telling them about them in the hope that we will begin to apply them in our countries,” he concluded.

Photos: Jenifer Nava and Diego Alva

Videos: Martín Mariscal and Diego Alva

2023-10-08 12:57:45


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