Is Bergoglio a Peronist? Yes, yes, yes
- Peronism is uniquely Argentine.
- It is not a movement based on a conceptual development, but rather a simple tool for accessing, using, maintaining and increasing power.
- There are left, right and centre Peronists, conservatives and revolutionaries.
- The components that relate to the reality of its functioning in almost all its aspects are 1. The primacy of power. 2. Discomfort with excellence. 3. Priority of tactics over strategy.
1. Primacy of power
- Bergoglio combines in his person the living Porteño, the winding Jesuit and the insatiable Peronist.
- Most of Bergoglio's actions are aimed at obtaining, using, maintaining or increasing power.
- Theoretical contradictions are of little importance to Bergoglio: he can say anything and the opposite of everything.
- For Bergoglio, what counts are not ideas, but decisions and actions; he is a politician, not a theorist.
- For Bergoglio, the law is an instrument in the hands of those in power, an instrument of power to the point of becoming an instrument of revenge.
- Strong intermediate organisations (religious communities, dioceses, etc.) are an obstacle for those who wield supreme power, so "Apostolic Visitations" are a tool to break them down.
- Bergoglio separates the formal authority and the real power in the middle management, which can turn the head of a dicastery into a mere decorative figure.
- He puts aside procedures, external signs of authority or protocols and ceremonies to show that whoever is in power does not submit to anything and is not a hostage of the structures.
- A favour granted by Bergoglio cannot be based on a right; on the contrary, its origin lies in the will of the sovereign, and the more eccentric the decision, the greater the debt the elected will owe to Bergoglio.
- No situation is definitive: whoever is made a cardinal today may soon be excluded from the College of Cardinals, because everything is provisional.
- The constant fear of losing one's advantages by surprise is a great instrument of subjugation.
- When a matter is difficult, responsibility is transferred to impersonal commissions that allow Bergoglio to make or postpone decisions, transferring the political costs to an impersonal reality, with the added benefit of Bergoglio gaining a reputation for being "democratic".
2. Discomfort with excellence
- In Bergoglio there is no contempt for money or desire for austerity, but a discomfort with anything that is quality.
- He lives in Santa Marta because he would be "uncomfortable" in a Vatican apartment.
- He uses ugly liturgical vestments because he is "comfortable" with them.
- Good quality stoles are heavy and "uncomfortable".
- His old shoes are "comfortable".
- These are promoted as signs of austerity, but this is not true because there is no financial difficulty in bringing poor quality Latin American musicians or mediocre lecturers to Rome.
- Bergoglio's behaviour shows that the achievement of important goals does not require quality instruments.
- A significant change in the discipline or liturgy of the Church can be achieved with a text without theological depth.
- It is a sign of power that "serious intellectuals" make "serious analyses" of mediocre documents: an official triumph of the vulgar.
3. Priority of tactics over strategy
- This means putting the short term before the long term.
- The decisions whose effects really influence the intensity of power and popularity of a ruler who takes office at an advanced age are those taken in the short term.
- These are the decisions that Bergoglio gives priority to.
- At the tactical level, Bergoglio will try not to abandon any decisions.
- The appointment of his real collaborators, the influence on the immediate electoral processes, the current approval of the media, the economic management, the political operations that interest him, are reserved for him.
- The usual press operations support the story of a "reforming Pope" who is bringing about "irreversible changes" in all areas of the Church, while those who oppose him are "minority but powerful conservatives", anchored in "outdated structures" from which they "benefit".
- New enemies, surprising gestures and major expected changes must appear periodically, their publicity keeping the leader's importance alive.
- The emphasis on tactics is common to most people, because few of them are capable of making decisions that leave a deep and lasting impression, while most of us are mediocre and act according to our possibilities.
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