Sin respeto : Una crisis social

In his new essay, Byung-Chul Han dissects with analytical acuity and poetic depth the dramatic decline of a central social virtue: respect. What was once the foundation of coexistence now threatens to disappear in a society characterized by narcissism, competition, and digital disinhibition. Han unfolds a multifaceted diagnosis of our present: neoliberal meritocracy produces losers who hate themselves and despise others. The struggle for respect becomes a struggle for status and, therefore, a cause of division, violence, and social disintegration. On social media, respect is replaced by attention; courtesy, by public humiliation; community, by communities that know nothing of solidarity. Han shows how respect, self-esteem, and social bonds are intertwined, and how their loss leads to a miniature, everyday civil war that corrodes society from within. But Byung-Chul Han does not stop at criticism. He outlines a vision of a new politics of friendship, of coexistence based on respect, founded on distance, attention, and mutual recognition. For him, respect is not a luxury, but a prerequisite for democracy, discourse, and a fulfilling life.