APOROPHOBIA, THE REJECTION OF THE POOR.

A CHALLENGE FOR DEMOCRACY

ADELA CORTINA, 2017

Introduction Summary

In 2016, more than 75 million foreign tourists arrived in Spain. The media were enthusiastic because,
after the various economic, financial and political crises, it could announce benefits in job creation
both in the hotel sector and in bars, restaurants, shops, etc. Do these foreign tourists awaken a feeling
of xenophobia in the Spanish population? Do they feel rejected, or do they produce fear or aversion?
The answer is that they do not arouse this rejection. People try to serve them. Instead of talking about
xenophobia, we should talk about xenophilia, love, and friendship abroad. Values such as hospitality,
courtesy, and a natural desire to share are added to this type of foreigner.
Nonetheless, in 2016 and long before, people have also come from the other side of the Mediterranean
who have risked their lives, and some have lost it to reach that supposed promised land that is the
European Union. Only in this case, it's not about tourists, it's about political refugees and poor
immigrants. They are foreigners who left their homes due to war, famine, and misery. They put
themselves in the hands of exploitative mafias and try by all means to reach our shores.
Although millions of people have fled war conflicts since 2001, the refugee and political crisis has
worsened in Europe since 2007, and even more so, since 2011 with the start of the Syrian war. The
migration crisis to Europe subsequently 2015 is the largest since the Second World War. Desperate
people fleeing from Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Albania, Pakistan, Somalia, Iraq,
Sudan, Gambia, or Bangladesh.
It is impossible not to compare the enthusiastic and hospitable welcome with which foreigners who
come as tourists are received with the rejection of the wave of poor foreigners. Angela Merkel loses
votes in Germany for showing a kind face and persisting in her humanitarian attitude. England refuses
to receive immigrants and bets on Brexit. The number of voters and members of nationalist parties
rises in France, Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Holland. Donald Trump wins the elections, among
other reasons, for his promise to deport Mexican immigrants and build a wall on the border with
Mexico. Apparently, some votes came from former immigrants, already installed in their new
homeland.
The feeling aroused by political refugees and poor immigrants in any of the countries is not really
xenophilia. Nor is it xenophobia because what produces rejection and aversion is not that they come
from outside, that they are of another race or ethnic group. What bothers us is that they are poor, that
they come to complicate our lives. It is the poor who bother, the helpless, the one who seems unable
to contribute anything positive to the GDP of the country in which he/she arrives, the one who
apparently will bring nothing but complications. It will require medical attention, it will take away
work from the natives, it is a potential terrorist, and it will bring very suspicious values.
These are palpable signs of aporophobia, rejection, aversion, fear, and contempt for the poor, who, at
least in appearance, cannot return anything good. We need to make up for our shortcomings with
what others can give us. From this need the Rule of Law is born, as well as the great institutions of
the political, economic, and cultural world are born, with the commitment to protect citizens, who are
always vulnerable. But the poor seem to break this game of giving and taking because our calculating
mind perceives that they are only going to bring trouble and thus our tendency to exclude them thrives.

Source: https://www.clubdelecturas.com/producto/aporofobia-el-rechazo-al-pobre-adela-cortina/