Because in the end, what is not said also has an impact, and in the silence… in the silence, everything communicates. Before, silence was a tool of hierarchy in the corridors of government; today, that hierarchy has become “sophisticated” through technology. Social media did not invent rudeness, they just gave it a megaphone and unprecedented speed. They are the modern example for understanding a phenomenon where the recognition of the other has become optional. It seems we have forgotten that on the other side of the message there is a human being working, feeling, and waiting for reciprocity. This is where the inevitable question arises: At what corner of our modernity did we do a U-turn on decency, education, and generosity? Because if this indifference has become more sophisticated, it means we have perfected the art of being hyper-connected, yet we are more disconnected than ever. As the analysis of those who live the daily grind of business points out, today the client asks, demands, and consumes the other's time under the cloak of anonymity, but rarely offers a “thank you.” Communication today has become extractive: we all want attention, but almost no one is willing to give it. We need to illuminate education again, from institutions but especially from families, to understand that answering a message, saying thank you in a transaction, or debating respectfully in a public forum is not “wasting time,” it is gaining humanity. In a world that is rushing headlong into individualism, basic courtesy has become the new act of rebellion. What began as a critique of digital etiquette soon escalated—thanks to the feedback from lucid minds and dear friends—into a much deeper diagnosis of our current society. And we must not be mistaken: the void of a reply on a screen is not a phenomenon born in Silicon Valley; it is, in reality, the modern version of an old pathology of power. As an authoritative voice with the perspective that only years in the State and politics can signal out to me, this lack of reciprocity has always existed in circles where the ego weighs more than the commitment. We have turned our neighbor into a number for our personal statistics or a cold data point for our success algorithm. Technology today is indispensable, but the ethics of recognizing the other is indispensably human. That postulate that promises closeness, but which usually ends in a wall of silence or the coldness of an automatic “like.” It is no longer just ignoring, but “reacting” with an emoji to not commit to the word, showing that the physical distance of the network has served as a shield for a rudeness that now permeates all areas. This lack of attention does not stay on the “wall” of an influencer or at the desk of a politician; it has even reached the service sector. A few days ago, I published a video questioning that very common phrase on our social networks: “I see you.” or “I'm reading you.”
