Mental parasites
By: Hugo Marcelo Balderrama - 29/03/2026
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In the film Inception, there is a dialogue that goes something like this:
Dominick Cobb: "What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? None of those. The most resilient is a resilient and highly contagious idea."
That statement is more fact than fiction, since the crisis in the West, which ranges from religion to culture, is the product of a group of ideas that have permeated the minds of millions of people. Without intending to be reductionist, some of these parasitic ideas are: 1) social justice, 2) environmentalism, 3) anti-natalist ideology, 4) indigenism, and 5) feminism. Let's examine each of them:
Social justice is one of the great myths taught in economics and political science departments. The central idea is to distribute wealth equitably, since its proponents consider material inequality immoral. Let me give you an example: suppose your son has a talent for baking apple pie. This skill makes him well-known among friends and family, who are captivated by the flavor. Then, naturally, more orders and new customers appear—so many, in fact, that he has to open a small bakery. Success continues, the business grows, and branches open in different neighborhoods. Obviously, the young man's finances increase; he becomes an entrepreneur and investor. Any parent would be proud of his achievements; however, those who cultivate envy appear, demanding that the State squeeze the bakery dry with taxes, arguing that social justice is necessary because such a disparity in income between the rich and the poor cannot exist. The problem is that the more this policy is applied, the poorer the countries become, because entrepreneurs take their talents and capital to less aggressive places.
Notice something: all that pseudo-scientific paraphernalia that economists and political scientists use to explain social justice is simply camouflage to hide one of the basest sins: envy. Helmut Schoeck believes that the societies that have made the most progress and prosperity are those that have kept envy in check. In fact, on our continent, criminal projects like 21st-Century Socialism owe much of their success to the votes of many envious people who hoped to screw over the rich.
Antinatalist policies and environmentalism can be analyzed together. Environmentalists consider humanity a virus, a mere destroyer of Mother Earth. Their proposals can be summarized as leaving the environment untouched and reducing humanity to zero; for this, nothing is better than promoting antinatalist policies. First, they invented the myth of global warming, then they got more creative and talked about climate change. After that, they continued with the farce of overpopulation. This is very easy to refute; one only needs to look at the statistics: 75% of the world's population lives in Eurasia, the union of Asia and Europe, which occupies 35% of the Earth's habitable land, leaving the remaining 25% of the population for the other 65% of the planet. For example, in my native Bolivia, the population density is 12 inhabitants per square kilometer.
However, despite being a vast, sparsely populated country, the birth rate has plummeted from 6.5 in the 1960s to 2.1 in the current decade. The fact that the country is hovering near the replacement rate will create numerous problems for the pension system and productivity in the coming decades. Contrary to the beliefs of postmodern Malthusians, fewer people actually mean more poverty, because talent and wealth creators are lost. Can you imagine what would have happened to our species if our ancestors had thought this way three thousand years ago?
Indigenism, for its part, attempts to impose the idea that, in Latin America, before the arrival of the Spanish, there existed an earthly paradise, a land without problems or massacres. However, historical research shows us otherwise: the Indigenous peoples of the Americas were anything but compassionate toward their neighbors. To cite one example, Chichen Itza, located on the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico), was one of the most important cities of the Mayan civilization. Today it is one of the most studied archaeological sites in Mesoamerica, mainly due to the remains of human sacrifices that were performed there for centuries. Although these rituals were an essential part of Mayan culture, they are still not fully understood. Now, ancient DNA analysis of the remains of 64 individuals sacrificed at Chichen Itza between 600 and 1100 CE has revealed that they were all young boys, and that among them were two sets of twins.
It was the Spanish who put a stop to those sacrifices. In fact, the Indigenous peoples of the Americas accepted Catholicism for a simple reason: Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for humanity, unlike the pre-Columbian idols that demanded human blood. In practical terms, it is better to follow a God of peace and love than one who demands blood.
Ultimately, feminism is not about defending women, but rather about excessive hatred of men. Feminists see men, regardless of who they are, as oppressors. The only way to level the playing field is to treat men with resentment and rage. In countries where this agenda has gained significant traction, contrary to what one might expect, women have suffered the most, as companies are reluctant to hire them for fear of harassment lawsuits, and men avoid them, even when inviting them for coffee.
A final thought: can we imagine healthy societies when people's heads are filled with parasites like those described above? No, hence the importance of fighting for the values of our civilization.
«The opinions published herein are the sole responsibility of its author».